Rome Odunze’s career in Chicago has not been the smoothest journey thus far. The No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Odunze suffered through a rocky rookie season amidst significant turnover within the Bears’ organization. His sophomore season in 2025 has been better, for the most part, but Odunze has still struggled to consistently impact the game and stay involved in the offense.
All the while his father, James Odunze, has made his opinion public that the Bears’ coaches are the problem and Rome could be a star if he were on a team that threw him the ball. It became a talking point this week after Odunze failed to record a catch in the Bears’ wild 47-42 win over the Bengals last Sunday; the elder Odunze retweeted several angry tweets suggesting Chicago doesn’t use his son correctly and one that urged for the team to trade him.
The second-year wideout distanced himself from his father’s comments this past week. Then, on Sunday, Odunze enjoyed a much more successful contest. The Bears pulled off another crazy comeback, this time over the Giants, to win their sixth game of the year. Odunze finished with six catches for 86 yards and a TD.
Speaking to media afterwards, Odunze delivered a very dry one-liner to open his postgame availability that had all the reporters in the locker room cracking up.
“Yeah, thanks Dad,” Odunze deadpanned after he was asked about getting targeted on the very first play of the game.
Rome Odunze was asked about being targeted on the first play of the game. Rome's response:
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) November 9, 2025
"Thanks, Dad." 😂 pic.twitter.com/a7EeEmnsoG
Good to see Odunze has a sense of humor about it all. Such things could become a distraction in the locker room if not handled properly, but the wideout’s attitude would suggest that is not the case in Chicago.
Sunday’s performance brought Odunze’s season line to 37 catches for 559 yards and six touchdowns. His fourth-quarter score helped spark Chicago’s comeback against New York and marked the first time he’s found the end zone since September.
We’ll see if his dad has any tweets to send this week. In the meantime, Odunze will prepare to follow this performance with another solid one against the Vikings next Sunday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rome Odunze Had Reporters Cracking Up With Funny Line About His Dad After Bears’ Win.
