It was as nervous as I’ve ever been during a Bears game.

Despite almost every game this season being decided in the final seconds, this one was different, as I was in attendance in Minneapolis with my family.

I started a new tradition in 2021, taking my oldest son, Mason, to his first road game. It’s a great way to build the next generation of Bears fans. What could go wrong?

We decided the inaugural trip would be to see Tom Brady in Tampa before he retired. Brady threw his 600th TD pass in that game and then some – final score Bucs 38, Bears 3.

In 2023, my younger son, Braxton, joined the trips, and we wanted to see what a Chiefs game was like, so we planned our trip to Kansas City. The Bears were rolled 41-10.

It was time to change our road trip philosophy. Instead of seeing greatness with Mahomes and Brady, we would plan something that seemed to be a fairer fight. Let’s go to Arizona in 2024, and the Bears are sure to get us a road win against a perennial loser. It wasn’t in the cards: Cardinals 29, Bears 9.

Our new tradition wasn’t so much fun.

Three games and we had watched the Bears get outscored 108-22. In today’s NFL, it’s almost impossible to see three games that lopsided. After last season, my sons asked me if the Bears would ever be good in their lifetime. Sad stuff from young sports fans who are usually full of hope.

So with the Bears building a 13-point lead in Minnesota, we were ready to celebrate. Then the fourth quarter happened. Caleb Williams was sacked twice in three plays, and Tory Taylor’s punt was returned 43 yards. Two plays later, Jordan Mason was in the endzone.

Momentum was turning, and the building was suddenly alive. My 11-year-old was thinking the worst. I told him to stay positive. These are the new Bears.

And the Bears responded with a decent drive, setting up an easy 45-yard field goal attempt for Cairo Santos. Wide left.

I assured my sons that these were the Ben Johnson Bears. They would find a way. I wasn’t just telling my kids to think positively, I was trying to convince myself.

Darnell Wright’s penalty spoiled another Bears drive that could’ve iced the game, and Taylor failed to pin the Vikings deep in their own zone. JJ McCarthy, who had been booed most of the second half, suddenly morphed into Tampa Tom, and the Vikings marched 85 yards to take the lead. As the fireworks exploded and the Skol chants echoed, the tears were welling up in my son Mason’s eyes. As he was thinking the worst, so was I. Would Mason want to continue to be a Bears fan? The first game he remembers watching on TV was the Cody Parkey double doink.

However, there were 50 seconds left, and this is 2025. Just like they did against the Raiders, the Commanders, the Bengals and the Giants, the Bears didn’t flinch even though we were flinching as fans. And after Santos’ field goal sailed through the uprights, I grabbed both boys and wrapped them in a literal Bear hug, more in relief than jubilation.

This wasn’t just a building block game for the Bears to possibly win the division, but a foundational family win that should make them fans for life.

Are these Bears flawed? Absolutely, and we all know the weaknesses.

Are these Bears winning the Super Bowl? Even the superfans have a tough time talking themselves into that scenario this season.

Is it exhilarating watching the Bears find ways to win week after week? Heck yes. Is it fun being in first place this late in the season since 2018? Amen.

This is only the sixth time in the past 25 years that the Bears have been in first place after Week 11, and the previous five times they’ve made the postseason.

So I choose to be “sports happy” and not nitpick how the Bears win and who they continue to beat. When was the last time we could confidently say that?

So as the Bears continue to build something special, my kids’ love for a team they can be proud of grows as well.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.