Gabe Carimi traded: ‘The Bear Jew’ is no longer a Chicago Bear

Gabe Carimi at a Chicago Bears vs Denver Broncos preseason game at Soldier Field in Chicago, August, 2012.(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Gabe Carimi at a Chicago Bears vs Denver Broncos preseason game at Soldier Field in Chicago, August, 2012.(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

It was just about a year ago when Chicago sports fans could kvell about having a Jewish third baseman (Kevin Youkilis) and a Jewish offensive lineman (Gabe Carimi).

But in the end Youkilis spent less than a season with the White Sox before heading this past winter to the Yankees.

And now… the Chicago Bears have gone and traded Carimi to Tampa Bay.

Fans of Quentin Tarantino will understand why we were so thrilled when Chicago drafted Carimi back in 2011 (and why we are so bummed to see him shipped off to Florida) — because his playing in Chicago set up the perfect nickname for a post-”Inglourious Basterds” gridiron giant of the Hebrew persuasion… The Bear Jew.

The Buccaneer Jew or The Pirate Jew just doesn’t work.

On the bright side, word is the original Bear Jew will be back.

SPONSORED TRIBUTES: Click here to read appreciations of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg. 

Ami Eden is JTA’s CEO and editor in chief, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the agency’s operations, including editorial, business, marketing and fundraising. Before joining JTA in the summer of 2007, he served as executive editor of the Forward newspaper and the founding editor of the Jewish Daily Forward Web site. He also worked as an editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia.