Most football fans heading in for Sunday's Bears-Bengals game were aware of the new security rules and prepared, but there were those who were caught off guard.
The Chicago Bears home opener not only brought out tailgating diehards and fans ready to rough up the Cincinnati Bengals, it also marked the beginning of a season of new security rules at Soldier Field.
"It's very inconvenient," said Bears fan Brad McAvoy. "I almost had to ditch my $500 binoculars."
"I understand the inconvenience for safety sake being inconvenienced," said Bengals fan Brant House.
A new NFL policy restricts carry-in containers to a 12 x 6 x 12 clear plastic bag. Normal size purses, diaper bags, or backpacks are no longer allowed inside the stadium.
The changes were announced in June.
"This year on the heels of what happened in Boston said, 'Hey, we really need to progress this program and they've eliminated large bags altogether," said Juan Gaytan, Monterrey Security.
Small clutch bags and items you can carry in your pockets are fine.
Gwenda Signorelli's purse was among the banned bags.
"I don't think this is a very big purse," she said. "You can search it, there's nothing in there."
When she was stopped at the Jan Tylin of Naperville opted to throw her $25 handbag away rather than miss the kickoff.
"It's worth a level of security, but it's a little bit overkill," she said.
For those found unprepared, there were regulation plastic bags for sale. They start around $7. One vendor said he sold over 100 on Sunday.
