Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ Moore episode Touchdown Touchdown Pairs. I
Speaker 1: am Jeff Jonihack wlitz is on Donnie co Chr.
Speaker 2: What was like playing for coache Gooddom.
Speaker 1: I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
Speaker 1: coming is a big trouble. Donnie gos motest.
Speaker 2: Sweat Many Bears et Cetera brought to you by Miller
Speaker 2: Lighte with the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and.
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer, we go back in time, all looking forward
Speaker 1: to what's next In this week's Bears et Cetera podcast
Speaker 1: episode sixty three that would be at the Jay Hilgenberg
Speaker 1: Podcast with his teammate in Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac and we're weeks away from
Speaker 1: drafting the next starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears in
Speaker 1: the twenty fifth of this month, and we'll also lay
Speaker 1: out the red carpet to Canton, Ohio for Bears great
Speaker 1: Steve McMichael and Devin Hester. All this while the baseball
Speaker 1: world is popping and spinning, and the NCAA Men's and
Speaker 1: women's champions have been crowned. Congrants to the Yukon men
Speaker 1: and the South Carolina women for camping off tremendous memorable
Speaker 1: seasons and now, Tom, you were really interested in women's basketball,
Speaker 1: and South Carolina ran the table unbeaten, and yukon a repeat,
Speaker 1: so some exciting stuff in the tournament. I know you
Speaker 1: were glued to it.
Speaker 3: I was, you know, because I have so much respect
Speaker 3: for the coaches in the wave. They brought their coaching
Speaker 3: talents and brought that to the talent of their players.
Speaker 3: Because when I watch women's basketball, the precision of their passing,
Speaker 3: the authenticity of the game, the understanding of the angles
Speaker 3: and the intricacies of how basketball is played, and again,
Speaker 3: it reminds me of old school basketball before dunking became
Speaker 3: so prevalent in men's basketball. And I just loved what
Speaker 3: I saw. And listen, I have all the respect in
Speaker 3: the world for what the men's you know, finals offered.
Speaker 3: I gotta say, though, I was talking to Joliet's own
Speaker 3: Terry Gannon the other day, and he played on the
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty three national championship team of North Carolina State,
Speaker 3: and they were all going down to watch North Carolina
Speaker 3: State in the finals, and so I kind of had
Speaker 3: my fingers crossed that they would win the championship because
Speaker 3: two years later the Bears won the Super Bowl, and
Speaker 3: so I was hypothetically and hopefully thinking ahead during that time.
Speaker 3: But you know, Yukon Purdue they did a great job.
Speaker 3: South Carolina and Iowa they did a great job. So
Speaker 3: I'm you know, a lot of great basketball there was
Speaker 3: to be watched.
Speaker 1: City champions Joliet, Illinois.
Speaker 3: Always yes, I mean, you know it was. It was
Speaker 3: interesting because when I was going to Notre Dame in
Speaker 3: that year, North Carolina State played Notre Dame Matt Notre Dame,
Speaker 3: so I had a chance to meet a lot of
Speaker 3: those guys on that team through Terry, and we had
Speaker 3: another local kid from Lockport, Scott Parsitch, that also played
Speaker 3: on North Carolina State. So you know, a lot of
Speaker 3: connective tissues there.
Speaker 1: So our special guest this week former Bears gentleal manager
Speaker 1: Jerry Angelo. Unfortunately, all things being real, here, I kicked
Speaker 1: the cord on the electricity and the first part of
Speaker 1: that interview was somewhere in the metaverse, somewhere and so
Speaker 1: long gone. We did save some of it. We'll play
Speaker 1: some of that. It won't be about what we initially discussed,
Speaker 1: but he's agreed to come back next week and talk
Speaker 1: about Devin Hester. We can summarize, though it's an honor
Speaker 1: that he's in there, that he had a chance a
Speaker 1: drafting fifty seventh in round two. Never thought at the
Speaker 1: time that this was going to be a Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame career a man without a position. Belty should have
Speaker 1: stayed in college a year longer to maybe solidify being
Speaker 1: a cornerback, which Devin really wanted to play. But the
Speaker 1: excellence in what it ouded to was really pushing the
Speaker 1: team into a super Bowl in two thousand and six.
Speaker 3: Well, I got to tell you the bigger picture that
Speaker 3: I look at it, and the crossroads of Devin Hester
Speaker 3: going into the Hall of Fame when he was kind
Speaker 3: of an athlete without a defined position. I think that
Speaker 3: because of Devin Hester has been in the conversation of
Speaker 3: the classes of Hall of Fames. It's continued the discussion
Speaker 3: about how can we make kickoff returns better in the NFL?
Speaker 3: And so when you look at devn you know, being
Speaker 3: honored by induction into the Hall of Fame. Everybody knew
Speaker 3: it and we kind of complained about it as much
Speaker 3: as anybody during the broadcast that they somehow got to
Speaker 3: get the return game back in to the NFL game.
Speaker 3: And so I'm glad that the conversation continued to get
Speaker 3: Devon into the Hall of Fame because he deserves it.
Speaker 3: But I'm also glad that the conversation continued where they
Speaker 3: got the kickoff returned back into the NFL.
Speaker 1: Miller Light is our presenting sponsor of the Bears et cetera.
Speaker 1: Podcast tastes like Miller Time. Go to millerd Light dot com.
Speaker 1: Slash Bears Pod find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly.
Speaker 1: Middle Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and three
Speaker 1: point two carbs per twelve ounces. In our discussion with Jerry,
Speaker 1: which this part you won't here, but we'll readdress it
Speaker 1: next week on the podcast, is that Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: about safety, and it is about you know, getting it
Speaker 1: back in the game. And it is about point production
Speaker 1: from his perspective, because point totals are down and you know,
Speaker 1: they'd like to see that get ratcheted up. He feels
Speaker 1: the return men. It will be the return men. Maybe
Speaker 1: it'll be a bigger return man. And it's an actual
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage play. Now it's a play from scrimmage
Speaker 1: the way it'll be designed, so that to me is intrigued.
Speaker 1: And we discussed this a couple of weeks back. It's
Speaker 1: going to be an additional sixteen hundred plays of NFL football,
Speaker 1: and that's that's gonna be a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 1: But what I didn't get a chance to bring up
Speaker 1: with Jerry, and maybe we can touch on it next week,
Speaker 1: is that you know what here again, why do we
Speaker 1: have to tweak the game to have the point total
Speaker 1: be up or down? Why why can't we just play football?
Speaker 3: Well, I sold the antagonistic part of me about the
Speaker 3: kickoff return. I was saying, Okay, if you take kickoff
Speaker 3: return out of it, then you should cut the salary
Speaker 3: of the special teams coaches by one quarter because it's
Speaker 3: the most difficult play in special teams to organize block
Speaker 3: a successful blocking scheme. And so when you saw these
Speaker 3: guys that were great returners, it was really you know,
Speaker 3: you got to give the special teams coaches throughout the
Speaker 3: history of the NFL all the credit they deserved because
Speaker 3: of the difficulty of it. So now I'm going to
Speaker 3: give them their salaries back because now I'm interested to
Speaker 3: really see the reconstruction of a blocking scheme when they
Speaker 3: have the new setup of the kickoff return. And to me,
Speaker 3: in some of the ways that we used our blocking
Speaker 3: schemes on our kickoff return back in the day, you
Speaker 3: could work with another player. I worked a lot with
Speaker 3: Jim Morrissey, and so when you can kind of set
Speaker 3: up the guys that were coming downfield just by eye
Speaker 3: contact and you knew you were setting them up for
Speaker 3: a blindside block by your teammate, I think you're going
Speaker 3: to have a construction of really interesting returns designed by
Speaker 3: the special teams coaches in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So if in fact, this is going to be looked
Speaker 1: upon as a scrimmage play in essence, are you gonna
Speaker 1: involve now, Chris Morgan, the offensive lineco are you gonna
Speaker 1: you're gonna involve Like from a schematic point of view,
Speaker 1: will you get their influence at all?
Speaker 3: Now, what I'm gonna do is I'm going to design
Speaker 3: some cross blocking schemes. I'm gonna I'm gonna introduce where
Speaker 3: my point of return is going to be and move
Speaker 3: a body across the formation. I'm gonna change different angles.
Speaker 3: Because we're so close to each other, you got to
Speaker 3: think being in the wedge back. In my kickoff return,
Speaker 3: I was retreating at the kick of the ball, setting
Speaker 3: up about eleven yards away from the returner, and then
Speaker 3: initiating our movement towards the pursuers. Nowadays, with the kickoff,
Speaker 3: the ball is caught and now you get to start
Speaker 3: your confrontation. I just think that they're super intelligent special
Speaker 3: teams coaches all throughout the NFL, and I think you're
Speaker 3: gonna be able to devise those different angles of attack
Speaker 3: to create that instant of opportunity for a returner. I'm
Speaker 3: not looking for you to sustain a block for four seconds.
Speaker 3: I'm looking for you to get the right angle on
Speaker 3: the pursuer to create that crease to watch the explosion upfield.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see it. I really can't. I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see it. There's going to be a
Speaker 1: lot of interesting plays drawn up over the course of
Speaker 1: the season. Somebody's gonna do something really intriguing. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be like the tush push became something. Somebody's gonna do
Speaker 1: something that everybody else is going to try and copy,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna become a hop play a thing.
Speaker 3: Jeff, consider this as well. So when we're sitting there
Speaker 3: a training camp and they have the different days that
Speaker 3: are dedicated to different segments of special teams, you're gonna
Speaker 3: be able to do these things live. You're not gonna
Speaker 3: do it like the old kickoff return where we're just
Speaker 3: gonna run down field and we're not gonna have any
Speaker 3: contact because we want to keep it innocent. Now you're
Speaker 3: gonna kick off and we're gonna have actual live kickoff
Speaker 3: returns at practice because the impact is significantly less. And
Speaker 3: the guys that are included on the core special teams,
Speaker 3: those are that those are the guys that we need
Speaker 3: to get the most realistic reps before it actually happens.
Speaker 1: Have you discussed this with some special teams coaches across
Speaker 1: the league?
Speaker 4: I have not.
Speaker 3: I just when I you know, because watching the other
Speaker 3: leagues that they use this style of kickoff return, I
Speaker 3: was thinking about that back in the day in practices,
Speaker 3: that they're actually going to be able to do these
Speaker 3: more real They're gonna have to do them more realistically
Speaker 3: live to allow the players to get used to it.
Speaker 3: Because of the proximity of the pursuers and the blockers
Speaker 3: are so close to each other, you're you know, you
Speaker 3: could have these rugby style of plays drawn up. You
Speaker 3: could have these type of tacklers against these blockers. And
Speaker 3: so I think it's gonna be fun in training camp
Speaker 3: when we have the you know, the mid second, mid
Speaker 3: part of practice, when they're going kick off, kickoff return time.
Speaker 1: You had to be paying attention. You know, no more
Speaker 1: coffee breaks a training camp.
Speaker 3: Oh no, I don't listen. I drink the coffee before
Speaker 3: I get there. Not a coffee drinking.
Speaker 1: You're the one why, you know, I'm awful. You know,
Speaker 1: have made for.
Speaker 3: You and hand it to you when we get there.
Speaker 3: You know that, don't deny it.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, let's talk about that for men, because
Speaker 1: you used to really get mad at me when I
Speaker 1: would bring the I'm a guy who likes to have
Speaker 1: a hot cup of Joe, and I'm a stroller, like
Speaker 1: strolling out there with my coffee on the practice field,
Speaker 1: and you would you would burn a hole in me
Speaker 1: with those eyes. You don't bring the coffee to the
Speaker 1: practice field. So I keep it up in the in
Speaker 1: the viewing suite when we have to do our talks
Speaker 1: with different guests over the course of training camp on
Speaker 1: the daily. But I don't do that anymore, because you
Speaker 1: know you told me that should be outlawed. That was
Speaker 1: not that was not proper.
Speaker 3: If I was an active player, I would come and
Speaker 3: I would slap it on you.
Speaker 1: I really would, because well, hey, the late Mark Hatley
Speaker 1: used to stand under the goal post at every practice
Speaker 1: with a large, big gulp first thing in the morning.
Speaker 3: Yes, I know, I'm just you know, like I said,
Speaker 3: if I was an active player and you were sitting
Speaker 3: there sipping coffee, I would slap it right on there.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this question. Did coaches back in
Speaker 1: your day anybody smoke cigarettes on the field.
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: They did. Yes, you get a coach, Dick Stanfeld used
Speaker 1: to smoke on the during practice.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I used to smoke during meetings, you know, and we
Speaker 3: are in the meeting room for a couple hours on
Speaker 3: Jim Hanniff and the ex offensive line coach of the
Speaker 3: Rams and the Atlanta Falcons and other teams. There was
Speaker 3: players when I was in the USFL, there were multiple
Speaker 3: players that smoked and went into the locker room at
Speaker 3: halftime to make sure that they could have a couple
Speaker 3: of cigarettes in the bathroom during halftime.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable. It's time to tackle some game day deals. Then
Speaker 1: go with the grocer who's been a part of Chicago
Speaker 1: since eighteen ninety nine, Jewel Oscar, the official grocery store
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears. A couple of new additions and
Speaker 1: there have been plenty on the business side in the
Speaker 1: front office of the Chicago Bears as a franchise, and
Speaker 1: one is the hiring of Christa Whittaker, Executive VP of Legal,
Speaker 1: Business Affairs and Chief Legal Officer. She comes from the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat Tommy and will closely work with Bears President
Speaker 1: and CEO Kevin Warren, a Texas A and M grad
Speaker 1: and Stanford Law Also Andrea Zapp, Senior Advisor Legal and
Speaker 1: Business Affairs, a distinguished career in multiple executive leadership roles
Speaker 1: in the public and private sector, Harvard Undergrad, Harvard Law School.
Speaker 1: Some really impressive women joining the Bears franchise in that
Speaker 1: side of the fence. As they continue to work towards
Speaker 1: getting a stadium. There are new wrinkles to business. It's
Speaker 1: not just here, it's global, and so every little bit
Speaker 1: is going to help the Chicago Bears moving forward. As
Speaker 1: Kevin Warren reimagines the front office of the franchise.
Speaker 3: Hey, the education of the NFL never stops because it
Speaker 3: seems like there's always something that's in motion that needs
Speaker 3: to be figure it out factually and with great intelligence.
Speaker 3: And when you look at Bell's education resumes, it's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: It is no question. So welcome to Christa and welcome
Speaker 1: to Andrea. So let's get into the interview. We're going
Speaker 1: to pick it up on the fly with Jerry Angela.
Speaker 1: The first part obviously not able to be aired, so
Speaker 1: we'll have to revisit, and he's been kind enough to
Speaker 1: join us again next week, talk specifically about Devin Hester.
Speaker 1: We got into many topics as three guys who love
Speaker 1: football are going to and we picked it up about
Speaker 1: where the money's going at the guard position in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Here's part of our conversation with the
Speaker 1: former Bears general manager. I've been tweaking Tom because Tom,
Speaker 1: you know, had a great career at guard. He was
Speaker 1: a hell of a right guard, a Super Bowl champion,
Speaker 1: never missed a snap, never missed a game. But the
Speaker 1: salaries are a bit different at guard in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: that's where the skyrocket to combat what everybody's doing on
Speaker 1: the interior now and that quick point of tech between
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and the closest to get to
Speaker 1: the quarterback is inside. The guards today are making a
Speaker 1: lot of money, Jerry.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, Jeff used to be left tackle, then
Speaker 4: it became tackle, then it became tackle, guard center. He's
Speaker 4: still the run of the litter, so to speak. But
Speaker 4: the guard and tackle, if you're a premium player, you know,
Speaker 4: they see them the same now and they should. You know,
Speaker 4: when I think that, you know, canton tackles are going
Speaker 4: to the Hall of Fame, what do you think Tom
Speaker 4: pass pro guys? Right, when I think of the guards
Speaker 4: going to Canton run balkers. So they each have tremendous value,
Speaker 4: you know, uh in an offense, you know a little
Speaker 4: more showing time with the offensive tackles, they're on islands,
Speaker 4: more to be made like a pass rusher. But no,
Speaker 4: the value of a guard to me is every bit
Speaker 4: is essential to good line plays as a tackle. And
Speaker 4: as I said, we you know, the best lines that
Speaker 4: you know, I've been around, we always had, you know,
Speaker 4: good guard play. We couldn't run an offense you know
Speaker 4: without her. Particularly Again, Jeff, I go back to if
Speaker 4: you don't have a franchise quarterback, right, So yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: as you see in free agencies, they're dinosaurs. There's not
Speaker 4: enough college alignment back in my day, and it still
Speaker 4: holds true today. To feed thirty two teams, you can't
Speaker 4: the college just can't produce, you know, the players. When
Speaker 4: we were at twenty eight teams, we were okay, we
Speaker 4: were good. But when we went to thirty two, Jeff,
Speaker 4: that position really to me sunk in terms of the
Speaker 4: talent level, you know, and teams were just band aiding
Speaker 4: the position and grab bagging. And that's why you see
Speaker 4: it in free agency. I've never seen so mediocre players,
Speaker 4: you know, that are making so much money. I mean,
Speaker 4: some of these players just you know, they're on the
Speaker 4: high side of average, and look at their salaries. It's
Speaker 4: not because of their play, it's because of the value
Speaker 4: of what they are the teams.
Speaker 3: You know, Jerry, in the nineteen eighty three draft and
Speaker 3: I came out there as five quarterbacks taken in the
Speaker 3: first round, and two of the premier guys obviously were
Speaker 3: Elway and Dan Marino. Put them in these modern day
Speaker 3: quarterback classes, do you scout them and evaluate them differently
Speaker 3: or do you try to fit them into the system
Speaker 3: that you want to run. If there are RP less
Speaker 3: RPO guys in more passing type of guys.
Speaker 4: Tom, I'd say this still holds true today, and I
Speaker 4: you know, I will swear by it. You know, I everybody,
Speaker 4: if you're in my position, you're always looking, you know,
Speaker 4: at that position. And I would tell our scouts evaluate
Speaker 4: every quarterback in your area and make sure that you
Speaker 4: know them. And when the draft's over, with anybody that
Speaker 4: we had on the board at the quarterback position that
Speaker 4: we said to make it, you need to watch them
Speaker 4: in the summertime. You can't do enough work on the
Speaker 4: quarterback position. But saying that, Tom, I think these these
Speaker 4: tenants hold true. And Jeff, you and Tom agree or disagree,
Speaker 4: But I think the number one criteria for that position
Speaker 4: thom his toughness, you know, mental and physical toughness. You
Speaker 4: cannot play that position without it. Number two is accuracy,
Speaker 4: not armsprint accuracy because most of the throws are coming
Speaker 4: around ten yards of a line of scrimmage, so you've
Speaker 4: got to be able to hit the receiver the moving targets.
Speaker 4: That's where you're going to get your after catch. The
Speaker 4: other one, and you know everybody talks about it. I
Speaker 4: you know, boys, emotional intelligence, however you want to call it.
Speaker 4: How does he act in the unrehearsed How does it
Speaker 4: And it doesn't mean make a great play. It might
Speaker 4: be taking this act, throwing the ball out of box,
Speaker 4: not doing something stupid with the ball, and you can
Speaker 4: call it emotional intelligence. I always define it as poised.
Speaker 4: And then lastly, leadership tom critical critical to the position,
Speaker 4: in which leadership mean hard worker, hard working guy. You know,
Speaker 4: he had to have the respect to the locker room
Speaker 4: and the only way you're going to get that is
Speaker 4: through your work ethic and through your toughness. So for
Speaker 4: those criteria that I use for myself, three were intangible.
Speaker 4: I think that the position as a character position in
Speaker 4: the NFL, it's always been that way. I saw a
Speaker 4: documentary on Bart Starr brought a tear to my eye.
Speaker 4: I mean, if you haven't seen it, you need to
Speaker 4: watch it. What an incredible story. But again, that's why
Speaker 4: you know, it's the hardest position in sport to play
Speaker 4: because the intangibles along with the intangibles are rare and
Speaker 4: so few people you know have Hey, listen, I tried
Speaker 4: my best to get them, and they're just you know,
Speaker 4: they're rare, but I really believe this time, Jeff, You've
Speaker 4: got to have those four criteria to be successful in
Speaker 4: the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Well, we hear a lot about the Bears tied to
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams as a projected number one overall pick here
Speaker 1: in sixteen days. So with that being said, how do
Speaker 1: you as a general manager and as a as a
Speaker 1: department to prepare your team for what looks like is
Speaker 1: going to be a Day one rookie starting quarterback and
Speaker 1: ease that transition. Who's the backup right now? It's Tyson Beaging.
Speaker 4: Okay, Well he I heard a lot of good things
Speaker 4: about it. I didn't see him play a lot, but
Speaker 4: I think it's it's important who's in the room if
Speaker 4: I'm taking a quarterback in the first round like we
Speaker 4: had Josh McCown. I mean, he was great, a great
Speaker 4: guy to have in the room, So I would my
Speaker 4: focus is who's in the room. And I like the
Speaker 4: back up there in Chicago. He's I wish he had
Speaker 4: a little more experience, but he seems like he's got
Speaker 4: a lot in terms of his intangibles. And you know,
Speaker 4: will be a good fit. I would look at a
Speaker 4: veteran of sorts. I think that's going to be very
Speaker 4: very important. You know, coaching can't minimize coaching. You know,
Speaker 4: look at that real you know, what do we what's
Speaker 4: your plan for him? You know we'd have to we
Speaker 4: have to have a plan. It's not like, well, let's
Speaker 4: throw him out there and let's see what he can do.
Speaker 4: We have to work and operate within the plan. I
Speaker 4: think history tells you, Jeff, that the more he's able
Speaker 4: to watch, the better his chances of success. You know,
Speaker 4: you you look at uh, you know, at hasselback when
Speaker 4: he was up in Green Bay. You look at the
Speaker 4: Jordan Love kid, you look at Aaron Rodgers. They say
Speaker 4: it a long time, and we're very better. I think,
Speaker 4: percentagely speaking, quarterbacks that have that that window of time,
Speaker 4: their chances of success are going to be better. In
Speaker 4: the old days, Tom, tell me, when you drafted a
Speaker 4: quarterback in the first round, he might be lucky, you know,
Speaker 4: starting his third year. You know, you know you own
Speaker 4: the players then, so you could be more patient. But
Speaker 4: I think that's still you know, very very important. You
Speaker 4: know who's in that room. It's a tough position. And
Speaker 4: you know, nobody has the formula, you know, but you
Speaker 4: want to be you want to be sound in your approach.
Speaker 4: And I think you have to look at these components.
Speaker 4: And I'm touching on Jeff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you may. I mean you look at quarterbacks. Unfortunately,
Speaker 3: they get drafted at the highest in the first round,
Speaker 3: are sometimes going to the worst supporting cast. Now you're
Speaker 3: asking that quarterback to go out and compete like he's
Speaker 3: at Alabama with a five star class of athletes, when
Speaker 3: that's really not what you're offered in the team you're
Speaker 3: going to. And then can you stay healthy long enough
Speaker 3: in order to allow them to build the roster so
Speaker 3: you have that supporting cast around you. And you know,
Speaker 3: sometimes quarterbacks are treaty treated the most unfairly in their
Speaker 3: route to success.
Speaker 1: Or Tom and Jerry. As you mentioned Jerry, Tom and Jerry.
Speaker 1: I just caught that myself. This is no cartoon. This
Speaker 1: is no cartoon.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: Like you mentioned the turnover on coaches, I believe since
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, they've all overturned already. And so at
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. So now you got to hear the Bears
Speaker 1: have another offensive coordinator. You've got a passing game coordinator.
Speaker 1: You've got a run game coordinator, slash offensive line coach.
Speaker 1: You've got a quarterback coach. You've got an assistant quarterback
Speaker 1: coach who played in the league as av Ryan Griffin here.
Speaker 1: So they're trying to build a lot of people to,
Speaker 1: as you say, enhance the most difficult position in sports,
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. But you know, once these guys get
Speaker 1: a name for themselves, then now they're head coaching candidates. Right,
Speaker 1: It's a cycle.
Speaker 4: Yeah, The Jeff and the dynamic is tough. And you
Speaker 4: know the other thing, Jeff and I learned this in Chicago.
Speaker 4: Chicago's that market very tough, very tough, very hard for
Speaker 4: a quarterback to be successful in Chicago. That's a fact.
Speaker 4: You know, I saw it firsthand. It's tough. They really,
Speaker 4: you know, they're on you. It's not like when I
Speaker 4: was in Tampa or other places. You know, it's very tough,
Speaker 4: you know, with the scrutiny that you have. And you
Speaker 4: know when players or coaches tell you, well, we don't
Speaker 4: read or listen to that bull crap. They listen, they read,
Speaker 4: they hear. If they don't, their family their friends are
Speaker 4: telling them. It's tough emotionally, So that's why I say,
Speaker 4: you need to let the guy settle, you know, let
Speaker 4: them settle in, let them, let them get to know
Speaker 4: the ropes a little bit, help him, you know, and uh,
Speaker 4: you know the thinking. You know, I would if I
Speaker 4: were coming in, I'd said, what are we going to
Speaker 4: ask him to do? The less he has to do
Speaker 4: post snap, the better his chances are to develop. See
Speaker 4: what I'm saying, Let's let's keep those reads as simple
Speaker 4: as we can, knowing it's it's a it is a
Speaker 4: complicated game, but let's not over complicate it for him.
Speaker 4: You know, let's talk about that. You know, let's have
Speaker 4: be an a fishing offense. We don't necessarily have to
Speaker 4: come out, you know and put thirty thirty five up
Speaker 4: on the board because we got the number one pick
Speaker 4: in the draft. You know, that's not my goal me personally,
Speaker 4: you know, I want to make sure that we know
Speaker 4: are going to build a good foundation and then in
Speaker 4: time he'll reach his ceiling. Okay, but we got to
Speaker 4: help them. We got and we got to do everything
Speaker 4: we can, and we can't think what Tom desperately Okay, desperately.
Speaker 4: You know, people that think desperately usually think stupidly okay,
Speaker 4: and I've been there. I know that firsthand, you know, so.
Speaker 1: We're not going to ask you when you got desperate.
Speaker 1: We won't ask for any examples. Last thing, though, I
Speaker 1: want to touch on Julius Peppers and then we'll let
Speaker 1: you go. Jerry, more more than kind with your time.
Speaker 1: I forgot about this, and Tom, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you remember this, but in the two thousand and six
Speaker 1: collective Bargaining Agreement there was a clause that there was
Speaker 1: no salary cap in twenty ten. Remember that I forgot
Speaker 1: I did so no salary cap in twenty ten. So
Speaker 1: I remember NFL Network flew me out to talk about
Speaker 1: the Bears free agent Hall in twenty ten, and Julius
Speaker 1: Pepper's obviously heading into the Hall of Fame and started
Speaker 1: what turned out to be an impactful few years with
Speaker 1: the Bears before he went elsewhere. But NFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: and I remember sitting in that room with a lot
Speaker 1: of different people just sending me a lot of arrows about, ah,
Speaker 1: is this really going to help the Bears with this?
Speaker 1: And you know, we were in the NFC Championship Game
Speaker 1: and a whisker away from being in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But how impactful was Julius from your seat and just
Speaker 1: his overall career as a former I think number two
Speaker 1: pick in the draft.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, you know, Jeffy, I thought one of
Speaker 4: the things that we did really really well, and I
Speaker 4: read at our pro department, Bobby DePaul, Morocco, Brown, Kevin Turks.
Speaker 4: We did a great job in free agency. If you
Speaker 4: look at the free agents we had, I don't you
Speaker 4: know that we really paid money to you know, I'm
Speaker 4: not just talking about you know, any free agent you know,
Speaker 4: but look at you know, contracts that were lucrative. I
Speaker 4: think we had a really high batting average, and I
Speaker 4: know we did. And Julius, you know, given you know,
Speaker 4: he had some things being said about him. You know,
Speaker 4: basketball player playing football. You know, a great talent, but
Speaker 4: you know, could he go fifteen rounds? So to speak,
Speaker 4: you're gonna give him the money? What are you going
Speaker 4: to get? You know? So all those things were in
Speaker 4: my mind, and we did an in order amount of
Speaker 4: work on him, particularly our coaches. I really give credit
Speaker 4: to our coaches to in this one. And we were
Speaker 4: sold that this guy loved football, you know, his work ethic, everything,
Speaker 4: and we knew the impact he was had. Jeff, this guy,
Speaker 4: this guy was special. I never seen the things you
Speaker 4: know that he could do. And I've been around some
Speaker 4: pretty good players, now I had never seen, you know,
Speaker 4: guys do what he do at his size. He was rare,
Speaker 4: probably the best pure athlete you know, I've ever seen.
Speaker 4: And now, hey, I'm looking at her Lacker too when
Speaker 4: I say this, Okay, but Peppers, you won't see this.
Speaker 4: He's a generational talent. So you know, he was a
Speaker 4: very good player for us. The thing that really struck
Speaker 4: me when I look back at him, his humility. The
Speaker 4: kid he was just so humble about, you know, himself,
Speaker 4: and you know, a lot like her Lacker that way.
Speaker 4: Just humble, you know. And I couldn't be any happier
Speaker 4: for him too. These guys are not only you know,
Speaker 4: great players going to Canton, they're great people, which is
Speaker 4: you know, which is a good story for football.
Speaker 1: No question, need more great stories like that. You're going
Speaker 1: to be there in Canton, Jeff, I don't know that.
Speaker 4: I'm not, Jeff, come on, no, it's too close to
Speaker 4: young Stan. Now, I'm close to Youngstan, and I don't
Speaker 4: know that Youngstown's that's the best place for me to
Speaker 4: be right now. I'm only teaser. I love Youngstown, I
Speaker 4: love Canton, the Canton Bulldogs.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, but hey, one of your own in Canton
Speaker 1: going to be in shrine and Canton. It's got to
Speaker 1: feel good even to this day.
Speaker 4: Yeah, real good.
Speaker 1: Jeff, Hey, this was fun. Appreciate it so much. Jerry,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us.
Speaker 4: Okay, good seeing you guys. Tom. Good seeing you and Jeff.
Speaker 4: Always a pleasure, buddy.
Speaker 3: Thanks Jerry.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by a PNC official Bank of
Speaker 1: the Bears and Busy Heart Seltzer Flavors for every Vibe
Speaker 1: Celebrate Sponsorbly Motion of Course Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jeff
Speaker 1: and Tom wrapping things up on the podcast, he says
Speaker 1: the same lines as he did when he was here, Right,
Speaker 1: They just ring true. It takes me back with Jerry.
Speaker 1: Always loved Jerry.
Speaker 3: You know what's weird is any ex player, any ex
Speaker 3: front off member of the front office, it's always so
Speaker 3: refreshing to talk to them once they're out of the seat.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And it's the same thing with our guy Jason McKee.
Speaker 3: You know, we covered him as a player and you
Speaker 3: kind of have a different approach, and now we're workmates
Speaker 3: together and you just love his personality and you love
Speaker 3: what he's become. And it's a great opportunity to talk
Speaker 3: to Jerry Off after all the years of seriousness that
Speaker 3: every time you see him, that's what our that's what
Speaker 3: the approach was. It was always professional.
Speaker 1: A couple of things I want to get over here
Speaker 1: before we wrap things up. Montes Sweat was on Chris
Speaker 1: Long's podcast, The green Light podcast that he does every week.
Speaker 1: Asked if he prefers a new defensive tackle out of
Speaker 1: this draft or another edge. He picked edge, not because
Speaker 1: that's a tough decision, but at another guy on the
Speaker 1: outside to free him up. He says he's not losing
Speaker 1: to the Packers this year. Jump. They were talking about
Speaker 1: the Packers and how you know they're they're going to
Speaker 1: be a tough team, and he wasn't having it. So
Speaker 1: I like that that's refreshing. And he loved up TJ. Edwards,
Speaker 1: who he was shocked at Philadelphia let him go on
Speaker 1: free agency. So I like hearing that from a veteran
Speaker 1: who was dumped in here finished the nine games strong,
Speaker 1: dominating those nine games and is a big reason why
Speaker 1: there's so much an arrow up on the Bears defense.
Speaker 3: You know, one thing about having an edge rusher is
Speaker 3: it thins out the protection. Now it's got the direction
Speaker 3: protection going in two different areas. Say we are playing
Speaker 3: against Reggie White. I could sit in there and help
Speaker 3: on the interior defensive lineman, and then Jay would come
Speaker 3: over and take control, and then I could go out
Speaker 3: and help Van Horn on Reggie White. And so you've
Speaker 3: got two guys that are playing next to each other.
Speaker 3: Of dominance that you can always have three guys on two.
Speaker 3: If you have edge rushers at the opposite end of
Speaker 3: the rushing paths, then you got to spread things out.
Speaker 3: So I can see why Montese would say that.
Speaker 1: All right. The reported visits the top thirty visits at
Speaker 1: Tallas Hall include a bunch of wide receivers, and we
Speaker 1: know a lot of them. Reportedly Marvin Harrison, Malik Neighbors, Roma, Doonza,
Speaker 1: Xavier Worthy the fastest man at the combine the four
Speaker 1: to two to one forty from Texas and others. Edges
Speaker 1: late two a lot too, from UCLA, Dallas Turner, Alabama,
Speaker 1: Chop Robinson at Penn State, and then offensive lineman in
Speaker 1: Tier end and tackle Tyler Geyiton of Oklahoma is one
Speaker 1: of them. Jackson Powers Johnson the center from Oregon, Graham
Speaker 1: Barton from Duke Zech Frasier the interior offensive linean from
Speaker 1: West Virginia, and a couple tight ends Brock Bauers from
Speaker 1: Georgia and Ben Sinnett from Kansas. So Kansas State. Excuse me.
Speaker 1: So that doesn't mean that this is where they're headed.
Speaker 1: But I think we all agree though. Offensive line, edge
Speaker 1: wide receiver, if they keep it at nine, or even
Speaker 1: if they trade down out of nine and pick up
Speaker 1: an extra pick or two, seems to be where most
Speaker 1: of the analysts are looking at where the Bears will
Speaker 1: go after the likely selection of Caleb Williams at number one.
Speaker 1: Any of these guys stick out.
Speaker 3: To you, Yeah, Dallas Turner, I really like his get off.
Speaker 3: I like his length. I like his ability to get
Speaker 3: around the corner. He's got good bendability, he's got good
Speaker 3: feet work. I like the UCLA kid. I think he
Speaker 3: when you look at his athleticism in some of the
Speaker 3: drills that they did at the combine, not necessarily the forty.
Speaker 3: That's what I pay attention to, and I think he's
Speaker 3: a really clever athlete. Obviously you named all those receivers.
Speaker 3: I don't think he could go wrong with any of.
Speaker 1: The one hundred percent right. You can't go wrong. You
Speaker 1: can't go wrong.
Speaker 3: Maybe I need to do I wish, I, you know,
Speaker 3: could do a little bit more in depth about the background,
Speaker 3: about their work ethic, about their commitment to the sport,
Speaker 3: about their commitment to the sport after they're gifted millions
Speaker 3: of dollars, because man, that changes a lot of you know,
Speaker 3: you know, just factors about about guys, you know, and
Speaker 3: so there's you know, other things that I, you know,
Speaker 3: you kind of can take away from a player if
Speaker 3: you have an inside the building conversation.
Speaker 1: Game Day snacking costs for good foods chunky guacamolee made
Speaker 1: with hasa, avocados, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and a squeeze of
Speaker 1: lime juice. Score some today at your local grocery store.
Speaker 1: Game Day is guac Day. I know that players are
Speaker 1: very particular about their helmets, and the NFL and the
Speaker 1: NFLPA have been working. The NFL awarding grants for companies
Speaker 1: to research the most BOSI health related and safe helmets
Speaker 1: you can possibly get for the sport, but I just
Speaker 1: saw this. So they're introducing five new helmets for the
Speaker 1: season that tested better than any helmet ever worn in
Speaker 1: the NFL, A big advancement in helmet safety innovation, and
Speaker 1: so a record twelve new helmet models eligible for players
Speaker 1: to wear for the season. Some are not some have
Speaker 1: been eliminated. So if you want to play in the NFL,
Speaker 1: you got to pick one of these twelve. And now
Speaker 1: this year there's more position specific helmets. I know this
Speaker 1: is probably sounding crazy to you, but it's more than
Speaker 1: ever before. Eight new position specific models introduced the season
Speaker 1: to mitigate impacts more likely to be sustained by individual positions.
Speaker 1: They don't name the positions, but they were introduced to
Speaker 1: the offensive defensive lines a year ago, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1: So all of this is as constantly evolving every year
Speaker 1: trying to improve this. As a former player who was
Speaker 1: probably pretty particular on what he wore in a different
Speaker 1: time and place, obviously, with technology being what it is,
Speaker 1: how do you feel about this as a player, a
Speaker 1: modern day player looking back as a former player, you.
Speaker 3: Know, I'm glad they get players a lot of different options.
Speaker 3: Whatever makes them feel the safest but you know, there
Speaker 3: was unfortunately for me being a bald guy and I
Speaker 3: sweat so profusely that I needed a helmet that stayed
Speaker 3: above my head. Because when I tried to go to
Speaker 3: the latest technology and they had the system called the
Speaker 3: Pack three, and it was a series of sponges that
Speaker 3: was covered in plastic, and when I got sweaty, it
Speaker 3: slipped so badly it'd come down and break the bridge
Speaker 3: of my nose. Wow, And so I couldn't wear that
Speaker 3: helmet anymore. So I had to go and I got
Speaker 3: introduced to a bike helmet, and then it had a
Speaker 3: bladder that fit around your head and you could put
Speaker 3: air in it to keep it floating kind of above
Speaker 3: the impact zone. So sometimes you have to do what,
Speaker 3: according to you best fits your head style and your
Speaker 3: hair style and everything else that go along with it.
Speaker 1: And what's the impact of the weight of that helmet
Speaker 1: on you minimal?
Speaker 3: You know, you really don't pay attention to it.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: I was watching a thing that they had TV about
Speaker 3: the King's guards, and they wear a helmet year round
Speaker 3: that's in between eight and thirteen pounds. They said they
Speaker 3: have the strongest necks in the world. I think That's
Speaker 3: one of the things as a young football players you
Speaker 3: develop through time is to develop those neck muscles where
Speaker 3: you don't feel the weight of the helmet. It's more
Speaker 3: of a protector rather than something that you're paying attention
Speaker 3: to the weight.
Speaker 1: So let me get this straight. You are talking about England.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, So they got helmets that are made out
Speaker 3: of actual bear skin and they weigh in between eight
Speaker 3: and thirteen pounds. They wear them year round, no matter
Speaker 3: if the temperatures are severely cold or severely hot. And
Speaker 3: I think of what is the you know when you
Speaker 3: look at the race car drivers and you look at
Speaker 3: football players, and I introduced to that type of helmet.
Speaker 3: You know, it's amazing what you know, what you have,
Speaker 3: what's expected of you.
Speaker 1: You never know what you're going to learn from Tom
Speaker 1: Thayer and the Bears, et cetera. Podcast. That's why it's
Speaker 1: et cetera. That that is only a Tom Thayer thought.
Speaker 3: Yeah, hey, listen, you know.
Speaker 1: I thought you were talking about when you said Kings.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, is he talking about the LA Kings hockey
Speaker 1: team or second.
Speaker 3: The Royal And you know, you don't volunteer for that,
Speaker 3: you're chosen for that so wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just like you're chosen for this taste like Miller Time,
Speaker 1: celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories
Speaker 1: and three point two carbs for twelve ounces.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, you have to you have to be above five
Speaker 3: to ten, so I have no shots. You can you
Speaker 3: can be king, but you can't be a king.
Speaker 1: At five seven and a half on a good day.
Speaker 1: All right, that's gonna wrap us up. We appreciate the
Speaker 1: time of Jerry Angelo, the former Bears general manager, and
Speaker 1: we appreciate you listening. Please subscribe now the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your
Speaker 1: podcasts for tome, I'm Jeff. Thanks for listening, everybody, and
Speaker 1: bear down.