WEBVTT - Al Harris talks winning mentality | Bears Weekly 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.920 Welcome in to Bears Weekly, powered by IGS Energy, a 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.920 Chicago Bears Network production. Bears Weekly is brought to you 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:13.560 by Advocate Healthcare, Athletic, Goo Physical Therapy, C D Kellaghy, 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.680 Connie's Pizza, IGS Energy, and Meller Liked. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:19.800 Here are your hosts. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.560 Jeff Chiliac, aka the Mayor of Bearsville, and his sidekick 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.400 Tom the Surfmaster Thayer. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.400 Well, we're inching towards Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft, 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:32.640 and with four picks in the top sweventy five, the 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.400 Bears poise to make some noise. I keep saying that 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.320 every off season, but it's true. It's the case. Welcome 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:40.600 to Bears Weekly out of ESPN one thousand of the 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.880 Bears Ready Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.400 Bher Jeff Joniac joined by former Bears quarterback Jim Miller 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.120 hod off his show on SyRI XMNFL Radio. I'm Jeff 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.120 Joniyac coming up in the program. We're joined by Bears 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.000 defensive passing game coordinator and defensive back coach Al Harris. 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.480 To sit down Tom and I did with the former 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:02.360 Green Bay Packer defensive back former ego, and then we 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.800 go back fifty years ago to the nineteen seventy five draft, 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.720 believe it or not, fifty years when the Bears drafted 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.360 Walter Payton fourth overall. He shared the backfield with our 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.880 guest rolland Harper. They were a one to two punch 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.200 in nineteen seventy five and beyond damn brillly Jordan tread 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.160 Up and in the ESPN studio, Jack McGrath. Our producers, 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.000 the executive producer of the Bears Reading Network is Eric Ostrowski. 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:27.840 Good evening one, and I'm gonna start with Jim. When 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:28.840 you go to Green Bay. 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.840 I will leave Wednesday night. Yeah, so I know a 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.360 lot of people have already arrived there. It's you know, 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.520 it's pretty funny. I got a call today on the 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:42.800 show that they're making sure that the water sanitation works 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.240 for everybody, because even on a game day in Green 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.680 Bay takes three days to clean out for eighty thousand people. 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.240 So they're trying to do all the logistics when about 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.880 two hundred and fifty thousand people show up for the 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.800 NFL Draft, So just to make sure it's sanitary in 0:01:58.200 --> 0:01:59.280 Green Bay, believe it now? 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.600 Do you want to think two hundred and fifty thousand 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:03.000 fit in Green Bay for this. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.040 So it's kind of odd though, because the population of 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.280 Green Bay is significantly less than wherever the draft has 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.240 been held up unto this point. And then you think 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.120 of the accommodations in the Green Bay and the surrounding 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.799 Green Bay area, where are they going to put them all? 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.920 So I'm actually interested to see how this whole three 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.480 day draft process in Green Bay, Wisconsin is going to 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:27.440 work itself out. 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.840 But I will say I do get inspired when they 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.360 have the commercial of the character. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:37.240 Playing Vince Lombardi talking about the importance of life in 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.000 the NFL in what it should mean to every one 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.720 of these guys, and because it kind of brings you 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.320 back to a time way before any of us were 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.080 around the NFL. But you know, Green Bay is still 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.280 a place that you know, a lot of people know. 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.079 It's one of the originations of the whole NFL along 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.799 with but no bigger than Chicago. But I'm interested to 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:02.720 see how it all goes goes. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.839 Together exactly no bigger than Chicago. And you know, both 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.040 TV guys have been monitoring what's been going on, checking 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.440 your sources, looking at the tom you got any clarity 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:14.160 at number ten. 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.880 No, I have none. 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.960 It's the most unpredictable draft in the history of drafts 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.200 that we've been following, that I've been following as an adult, 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:25.600 and so I don't think if you sit there and 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.400 I'll go I know exactly what the Bears are going 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.639 to do at number ten. No, you don't, because I've 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.560 read thirty drafts and there's sixteen different choices at number ten. 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.760 So I don't think anybody knows exactly what's gonna happen. 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.040 And I'm not so sure cam Ward would be going 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.800 number one if there was another a more competitive quarterback 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:47.560 outdoor out there that would go toe to toe with them. 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:49.880 Jim, you're on board with that, thinking. 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.720 Well, I'm with Tom. I think you know what's interesting 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.920 is how running backs have been devalued over the years, 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.360 and then Saquan has the record year that he has 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.400 last year for the Philadelphia Eagles, and all you hear 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.400 about is running backs going into this draft. Denver Sean 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.160 Payton basically comes out and says they're going to draft 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.640 a running back. Nick Cassario, the general managers of the 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:17.000 Houston Texans, we need more speed at running back. Genty 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.160 has been mocked to the Bears. How many times? How 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.559 many times has the Boise State running back been mocked 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.400 to the Bears because of Ben Johnson in the success 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.760 of Montgomery and Gibbs up there in Detroit. So it 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.720 seems like running backs are now taking the stage and 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:32.800 probably only two were going to be drafted in the 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.599 first round in my mind, but as the draft rolls along, 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:37.919 a lot of running backs are going to be drafted. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.039 Jim, we talked about Walter Payton being drafted fifty years 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.919 ago today Jackson State. You know, you think of the 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:48.720 comparative college and college conferences of where Boise stayed at 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.280 and where Jackson was state. Jackson State was back fifty 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.640 years ago. So it's amazing that the Bears had the 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:59.279 foresight to realize that Walter Payton could come and be 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.000 one of the greatest running backs in the history of 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:06.120 the NFL. And to me, uh, you know, Ashton's got 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.960 a you know, walk with that same confidence that he 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:14.760 walks around with and sending that letter to all the gms. 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.560 Yeah, I mean, even Adam Schefter's out there saying now 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.560 some things that you know, there's hope in the building 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.960 that that Ashton gent would fall and all that. But 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.480 you know, as we know, uh and I heard Daniel 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.760 Jeremiah I think on Serious XM today. You know, he's 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.240 just he's putting together his final one fifter he did, 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.200 he dropped it. He's got to do the mock draft 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.880 and he goes Listen, nobody's telling you anything that's any 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.520 truthful this to it. You know, it's just it's it's 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.719 agent talk, it's wishful thinking. It's maybe he's in wannabe. 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.040 So yeah, you know, I'd like it. Back in the day, 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:51.080 I I wanted to know, I dig I want to know. 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.960 I'd like things to be like Christmas morning. Let me 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.520 find out. Let me be on the edge of my 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.960 seat sitting there at Soldier Field at our middle light 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.919 draft party. And Okay, with the tenth pick of the 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.960 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears select, and we're either going 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:08.320 crazier like wait what how? 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:08.560 Wait? 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.640 What we traded it? What we're going up down? That's 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.480 the joy of the draft. It's that that adrenaline rush. 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.200 I know I don't back in the day. You know, 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.159 there's there's young folks out there that don't realize this. 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:24.000 Guys were signed weeks in advance. I mean, they they 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.360 were done. It was done. Deal, like you knew who 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.320 you were drafted, they had signed him before you. Some 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:33.240 some teams wouldn't draft you unless you signed Gret right. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.760 Well, especially now how the CBA has changed everything. I mean, uh, 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:43.200 I'm trying to think of the last quarterback, Oh, Sam Bradford. 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:48.640 Sam Bradford was the last quarterback drafted under the previous CBA, 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.159 and if you remember, all the veterans were mad because 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.799 he literally made more money without taking an NFL snap, 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.640 like say, than Matthew Stafford, the starter for the Detroit 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.240 Lions at that point. And you know a lot of 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.680 people just thought it was wrong, and you're right. A 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.240 signability was part of it because think about Mario Williams 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.320 got drafted by Houston and they were gonna take Reggie Bush, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.280 but Reggie Bush was not gonna sign with the Houston Texas. 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.720 So they said, well, hey, we can sign Mario Williams, 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.880 so we'll just draft the defensive end is what they did. 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.760 And now now it's not that that way. So what 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:28.800 you're drafting, you're gonna slotted, it slated and it's pretty 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:31.040 much what you're gonna get. But you don't know now 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.680 until after the draft because signability is no longer an issue. 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.040 You know, we know all about signability. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:42.160 So I remember when stan Thomas was drafted the first 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.280 round out of University of Texas offensive tackle and we're 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.240 getting ready to play our first preseason game together and 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.160 he was gonna start because Keith van Horn was holding out, 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.240 and stan Thomas asked me, he goes, does it make 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.640 you mad that I'm making six hundred and seventy five 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:01.000 thousand this year and you're making one hundred and fifty 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:02.760 before kickoff? 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.920 With a straight face or just to be an irritant, no, 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:07.280 with a straight face. 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.000 And you know, he was just a young kid at 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.440 the time, and I kind of. 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:15.400 You took it out on the guy you were blocking 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.480 because that would have made my blood goal, heywire. 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:21.000 Yeah, But you know, again, that's just part of it. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.000 You know, when you think about some of the contracts 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.720 in the Sam Bradford deal and how much that was, 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.200 they talked about how much that he was gonna make 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:30.840 and how much some of the other quarterbacks weren't making 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:31.440 at the time. 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.400 It was, you know, just just part of the game. 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.520 Yeah, part of the game, I mean, and all this 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.679 running back talk is listen. If you if you're if 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.000 you're a good player and you're gonna make my team better, 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:46.160 I can use you. So I don't care what round 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:50.240 I get you in. But it's interesting because obviously it's changed, 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.880 and with the era of the passing game, you're looking 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.000 at things that go beyond just the raw talent to 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.560 run of the football. And that's how that's why some 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:03.800 of these guys have been devalued. I guess over time 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:05.920 because the balls in the air more. But you know, 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:10.120 pass protecting and receiving skills are her essential and so 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.440 you're looking at those kind of backs as well. So 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.199 all right, we're gonna talk to a former Bears running 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.120 back when we come back. As Tom indicated, and I 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.679 suggest that it is the fiftieth anniversary of the nineteen 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.720 seventy five draft, not tonight. That draft was done in January, 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.640 sixteen days after the Super Bowl in nineteen seventy five, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:32.600 and it was seventeen rounds. We'll talk on Roland Harper, 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.520 who was a seventeenth round draft pick of the Chicago 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.480 Bears and was a starter of the backfield with Walter 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.160 Payton in nineteen seventy five with Bob Avelini at some 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.880 point this season, the starting quarterback from that same draft. 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:46.959 We'll talk about it with Roland when we come back. 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.319 This is Bears Weekly ANDYESPN one thousand of the Bears 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:50.000 Radio Network. 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:54.480 Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly. Become a Bears Radio network. 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.079 Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff. 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:04.920 Jodie, the Millerite. Chicago Bears Draft Party back at Soldier 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.760 Field coming up on Thursday, April twenty fourth. Celebrate our 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.600 number ten pick and enjoy live draft coverage and analysis, 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.920 on field activities, a locker room tour, closeout sale, and more. 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:19.000 Buy tickets now at Chicago Bears dot com. This last draft, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:20.760 I'll try one more time to get to Tom Payer 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:24.400 and Jim Miller Jersey before they sell him out at 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.440 the draft on Thursday night. And I would love to 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.400 have a Roland Harper Jersey. Roland Harper one of the 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.600 nicest guys that's in the Bears family, and he's at events. 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:36.920 We see him all the time out and about, always 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:38.840 a smile on his face. Kind enough to join us. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.960 I reached out in what is the fiftieth year anniversary 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.760 of the nineteen seventy five draft Roland Harper joining us 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:47.400 on the phone, rolling how you doing this evening? 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.600 I am blessed to be here. Thank you for having me. 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.080 Appreciate it, appreciate I can't wait to talk to you 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.520 because this sparked my curiosity because NFL Films had something 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.960 on the NFL network last week about the seventy five 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.880 draft and Walter, and of course the focus was on 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.360 Walter and Robert Brazil being from Jackson State and the 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.600 two of them becoming Hall of famers. But you know 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.000 you were in that draft as well, and once upon 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:16.640 a time, I think people who are younger don't realize 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.280 there were seventeen rounds of the draft. You were picked 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.439 four twenty by the beloved Bears in nineteen seventy five 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.720 that had a nice career here, and you remain in 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.760 the top ten rushers of all time on the Bears 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.280 rushing list, of course, with Walter Payton number one. Can 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:36.000 you take us through that experience in nineteen seventy five 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.200 and out of Louisiana Tech, waiting that long in that 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.240 day to be drafted and then pairing up with the 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:43.360 all time great running back. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.560 Well, one of the things I really realized at that 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:48.240 point in time, I thought I was going to be 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:53.360 a walk on somebody camp. They didn't know that, you know, 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.560 seven ky round me had never dawned on me. But 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:01.640 a friend of mine who happened to be a newsperson 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.040 and Louisiana called me up and said, Bowman, you got drafted. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.240 I said, you got to be kidding me. He said, 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.160 he got the Jaffins in the last round. I said, well, great, 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:15.559 at least they recognized I have some talent, but not 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:17.880 knowing that I was going to be paired with one 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.640 of the greats, Walter being a seventeen round charist and 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:25.480 he's been the first, you know. But it was God's 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:31.720 state that we ended up together because the similarities and 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.000 me he's in attack in the Chicago Bears at that 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:38.040 time was basically simular. I block for a guy, but 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.800 I number Charles clicked six McDaniels and I ran a 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.000 little bit too, caught the passes and that kind of thing. 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:46.720 So they realized that I had a little talent. And 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:48.120 it was kind of one of those things. When Ed 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.640 McCaskey was looking he had the last draft of every year, 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.760 he put his eyes, put his hands over his eyes 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.440 and ran down the board and stopped his finger and 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.400 he says that that's the guy I want. Didn't know 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:03.280 I was going to stay. 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.720 Hey, Roland, how are you doing this tomp there? And 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.360 it's great to talk to you. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:08.840 Hey, Roland, thanks so yeah. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.520 Well from being from Louisiana and then Walter being from Mississippi, 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.360 did you know anything about him? Was there any like 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:20.600 cross treads between you two that he was familiar of 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.719 you or you familiar of him, or was it the 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:25.880 first time meet and greet when you showed up to 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.240 the Bears, that. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.520 Was the first time meeting Greek. Matter of fact, they 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.920 had the highlights shams of him when we came in, 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.280 and that was only the only highlights that they gave 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.800 of him. And his running style and running at Jackson State, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:40.880 and I said, wow, what a running back. You know, 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:42.920 remind me of a lot of guys that I've seen 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:47.320 on Television Company before, especially Gail Fairs and the way 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.439 he ran. But Walter had a little bit different running 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:54.640 style than the Gail, but yet still something similar. But 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.840 I knewed that I had a chance to make that team, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:03.160 thinking okay, how can I fit into this this this scenario, 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.640 and of course Jack Party was the coach at that 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.880 point in time, and I think he recognized my value 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.800 and how I would fit into the offense once I 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.000 threw my first block. I'm a veteran player. 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.240 Miller, good to talk, Yeah, good to talk again? I 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.280 mean good buddy. Uh, just that mentality, like you said, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.240 you know, you know, even this year's draft, I interview 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:32.680 a lot of guys are like, you know, if they 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:34.400 know they're not going to be a high draft pick 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.600 and they think, you know six, look at Perty, he's 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.760 a mister irrelevant. For god's sake, seventeen rounds, you're draft 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.080 in the last round. But yeah, you had the mentality 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.960 like I'm going to come in here and you know, 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.160 act like I belong. You know, maybe this touch on 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.280 that because, like you said, from your first block on 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.320 you made it. Well, what do they always say, remove 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.520 all doubt and there is no doubt. It sounds like 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.160 you removed all doubt pretty early. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.360 I removed all doubts. The biggest thing that I had 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.160 going for me is that my ability to be able 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.600 to block anybody. Don't care who it was, how big 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.160 he was, how small he was, whatever it is. My 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.200 assignment was a blockie I was going to Blockie, period. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:15.720 I knew I had somebody in the backfield, and I'm 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.800 a team player. I knew I had somebody in the 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.280 backfield that I wanted to make sure that we as 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.800 a team won. There's no ironte so you got to 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.040 do your part. And that's that's the position that I took, 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:28.480 that I got to do my part. 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.360 Roland Harper, our guest here on ESPN one thousand of 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.920 the Bears radio network, ran for nine hundred ninety two 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:39.680 yards in nineteen seventy eight, the year Walter had thirteen 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.600 ninety five? How bad did you want that fourth digit? 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.480 I've ordered that eight yards as bad as I could 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:52.320 get it. Upper upper management caught us called differently, So 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.960 I'm not going to say why, but you can all imagine. 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.600 And the thing of it is is that it's been 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.160 the first in their history that the two backs in 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.360 the same back that would have gotten the over at 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.680 pouting guys rushing. But I just said, okay, if it's 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.760 not God's will, then hey, it's okay. And I think 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.520 that you know, we won a lot of games and 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.720 Watcher Hall of Fame, so I think I did my. 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.480 Job, you know, Roland when you when you think guys 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:27.360 like Pete Johnson or Larry Zonka or John Riggins, the 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.680 other great fullbacks in the history of the NFL, you know, 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.680 the role of the full back back then when everything 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:38.680 was mostly an eye formation quarterback under center. You you 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.880 guys had a much bigger role in the success of 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.240 the halfbacks of those of those days. And you know, 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.560 can you talk a little bit about the stress in 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.640 the of your importance in the role that you guys 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.640 had in the overall success of offenses. 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:57.560 Well, I can tell you this. I was not as 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.880 big as those guys. Zonka right, which he was absolutely 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.520 a horse. But the thing of it is that I 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.000 could be both ways. I could play both ways. I 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.600 could play fullback, I could play halfback. And at the 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:14.280 beginning when Walter couldn't play, you remember he played in 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.560 the All Star Game and got hurt so in the 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:20.240 preseason and everything else. I was a major running back, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.160 one of the major running back and also the fullback, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.240 and I could take his positions running back as I 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.880 did it in college as well. I could run the ball, 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:32.800 and they found out in seventy eight give the ball 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.040 he could run. Walton could block as well. So he 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.119 and I were like bookends. When you've seen one, you 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.080 see the other. When I had the block and knock 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:44.000 somebody out of the way, Walter followed the same thing 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.720 with me in following, and so it was one of 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.520 those things where you couldn't just key on Walter, you 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:51.640 had to watch me too. But it made it easier 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.280 for Walter to be able to get those yards when 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.760 you couldn't key on the two of us, especially when 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.120 we were in a split backfield or a brown set. 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.280 How much does it pain you, Walter? I mean, there's 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.560 a few teams that still use twenty one personnel. They'll 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.480 put fullback in there like you will, like say the 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.760 forty nine ers they use you check or Baltimore with 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.000 Patrick Ricard. And but now you know, you look at 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:20.160 last year's Sakuon Barkley rushing for two thousand. He kind 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:22.320 of put Philadelphia on his back all the way to 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:27.080 the championship game. And you know, and why why do 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.720 you think in your mind with all these young quarterbacks 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.800 who are struggling, why teams don't run the ball more? 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.439 Well, they're more into the pass. They're more into the pass, 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:41.199 and they're more into you know, meeting a big offensive 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.240 line to be able to block and give that pass. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.680 And they want more receivers, but you know, we usialize 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.520 what we had. We had Me and Walton of course, 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:53.920 the receivers that we had and tight ends that we had, 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.199 we may do with what we had. Our line was 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.240 not that big. I think Noah Jackson was probably the 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.879 biggest guy on that line, two hundred and sixty five pounds, 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.080 so you know nowadays are three hundred. Now I can 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:09.200 tell you it is these guys running to day on 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.400 my word, they are kind of remind me of Barry Sanders. 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.959 You know, they're running and they're basically built almost the 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:22.879 same as Barkley. Low centered gravity, quick, good teat movement 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:26.760 and just give him a crease and then gone. So 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:28.639 and Walter was the same one. You give him a 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.080 crease pass the line and was gone. And our day 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.480 a fullback led gave him that space to get past 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.959 that secondary and it was gone. So a lot different. 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.119 But if the day's society, they're bigger and faster. 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.240 Roland Harper our guest. Final moments with the former Bears 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:50.200 fullback who had a terrific career with the Chicago Bears 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.560 and Walter Payton his running buddy back in those days. 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:56.320 Did you know in your heart of hearts psych no 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:01.080 one ever comes into the league knowing for sure they're 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.520 going to be a Hall of Famer. But was that 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.000 first season enough for you to know that, Okay, this 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.000 guy's gonna have a long career and be a Hall 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.159 of Famer And I'm happy to be a part of this. 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:15.840 My dad was exactly my idea. Like I said, I'm 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.119 a team player, and I knew if I did my 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.280 job what I was supposed to do to break him. 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.440 And after watching the pim of him in college, I 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:25.959 knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer. 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:29.520 I just knew that he was going to be up there, 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.439 that you'd just give him after chance. His determination and 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:36.120 run and drive was just that intest that it made 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.280 me want to do that much more to make sure 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:43.160 that he got that chance to break that line of streams, 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:46.960 break the secondary and get into the end zone. So yeah, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:47.560 I knew he. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:52.520 Was Hey, Rowland, number thirty four, number thirty four, number 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.200 thirty five. Was it just the number that the equipment 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.199 manager gave you the day you showed up or was 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.320