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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
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Speaker 1: conversation coming up here on Bears All Access. I'm Jeff
Speaker 1: Jonny AQ with Tom there and Jim and are joining
Speaker 1: us as we break down early in the week. We
Speaker 1: just had a show last Thursday. Show start, short turnaround,
Speaker 1: but no shortage of information coming through. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: a good show tonight. We got Badal Nichols and now second,
Speaker 1: your defensive lineman joining us in our next segment. And
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the hour tonight, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: joined by the Bears defensive rookie of the year in
Speaker 1: a three time Pro Bowl safety, the number six overall
Speaker 1: pick in nineteen ninety safety carry one of my favorite
Speaker 1: players on the Bears, going back aways at ten interceptions
Speaker 1: at rookie year. But without further Ado. We welcome in
Speaker 1: Tom and Jim will tackle news in the day. We've
Speaker 1: got three draft picks signed today, guys Riley Ridley the
Speaker 1: receiver out of Georgia, Stephen Denmark, the corner out of
Speaker 1: Adams to State, and Karrath White they're running back out
Speaker 1: of Florida Atlantic. Not difficult these days to sign rookies,
Speaker 1: but good again get them all in before OTA start
Speaker 1: next week, Start next week. Man, you said it, Jeff,
Speaker 1: You know, I'm glad the rookies nowadays get a chance
Speaker 1: to sign before the pressure of training camp, so they
Speaker 1: are around for OTAs and the mini camps and the
Speaker 1: other opportunities they have to be around the facility and
Speaker 1: around their teammates and getting the classroom because I think
Speaker 1: it really expedite their opportunity to play sooner. And when
Speaker 1: you look at guys, you know, from you know Eddie Jackson,
Speaker 1: for example, how quickly they are being included in, being
Speaker 1: evaluated as a pop possible contender for their position. I
Speaker 1: like the modern day signing of the NFL to get
Speaker 1: these players in house. Yeah, you know, just to get
Speaker 1: him a custom, get him acclimated. You know, just what
Speaker 1: the life is like to be a professional, how your
Speaker 1: days are going to be. And you know, I just
Speaker 1: think the more you're you know, familiar with your surroundings,
Speaker 1: you can just settle in a lot better and you
Speaker 1: get in a routine to really embark on your NFL career,
Speaker 1: to try and put yourself in the most advantageous position
Speaker 1: to have success early in your NFL career. But you're right, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of slot and slated or slated
Speaker 1: and slotted right now. Where you know, it's pretty much
Speaker 1: the ducks fall in a row pretty quickly, very rarely
Speaker 1: defined obviously the situation last year with Roquano over the language,
Speaker 1: but very rarely does that happen anymore in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And a couple of things over the weekend. James Daniels
Speaker 1: graduated from the University of Iowa, I believe, a biology
Speaker 1: major and he ripped out the He was wearing number
Speaker 1: sixty eighty wars Jersey Unity. So that was cool. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, and we really haven't talked about him as
Speaker 1: much because we're talking about all the skill positions all
Speaker 1: the time. But this is an ascending talent who's moving
Speaker 1: more than likely to Center after his ten starts and
Speaker 1: left guard last season, and this could be a player
Speaker 1: we're gonna see here for ten years, you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think they did. The Bears did a really smart
Speaker 1: job last year and keeping him an offensive guard, not
Speaker 1: putting too much on his plate, let him run to
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage without having to think about the center,
Speaker 1: quarterback exchange, the snap count, the different variations that he
Speaker 1: has to control in terms of the past protection responsibilities
Speaker 1: of all the blockers that are involved. So I think
Speaker 1: the best is yet to come. But as much as
Speaker 1: we're talking about James Daniels and his future, I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna benefit Cody Whitehair and he'll be a more powerful,
Speaker 1: stronger guard next to Charles Leno Jr. Yeah, Cody, I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what man, he's You just think about how
Speaker 1: valuable he is. And I know Tom and I have
Speaker 1: talked about him before. I mean, he played left tackle
Speaker 1: at Case State as well, So to play have a
Speaker 1: guy who can play both guard positions, the center position
Speaker 1: and if in a pinch, if asked to play tackle,
Speaker 1: he could do it. He really could do it. So
Speaker 1: it's really a credit to Cody white here, and I'm
Speaker 1: with Tom. It really was nice to let James Daniels
Speaker 1: settle in. It's a new offense. Don't put too much
Speaker 1: on his plate in terms of the calls. And that's
Speaker 1: what Harry Heaston. I think he had a plan and
Speaker 1: it's working to perfection so far. Had a heck of
Speaker 1: a game against the La Rams and Aaron Donald, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. James Daniels a player to watch the arrow
Speaker 1: up here as the Bears get ready for twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: When we come back, another player with an arrow up,
Speaker 1: Belal Nichols expected to join the program. We'll see how
Speaker 1: his offseason is going here on Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score back on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access helping us out here Lawrence and Adams Tazinski
Speaker 1: as always, Tom Fair and Jim Miller with Jeff Jonihan
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access please to be joined by
Speaker 1: second year defensive lineman Belal Nichols now as we look
Speaker 1: ahead to the twenty nineteen season. But I'll good evening.
Speaker 1: How you doing, man, I'm doing great? How are you guys? Fantastic?
Speaker 1: Good to have you. How's the offseason going for you?
Speaker 1: How you feeling and how's he getting back? Into the
Speaker 1: swing of things. Oh man, it's going awesome. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel it feels great to be back. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm having a pleasure right now. I'm being able to
Speaker 1: work with the d line and work with some of
Speaker 1: the veteran guys. So you know, it's great to undergo
Speaker 1: my first real all season as a professional. But the
Speaker 1: first play that we saw you take part in last
Speaker 1: year in training camp was at the nose guard position.
Speaker 1: But then your athleticism stood out and you were able
Speaker 1: to move up and down the line of scrimmage. When
Speaker 1: you talk about working with the defensive linement, is there
Speaker 1: anything they want you to do to change your body,
Speaker 1: gain weight, lose weight, gain strength, change your style because
Speaker 1: they were exposed to your up and down line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage ability. Yeah. So um, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: emphasis for me so far this all season has just
Speaker 1: been changing my body, not necessarily gaining or losing weight,
Speaker 1: but just cutting down the amount of fat I have
Speaker 1: on my body. So um, you know, so far this
Speaker 1: all season, I've been able to cut down a couple
Speaker 1: percent of fat off my body and really and really
Speaker 1: leaning up, which is going to be key for me. Um,
Speaker 1: and especially using my versatility, it's gonna be it's gonna
Speaker 1: be real big for me to continue to do that. Well,
Speaker 1: what's the ideal play plane? What you look for? Two eighty?
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, I think you were listed at two
Speaker 1: ninety last year. What are you looking for plane weight wise?
Speaker 1: If you are a leaner for yourself? Yeah, I definitely
Speaker 1: wasn't two ninety last year. I think they were going
Speaker 1: by my college weight. So last year I played that
Speaker 1: around like three or two three three. Um, this year
Speaker 1: I'll probably be somewhere in the same area. But a
Speaker 1: lot leaner got you and a lot stronger Blow Nichols,
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears All Access and Jeff, Tom
Speaker 1: and Jim joining you as well. You got in there
Speaker 1: and as time said, the versatility was key. But you know,
Speaker 1: you got a lot of stamps for a rookie, you know,
Speaker 1: three hundred and twenty eight on an established front. But
Speaker 1: that rotation is what every NFL team likes to give
Speaker 1: guys rest. Did you feel fresh when you got out there,
Speaker 1: even as you plowed through the rookie wall last year?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, most definitely. Um. You know, the wonderful thing
Speaker 1: about us, we have a lot of depth in the
Speaker 1: D line runs so um. You know, whenever I got
Speaker 1: in a game, I always felt fresh because it was
Speaker 1: never like we were in there for you know a
Speaker 1: huge amount of police um. And I feel that that's
Speaker 1: that's why we were able to be successful as a
Speaker 1: D line and as a defense in general. It's because
Speaker 1: we had so much depth and guys to you know,
Speaker 1: come in and come out and you know, our game
Speaker 1: not drop off at all. Well, your defensive line coach,
Speaker 1: coach Rogers brings an incredible teaching energy every day to practice.
Speaker 1: Are you sometimes surprised that he does such a great
Speaker 1: job of teaching the D line and he's an ex quarterback? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I actually am. I really didn't believe him the first
Speaker 1: time he told me he used to be a quarterback. Um,
Speaker 1: we argued back and forth. I I didn't believe him
Speaker 1: at all. So, you know, it's crazy because like you said,
Speaker 1: he brings the energy every day and you know, he's
Speaker 1: he's a he's a great teacher and he's helping me
Speaker 1: out of ways. I don't even think he really understands.
Speaker 1: So you know that it's kind of unique that you
Speaker 1: get a guy like that and he used to play
Speaker 1: quarterback in high school. I mean in college, careful Bala
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are great athletes. Brother, But let me let me
Speaker 1: ask you this. We I mean, it's really a credit
Speaker 1: to you that you earned the respect of your coaches,
Speaker 1: you know, the the trust to your coaches, because man,
Speaker 1: you played a lot, as Jeff mentioned, and it was
Speaker 1: early as the game against the Seattle Seahawks, and then
Speaker 1: that just kind of, you know, really moved up as
Speaker 1: the season went along and talk about your preparation and
Speaker 1: obviously the confidence in yourself because when you were called upon,
Speaker 1: I mean, you did your job pretty much every single
Speaker 1: time and ended up with three sacks your rookie year. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that that was one of the bigger things for me. Um.
Speaker 1: I would like to say that my FETs helped me
Speaker 1: out a lot with that. Just preparing how to prepare
Speaker 1: for a game week. Um, you know, coming out of college,
Speaker 1: it's it's a lot different than prepared for college game.
Speaker 1: It's a lot more detail, uh you know, a lot
Speaker 1: more mental mental stress that go into it. So guy's
Speaker 1: like a keen Nick Williams, uh, Eddie Goldman, all those
Speaker 1: guys are really helping me. Uh, you know, give me
Speaker 1: some advice on how to how to get ready for
Speaker 1: the week and think that they were that they would
Speaker 1: do that. They felt it still helped them, and I
Speaker 1: felt like it helped me. Also, there's defensive lineman below
Speaker 1: Nichols joining the program, always kind enough to join us.
Speaker 1: So he's been on this show several times already in
Speaker 1: his young NFL career. Delightful young man who's got great future.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you the quickness that you show firing
Speaker 1: out of your stands, off the line of scrimmage and
Speaker 1: whatever you were listed at and whatever you played at.
Speaker 1: If you were quick at three hundred, and you still
Speaker 1: want to get leaner and so forth, maintain that way,
Speaker 1: but be stronger. Is your game more quickness than to
Speaker 1: this strength? Or is that quickness and strength? Do you
Speaker 1: play that together as you make your moves in the
Speaker 1: in the in the small spaces of the of the
Speaker 1: of the trenches trenches UM. I felt like last year
Speaker 1: I was a lot more quicker than than powerful UM.
Speaker 1: But this year I got a huge emphasis on being
Speaker 1: almost equal. M. I want to be able to switch
Speaker 1: it up like like like I said earlier, like a
Speaker 1: lot of my game is based on versatility. So I
Speaker 1: thought this though if I was if I could get
Speaker 1: stronger this off season and continue to get quicker, it
Speaker 1: could really create some matchup problems for me and you know,
Speaker 1: can help me be even more successful. So that was
Speaker 1: definitely something that you know, I really wanted to emphasize
Speaker 1: this off season. Well, I'll thinking about the matchups you're
Speaker 1: talking about. So as the offensive line breaks the huddle
Speaker 1: and they approach the line of scrimmage and it's a
Speaker 1: third and third and long or second long whatever, you
Speaker 1: have Khalil Mack next to you, do you see a
Speaker 1: change in the way they focus the protection to you guys,
Speaker 1: or is it hopefully that we have the right protection
Speaker 1: called the goal against two guys that can be as
Speaker 1: dynamic as rushers as the two of you together. Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeahs the like if I if I have a h
Speaker 1: if I have a Khalil on my side, nine times
Speaker 1: out of ten, I already know that they're probably going
Speaker 1: to slide to my side. So in my head, I'm
Speaker 1: already thinking that I'm gonna make an inside move and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get a one on one with the center.
Speaker 1: And that's just where me being more powerful and quick
Speaker 1: is able to come into play because you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of times if it's if it's a smaller center, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I might want to I might want to
Speaker 1: boil Russian. And then a lot of times, if it's
Speaker 1: a center who was a little bigger, I might want
Speaker 1: to use my speed and quickness around around's age and
Speaker 1: try to gain ground on it. Well, as you talk
Speaker 1: about your great get off, I did an interesting conversation
Speaker 1: today with a former teammate of mine, Chuck Smith. He
Speaker 1: was awesome back in the day for the Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 1: as a pass rusher, and he talked about eyes being
Speaker 1: the key in order to have great get off. I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you focus on? Maybe it break that down
Speaker 1: for the listeners in terms of your eyes in order
Speaker 1: to have a great get off. UM. Well, A lot
Speaker 1: of times I kind of look at the need to
Speaker 1: foot area. UM. A lot of times with offensive lignments,
Speaker 1: usually that's the first thing to move on their knee,
Speaker 1: knee and all the way down to their foot. Um.
Speaker 1: So pretty much I just go out for that sound.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't listen to sound. A lot of times.
Speaker 1: You know, you have great quarterbacks in this league that
Speaker 1: are able to switch up their caters and have great
Speaker 1: voice flection and can really get you to jump offside.
Speaker 1: So I tune that out, and I'm really just going
Speaker 1: on to snap of the ball in that foot soon
Speaker 1: as I see it, move on, I'm just going blow
Speaker 1: Nichols our guest here on Bears All Access. I'll bring
Speaker 1: in the offensive lineman for his opinion. Now, So if
Speaker 1: you're facing a guy like blow time and blaws looking
Speaker 1: at knee foot at what's your CounterPunch to that? As
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman? What could you maybe help him with
Speaker 1: as he works his way through his NFL career here
Speaker 1: with offensive line thinking. You know, I've tried to you
Speaker 1: know what I like about Lyles when he said if
Speaker 1: I got Kleil Mac next to me, I know what
Speaker 1: I'm thinking before the ball has ever snapped. So what
Speaker 1: I think is an offensive lineman is I'm trying to
Speaker 1: be so balanced in my stance, like, don't give them
Speaker 1: that immediate indicator which direction I'm going. And then because
Speaker 1: offensive lineman know the snap count, I'm trying to use
Speaker 1: that snap count as a weapon. And if I can
Speaker 1: start my movement a half an instant before the defensive
Speaker 1: line is a learned, alerted that's when I feel I
Speaker 1: put myself in the advantaged position. But you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: in the loud atmosphere is when the offensive lineman doesn't
Speaker 1: have the privilege of the snap count, that's when I
Speaker 1: see the Bears defense being able to be the most
Speaker 1: overpowering and aggressive and blah. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: like playing in a super loud stadium where you can't
Speaker 1: hear the snap count, or if you like playing on
Speaker 1: the road when you can start here in the cadence
Speaker 1: of the quarterback. I love when I can't ridicate it.
Speaker 1: I mean because I'm not even listening to it anyway,
Speaker 1: but it gives me. I feel like it levels the
Speaker 1: planning field a little bit because at that time the
Speaker 1: offense might not be able to hear either, so you
Speaker 1: really just it's keeping not only them on it's but
Speaker 1: you are. It's at the same time, well that's the
Speaker 1: advantage to you, guys, because now playing at Soldier Field,
Speaker 1: I mean they even added the alarm late in the year,
Speaker 1: I mean they had that siren going off. You can't
Speaker 1: hear anything. Blow yeah, yeah, and it and it was
Speaker 1: it was awesome for us. Hey, blow, what was your
Speaker 1: best moment individually last year? If there was a snap
Speaker 1: that you'll never forget. And then what was your worst
Speaker 1: or your rookie moment when you had Oh wow, that
Speaker 1: was that was interesting? Um my best snap, I would
Speaker 1: say it would be, uh to play where I was
Speaker 1: able to against the Patriots. I was able to bring
Speaker 1: that Sony Michelle and recover the fumble UM and kind
Speaker 1: of like take it back for about five yards. Uh.
Speaker 1: That was like the highlight of I feel my young career.
Speaker 1: UM from a from an independent perspective. UM. And then
Speaker 1: one of the players that really like, uh that really
Speaker 1: bothered me and I still to this day that bothered
Speaker 1: me is Uh. I remember we played Detroit and and
Speaker 1: I kind of you know, kind of got greedy and
Speaker 1: gave up some of my gap integrity and they kind
Speaker 1: of gashes for a run. And Uh that that that's
Speaker 1: something that you know as a young guy. Um. I
Speaker 1: still I still have that in my memory and I
Speaker 1: don't want to allow that to happen again. You know,
Speaker 1: that's just something where you know, you're just trying to
Speaker 1: make a play, but at the same time, you got
Speaker 1: to do your job. And uh, you know, I definitely
Speaker 1: learned from it. Definitely happened definitely happy to happen early
Speaker 1: in my career, so i can get that out of
Speaker 1: the window now and I'm just looking to build off
Speaker 1: of that. Yep. Use it as fuel of my friend
Speaker 1: right below, Nichols. Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you so you bellowing Nichols our guest
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access, coming back with Jim Moller
Speaker 1: in time there here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to scar. The Chicago Beveris Network presents Inside the Bears,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Hoizon, Anthony Adams and Lauren Screeden
Speaker 1: cover the world of Bears football on and off the
Speaker 1: field every sun. Get I had a ten to thirty
Speaker 1: five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime
Speaker 1: at Chicago Bears dot com or on the Bears official app.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Anthony Adams Fellas. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw it in the Athletic Damn Pompey Fremtis article
Speaker 1: on the life and times of Anthony Adams from football
Speaker 1: player to Internet sensation to a social media star. It
Speaker 1: was a terrific insight into how he is developing that
Speaker 1: aspect his second career. So to speak while maintaining his
Speaker 1: presence as a media guy too with the Bears and
Speaker 1: other outlets like Big ten Network and so forth. You know,
Speaker 1: for the people that really don't know Anthony Adams at well, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I don't want them to lose respect for what a
Speaker 1: great football player he was because he is such a
Speaker 1: funny guys. He's fun on his feet, He's got a
Speaker 1: great ad lib ability, and that his personality can go
Speaker 1: from generations to the young people to the older people.
Speaker 1: And that's one thing I you know, you kind of
Speaker 1: when you go to that second career, you always have
Speaker 1: to realize that Anthony was one hell of a football player. Yeah. One,
Speaker 1: he's got two million Twitter followers. This guy's blowing it
Speaker 1: up Twitter, you know, and I get just tell I
Speaker 1: know guys that have played with Anthony, and even talking
Speaker 1: to coaches that have coached against him, I think he
Speaker 1: gets some of the greatest compliments. Because we used to
Speaker 1: do pat and I did a weekly with Mike McCarthy,
Speaker 1: and when he would play the Bearers, you say, their
Speaker 1: best defensive lineman is Anthony Adams, and he made it
Speaker 1: a point to always bring up Anthony's name, and so
Speaker 1: not only has he gained the respect of your opponents,
Speaker 1: which is always a great, you know, great thing to
Speaker 1: have in your back pocket. I just think when you
Speaker 1: listen to all the players that have played with him,
Speaker 1: what a great teammate he was, how funny was to
Speaker 1: play with, and obviously his enthusiasm and just his personality.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I never got to play with him,
Speaker 1: but I respect that. You know, I wish I had
Speaker 1: the opportunity to play with Anthony because every player that
Speaker 1: I talked would ever played with him, absolutely loves him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: high praise. Indeed, this defensive line, you know we had
Speaker 1: blow Nicholson here if you just joined against just a
Speaker 1: moment ago, but that d line was outstanding stop on
Speaker 1: the run last year. Franchise record for fewest rushing lards
Speaker 1: in a sixteen game season, all the way back to
Speaker 1: the twenty one team, which you know, I was Ted Washington,
Speaker 1: Keith Trailer and Brian Robinson and Philip Daniels and the fellows.
Speaker 1: The Bears number one in rushing defense eighty a game,
Speaker 1: number one in scoring defense, number three in sacks, fourth
Speaker 1: on third down, fifth thread zone, seventh against the pass,
Speaker 1: but only one one yard back in regulation over the
Speaker 1: past thirty four regular season games for it to continue
Speaker 1: this year, you know that development needs to continue with
Speaker 1: guys like Balal. We know how good Akeem Hicks has
Speaker 1: has become and how impressive he's become a pro bowler. Indeed,
Speaker 1: you got Eddie Goldman continuing to develop. You're looking for
Speaker 1: more growth from Jonathan Bullard, Roy Robertson Harris. But there's
Speaker 1: some good rushing attacks and some good backs coming on
Speaker 1: that schedule here in twenty nineteen, Todd Gurley, Zeke Elly,
Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara, Sa Kwon Barkley, Dalvin Cook twice twice a year.
Speaker 1: But you know, Jeff, one thing about the Bears is
Speaker 1: the opponents weren't alerted throughout training camp that they were
Speaker 1: gonna have Khalil Mack, and they're gonna have Leonard Floyd,
Speaker 1: and they were gonna have the pass rushing ability out
Speaker 1: of a guy like Blall and a Cheam and the
Speaker 1: rest of the guys. So all of a sudden, now
Speaker 1: you're trying to devise these game plans. All right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna run the ball on first down, we'll run it
Speaker 1: on second. We'll get ourselves in the third and medium
Speaker 1: so we can protect and get the ball out of
Speaker 1: their hands. All of a sudden. Now they're saying, if
Speaker 1: we don't run the ball successfully on first and second down,
Speaker 1: we are playing right into their hands. So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be neat to see the evolution of opponents how they
Speaker 1: try to put personnel on the field. Will they put
Speaker 1: big packages to try to put big blockers in front
Speaker 1: of great pass rushers and still try to gain those
Speaker 1: difficult yards to put themselves in more realistic third down opportunities,
Speaker 1: Or are they gonna say, Okay, they got changes in
Speaker 1: the defensive backfield, let's see if we can protect and
Speaker 1: take advantage of the backside. I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really interesting from week one with Aaron Rodgers right down
Speaker 1: the line, how they're gonna try to get those hard
Speaker 1: yards to put themselves in a better protective situation. Jim,
Speaker 1: what do you expect? Yeah, and it's not going to
Speaker 1: be easy for opponents to prepare. And I see it.
Speaker 1: You know, even week one when you look at at
Speaker 1: Green Bay, because they're looking at film with Vic Fangiel
Speaker 1: as a defensive play caller, Chuck Pagano is different. How
Speaker 1: is he going to utilize these guys? Will he use
Speaker 1: more stunts? Will he use more blitzes? Down in distance
Speaker 1: is going to be important, and how Chuck Pocano deploys things,
Speaker 1: so it's not going to be easy for opponents to prepare.
Speaker 1: They're gonna go back and look at old film of
Speaker 1: an Indianapolis Colts defense. Well, Chuck Pagano's now back into
Speaker 1: three four. He's not running a four three like they
Speaker 1: were an Indie, right, and you got totally different personnel personnel.
Speaker 1: He can't wait to get out on the field and
Speaker 1: start calling the plays defensively. When we come back, we'll
Speaker 1: be joined by former Bear safety Mark Carrier, who's back
Speaker 1: in town too a new job. We'll get into all
Speaker 1: that with Mark Carrier here on Chicago's Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score back with you on Bears Alt Access
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak along with Tom Thair, my broadcast partner from
Speaker 1: news Radio seven eighty and one to five point nine
Speaker 1: FM WVMN, former Bearious quarterback Jim Miller from Sirius XM
Speaker 1: NFL Radio and Bears preseason Football and not long from now.
Speaker 1: Good to have a former Bear and good friend joining
Speaker 1: the program. Former defensive Rookie of the Year three time
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl safety, the Bear's sixth overall pickaway back in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety. The ageless though Mark Carrier, Mark, good evening,
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining the program. How are you doing. I'm good?
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. You know, we had Otis Wilson
Speaker 1: at last week and he's sixty and we think he
Speaker 1: can still play right now. He looks fit to hit.
Speaker 1: Are you? Are you in that same condition right now? No? No,
Speaker 1: Otis found a found a few years ago. I don't
Speaker 1: look as good. Odors still look. I'm younger than Otis,
Speaker 1: but he still looks better than me. Hey, coaching, all
Speaker 1: the coaching is as much as you did after you
Speaker 1: kept you in great shape, not only physically because you
Speaker 1: had to keep up with these guys, but I'm sure
Speaker 1: the mental side of the game. How did it expand
Speaker 1: your view of the game from your playing days when
Speaker 1: you coached, you know, at Arizona State first and then
Speaker 1: over to Baltimore the Jets and the Bengals. Well, it
Speaker 1: taught me, how it showed me how the game has
Speaker 1: changed and how I had to learn how to re
Speaker 1: reevaluate things. And uh, I was taught about a lot
Speaker 1: of good guys. On to you know from you know,
Speaker 1: guys like Tom Thayre and Richard Dan Singletary. I mean,
Speaker 1: I learned a game from those guys on how to
Speaker 1: be a professional. But when I went to start coaching
Speaker 1: in the pro ranks, it was a different mindset. Guys.
Speaker 1: You know, these guys were you know, they knew they
Speaker 1: were better, bigger, stronger, better athletes than I was, but
Speaker 1: they didn't necessarily, I don't think there was as mentally
Speaker 1: tough as the guys I got got got taught by.
Speaker 1: So you had to understand that and respect that, but
Speaker 1: you also had to be you really had to be
Speaker 1: a better communicator with them. The game was definitely different.
Speaker 1: It wasn't run by the players like it was when
Speaker 1: I broke in it was. It was more run by
Speaker 1: the coaches and the communication I had to develop with
Speaker 1: those players. Mark, I'm I'm glad you talked about the
Speaker 1: change of the game, because I think the safety position
Speaker 1: has probably changed more than most positions in the NFL
Speaker 1: because rule changes, It changes your tackling target. You have
Speaker 1: to cover better receivers, bigger receivers, different style of receivers.
Speaker 1: And then how do you transition a guy that came
Speaker 1: in as Rookie of the Year ten interceptions to try
Speaker 1: and to translate the way you play to the way
Speaker 1: you have to play. Now, that's a great question. That
Speaker 1: means just what it is I mean, and it starts
Speaker 1: with college. You can started where a few years ago
Speaker 1: when even when I was coaching, offenses weren't ready to
Speaker 1: accept college to wain the college game and the openness
Speaker 1: to spread being in the shotgun to spread offensive roles
Speaker 1: were are always expresed to accept that. But if you
Speaker 1: want to get these young quarterbacks and get them going early,
Speaker 1: get them started early, you have to accept it because
Speaker 1: this is what they learned. You're going to drop the
Speaker 1: quarterback in the first round. You want to get him
Speaker 1: on the field, and you better adapt your game to
Speaker 1: what he knows and what he knows best. And so
Speaker 1: teaching like my position a little bit. You know, a
Speaker 1: lot was in between the tackles. You had to shape,
Speaker 1: show them, form up and fill up in between tackles
Speaker 1: wasn't as I asked much covering. You had to cover
Speaker 1: slugs for tight ends. Now with the game being spreads,
Speaker 1: these tight ends are very athletic. They flex out a lot.
Speaker 1: You got you gotta be very mobile yet you still
Speaker 1: got to be a short tackler. What the game has
Speaker 1: changed now is is that your coverage understanding how to
Speaker 1: cover in space where it wasn't that big a deal
Speaker 1: when I broke into the game. Well and Mark Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: good to talk to you, Bud. And when you look
Speaker 1: at a lot of these safeties are starting to make
Speaker 1: business decisions too with the changing of the rules. Like
Speaker 1: you said, they don't want to come up and be
Speaker 1: body rockers. Essentially used to have the ability to intimidate,
Speaker 1: and that was the style of play, and it just
Speaker 1: seems now, you know, it could be a business decision
Speaker 1: where maybe a player doesn't want to pay a fine,
Speaker 1: so to speak. You're right, and Tom hit on it earlier.
Speaker 1: But I kind of came in, me and Chuck see
Speaker 1: for my boy, who kind of came in when those
Speaker 1: rules were being evaluating the body rocker Chuck, Yeah, that's right,
Speaker 1: you know, Chuck. Chuck was like it was either him
Speaker 1: or me type mentality. But what a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, if you read a bio, I
Speaker 1: was suspended three times. A matter of fact, if I
Speaker 1: was to come out and play out of retirement, I
Speaker 1: would have to sit out one game I suspended. So
Speaker 1: that's how the rules have changed so much where and
Speaker 1: I get it. I understand their safety. What my argument
Speaker 1: with my difficulty is again, I think you hit it earlier, Jim,
Speaker 1: where you're talking about you gotta aim? We I mean
Speaker 1: when I was coaching guides, I told him you had
Speaker 1: to lower your target where you had to aim for
Speaker 1: the stomach. Yeah, and I remember this how the game
Speaker 1: has changed. And Tom, you can contest to this. If
Speaker 1: you aim, if you went to a guy's knee on
Speaker 1: the football field, on an offensive guy, not only were
Speaker 1: you getting ready to get in a fight with their
Speaker 1: offensive guys, you're probably gonna get in a fight with
Speaker 1: your old defensive god because they no retaliation was coming back,
Speaker 1: and they knew that it was gonna come back on them.
Speaker 1: So our old players were very My old players were
Speaker 1: very defensive. Like, hey, if you aim and went low
Speaker 1: on a guy and hit his knees, they knew it
Speaker 1: was gonna come back at them. So times are gonna
Speaker 1: be different. So we're now you're almost you're forced to
Speaker 1: do it now because you're so afraid of getting fine.
Speaker 1: But when I play, you went to a guy's knee.
Speaker 1: You better be ready to go and get into a
Speaker 1: fight because it was gonna happen, and your old teammates
Speaker 1: are gonna fight you because they know they're gonna get
Speaker 1: it after them. If my carrier guests the former Bears
Speaker 1: safety and he'll be joining guest for the Bears one
Speaker 1: hundred Celebration weekend in Rosemond, Tune seventy the ninth enjoyed
Speaker 1: player autographs, photo ops, football panels, and activities for all ages.
Speaker 1: Get tickets today at Chicago Bears dot com. There are
Speaker 1: certain players and certain the way you hit at the
Speaker 1: safety position for the Bears and played the ballhawk that
Speaker 1: you were at a time when the Bears were still
Speaker 1: a very very good team. Certain guys were just, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, born to be a Bear. Were you born
Speaker 1: to be a Bear? I thought I yes. When I
Speaker 1: when I got drafted by by Chicago, I felt, I,
Speaker 1: you know, knowing the monsters of the Midway again, I
Speaker 1: was coming from California, from USC Of course that that
Speaker 1: gave me a lot of flak. Think God Ben Hoarren
Speaker 1: protected me a little bit. But I thought the mindset
Speaker 1: and what that meant and what that stood for fit
Speaker 1: my mindset, my mentality, and I wanted to be part
Speaker 1: of it because they weren't going to let you in
Speaker 1: that fraternity or be accepted unless you came with the
Speaker 1: mindset of a toughness, aggressive attitude, and I felt my
Speaker 1: game mastered match that mindset that way. So it was
Speaker 1: it was an honor and privilege to be part of
Speaker 1: the Bears. Hey, Mark, you talked earlier. You said when
Speaker 1: you were playing safety and your career, a lot of
Speaker 1: your game was in between the tackles. One of our
Speaker 1: first seminars is with Jim nick Mahon and Mitchell Trabisky.
Speaker 1: Now you're playing safety against each of these guys. Does
Speaker 1: the RPO offense change your approach to the safety position?
Speaker 1: Because Jim was an aggressive down the field guy, And
Speaker 1: just a little bit about how RPO offenses affect you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you know the way the rules are and it
Speaker 1: benefit of you, Tammy, because you can step across the
Speaker 1: line for two yards and still throw the ball down
Speaker 1: the field. That's another store we can have later. But
Speaker 1: the way the game has changed with these RPOs, these
Speaker 1: run pass options, basically, it's almost if if you look
Speaker 1: at it what it was for us in a way,
Speaker 1: it's almost like the option to run option. Instead, you've
Speaker 1: got the passing game where the quarterback and Jim can
Speaker 1: speak to a little bit better. There's reading the box
Speaker 1: and eat and what the quarterback has taught to see. Hey,
Speaker 1: what's the number in the box. If the number says run,
Speaker 1: you run it because you've got your favor If it
Speaker 1: doesn't say that the numbers favor you to pass, then
Speaker 1: you're gonna fake to run and look for like a
Speaker 1: little bubble screen or slam or something and get it
Speaker 1: out of your hands. So basically in the quarterbacks only
Speaker 1: reading one side of the field, so it gives them
Speaker 1: a chance to be simplify the game for him to
Speaker 1: read it early. And especially if you've got a quarterback
Speaker 1: who's got some mobility, then it get down. You've got
Speaker 1: that an extra runner in the back of that. It's
Speaker 1: unaccountable in your account scheme. From a defensive standpoint, So
Speaker 1: what that what these RPO has done, It puts the
Speaker 1: defense on their heels a little bit because they got
Speaker 1: to react. They got to kind of wait and see
Speaker 1: what's happening and play that. And you've got to be
Speaker 1: really assignment discipline. If not, then you're you're you're in
Speaker 1: a vulnerable way of getting a big play throne at you. Well, Mark,
Speaker 1: this is just for selfish reasons. I'd like to know
Speaker 1: this because I think it's going to be interesting what
Speaker 1: happens in Arizona with Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray. And
Speaker 1: also because you look at the playoff game where the
Speaker 1: Chargers go in and they beat the Baltimore Ravens and
Speaker 1: I don't want to say Gus Bradley lucked into it.
Speaker 1: They were down a couple of linebackers and they went
Speaker 1: with six dbs and seven dbs and they pretty much
Speaker 1: shut down Baltimore's RPO offense. With with Lamar Jackson, do
Speaker 1: you think you'll see potentially more penny personnel or dime
Speaker 1: packages on the field versus these RPO offenses moving forward?
Speaker 1: I think you're I think it's a good point, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: And I think you're starting to see it because what
Speaker 1: were you know, you talk about the safety position and
Speaker 1: how that's evolved and change, and you look at like
Speaker 1: the Mark Baron from Alabama and uh Ali University, the
Speaker 1: Cardinals at another state can ban Deon Buchanan you're thinking
Speaker 1: of I think yes, exactly. Yes, you Cannon from Washington State.
Speaker 1: And what you're starting to see the kind of counter
Speaker 1: that athleticism with the quarterback, is that you're going with
Speaker 1: the smaller package on the defense, like you say, more
Speaker 1: nickelmore dime, because you're gonna need guys to cover. You
Speaker 1: need that tackle, someone who can play in a box
Speaker 1: but good enough to tackle and play the more because
Speaker 1: what you have to defend now what was happening with defenses.
Speaker 1: Now you have to defend the whole field, even though
Speaker 1: your gear maybe they might be attacking one side, but
Speaker 1: you still have to defend the whole field, wide open field.
Speaker 1: Where we mentioned earlier about playing in between the tackles,
Speaker 1: now you've got to pretty much defend from sideline to
Speaker 1: the sideline because the game is so much wide open
Speaker 1: with these rfos and these bubble screens, the run, the
Speaker 1: quarterback mobility. Mark carry our guest here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access with Tom Fair, Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Joniac. Mark.
Speaker 1: You you've worked at Chuck Pagano. What can Bear fans
Speaker 1: expect and more importantly, what can players expect from the
Speaker 1: new Bears defensive coordinator? Well, I love Chuck, Chuck is
Speaker 1: I learned a lot from Chuck. I enjoyed my time
Speaker 1: working with Chuck and the players will you know, obviously,
Speaker 1: And I had a good pleasure of working with Big
Speaker 1: Fan Joe too, so I know how good coach he
Speaker 1: was or still is, and I'm hoping he does for Denver.
Speaker 1: But but the Bear players, if they haven't already, they'll
Speaker 1: find out they'll love to play for Chuck. That Chuck one.
Speaker 1: He's very smart, he's well prepared. He'll have his players
Speaker 1: well prepared, but he will also listen to his players
Speaker 1: and and hear what they have to say and get
Speaker 1: their understanding on the defense and what they feel, and
Speaker 1: then but more importantly, h put them in situations that
Speaker 1: where they can be successful. I you know, I learned
Speaker 1: from Rex Ryan obviously, Buddy Ryan's son, and Tommy knows
Speaker 1: Buddy very well. Is that the one thing you learn
Speaker 1: is you better understand your players and what you got
Speaker 1: and and make sure you you evaluate what they can
Speaker 1: do and can't do, so you make sure you're they
Speaker 1: put them in positive situation Because you don't, then you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a struggle on your hand. And with Chuck,
Speaker 1: and Chuck knows that you're gonna put them in good situation.
Speaker 1: He's gonna put them in situation to be to be successful.
Speaker 1: You're gonna listen to them and get feedback for him,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna make great adjustments because part of being
Speaker 1: a defensive coach is one about extras and everybody's got exceraos.
Speaker 1: But you've got to be able to make adjustice on
Speaker 1: the fly because eventually everybody's gonna figure out and you've
Speaker 1: got to make a justice on the fly to put
Speaker 1: yourself in a situation be successful. And that's what sucks us. Mark.
Speaker 1: You came in as a high draft choice and you
Speaker 1: expected you had a Really you had so much success
Speaker 1: that first year. When you look at where Eddie Jackson
Speaker 1: was drafted and the success he had, does it surprise
Speaker 1: you or impress you that he comes out of Alabama
Speaker 1: and he's able to step in and have a high
Speaker 1: performance first year like you did. Well, I'm always I'm
Speaker 1: impressed from Eddie Jackson what he's done, because I still
Speaker 1: think it's not easy. Again, I had a good fortune
Speaker 1: I had, you know, Tommy, I had some Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame great players around me that made my job easy.
Speaker 1: There's no question about that that's why I was successful,
Speaker 1: especially early, because of the great players of Sean Gels,
Speaker 1: Richard Din's singletaries, a Ron Revere, Danny. I mean, I
Speaker 1: had great players that made my job easy and taught
Speaker 1: me the game. With Eddie's coming done under you know,
Speaker 1: we first under Vig fan Joe, and I'm sure with
Speaker 1: Chuck because Chuck is a dB guy too. That and
Speaker 1: obviously comes from great Stick from Alabama, from Nick Saban
Speaker 1: and you hear you get around Nick Nickoll tell you
Speaker 1: he's the best dB coach ever. If you listen to him,
Speaker 1: he'll tell you that personally. But you see what he's done,
Speaker 1: and that's sort of to be able to. It's one
Speaker 1: thing to get the balls and see him, but you
Speaker 1: got to catch him, and it's not easy to do that.
Speaker 1: This kid has done that. He's talking with people behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. He's a student of the game, he learns,
Speaker 1: he's always trying to get better. So I'm one, I'm
Speaker 1: very impressed, but I'm not surprised because it's the background
Speaker 1: of this kid. You expect him to be successful. Well,
Speaker 1: Mark is your career as as a coach, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's you know in Sinse or the stuff you
Speaker 1: did with the Jets or even with the Ravens. Are
Speaker 1: you surprised because this is what I've said about the
Speaker 1: young Bears players. I've never seen a group of more
Speaker 1: mature young men coming into the National Football League? Did
Speaker 1: you see that as a trend as a coach from
Speaker 1: a player's standpoint, that these players at least, you know,
Speaker 1: dealing with off the field stuff and everything they're they're
Speaker 1: doing to prepare themselves to enter the National Football League?
Speaker 1: Just a maturity level about him. Maybe all the stuff
Speaker 1: from the NFL is trickling down to the college rinks.
Speaker 1: Because I'm starting to see a trend of players that
Speaker 1: are coming in like the Bears young draft picks. You
Speaker 1: know what, Jim, it's a crapshoot. I mean, some are ready.
Speaker 1: I mean part of it's all about the scouting. You
Speaker 1: gotta give the scouting a lot of credit. And where
Speaker 1: do these kids come from? Andy? And then, don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong, you know, I'm always pulling for kids to
Speaker 1: do well, and being a coach not always worked that way.
Speaker 1: You don't always get you know, guys who are self discipline,
Speaker 1: who self discipline themselves, who who are right off team players,
Speaker 1: who try to, you know, build within the group to
Speaker 1: make it. They know if you can work with each other,
Speaker 1: the better you work together, the more successful have Early
Speaker 1: I wish it was always like that. You get some
Speaker 1: guys who are great athletes, who are great players, but
Speaker 1: they necessarily don't always have that that team first mindset,
Speaker 1: and you've got to get them motive that because they've
Speaker 1: been successful. The difference with athletes now is these guys
Speaker 1: are so successful early their mindsets sometimes not all, but
Speaker 1: sometimes think because they're so successful early that they got
Speaker 1: it all figured out that the game, they figured out
Speaker 1: the game is easy. I got to figure it out
Speaker 1: that they shut their mind off of trying to improve
Speaker 1: and get better to help their team get better. But
Speaker 1: the Bears have gotten They've gotten players who are who
Speaker 1: come in with that mindset, Hey, how can I get better?
Speaker 1: How can I help the team get better and keep
Speaker 1: that process moving going. And if you get guys like that,
Speaker 1: you get a buche them like that, Man, your team
Speaker 1: is destined for success. I know we got some traveling
Speaker 1: music on, but you're back in town. Loyola Academy Associate
Speaker 1: ad mentoring young people. How's it going. It's been great.
Speaker 1: It's Hey, I'm getting my bring my wife back home
Speaker 1: Ago where she's from. Hey, I can do no wrong
Speaker 1: in our house. But the school and the people I
Speaker 1: like Loyola have been have been great and welcome me
Speaker 1: back into the pro into their school and and then
Speaker 1: bringing me along you know slow. Just give me enough
Speaker 1: to get comfortable, get my feet wet, but also give
Speaker 1: me freedom to do things like this for still being
Speaker 1: you know, being involved with the Bears in any capacity,
Speaker 1: would like me and I would like to so. I
Speaker 1: can't say enough for a loyal academy had been great.
Speaker 1: I'm just trappy to be back at home, be back
Speaker 1: with my boy Keat say you're back in Chicago. Good
Speaker 1: to have you back. Mark will see you at the
Speaker 1: Bears one hundred June seventh to the ninth. You'll be
Speaker 1: there for opening ceremonies. We'll be looking forward to seeing you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you guys, for sure, Thank you Bears. Safety.
Speaker 1: Mark carry or twenty picks and seven seasons with the
Speaker 1: Bears and ten force fumbles before wrapping his career up
Speaker 1: with the Lions and the Washington Redskins. We'll continue on
Speaker 1: one more segment with Tom and Jim after this on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports reading six seventy to score, especially thanks to
Speaker 1: Mark Carrier, former Bear's safety joining us. Good conversation is
Speaker 1: always time. We enjoyed seeing him and his coaching stops.
Speaker 1: But what sticks out to you about him as a
Speaker 1: player and where he left his mark? You know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: it's more the history of the position with the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: If you look at the names of the safeties over
Speaker 1: the different decades in the eras, that position comes in
Speaker 1: with some pressure when you do get drafted, because when
Speaker 1: you get it started. I know again I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: trying not to lose miss anybody out, but just in
Speaker 1: you know, the Doug Plank and the Gary Fencing and
Speaker 1: Sean Gale and Mike Brown and Dorrison, Todd Bell and
Speaker 1: then Mark Carrier. When you get drafted so high out
Speaker 1: of USC at that position, you're expected to come in
Speaker 1: and be one of those great safeties of the Bears history,
Speaker 1: just like the history of great middle linebackers with the
Speaker 1: Bears history. So there is a little bit of pressure
Speaker 1: that comes in at the high draft choice out of
Speaker 1: USC to be a safety for the Bears, and Mark
Speaker 1: lived up to all the expectations. They had for him
Speaker 1: when they drafted him, Jim Miller. So with us and
Speaker 1: Jim listening to him break down to the secondary play,
Speaker 1: you can see and hear some of the influence of
Speaker 1: who he was with in his coaching career, whether it
Speaker 1: would be Chuck Bagano, Vic Fangio, Rex Ryan, he was
Speaker 1: around some pretty nasty guys playing the game, and Russ
Speaker 1: Suggs and edridhlod Nato over there in Baltimore for starters.
Speaker 1: I love hearing what he has to say, especially about
Speaker 1: that unit. Yeah, well, it's it's aggressive mentality when you
Speaker 1: look at that style of play, and certainly Mark was
Speaker 1: an aggressive player. And you know that the game is
Speaker 1: changing and that you know, like what Mark said, and
Speaker 1: I think pass rush is a big part of it.
Speaker 1: And then safety position now is a big part of that.
Speaker 1: You look at all the teams that are drafting, like
Speaker 1: big nickel guys, you know that, Jonathan Abram, you know,
Speaker 1: get getting drafted. These are safeties that are now some
Speaker 1: can play up at the slot position, but yet are
Speaker 1: they're counted on in order to blitz, to pressure, to
Speaker 1: get sack totals and things like that. And that's what
Speaker 1: kind of what Pat Kerwin and I have been doing
Speaker 1: the last a week and a half going through every
Speaker 1: division in finding the divisions that have the top pass rushers,
Speaker 1: and you look at the Bears Division. When you look
Speaker 1: at the NFC North, it truly is the Black and
Speaker 1: Blue division. It is the only division where every team
Speaker 1: had over forty sacks as a unit. Minnesota comes in
Speaker 1: they had over forty sacks. Green Bay. When you think
Speaker 1: of their defense, they had forty four sacks on the season.
Speaker 1: Here are the Bears they finished with fifty. Minnesota had
Speaker 1: fifty sacks. The NFC North is the only division where
Speaker 1: all four teams come in with over forty sacks. People
Speaker 1: would say, oh, it's got to be the AFC West
Speaker 1: because you think a von Miller and the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1: You think of Joey Bosa and Ingram, you think of
Speaker 1: even Kansas City. Their defense stunk last year, but they
Speaker 1: had fifty two sacks with Houston in d Ford, the
Speaker 1: Raiders were the only team that come in they had
Speaker 1: thirteen total as a team. The Bears Division, the NFC
Speaker 1: North is the only division that truly every team can
Speaker 1: absolutely ubliter obliterate the quarterback on the other side, really
Speaker 1: amazing when you think about a tough defensive division, gotta
Speaker 1: protect QUBA. A couple of notes over the weekend. Mike
Speaker 1: Davis Bears running back at a very good Mother's Day,
Speaker 1: or maybe his mom had a very good mother's day
Speaker 1: because she got herself a brand new house her mother's day. Great,
Speaker 1: great move by the young man. He got his first,
Speaker 1: you know, sizable contract with the Bears six million over
Speaker 1: two years. That's that's uh. And I know Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: did the same, But no one's really hearing about Mike Davis.
Speaker 1: He sounds like Tom Though. He'll get laundry and food
Speaker 1: for life. He'll always have dinner on his on his plate.
Speaker 1: You know what. It's some of the players too you
Speaker 1: read about that have gone back to graduate and surprise
Speaker 1: their moms with just their their desire to graduate from college.
Speaker 1: Because for the young guys that leave college earlier, I
Speaker 1: haven't graduated yet. If you're enough to stay in the
Speaker 1: NFL long enough, you could have an opportunity to buy
Speaker 1: your mama house. But if you go back and you
Speaker 1: get your education and you get your degree, I think
Speaker 1: that sell says a lot about you as a determined
Speaker 1: individual to make yourself better because ultimately that's what you're
Speaker 1: gonna need when your career is over all, right, I
Speaker 1: gotta bring up the passing of Gunther Cunningham because he
Speaker 1: died at the age of seventy two an illness. But
Speaker 1: this guy dedicated this whole post War Germany life as
Speaker 1: a child to learning the game of football. And Jim,
Speaker 1: you were on that team with Gary Croton Bears won
Speaker 1: back in ninety nine, and it's always a comedic moment
Speaker 1: about razzle dazzle offense by them. Yeah, you know they
Speaker 1: play razzle dazzle. Bears won that game twenty to seventeen,
Speaker 1: and Gunther Cunningham didn't think much of it. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: he you know, he would like to an opportunity to
Speaker 1: face the Bears again because he's one of those coaches
Speaker 1: he would always morph, he change. If you beat him
Speaker 1: one way, you were not going to beat him that
Speaker 1: way again. Forty seven consecutive years he coached in the
Speaker 1: National Football League says a lot about him. Talked to
Speaker 1: Billy Coo Herrick today. He was one of the front
Speaker 1: office personnel down there in Kansas City. Everybody called him
Speaker 1: gun for a reason. He was a tough, hard nose coach,
Speaker 1: very well respected around the NFL. And that's how you
Speaker 1: do coach forty seven consecutive years, because as soon as
Speaker 1: he was out of a job, he had another one
Speaker 1: very very very quickly, and why he finished as a
Speaker 1: consultant with the Detroit Lions special special coaching man and
Speaker 1: time he did interview for the Bears job back in
Speaker 1: ninety eight. And I don't know if you had any
Speaker 1: conversations with him on the sidelines over the years. No,
Speaker 1: I didn't. You know, it's more of paying attention to
Speaker 1: his explosive personality in front of the cameras, who wasn't
Speaker 1: shy to kind of share his feelings about either the
Speaker 1: team he was playing against the way they had their offense.
Speaker 1: And again we kind of all say the word razzle
Speaker 1: dazzle because every time we're kind of reminded of the
Speaker 1: fact that he called Gary Croton's offense a razzle dazzle
Speaker 1: offense after I did lose. But I think that's just
Speaker 1: an expression of frustration immediately following a game. Maybe it
Speaker 1: would be different in today's world when you have a
Speaker 1: little cooling off period before you have to meet the media. Well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna pump up Bears one hundred once again. It's
Speaker 1: a once a lifetime event. Jim, are you Are you
Speaker 1: gonna be able to make it? Yeah, planning on coming
Speaker 1: in town. There's no doubt they're good. So working out
Speaker 1: the schedule as we speak, all right, So get your
Speaker 1: tickets at Chicago Bears dot com and there's unbelievable opportunities.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have more Bears in one place than have
Speaker 1: ever been at any given time. It'll never happen again
Speaker 1: this way. Autograph photo sessions, the sessions that Tam and
Speaker 1: Iobe doing over the course of the three days, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be quite interesting conversation indeed. So bring
Speaker 1: the kids out, enjoy a first weekend in June, a
Speaker 1: second weekend in June actually, and come on out for
Speaker 1: the Bears one hundred in Rosemont. We'll be talking to
Speaker 1: everybody then and pumping it up over the course of
Speaker 1: the next few weeks. Thanks for us, appreciate it for
Speaker 1: Tom Fair, Jim Miller and our guests tonight, but Nichols
Speaker 1: and former Bear safety Mark Kerry. I'm Jeff jonny Ak.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always to the guys back in the studio,
Speaker 1: Herb Lawrence, and Adam Sadinsky. They do a great job.
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