Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears Official
Speaker 1: mobile app for up to the minute Bears content every
Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access, your all
Speaker 1: access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. And good even to everybody. Welcome
Speaker 1: into another show. Jeff Johnny, Act, Top Bear, Jim Beller
Speaker 1: with you as we got a full line up once
Speaker 1: again to tackle the Bears this week. Good to have
Speaker 1: you alongside fellas brought to you by g Energy. Thank
Speaker 1: for listening to everybody. Whove got Tris Dickens handling the
Speaker 1: controls and our score studios, our producer Jordan tread Up,
Speaker 1: Dan Briley helping us out as well. Coming up at
Speaker 1: six ten Dieter Iceland. He is an undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: guard prospect and he is going to join the program.
Speaker 1: Interesting journey to the NFL because all roads lead to
Speaker 1: the NFL on metterwhere or what country? And then at
Speaker 1: six thirty times good Buddy and Pete Bursch, who played
Speaker 1: his high school football at Providence New Lennox the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings radio analysts who join us at six thirty. Jim
Speaker 1: and Tom, how you guys handling things and house? What's
Speaker 1: going on in your worlds right now? Big Tom and Jim? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, we're getting ready to tackle
Speaker 1: a little football information. I like how you threw that
Speaker 1: little play on words, because that's kind of what it's
Speaker 1: about right now. You kind of in the hopes that
Speaker 1: the training camp is going to go on and then
Speaker 1: you kind of take steps Accordingly, that's not necessarily the
Speaker 1: guaranteed case, but in my world, I got both fingers,
Speaker 1: are all my fingers crossed and hoping it happens. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll get a lot of news hopefully tomorrow. The owners
Speaker 1: are going to meet. Sounds like, you know, they've come
Speaker 1: up with some of the agreements on the protocols from
Speaker 1: the NFL and the NFLPA side of things. You know
Speaker 1: about you know, players won't be put on NFI, say
Speaker 1: if a player test positive for the virus, it'll just
Speaker 1: be essentially what could be a three week i R
Speaker 1: process and almost like roster exemptions that we brought up
Speaker 1: on the show as well, So teams are able to
Speaker 1: combat this, and it's it's going to be a juggling act.
Speaker 1: There's there's no doubt. I think everybody's wondering how this
Speaker 1: is all going to work out or even if, even
Speaker 1: if it will kick off. So I think a lot
Speaker 1: of clarity will happen tomorrow after the owners meet and
Speaker 1: the clarification on that football injury list versus non football
Speaker 1: injury list is that they would still get full pay
Speaker 1: if they are COVID nineteen ineligible, and that's really the
Speaker 1: key thing, and I think that's fair given the environment
Speaker 1: right now. Fellas you agree, Oh, I agree one hundred
Speaker 1: percent with you, Jeff that if you're gonna go out
Speaker 1: there and you're gonna put yourself out there with the
Speaker 1: possibility of contracting the virus by you know, rubbing elbows,
Speaker 1: having collisions, doing everything that you need to do in
Speaker 1: football in order to be prepared, I do think they
Speaker 1: need the protection. But Jim, then you have to be
Speaker 1: responsible though off the field, and you got to be
Speaker 1: accountable to your teammates and the building, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's a sacrifice, you know, for five
Speaker 1: months to get your your team and and your ability
Speaker 1: to get through the season. Yeah, I really do. I
Speaker 1: think players got to be accountable. And you know, every
Speaker 1: and I've brought this up that every coach asked players
Speaker 1: with you know that initial missions, the initial mission statement
Speaker 1: by every coach is just about, hey, can you make
Speaker 1: the commitment the dedication to this organization your teammates. We
Speaker 1: know it's basically essentially a five six month deal, and
Speaker 1: I think players will have to approach it differently, say hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm well after I leave the facility. You know,
Speaker 1: I just know for myself personally, I actually had this
Speaker 1: conversation with my wife. I said, live if this was
Speaker 1: happening when I played, could you make would you make
Speaker 1: the commitment where I stayed away, whether it's at a
Speaker 1: hotel or somewhere in a bubble and I just FaceTime
Speaker 1: the kids? She said absolutely. And I'm wondering if guys
Speaker 1: will make that type of commitment and dedication because I
Speaker 1: personally know I would. And I saw JJ Watt's tweet
Speaker 1: tonight from the Houston, Texas He's like, hey, players want
Speaker 1: to play, and he reiterated three times that the players
Speaker 1: want to play, and I think a lot of players
Speaker 1: do and we'll just see how commit committed they are
Speaker 1: and how they can be to make the type of
Speaker 1: commitment they're going to need to make in order to
Speaker 1: be pulled off. Man, Tom, you made that commitment as
Speaker 1: a player. I mean you put aside certain things in
Speaker 1: order to get through a season. Yeah, you know you
Speaker 1: have to, you know, Jeff, whether you have an injury
Speaker 1: early in training camp, and you know I can play
Speaker 1: with this thing. It's gonna have some pain involved in it,
Speaker 1: but I think I can get through to the end
Speaker 1: of the season. I think everybody and a lot of
Speaker 1: guys that I played with, you know, struggled with that
Speaker 1: part of football. So this is a completely different type
Speaker 1: of health commitment because you kind of know what you're
Speaker 1: possibly getting into when you commit yourself to the sport.
Speaker 1: But this is unlike a knee injury. That's there's a
Speaker 1: you know, more things that can happen with this. But again,
Speaker 1: I would if I was a young man, I know
Speaker 1: that I would have to and I'd be willing to
Speaker 1: commit to it. And just while we're hearing on Twitter
Speaker 1: and whatnot, you know, J. J. Watt, you mentioned that
Speaker 1: you know they don't have all the information yet, and
Speaker 1: I know some teams could start actually bringing guys in
Speaker 1: on Saturday rookies or even next Tuesday for rookies, and
Speaker 1: then if it all goes well, nobody's really got a
Speaker 1: set date the NFL's eyeball in the twenty eighth, whether
Speaker 1: that is or not the case. They don't have all
Speaker 1: the info yet on exactly the infectious disease protocolls they will.
Speaker 1: Teams have been working on this for months, the testing protocolls,
Speaker 1: what happens financially if somebody does get the positive COVID,
Speaker 1: But nothing has been created upon as Gym pointed out,
Speaker 1: But it's not as if for the fans out there,
Speaker 1: it's not as if this is a complete in the dark. Oh,
Speaker 1: we're just going to throw it at you. This will
Speaker 1: be a discussion and the owners will have that opportunity
Speaker 1: tomorrow to kick it around and present it to the union.
Speaker 1: It sounds like they've had pretty good talks, you know,
Speaker 1: over the last couple of days, doing framework and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. It's going to be a process like these
Speaker 1: other sports have been. And everything you've heard, Jim is
Speaker 1: pretty much in that vein. Yeah, yeah, I do, and
Speaker 1: I you know again, I think ultimately the players do
Speaker 1: want to play. We already know some players with underlying issues.
Speaker 1: Mark Andrew's a tight end for the Baltimore Ravens. He's
Speaker 1: got diabetes. Said, yeah, he goes. I think this could
Speaker 1: be a special year for the Baltimore routings. So you know,
Speaker 1: he does have some legitimate concerns, and I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody would be upset if any player did elect to
Speaker 1: op out. But as as I mentioned, for these gms,
Speaker 1: is kind of be going to be a juggling act.
Speaker 1: You have to have players available, because I think everybody
Speaker 1: understands if there are and luckily they've gone down, whether
Speaker 1: it's in the MLS, Major League Soccer, or even the NBA,
Speaker 1: you know, the positive tests have gone down. Teams are
Speaker 1: going to have to have a reserve to tap into,
Speaker 1: you know, say before a practice or a game, a
Speaker 1: tight end or a running back goes down. You can
Speaker 1: better have a stash of players that you can tap
Speaker 1: into to fill those roster spots. Right now, the Union
Speaker 1: releasing seventy two known cases of players through last Friday,
Speaker 1: July tenth, about two point five percent of the twenty
Speaker 1: eight hundred player NFL Coming up next, one of the
Speaker 1: newbies of the NFL for the Bears. Dieter Iceland, off
Speaker 1: African native, former rugby star and Olympic weightlifter, now a
Speaker 1: Chicago Bear trying to win a job on the roster
Speaker 1: at offensive line. He'll join us next on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to Score.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity,
Speaker 1: natural gas, and homewarrnty products over one million customers across
Speaker 1: the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at igs dot com.
Speaker 1: Jeff Jonny Yakolong with Tom Thayer and Jim Miller former Bears,
Speaker 1: Here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score, and a warm welcome to one of
Speaker 1: the new Chicago Bears, undrafted, a rookie offensive lineman, Deeter Iceland.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Welcome to the program. We've read your story,
Speaker 1: We've followed your path to the National Football League. It's
Speaker 1: quite the journey and certainly not traditional. From South Africa
Speaker 1: to rugby, to Olympic weightlifting to Yale and a few
Speaker 1: stops in between. How does it feel to be in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Gater, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: having me on. Guys are really appreciate it. It's definitely
Speaker 1: a dream come true and something that I didn't think
Speaker 1: was possible six or seven years ago. So I'm really
Speaker 1: fortunate to have this opportunity in front of me, and
Speaker 1: I'm ready to seize it. You know, one of the
Speaker 1: things about you is that people should know because many
Speaker 1: players don't have direct paths. Obviously they don't have the
Speaker 1: pedigree necessarily as a first or second round pick. But
Speaker 1: you wanted this so badly. You made decisions growing up
Speaker 1: where you did to come to the United States, play
Speaker 1: in a high school football camp in Virginia, get recruited
Speaker 1: without even planning a game from Yale, and then become
Speaker 1: a three and a half year starter on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: You had to make a lot of self sacrifice. Why
Speaker 1: so much self sacrifice to come into this league when
Speaker 1: you could have played many other sports? What was it
Speaker 1: about football that caught your attention? I just love football
Speaker 1: the moment that I actually sat down and watched the
Speaker 1: game when I was sixteen, I just loved the strategy
Speaker 1: that's involved with it, how every single person has a
Speaker 1: specific responsibility that they have to pull in order to
Speaker 1: achieve success as a team. And I just love the
Speaker 1: physicality of football. I mean, I played racbe grown up
Speaker 1: all my life, but the physicality and football is just unmatched,
Speaker 1: and I really relish the physicality of it and punishing people. Well.
Speaker 1: Dater is a former offensive lineman. I couldn't be pulling
Speaker 1: for you anymore. I'm so happy and I look forward
Speaker 1: to your journey. But you know, when you start playing
Speaker 1: in a sport football that we're all accustomed to since
Speaker 1: Pop Warner, but then you start playing it later and
Speaker 1: be more around in college, what's harder for you the
Speaker 1: actual athleticism of the sport or the language and terminology
Speaker 1: you have to learn and use to play the sport.
Speaker 1: I think for me, originally coming in the ladder, the
Speaker 1: language was definitely a little bit harder. I mean I
Speaker 1: soon realized the disparity that exists between water football and
Speaker 1: actually trying to play it. I mean, when I went
Speaker 1: to that camp in Virginia, I didn't know what the
Speaker 1: E and B gaps were, so I had a far
Speaker 1: way to go. But luckily I was a good athlete
Speaker 1: and a really good athlete for my size, so I
Speaker 1: was luckily able to figure it out once I knew
Speaker 1: what to do mentally, and luckily I was able to
Speaker 1: do that during my freshman year, where I felt like
Speaker 1: I was forced to develop a lot really quickly. So
Speaker 1: I think just getting thrown into the fire by my
Speaker 1: offensive line coach that I had at Yale and my
Speaker 1: freshman year was really a key turning point for me
Speaker 1: as a player. Well, Jeff mentioned you got thirty four
Speaker 1: starts at Yale. Was there ever a time at Yale
Speaker 1: that you were tempted to can maybe go to that
Speaker 1: next college level to challenge your skills? Or were you
Speaker 1: always content with being at Yale. Well, I think that
Speaker 1: I really loved the Yale experience, and I'm really fortunate
Speaker 1: for what the school did for me in the position
Speaker 1: that it put into me and got me a great degree.
Speaker 1: I think that if I had the opportunity to grad
Speaker 1: transfer to another school, if I had not played my
Speaker 1: freshman year, I think that I probably would have taken
Speaker 1: advantage of that. I think that I had the talent
Speaker 1: and the size and the physicality and the athleticism to
Speaker 1: start at a lot of schools, a lot of FBS
Speaker 1: programs around the country, so I think that's something that
Speaker 1: I would have taken advantage of. But I'm really fortunate
Speaker 1: for my Yale experience and it's it was just a
Speaker 1: dream the past four years. Well, Deeter, you've worked hard,
Speaker 1: and congratulation for working yourself. It's been at an accelerated
Speaker 1: pace to get to this opportunity and now it's you
Speaker 1: know you. Look, you haven't even been able to practice
Speaker 1: yet with your teammates, and maybe just talk about what
Speaker 1: is your mindset heading into training camp, your first one
Speaker 1: of your young career. Yeah, obviously we're in a very
Speaker 1: unique situation, but I feel like our meetings that we've
Speaker 1: had over Zoom starting in May have really been productive.
Speaker 1: I've really enjoyed getting to know the coaching staffs and
Speaker 1: especially Coach Castillo and my fellow rookies. And it's not
Speaker 1: like we were slacking the whole time. We were really
Speaker 1: working hard. I had to adjust to the new techniques
Speaker 1: that Coach Castillo was teaching us, and I really trying
Speaker 1: to ingrain that into my body, and I sent him
Speaker 1: videos on a daily basis, just doing the same thing
Speaker 1: over and over and over again until it's second nature.
Speaker 1: So obviously it's a very unique situation with everything going
Speaker 1: on right now with the novel coronavirus, and we don't
Speaker 1: know necessarily what's going to happen in terms of training
Speaker 1: camp being delayed or unique protocols or all that. But
Speaker 1: all I know is that whatever opportunity is put in
Speaker 1: front of me, whenever that is, whether that's next week
Speaker 1: or a month from now, I'm going to seize it
Speaker 1: to the best of my ability. Well, let me followed up.
Speaker 1: Can you give maybe an example of a technique, like
Speaker 1: you said, because once it becomes rope memory, you know,
Speaker 1: that's when it when it sinks in and you're just
Speaker 1: kind of reacting from that standpoint. But what specifically do
Speaker 1: you feel you've had to work on in terms of
Speaker 1: those techniques from Coach Castel. Yeah, So, Coach Christillo is
Speaker 1: a great pass protection technique that's very different from what
Speaker 1: I used to do in college. That is preset to
Speaker 1: the different defensive alignments of the defensive lineman, and it's
Speaker 1: just something new that I had to learn that's a
Speaker 1: lot more detailed and specific. But I think it makes
Speaker 1: a lot of sense. And all the film that we've
Speaker 1: watched of his past guys who have followed that same
Speaker 1: pass protection technique. It works, so I've just fully dedicated
Speaker 1: myself to learning it every day and really just getting
Speaker 1: used to It. Was very feign at the beginning, but
Speaker 1: I feel like I've become so much better technically, and
Speaker 1: I wish that I had learned that while I was
Speaker 1: in college because I feel like it would have elevated
Speaker 1: my game even more. So I'm really excited to put
Speaker 1: it to the test and on the field. Bears rookie
Speaker 1: guard Deeter Ice led our guest You're on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy score, Jeff Tom
Speaker 1: and Jim Deeter tell us what Stellenbosch, South Africa's like,
Speaker 1: and there are are a lot of kids playing football over there. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I think I'm the only player from there, but hopefully
Speaker 1: hopefully can inspire some other South African kids as well.
Speaker 1: But Sellembosch is a great town. It's really beautiful, very
Speaker 1: close to Cape Town that's a little bit more famous.
Speaker 1: But Sellinbosh is just a little bit north and it's
Speaker 1: got beautiful mountains and vineyards and it snows on the
Speaker 1: mountain peaks a little bit in the wintertime that it
Speaker 1: is there right now, so it's It's a really beautiful
Speaker 1: place with a lot of rich history. So I love
Speaker 1: to go back and visit my family and I hope
Speaker 1: to see them soon, barring everything that's going on in
Speaker 1: the world right now. So, Dieter, I have a two
Speaker 1: part question read about your Olympic weightlifting background. Are so
Speaker 1: you still able to incorporate in your football strength training
Speaker 1: number one? In number two, have you ever served in
Speaker 1: South Africa? So luckily I am able to incorporate Olympic
Speaker 1: wa lifting into my strength program. I love doing hand
Speaker 1: cleans and power cleans and snatches and all of that,
Speaker 1: so luckily I have I've built the foundation in order
Speaker 1: to succeed in those things, and I think they're great
Speaker 1: movements to build your explosiveness and your speed and your
Speaker 1: power and all of that. So I love Olympic way
Speaker 1: lifting and I owe a lot to the sport. And
Speaker 1: unfortunately I have not served as much as I would
Speaker 1: like to, but I would really love to in the future.
Speaker 1: So I think that once I don't weigh three hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty pounds, I'll tick. I'll tackle that endeavor. Well,
Speaker 1: give the listeners an example, because obviously the weight room
Speaker 1: and you've probably done a lot of max lifts in
Speaker 1: the weight room. Say the Hank clean. What you're just about?
Speaker 1: What what type of weight we're talking about that you
Speaker 1: could max out on? So my max that I've done
Speaker 1: Hanklean is three eighty five. That's my best that I've
Speaker 1: ever done. And when I was competing when I was seventeen,
Speaker 1: eighteen years old, and the full clean and jerk I
Speaker 1: did three sixty five and in the full snatch I
Speaker 1: did three hundred and fifteen. So I'll tell you what,
Speaker 1: nobody was better in the weight room than Tom Thayer
Speaker 1: back in his day with the Bears of Tom. How
Speaker 1: did those numbers stack up with a young guard out
Speaker 1: of Notre Dame back in the day. Well, Dieter, I
Speaker 1: think the first time you get into Hollis Call, I
Speaker 1: think those lifts are impressive. But I want to tell
Speaker 1: you about Clyde Emeric who's up in Hallis Hall waiting
Speaker 1: to greet you. He's one of the greatest Olympic lifters
Speaker 1: in the history of the sport. He's read about you
Speaker 1: and he wants to meet you. So when you do
Speaker 1: get a chance, go out and seek the oldest guy
Speaker 1: in the building. And that's Clyde Emrick because he wants to,
Speaker 1: you know, hear about your weightlifting venture over the your lifetime. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that sounds great. I'd love to and fully us some
Speaker 1: tips so I can hopefully add some twenty pounds or so.
Speaker 1: That'd be great. Well, the big part of it is
Speaker 1: it's all about want to when you're in the weight room,
Speaker 1: and you know Tom's taught me and Jim has taught
Speaker 1: me many times. Off seasons are really where a team
Speaker 1: develops the bond and the chemistry and the desire to
Speaker 1: be a winner and before any media gets their eyes
Speaker 1: on them, before any fans get their eyes on them,
Speaker 1: and even before frankly coaches do, and it's in that
Speaker 1: weight room or as Jim's team in two thousand and one,
Speaker 1: they knew they were going to be a winning team,
Speaker 1: and they did. They go, they won the division, they
Speaker 1: go to the playoffs. Short of that, this is your
Speaker 1: first experience in your football playing life not to have
Speaker 1: that type of offseason, and you're a rookie and you're undrafted,
Speaker 1: and you're relatively in terms of experience level, new to
Speaker 1: the game in many respects, Does that create an opportunity
Speaker 1: In addition to the challenge for you that you're you're
Speaker 1: basically something that's going to be molded into an NFL player. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think that I've I've faced long odds before,
Speaker 1: and I'm truly a believer that you are responsible for
Speaker 1: the opportunities that are created in front of you, and
Speaker 1: you're responsible for seizing it to the best of your ability.
Speaker 1: So I think that those are true things, but I
Speaker 1: don't look at them as negatives. I just view them
Speaker 1: as obstacles to be conquered. So I know that it's
Speaker 1: one thing that's lacking with the offseason now is just
Speaker 1: the ability to actually run place together and get that
Speaker 1: team chemistry that's so key. But I think that a
Speaker 1: lot of guys have been really been studying diligently on
Speaker 1: their iPads, so hopefully once we get there, everyone will
Speaker 1: be on the same page and we can just get
Speaker 1: the ground running. So that's definitely what I'm vidden happening,
Speaker 1: and hopefully it can come to fruition. Hey Dieter, are
Speaker 1: you do you have the ability to do the proper
Speaker 1: conditioning to get ready for training camp? Excuse me, because
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know if there's things you've learned
Speaker 1: in your past to get you prepared for the conditioning
Speaker 1: part of it, or has coach Uanca Steal been able
Speaker 1: to tell you or encourage you to do any type
Speaker 1: of specific conditioning drills. Yeah, so I mean for the
Speaker 1: conditioning itself. I think that what I do is I
Speaker 1: usually simulate running twelve to fifteen play drive and I
Speaker 1: just pick random plays in my head and I simulate
Speaker 1: it on air, and then every twenty five or thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: I just run it again and go over again. So
Speaker 1: I do that in conjunction with actually running the conditioning
Speaker 1: for the conditioning tests that we've been doing, and that's
Speaker 1: always really good to get yourself into that top end shape.
Speaker 1: But I think just simulating those drives is what I've
Speaker 1: been doing to prepare myself well. And in my experience,
Speaker 1: it's just how quickly you can make a routine for yourself.
Speaker 1: I know you've probably been in a routine for the
Speaker 1: Zoom meetings and how you go out on and get
Speaker 1: your work done to apply it. But for training camp,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of it is about getting a
Speaker 1: routine and just really get into the grind of things.
Speaker 1: How quickly did you sell into that routine at Yale
Speaker 1: where you could excel at which you did, and how
Speaker 1: quick you know, do you think you'll be able to
Speaker 1: quickly be able to do that here in Chicago? From
Speaker 1: that standpoint, yeah, I think that routine and self discipline
Speaker 1: is so key to success. I think that that's something
Speaker 1: that I've tried to apply to everything that I do
Speaker 1: in my life because I think that it prevents you
Speaker 1: from giving into your moods or your feelings of that day,
Speaker 1: and you just given to what your self discipline is
Speaker 1: and allow that to dictate what you need to do,
Speaker 1: which is the hard work. So I think that that's
Speaker 1: something that I did throughout my time at Yale and
Speaker 1: why I was able to succeed as a students and
Speaker 1: as an athlete. It's just by controlling my time effectively.
Speaker 1: And I look forward to doing that in Chicago now
Speaker 1: that football is my sole job. So now I have
Speaker 1: twenty four seven to dedicate to it, and I look
Speaker 1: forward to dedicate all my time to it. Get better
Speaker 1: every day. Theater before we let you go, and we
Speaker 1: really appreciate it all the time you've carved out for
Speaker 1: us here. We hope to have Beyon again someday real
Speaker 1: quick We're very thrilled that you watched that Notre Dame
Speaker 1: Stanford game in twenty twelve, because maybe he never would
Speaker 1: have played the sport. Is that far fetch to say?
Speaker 1: Or No? I don't think so. I think that that
Speaker 1: was such a great game and it was really just
Speaker 1: a thrilling experience for me. I just I remember just
Speaker 1: passing through channels and seeing it on there and just
Speaker 1: giving it a chance to watch and they couldn't stop
Speaker 1: watching it, and out of that, my obsession with the
Speaker 1: sport grew. So I'm really fortunate for that, and I'm
Speaker 1: really lucky because of where I am at the moment. Well,
Speaker 1: our guy time here is a Notre Dame grad as well.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you did your homework on that one. Does
Speaker 1: you sound like you got everything button up ready to go?
Speaker 1: And what'd you major in? By the way, what did
Speaker 1: you get your degree in? I double majored in economics
Speaker 1: and political science. Very good, Well, congratulations is a story.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people and a lot of
Speaker 1: Bears fans are gonna be interested in watching you develop
Speaker 1: every single day at camp. And a big smile on
Speaker 1: Tom Thare's face right now is a fellow offensive lineman
Speaker 1: and former starting guard for the Super Bowl Bears and
Speaker 1: eighty five theater. Good luck to you and now we'll
Speaker 1: see you soon. I'll pin Chicago, Thank you so much theater.
Speaker 1: Iceland from Yale undrafted rookie free agent joining the program.
Speaker 1: Calling up at six thirty. Pete Bursich, another local product
Speaker 1: making good. The vikings analysts will break down the vikings
Speaker 1: for twenty twenty with Tom Fair, Jim Miller. I'mjeff Jony Echo.
Speaker 1: Let's take a break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy.
Speaker 1: The score back with you on Bears all Access. This
Speaker 1: segments is as I try and find my copy brought
Speaker 1: to you by All Access. Excuse we brought to you
Speaker 1: by CDW. People will get it learn more at CDW
Speaker 1: dot com. I was in a conversation with Tom during
Speaker 1: the break, so I got distracted Jim Miller talking about
Speaker 1: different sport sport obviously, but Shambo today the Memorial Ublin
Speaker 1: had a four hundred thirty five yard drive and a
Speaker 1: four hundred and five yard drive today, and Tom was
Speaker 1: giving me the rundown on his strength. He wasn't gain
Speaker 1: strength because he saw these young guys that were hitting
Speaker 1: the ball so far. So he said, this is the
Speaker 1: way to golf. Now hit it as far as you
Speaker 1: can off the tea and then play golf from there.
Speaker 1: But he was won over for today, so the whole
Speaker 1: thing of drive for show right. But I'll tell you
Speaker 1: he is he is at of a golfer, all right.
Speaker 1: Joining the program, a good friend of ours, home grown
Speaker 1: from Providence, New lex High School and Notre Dame, seventh
Speaker 1: round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in his playing days,
Speaker 1: and now the veteran analyst on the radio for the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. We've begin our series of previews on the
Speaker 1: rest of the division as we await the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: season and start a training camp. Pete Burstitch, Pete, thanks
Speaker 1: for taking the time. How you doing and what is
Speaker 1: going on up there in Minneapolis? Well, I don't know
Speaker 1: what's going on in Minneapolis. I'm out in Windfield. I
Speaker 1: can't take me for a baseball game, fiance. Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: been hanging out in Hinsdale lately. It's a nice little
Speaker 1: nice talent. Have you ever been there? Yeah, nice little bird,
Speaker 1: nice little bird. A guy of your ilk can afford
Speaker 1: those kinds of sounds. Yea, are you coaching are you
Speaker 1: watching somebody play baseball? No, just watching just watching my
Speaker 1: steps on to be. My fiancee lives in Hinsdale, So
Speaker 1: I'm out here. I mean, I just it's it's just
Speaker 1: awesome to be out here in a beautiful day just
Speaker 1: watching baseball. I mean, this is what you're supposed to
Speaker 1: do in the summer, and this is uh, this is fabulous,
Speaker 1: beautiful day. Everything's everything's great. Man. Well that Cantiny golf
Speaker 1: course eric beautiful area, great track. Uh. Now, Tom and
Speaker 1: Jim and Pete. Are we gonna be watching football? That's
Speaker 1: the big question, you know, I think so, I mean
Speaker 1: the question of whether or not the fans are in
Speaker 1: the stands. You know, I don't know the one thing
Speaker 1: about football though, and I've been to as many professional
Speaker 1: type sports as I can, from nash car to PGA
Speaker 1: to tennis to everything. It's the only sport that's as good,
Speaker 1: almost as good, if not better at home then when
Speaker 1: you're actually there. So I think, if if it's just
Speaker 1: played on the field with no fans, it's still you know,
Speaker 1: it's still going to be a pretty entertaining product. It
Speaker 1: will be really odd for the players. But I don't
Speaker 1: think I mean I still think it'll be very very
Speaker 1: successful and highly watched if if that's in case, if
Speaker 1: that's indeed what happens, And that's about where I think
Speaker 1: it's going to be. Hey, Pete, But when we're watching
Speaker 1: the new Minnesota Vikings, it seems like they have a
Speaker 1: lot of veteran player loss and they're filling it with
Speaker 1: a lot of young guys. How is that transition gonna go?
Speaker 1: Because they have the veterans to break some of these
Speaker 1: young guys in. But you know you're doing a lot
Speaker 1: when you're counting on a lot of young players with
Speaker 1: this type of offseason. Yeah, and that's in time. You're
Speaker 1: exactly right. I mean, they drafted fifteen guys this spring
Speaker 1: at the draft. I mean, and if they all make
Speaker 1: the team, theoretically, you're talking over a third of your foster,
Speaker 1: you know, being rookies. And you know, I just don't
Speaker 1: I just don't see you know, that happening. And I
Speaker 1: think where we're really really young is going to be,
Speaker 1: you know, at the at the wide receiver position. And
Speaker 1: we hope that Justin Jefferson is able to come in
Speaker 1: and give us some juice with Adam Feeling. But still,
Speaker 1: I mean you know, outside of guys like Braylon Addison
Speaker 1: and some others, we you know, Taj Sharpe, you don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of veteran depth. And you know, are
Speaker 1: we we've we we we hit we hit it right
Speaker 1: in the wide receiver draft in nineteen ninety eight, but
Speaker 1: it's been a kind of a mixed bag since then
Speaker 1: for us and drafting wide receivers. We've drafted more wide
Speaker 1: receivers in the first round in the last ten years
Speaker 1: than any other team in the NFL. And so hopefully,
Speaker 1: you know, they get Justin Jefferson correct, you know, get
Speaker 1: him right. And you know, losing Diggs was big, and
Speaker 1: what was big is his explosiveness and his ability to,
Speaker 1: you know, to get behind a defense. And when you
Speaker 1: have Dalvin Cook and you're hurting teams at Dalvin Cook,
Speaker 1: they've got to do something to stop him. And you
Speaker 1: know Diggs, you know, Diggs went. Diggs averaged about eighteen
Speaker 1: yards a reception last year. Two years ago he averaged
Speaker 1: about ten. That eight yard jump was the biggest in
Speaker 1: the NFL on an average per catch basis. So you know,
Speaker 1: we need someone to be explosive and get behind defenses.
Speaker 1: And I guess we'll see if Justin Jefferson can do it. Well.
Speaker 1: You know, you see you keep talking about getting behind defenses,
Speaker 1: and I kind of want to go to your defense.
Speaker 1: This is a Mike Zimmer led football team that usually
Speaker 1: defense is highlighted. And is Harrison Smith now the most
Speaker 1: important leader on that entire defense? Because you had a
Speaker 1: selection guys on the defensive line of scrimmage linebacker, but
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith I think he was voted the second best
Speaker 1: defensive back in the league. But is he your team leader? Now? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's he's going to have to be. And we are
Speaker 1: going to be very very very young at ther you know,
Speaker 1: at the cornerback position. Mike Hughes will be our other
Speaker 1: veteran or our veteran corner and he has not been around,
Speaker 1: you know, for too long. Holton Hill has been around
Speaker 1: a little bit, but he's you know, he's been in trouble.
Speaker 1: He was he had some issues off the field coming
Speaker 1: into the draft which allowed him to fall. He had
Speaker 1: some you know, he missed about half the season last year.
Speaker 1: And that's why we drafted really three cornerbacks, I believe
Speaker 1: in the first three rounds. So I mean, you have
Speaker 1: to find bodies to put out there, and it's going
Speaker 1: to have to be simple. And I think you're absolutely
Speaker 1: right time when you look at the division, whoever's fielding
Speaker 1: the most veteran teams, you know it was already bad
Speaker 1: enough with how much camp was cut down or really
Speaker 1: it's not a training camp anymore as you know it, Tom,
Speaker 1: but you know it's really you know, the veteran teams
Speaker 1: and the guys who have been played and no defenses,
Speaker 1: and when they step in there, those are the guys
Speaker 1: that think that are going to have a much better
Speaker 1: shot even if we go to a limited especially if
Speaker 1: we go to a limited preseason with only a couple
Speaker 1: of games instead of all four and everything else. So
Speaker 1: we'll see Pete, Jim Miller, thanks for joining us, and
Speaker 1: I love Jeff Glady. I loved both your first round picks.
Speaker 1: But how how has he progressed? And I know everything's
Speaker 1: been virtual, but he you know, this guy's a tough guy.
Speaker 1: Played basically the entire year at TCU with the torn meniscus,
Speaker 1: and then he waited till after the combine to get
Speaker 1: the surgery. I mean, is there any updates on where
Speaker 1: he's at healthwise in order to return and be ready
Speaker 1: to go for the Vikings. Unfortunately, no, I mean we
Speaker 1: you know, we haven't. We haven't been allowed anywhere near
Speaker 1: a facility and that you know, and that's so we
Speaker 1: haven't been able to see him on the hoof or
Speaker 1: you know, do anything. But you know, having a number
Speaker 1: of those surgeries on my knee, it all depends on,
Speaker 1: you know, the nature of the injury. If it's if
Speaker 1: it's just a little repair where you have to take
Speaker 1: some out, and I think he'll be just fine. If
Speaker 1: it's a detachment, you know, that's usually something a little different.
Speaker 1: But to have an entire this amount of time for
Speaker 1: the meniscus to heal, I think, you know, I think
Speaker 1: he'll be just fine. You know, he's he's going to
Speaker 1: be a good player. I think the other guy's got
Speaker 1: in Cameron Danceler that we drafted. Now, Cameron Danceler did
Speaker 1: not do. He didn't have a great combine. He had
Speaker 1: a bad forty times somewhere in the four sixes. But
Speaker 1: when you watch him on film, he's a lot faster
Speaker 1: than that. He never had a chance to have a
Speaker 1: pro day, and I think this year you're going to
Speaker 1: see a ton of that with the draft picks is
Speaker 1: the guys that didn't do great at the Combine but
Speaker 1: didn't have a chance to have a pro day and
Speaker 1: they felt because you know how the draft works, it's
Speaker 1: all about the numbers really, and you're gonna see I
Speaker 1: think some guys that are picked in the third round
Speaker 1: the fourth round really step up mp starters. And Cameron Dancler's,
Speaker 1: you know, six foot two, ninety pounds, played in Mississippi State,
Speaker 1: but he's he's more of your stereotypical corner that Mike
Speaker 1: Zimmer likes, more like an Xavier Rhodes type player. Let
Speaker 1: me ask you. I know we'll probably get more clarity
Speaker 1: as the owners are meeting tomorrow, but players have thrown
Speaker 1: out some of their protocols that would like they don't
Speaker 1: even want to do eleven on eleven during training camp.
Speaker 1: But just your experiences, right in my experiences, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is kind of a leash. And that has nothing
Speaker 1: to do with COVID by the way, Yeah that's a
Speaker 1: good point too, But you know, I'm just thinking, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking, how can you a coplist, say, for
Speaker 1: a young receiver like Justin Jefferson, how's it going to
Speaker 1: know when to break hot if you're not even do
Speaker 1: a live blitz period, say well, you know what, here's
Speaker 1: here's the thing, and I think we've hit that precipice
Speaker 1: is you know, training camp is there for a reason.
Speaker 1: It's it's so you condition your body to take the
Speaker 1: beating that it does every Sunday, and then you're able
Speaker 1: to come back the following Sunday and be at ninety
Speaker 1: nine percent of what you were the week before. And
Speaker 1: they've already I mean you I've already seen preseason games
Speaker 1: where you know, it's it's middle of the field, it's
Speaker 1: second and two and teams can't even run a deep
Speaker 1: route because the receiver's tongues are hanging out of their
Speaker 1: mouths because they're not in shape. You know. So I
Speaker 1: think that if you, if you do something like that,
Speaker 1: it's just going to make it tougher on these guys
Speaker 1: to stay healthy. And you know, you can't throw the
Speaker 1: baby out with the bathwater. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's just my two cents, and you know,
Speaker 1: take it or leaving Pete Bursa's Vikings analysts on Radio
Speaker 1: up in Minneapolis. Johning us Here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to score. Jeff joni Ac tamp there, Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: let's tuck Kirk Cousins because after the first month of
Speaker 1: the season, he flat out toward up. You can make
Speaker 1: a case that he put up some of the best numbers,
Speaker 1: if not the best numbers in the NFL. I think
Speaker 1: it was twenty three and four in the TDD interception
Speaker 1: ratio and things started to liven up offensively. Where is
Speaker 1: his head is at? And a new offensive coordinator with
Speaker 1: a familiar face and a familiar nameing Gary Kubiak. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think the Kubiak sticking around is going to
Speaker 1: be huge because nothing's really going to change as far
Speaker 1: as you know how the offense works, what you call
Speaker 1: certain motions, and you know it's the learning curve. It's
Speaker 1: going to be, you know, a lot more flat. And
Speaker 1: he usually takes two seasons to really get a system
Speaker 1: fully installed. So I think in that respect, you know,
Speaker 1: Cousins is going to be just fine. I think what
Speaker 1: they have learned with Cousins, and we tried to do
Speaker 1: this in the green game, in the Green Bay game
Speaker 1: at home when Dalvin Cook was injured, and that make
Speaker 1: him make Cousins a pocket passer. He's he can't sit
Speaker 1: in the pocket thirty five times forty times a game
Speaker 1: and you're not you know, you're not gonna win. You
Speaker 1: have to have a good running game. You have to
Speaker 1: have him on the move with the bootlegs and the
Speaker 1: play actions and things like that, you know. I think
Speaker 1: I think really across the NFL quarterbacks passer ratings with
Speaker 1: play actions have all been you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: them have been north of a hundred. Quarterbacks are just
Speaker 1: better when there is the threat of a running game
Speaker 1: and we have to have that. And I think from
Speaker 1: an attitude standpoint, I think Cousins has taken a little
Speaker 1: bit more on his shoulders than he has in the past.
Speaker 1: You know, he's not he's not that physical type leader
Speaker 1: type of a guy. He's not a tough guy, right,
Speaker 1: So I don't know how well he do in Chicago.
Speaker 1: He's just not a tough guy. But he does have
Speaker 1: unbelievable down the field accuracy, and that's you know, off
Speaker 1: the play action, thrown it deep. I mean, that's the
Speaker 1: kind of stuff that that he does well. And I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be huge advantage for the Vikings,
Speaker 1: you know, and the Packers. Uh, having veteran quarterbacks coming
Speaker 1: back into this fall. Hey, Pete, you know I played
Speaker 1: in the USFL, so I know what it's like to
Speaker 1: have no crowd at the opponent's home stadium. So what
Speaker 1: about you know the weapon of the You know, I
Speaker 1: actually might have been at one of your games. You
Speaker 1: know that right when you were with the USFL. Well,
Speaker 1: you are the person in the stands then so can
Speaker 1: That's kind of my point because when you think about
Speaker 1: when we travel to Minnesota or teams go to Seattle
Speaker 1: and they have these crowds that are supportive as anybody
Speaker 1: in the league, and that really helps the defense. How
Speaker 1: do you think football will be this year when you're
Speaker 1: you can you can transfer your signals to any stadium
Speaker 1: you play, and or the offense can hear the cadence
Speaker 1: in any stadium they Marion, Yeah, I mean those things
Speaker 1: that's the minutia of the game. That's that's definitely going
Speaker 1: to change. You know, the hard counts, um, you know
Speaker 1: you go down. I'm especially places like New Orleans where
Speaker 1: you can't even hear yourself. Think, uh, these places like
Speaker 1: you said Seattle that are just so loud. Um, you
Speaker 1: know that that's definitely you know, that's definitely gonna gonna
Speaker 1: change the way defenses operate. Um, I think it's gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, allow guys to hear a hell of a
Speaker 1: lot more, but already mentally taxed. How much more that
Speaker 1: you can hear, you know, I don't know, Uh, it
Speaker 1: will be it'd be interesting to see what players respond
Speaker 1: and don't respond, because Tom, you know this, it's the
Speaker 1: it's the like the late Fred Zambroletti, who was the
Speaker 1: trainer for the Vikings for fifty years, said, it's the
Speaker 1: roar of the crowd. That's what That's what gets you going,
Speaker 1: That's what gets you pumped up, and you know, makes
Speaker 1: this thing all worthwhile. And when you get out there
Speaker 1: in that atmosphere, isn't that way. Certain guys I think
Speaker 1: are gonna actually do better, and I think other guys
Speaker 1: just aren't, are not going to respond well to the
Speaker 1: fact that there might not be any crowd noise, you
Speaker 1: know whatsoever. And so I think hopefully at the end
Speaker 1: of all of this, the players will walk away with
Speaker 1: a lot more appreciation for the fans and what they
Speaker 1: do in the noise that they provide, not that they
Speaker 1: take them for granted, but in the NFL the fan.
Speaker 1: There's such a distance between fans and players, you know,
Speaker 1: there's no not down on the fields. There's this big
Speaker 1: distance and without the fans being in there, I think
Speaker 1: the players are going to walk away, you know, after
Speaker 1: a couple weeks of it, and be like, listen, this
Speaker 1: is this is no fun. We want you know, we
Speaker 1: want fans back in the stands, because that's what makes
Speaker 1: all of this worthwhile. Well, how old your step son
Speaker 1: Pete uh twelve? Alex Rudeger watching h watching the Hinsdale
Speaker 1: Hinsdale Traveling baseball team out here against Winfield. Got me
Speaker 1: heard they're pretty good. I got I bet the I
Speaker 1: bet the overtime, so hopefully they'll get more. I fourteen
Speaker 1: runs scored in this game. So there's a really shady
Speaker 1: guy taking bets. You got me excited because I just
Speaker 1: signed my six year old up for fall flag football,
Speaker 1: so I'm hoping that without a problem. But it's good
Speaker 1: to see sports are up and running and it's starting
Speaker 1: to come back. And hopefully despite it is to stop
Speaker 1: the NFL players from playing, no, absolutely not, And you
Speaker 1: know this thing positive and keep going. And I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I just with all with this gap that's been in athletics.
Speaker 1: If the NFL can get this thing going and hit
Speaker 1: it right, I don't I don't see how it couldn't
Speaker 1: be one of the more profitable years that the NFL
Speaker 1: has a Man, I know, baseball is about a third
Speaker 1: of their income is on ticket sales and all that,
Speaker 1: but my god, I mean, the TV ratings are going
Speaker 1: to be off the charts if the NFL can get
Speaker 1: this together and put a product out there, and hopefully
Speaker 1: that'll be the case, because I if I'm not calling
Speaker 1: games in the fall, and it's gonna be it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough. You know, I might have to hang on
Speaker 1: a Joni X house and just watch the film, and
Speaker 1: you know, we can, we can yell each other and
Speaker 1: you know, maybe uh, you know, maybe Thayer and I
Speaker 1: can take turns being the play by play guy because
Speaker 1: we both that's all we want to be, you know,
Speaker 1: a guy like Thayer and me, all we want to
Speaker 1: be is the play by playboys. But we're relegated. We're
Speaker 1: relegated to filling in dead airtime in between plays. Yeah nothing,
Speaker 1: but you guys are you guys are pros, you guys
Speaker 1: are experts. Um, all right, before we let you go,
Speaker 1: and I know you got things to do, so appreciate it. Um.
Speaker 1: What's what's a Vikings view of the Bears, a team
Speaker 1: that has really been a difficult opponent for the Vikings
Speaker 1: over the years and again last season. What's your view? Yeah? Especially, yeah,
Speaker 1: especially you know, especially at your place. I think, Um,
Speaker 1: the one thing that I noticed or that we saw
Speaker 1: and we talked about and with with the Bears is
Speaker 1: what have you guys done to address the guard position?
Speaker 1: Because you know, the offensive line has been I think
Speaker 1: has been the problem, so to speak, because you're not
Speaker 1: you're not actually letting your quarterback play the way I
Speaker 1: think he's best at playing. I mean, obviously people aren't
Speaker 1: disappointing them what he's done and how he's playing, which
Speaker 1: is why he brought folds. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I don't care who you put back there if if
Speaker 1: he's going to be getting pressured because guards and pass
Speaker 1: protection now are so important. I mean, Thayer would have
Speaker 1: made millions now instead of tens of thousands of dollars
Speaker 1: had he played right now and been able to pass
Speaker 1: protect because some of your best pass rushers are interior
Speaker 1: defensive linemen, so you know for us, I think for
Speaker 1: the Bears. I mean, if you guys stay healthy on defense,
Speaker 1: you know obviously you're going to be really really good,
Speaker 1: and then offensively just should you know, showing up that
Speaker 1: offensive line all right, Pete, can't wait to break it
Speaker 1: on down when it actually starts up again. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us, man, have a great time here. I hopefully,
Speaker 1: hopefully we'll get to see you in a couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: a couple of months, or whatever time it is. I
Speaker 1: just hope we get to see it. Sounds good Man,
Speaker 1: good to talk to Pete. Stay healthy, stay good. Say
Speaker 1: had everybody Pete Versus King's analyst down radio joining us?
Speaker 1: We have more Jim Miller and Tom there after this
Speaker 1: break on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Fans
Speaker 1: with Tide Cleaners at home pick up in delivery, Cleaning
Speaker 1: your clothes has never been easier. Simply sign up at
Speaker 1: your local store, sit out your journey clothes, and one
Speaker 1: of our Tide Cleaners professionals will come directly to your
Speaker 1: home for a totally contactless experience. Visit tide Cleaners dot
Speaker 1: com to learn more. Jeff Joni act top there, I'm laughing.
Speaker 1: Jim because Tom goes old school. Now he does his laundry,
Speaker 1: he hangs it out on the clothing line outside. That's
Speaker 1: how he drives it. That's like the good old days
Speaker 1: like Mama used to do. That's right. Yeah, you know
Speaker 1: you need that breezy wind. But it does smell better
Speaker 1: when a tongue outside like that and you get that
Speaker 1: breeze through the wind, so your clothes smell good. I
Speaker 1: used to love that as a kid. My recently departed
Speaker 1: mom would be so proud of me to carrying on
Speaker 1: what she did my whole life. And it's still the
Speaker 1: same clothes line, same clothes pins and everything. So when
Speaker 1: I do it, I think of her. Yeah, good idea
Speaker 1: looking down and seeing her son take care of business.
Speaker 1: All right. Coming up this week, and it's been started
Speaker 1: since Tuesday, the Bears launching their three part documentary series
Speaker 1: Meet the Rookies, brought to you by Mercedes Benz. It's
Speaker 1: a sixth year in a row that this has been
Speaker 1: done a little different obviously this year Laurence Greedon joined
Speaker 1: me and remotely obviously doing it by zoom. But it
Speaker 1: tells the story of three players and their journey to
Speaker 1: the NFL and their own words, and these are all
Speaker 1: going to be combined on a Fox thirty two show
Speaker 1: coming up on Saturday at nine thirty pm and on
Speaker 1: Sunday at ten pm this week, So meet the rookies.
Speaker 1: Check it out. Those rookies include Cole Comet, Jalen Johnson,
Speaker 1: and Trevis Gipson. Fellas, and I know you guys have
Speaker 1: seen some of the pieces online they've been coming out,
Speaker 1: and Tom Trevis is really a driven young man. He's
Speaker 1: a fifth round pick and you can't get him off
Speaker 1: the topic of what put that chip on his shoulder,
Speaker 1: and it's that he got one division college offer and
Speaker 1: it still bugs him. And we asked him over and
Speaker 1: over different ways of saying what motivates and what drive
Speaker 1: It came back to that simple fact and if that's
Speaker 1: enough to carry a guy to be successful and a
Speaker 1: star player of this league, then so be it. Oh.
Speaker 1: I think Khalil Mack is kind of the same way
Speaker 1: because he didn't have a lot of scholarship offers either
Speaker 1: coming out of high school and then you look what
Speaker 1: he transformed into. Trevis Gibson, you know, Jeff, when I
Speaker 1: watched the rookie thing that you and Lauren did, so'm I.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm always impressed with guys that have an
Speaker 1: athletic bloodline, and he does. Man, his dad is a
Speaker 1: big athlete, like you mentioned, his grandfather played for the Raiders,
Speaker 1: his brothers basketball player at six to eight, and so yeah,
Speaker 1: this guy is driven by positive athletic influences in his life.
Speaker 1: And I really hope he gets a chance to flourish.
Speaker 1: But when I was, when I after it all was over, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I was wondering, are we looking at Khalil or are
Speaker 1: we looking at Robert Quinn? So, I mean, in terms
Speaker 1: of stylistically a little bit of everything. Are we looking
Speaker 1: at a defensive van that's going to be in a
Speaker 1: three point stance? Are we looking at a linebacker that's
Speaker 1: gonna be rushing out of a two point stance? Are
Speaker 1: we looking at a guy that has a lot of
Speaker 1: different instincts than Robert Quinn or a guy that's as
Speaker 1: destructive as Khalil Max. So I can't wait to actually
Speaker 1: get my eyes on him. Jim. I'm thinking they're gonna
Speaker 1: start him out an outside linebacker and see how he grows.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're talking about a two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: pound kid. When he showed up at Tulsa. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he has. He has grown into his body. He's got
Speaker 1: tremendous athleticism. But hey, whatever drives you, Jeff Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: if it's being overlooked, so be it. Use it to
Speaker 1: the best of your ability, and dig deep in that
Speaker 1: tank to fulfill what you want to get done. If
Speaker 1: that's what drives you, go get it. Jim Miller, tomp there, Jeff,
Speaker 1: Jonny act One more segment to go Where to the
Speaker 1: top of the hour on Bears All Access with Chris Dickens,
Speaker 1: our producer on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey,
Speaker 1: Bears fans, it's important to stay connected now more than
Speaker 1: ever In a motoro, we love thinking that possible. With
Speaker 1: a new razor, you can enjoy staying connected a little
Speaker 1: bit more. It's a phone, it's an accessory, it's an
Speaker 1: icon reinvented Hello motto. Jeff Joni Actim there, Jim Metal
Speaker 1: wrapping things up another edition of Bears All Access. All right,
Speaker 1: some quick hitters, fellas I like doing it. In the
Speaker 1: final segment, we've got about three minutes to go. What
Speaker 1: position needs preseason more than any other And I'm not
Speaker 1: talking about practice. I'm talking about game action. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's gonna be zero, one, two, three, or four,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna find out shortly. We'll start with Jim. Jim,
Speaker 1: what position group, I'll just say the whole offense, because
Speaker 1: I think we know what's that. That's no fair. You
Speaker 1: gotta pick a position group back up. I mean in
Speaker 1: mesh points is what I say, the run game specifically,
Speaker 1: Tom take it away, well, Jim, I'm following your I'm
Speaker 1: going with the quarterback position. I don't want a decision
Speaker 1: to be made during the regular season if there is
Speaker 1: no preseason games, I don't want, you know, I want
Speaker 1: some clarity in the in this competition because it's the
Speaker 1: most high profile competition of the off season. Now, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with offensive line. I really think, as we
Speaker 1: heard from Pete Persis, and that's where the game is
Speaker 1: won or lost in many cases. So I think it
Speaker 1: all starts up front. Got to get that thing ironed out, okay,
Speaker 1: in terms of Riley Ridley against Javon Wims. And it's
Speaker 1: more than that, there's more bodies now competing for jobs
Speaker 1: at different assets. You want a basketball team playing receiver
Speaker 1: all shapes and sizes. These guys are similar in their
Speaker 1: style and so forth. Who needs to and who will
Speaker 1: have a bigger impact, Tom, I'm going to Riley Ridley.
Speaker 1: We have a lot of experiences, a lot of plays,
Speaker 1: a lot of training camp that we've been able to watch.
Speaker 1: Javon Wims he has the ability, the talent, the athleticism
Speaker 1: to play. But I think with skills, bloodline of the position,
Speaker 1: you know, I think Riley Ridley can be the benefactor
Speaker 1: this year. Yeah, highly touted in terms of his route
Speaker 1: running and stuff. I expect a big jump from Riley Ridley.
Speaker 1: I know with the offseason it's been the way it is,
Speaker 1: but I think he's counted on to really make a contribution.
Speaker 1: All right. When you talk about a guy like Rashad Coward,
Speaker 1: he's trying to win the starting job at right guard.
Speaker 1: He's gonna compete with jam jamainea Fetti who's got a
Speaker 1: lot more experience, not necessarily at the guard position, but
Speaker 1: he's built to play that powerhouse position. Rashad is still raw.
Speaker 1: He did get those starts last year. He works extremely
Speaker 1: hard at what he does. The value of this still
Speaker 1: young player even if he doesn't win that starting job.
Speaker 1: He's what time there seven offensive lineman on the game
Speaker 1: day activation. You have to be able to play multiple positions,
Speaker 1: James Daniels. He can play guard, center, Cody Whitehaired guarner, center,
Speaker 1: Rashad Coward's got to be able to play garden, tackle,
Speaker 1: but he's got to play all four of them. We've
Speaker 1: seen that he still has some experience to live through. However,
Speaker 1: he's got to be mentally sharp as anybody out there. Jim, Hey,
Speaker 1: he's played, he's got some work in. That's money in
Speaker 1: the bank, all the experience he got last year. So
Speaker 1: he's got to build from a upon that as well,
Speaker 1: and I think he will. All right, fellas, we gotta run.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Stay safe, have a great weekend.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you next week. For Jim Miller, Tom There,
Speaker 1: Jeff Jony Act saying good night, Chris Dickens, our producer
Speaker 1: Dan Billy Jordan dread Up our producers as well, and
Speaker 1: thanks to Pete Burschen Dieter Iceland, they undrafted rookie guard.
Speaker 1: I have a great night, everybody. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 1: Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score.
Speaker 1: Good night, Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears dot com and on iTunes, or download the official
Speaker 1: Bears mobile app. Bears All Access has been brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Miller Lite