Speaker 1: Here. The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears
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Speaker 1: every day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're
Speaker 1: all excess passing to Chicago Bears Football. Bears All Access
Speaker 1: is brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by CDW,
Speaker 1: Miller Lite and Hulu. Ally with you again, everybody. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak and welcome in. We are at Hallis Hall
Speaker 1: where I'm across the table from a Bear's alumni, gree
Speaker 1: Tom Tar. Tom, How are you doing it? Is? You
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Because you have a sticker on
Speaker 1: your chest, says ambass Ambassador. Well, it's really nice because
Speaker 1: the Bears have invited a group of ex players to
Speaker 1: come up here and be introduced to the new class
Speaker 1: of rookies that are getting ready to start Rookie Minicamp tomorrow.
Speaker 1: And there's over seventy guys in the room and that's
Speaker 1: tryout eyes, draft choices, free agents, and we kind of
Speaker 1: give about a minute or two of what our experiences
Speaker 1: are and throughout our career, what it's our experiences of
Speaker 1: living in Chicago and what are our experiences with the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. And it's just a great opportunity to get
Speaker 1: a chance to shake hands, meet him and let these
Speaker 1: guys know they belong. And it's not excuse me, it's
Speaker 1: not first round draft choice. Jay Hilgenberg, seven time Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl free agent, Big Kat Williams free agent, a twelve
Speaker 1: year player. So it's a group of guys from all
Speaker 1: areas of the draft and free agency just to welcome
Speaker 1: this young group of guys. It's just how they welcome
Speaker 1: Jim Miller when he entered the NFL, right, you guys
Speaker 1: that kind of welcome. Yeah, but a funny as six
Speaker 1: round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'll tell you,
Speaker 1: let's intimidating the locker room to go into. You had
Speaker 1: some good players like Greg Lloyd and Rod Woodson and
Speaker 1: all the players, and you knew, you know the same thing,
Speaker 1: that toughness part of it. You had to live up
Speaker 1: to it because it's kind of what the Bears players
Speaker 1: at Tom's mentioned in those great defenses that the Bears
Speaker 1: had in the eighty five and just the toughness that
Speaker 1: they showed. It is kind of similar with the steel curtains.
Speaker 1: So you better show up and you better be tough,
Speaker 1: is what you had to represent. Well, these guys all
Speaker 1: come in, and especially the tryout guys. In some cases
Speaker 1: it may be the only tryout they have to get
Speaker 1: on an NFL roster, and there have been plenty of
Speaker 1: success stories by way of tryouts. Guys get on the field,
Speaker 1: they make it the training camp, they impressed just enough
Speaker 1: to get on the practice squad or maybe be on
Speaker 1: the active roster, and then they work their way up
Speaker 1: and eventually in a couple of years become something of
Speaker 1: an impact player in their respective units. So it's not
Speaker 1: an impossibility, and that's why it's it's always fun to
Speaker 1: see these guys come in and give it a shot.
Speaker 1: But there's also a little bit of a change in mentality.
Speaker 1: And you know this, Jim, because these guys are they're
Speaker 1: superstars of their college football teams. So they haven't been
Speaker 1: in the back of the line, they haven't been having
Speaker 1: to participate in the special teams of their college football
Speaker 1: team because they were an impact player at their position. Well,
Speaker 1: everything is reversed, and that was my message to the guys.
Speaker 1: Is from the first game in my career to the
Speaker 1: very last game in my career, I played on kickoff
Speaker 1: return and I wasn't too humble for it. I was
Speaker 1: I was glad to be a part of it, because
Speaker 1: playing special teams is just as important as any position
Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, well, you're gonna have to earn it.
Speaker 1: It starts all over. It doesn't matter what you did
Speaker 1: in college. Shoot, I mean tomorrow, look at all the
Speaker 1: players that aren't even getting the fifth year options right now.
Speaker 1: I mean those are first round draft picks that teams
Speaker 1: are still somewhat undecided on, but four team players teams
Speaker 1: have elected not to place the fifth year option for
Speaker 1: whatever the reason. The way, uh, you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's some of it's happenstance. You know. You look at
Speaker 1: Jack Conklin and I follow him because he's out of
Speaker 1: Michigan State. He was an eighth overall pick. This guy
Speaker 1: was all Pro as a rookie, you know, for him
Speaker 1: in the Tennessee Titans, I think it's more about injury
Speaker 1: for him. You know, he tears his ACL and then
Speaker 1: he comes back. Last year he only makes it in
Speaker 1: nine games, So we'll see, you know, obviously this year
Speaker 1: there's a lot on the line for him, So he's
Speaker 1: a guy I thought, man, I would have thought they
Speaker 1: would have placed the fifth year option, especially at top
Speaker 1: ten pick when you look at him. But the other
Speaker 1: guys and there's new coaching staffs. Those players weren't selected
Speaker 1: for those coaches. There's new coaches around the league. Player
Speaker 1: now doesn't fit the system that they're in. And some
Speaker 1: it's just flat out poor play. Don't get me wrong there.
Speaker 1: I mean they haven't lived up to the billing when
Speaker 1: you look at some of the guys and why they
Speaker 1: didn't put the fifth year option on those players. Bears
Speaker 1: did do that though with Leonard Floyd. Tom, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I agree with that because I do think the influences
Speaker 1: around Leonard Floyd is much more positive in terms of football.
Speaker 1: How do you prepare on the practice field in order
Speaker 1: to play up to your ability on game day? And
Speaker 1: Leonard Floyd, I still believe he has a really bright
Speaker 1: future about him if he could stay fully healthy. One
Speaker 1: thing that impressed me was the way he attacked his
Speaker 1: rehab last offseason to get prepared after a knee injury
Speaker 1: and to be able to make it onto the field.
Speaker 1: And it is the reward of hard work from last year.
Speaker 1: But they know he's got play better than he's played
Speaker 1: in the past, and he's going to get a whole offseason,
Speaker 1: whole training camp with Kettle Mack on the other side.
Speaker 1: Can't help it pick up things that help you in
Speaker 1: your game. And I still have high hopes for Leonard
Speaker 1: Floyd to become an impact pass rusher for the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears in this great defense. All right, when we come back,
Speaker 1: Trey Burton, veteran tight end, we'll join the program. We're
Speaker 1: also going to be joined at the bottom of the
Speaker 1: hour by Olden Creutz. A great conversation as always with
Speaker 1: a big oh as we bring you Bears All Access
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy, Tom There, Jeff Joniak,
Speaker 1: and Jim Miller on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the 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 home warranty products to over one million
Speaker 1: customers across the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at
Speaker 1: igs dot com. Jeff joni Ac, Tom There, Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: We hope here from Trey Burton shortly and Olden Crutes
Speaker 1: will join the program. As well. We're bringing this to
Speaker 1: you from hallis Hall. Good to have you on board
Speaker 1: as it becomes more real now for everybody. You had
Speaker 1: the vets obviously been working here for a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks of the offseason program already. They have different phases.
Speaker 1: They start in the weight room, they go to the field.
Speaker 1: They're not throwing on pads or anything weird like that
Speaker 1: just yet. But the rookies now will get the Bears way,
Speaker 1: starting tonight with a team meeting, then Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Speaker 1: workouts drills, and then they'll dovetail that with the OTAs
Speaker 1: with the veterans, so it becomes very real. Saw many
Speaker 1: of them today and you can see some just wide eyed.
Speaker 1: You know, they're walking around looking at the at the
Speaker 1: at the building which is still under construction. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of that going on, Tom and Jim. But
Speaker 1: you know, they walked into the charter franchise in the
Speaker 1: National Football today. You know, when I think about what
Speaker 1: position you play and how well you got to know
Speaker 1: so they're going to do any evaluation of your athleticism
Speaker 1: on the field, see how you move your feet, how
Speaker 1: what you adjust in motion and things like that. But
Speaker 1: I tell you, it's about understanding your assignments. And I
Speaker 1: was telling these young guys, I'm going, look, you can
Speaker 1: leave a meeting and then you can get involved in
Speaker 1: social media, but you got to take that time to
Speaker 1: invest in your own intelligence. I can't even imagine what
Speaker 1: it would be like for a quarterback like Jim going
Speaker 1: in your rookie year. Your head had to be scrambling
Speaker 1: more than any other position out there. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was tough because we had a veteran team. You know,
Speaker 1: when I arrived for the Steelers, Neil O'Donnell was there.
Speaker 1: He was the starter, had been there for a few
Speaker 1: years already, so they were far along in the offense.
Speaker 1: Mike tom Zack was the backup at that point. At
Speaker 1: that point, he was starting to go on double digit
Speaker 1: years in the NFL. So those guys. Our offense was
Speaker 1: advanced because it was such a veteran team. And that's
Speaker 1: what it felt like for me. I felt like I
Speaker 1: was swimming because when they installed everything, because back then
Speaker 1: you just had you had your rookie mini caamp, your
Speaker 1: veteran mini caamp, and then we reported to training camp.
Speaker 1: That's all we did back back then. So when we
Speaker 1: came in for the Veteran Miniicamp. They gave you everything.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was basically one hundred percent of the
Speaker 1: install was in and I was just like, whoa, you know,
Speaker 1: this was nothing like the rookie Mini caamp. And you know,
Speaker 1: they they you know, and I thought I was struggling
Speaker 1: even in the rookie minicamp because it was just, you know,
Speaker 1: if the volume of offense was just so much more
Speaker 1: than college, and then when the Vets got there, it
Speaker 1: was even double tie. Yeah, and they don't wait for anybody.
Speaker 1: Trey Burton knows that Trey Burton and walking down memory
Speaker 1: Land a little bit, the veteran tat end kind enough
Speaker 1: to join Bears All Access Tonight, Good evening, Tray. You
Speaker 1: remember your opening days as being a rookie with the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I remember. I'll never forget it. What what
Speaker 1: stood out about it? What resonates about those first few
Speaker 1: days when you're joining your fellow rookies and you're you're
Speaker 1: going into Philadelphia during you know, right after the draft. Oh,
Speaker 1: you just created a brotherhood. You know, some some of
Speaker 1: my best friends or some of the guys that came
Speaker 1: into in the Philadelphia with or came into this league
Speaker 1: with and um, you kind of bonds. You know, you're
Speaker 1: just get thrown into a big group of people and
Speaker 1: facing your dream and um, you don't really understand the
Speaker 1: ins and outs and how everything goes, but it's an
Speaker 1: exciting time. Tray, you play a variety of positions on
Speaker 1: the field. When you come in as a tight end,
Speaker 1: do they try to like escort you into one position
Speaker 1: and then expand your role as it goes along, or
Speaker 1: do they feed you everything all at once because you
Speaker 1: guys are all over the field. I think it just
Speaker 1: kind of depends on what system you go into. UM.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of times, especially with the system
Speaker 1: that we're in now, they will try to figure out
Speaker 1: what your strengths are and figure out, you know, where
Speaker 1: that will fit on this team and kind of trying
Speaker 1: to maximize your strength and then work on some of
Speaker 1: your weaknesses as well well. From your standpoint, because you
Speaker 1: are so versatile and you know, it just it just
Speaker 1: seemed like a seamless transition from Philadelphia and it coming
Speaker 1: to Chicago and how you were utilized and just like
Speaker 1: to get your overall assessment trade because it looked like
Speaker 1: a perfect fit from from your standpoint. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean was there was. There wasn't much of a learning
Speaker 1: curve in the sense of UM football knowledge. You know,
Speaker 1: you we run a very similar offense, a lot of
Speaker 1: similar terminology. So that wasn't you know, that much of
Speaker 1: a difficult for me. But it was, you know, A
Speaker 1: lot more difficult was just the amount of snaps. You know,
Speaker 1: I come in and I play probably six hundred I
Speaker 1: think it was like six hundred and fifty total offensive
Speaker 1: snaps in four years in Philadelphia, and then last year
Speaker 1: I played eight hundreds, you know, And so just that
Speaker 1: physical wear and tear is what UM was something that
Speaker 1: you know, that was that was the biggest challenge for me.
Speaker 1: And it's exactly what you know, I signed up for
Speaker 1: and exactly what I wanted, you know, and so um
Speaker 1: it was it was a lot of fun. Well how
Speaker 1: did you how did you hold up from that? Like
Speaker 1: obviously you could tell the difference, you know, like you said,
Speaker 1: in terms of the snap total totals totals, But what
Speaker 1: about the wear and tear that you're talking about what
Speaker 1: you were asking to because like you said, you signed
Speaker 1: for more and you got more. Yeah, no, I think
Speaker 1: and I think it was great. I mean I was
Speaker 1: able to play sixteen games and I have to um
Speaker 1: miss any until the very end, and so um, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it went really well. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, week by week there's just so many things
Speaker 1: that go into not just me but everybody. We thought
Speaker 1: we could take so much stuff to get your body
Speaker 1: physically ready to play again, and so UM definitely enjoyed.
Speaker 1: You know, my first year, you know, Trey, when you're
Speaker 1: trying to learn the tendencies or the thinking of a
Speaker 1: young quarterback, quarterback like Mitchell Trubisky, is it something that
Speaker 1: you would have a conversation daily or was there conversations
Speaker 1: after plays when you had the time, And you know,
Speaker 1: how well will you know him this year from just
Speaker 1: getting to meet him last year? Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think I know him really well. Um this year going
Speaker 1: into this year, you know, really excited to get back
Speaker 1: out there, especially in OCAs and training camp when we're
Speaker 1: able to have a defense across from us. UM. But no,
Speaker 1: I think you know, it's a mixture of um this
Speaker 1: running routes, you know, getting the ball is thrown to you,
Speaker 1: thrown to meet from him, and then also watching film
Speaker 1: as well with him and seeing kind of kind of
Speaker 1: getting his eyes on coverages and plays and where he
Speaker 1: what he what he wants you to do, and where
Speaker 1: he sees you at, you know, when he's ready to
Speaker 1: throw the ball. In timing, you know, you know how
Speaker 1: that man timing is probably the most important thing in
Speaker 1: this game from the offense of quarterbacks, receivers or tight ends.
Speaker 1: Trey Burton our guest here on Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score with Herb Lawrence
Speaker 1: and Adams Dozinski helping us out in the Score studios
Speaker 1: Jeff Joni Actim there, Jim Miller, and Trey Burton. As
Speaker 1: he enters his second year of the Bears. What's your
Speaker 1: offseason been like? How did you approach it? What did
Speaker 1: you hope to get out of it as you enter
Speaker 1: into this new phase of the preseason. Off the ones
Speaker 1: great man. Got to spend a lot of time with
Speaker 1: my kids, um and kind of investing them and to
Speaker 1: be around them as much as possible. And I got
Speaker 1: some really good training in u in March and some
Speaker 1: a little bit of February and all of March, and
Speaker 1: got to go onto couple trips, you know, with the
Speaker 1: family and just hang out with them. And so I'm
Speaker 1: excited to excited to get back, you know, two or
Speaker 1: three weeks ago and get back to with the team
Speaker 1: with the guys and working out and all those types
Speaker 1: of things and looking forward to OCAs and training camp.
Speaker 1: You know, Trey spending the afternoon what the rookie is
Speaker 1: here at the new Hollis Hall. You can see it
Speaker 1: in their faces and you can listen to hear him
Speaker 1: talk about the the enormous facility that they're being introduced to. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Philadelphia has got a pretty solid facility, I believe.
Speaker 1: And now what do you think about the new facility here?
Speaker 1: And is is it too big? Or is it everything
Speaker 1: that's required for a football team in this era? Man,
Speaker 1: it's amazing. You know, you have you hear about what's
Speaker 1: going on. You hear about how much they're spending, and um,
Speaker 1: you know how the ownership and the coaching staff and
Speaker 1: everybody's seeing eye to eye and this training staff and
Speaker 1: the wait staff, like everybody's seeing eye to eye, which
Speaker 1: is extremely hard and it barely happens. And you hear about,
Speaker 1: you know, how cool it's going to be and all
Speaker 1: everything that's gonna be put inside of it and you
Speaker 1: kind of visualize yourself about what's going on and how cool,
Speaker 1: how cool it is, it's gonna be, it gonna look,
Speaker 1: and then you actually show up you see the how
Speaker 1: massive it is and how unbelievable and just the deep
Speaker 1: attention to detail that they took and they put into it.
Speaker 1: It's it's just truly amazing. You can't even really put
Speaker 1: it in the word. And so I don't know necessarily
Speaker 1: about too big or too small, or too nice or
Speaker 1: anything like that. I just I think it's exactly what
Speaker 1: it needed, and it's obviously there was a lot of
Speaker 1: planning going on and they did a great job with it. Well, Trey,
Speaker 1: I want to go back to talk about growth of
Speaker 1: a player, because you even talked about it yourself in
Speaker 1: terms of the snap totals and how you grew as
Speaker 1: a player from from that standpoint, because I think, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody has the doubts about themselves, but I want to
Speaker 1: talk about Mitchell in his growth as a player. I
Speaker 1: thought it was pretty defining in the Jets game the
Speaker 1: second half, or the last game of the season against Minnesota,
Speaker 1: or even in the playoff game. You know, to drive
Speaker 1: the team down, they have the opportunity for a field goal.
Speaker 1: How just talk about the growth of Mitchell and what
Speaker 1: you witnessed during the year last year. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: just think any the longer you're in the system, the
Speaker 1: longer you're getting coached, especially with the coaches that we have,
Speaker 1: you know up here in Chicago, and the longer you're
Speaker 1: around the new guys, I think, the better you're going
Speaker 1: to be in more you understand things. And I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously we all knew Mitch is a really good quarterback,
Speaker 1: and so you just kind of see over the weeks
Speaker 1: as weeks go on, just him progressing and him taking charge,
Speaker 1: and him knowing what to do and where to go
Speaker 1: with the ball and just really just taking control of
Speaker 1: the offense. And so it was just fun to be
Speaker 1: a part of fun to see, fun to watch his development.
Speaker 1: And I mean, if he can if he can get
Speaker 1: back to get back to what he did the last
Speaker 1: or the second half of the playoff games, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think we're all really excited about that. Bears Tata
Speaker 1: and Trey Burton joined I guess you're on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Jeff
Speaker 1: Tam and Jim with Tray for a few more moments. Trey,
Speaker 1: since you knew very much the system coming from Philadelphia
Speaker 1: and its similarities and nuances. When you hear Matt tell
Speaker 1: the media and the fans throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: year the Bears were in a one on one stage
Speaker 1: with Mitch and the offense learning the system, and he
Speaker 1: hopes to be in two oh one this year, and
Speaker 1: you keep graduating to different levels. Do you know what
Speaker 1: that feels like and looks like from your perspective because
Speaker 1: you've been in it longer than these guys, And if so,
Speaker 1: what will it look like? Oh? Yeah, definitely. Uh. I
Speaker 1: think the biggest thing in the two o one system
Speaker 1: is you can never you can never call a bad play,
Speaker 1: you know, for so for example, like Naggie might call
Speaker 1: play and they might give us a defense that's not
Speaker 1: good for that play, and that's when you know, Mitch
Speaker 1: takes over and checks the play to something else or
Speaker 1: something that we've gone through throughout the week in film study,
Speaker 1: and like, hey, if they give us this look, we
Speaker 1: want to run this. And so m just basically putting
Speaker 1: us as my offense in the best position possible. But
Speaker 1: you know, you're still going to do a lot of
Speaker 1: the one on one stuff, you know, like you're gonna
Speaker 1: the majority of the week. The week I'm sure game
Speaker 1: plan will be a lot of the one on one stuff,
Speaker 1: and so that's just kind of, you know a little
Speaker 1: bit what it looks like to do to two oh one.
Speaker 1: But it'll be exciting to see. And you got a
Speaker 1: bunch of new offensive weapons too, So a lot of
Speaker 1: different choices is a buffet, isn't it for Mitch? Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's should be really excited. Very good, Trey, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your time. Thanks Tray Tredy Burton, Bears
Speaker 1: tight End, joining us here on Bears All Access. When
Speaker 1: we return, we will discuss the Bears draft, and at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the hour, we'll be joined by Olden Creutz,
Speaker 1: one of the great Bears in this team's great history,
Speaker 1: as we look forward to the one hundred year celebration
Speaker 1: of this franchise on the first weekend in June seventh
Speaker 1: through the ninth. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Join us for
Speaker 1: Bears one hundred celebration weekend in Rosemond, June seventh through
Speaker 1: the ninth. Enjoy player autographs, photo ops, football panels, and
Speaker 1: activities for all ages. Get tickets today at Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: dot com. We strongly encourage you to do so, because
Speaker 1: it's a heck of a lineup of panels that Tom
Speaker 1: and I will be very much a part of during
Speaker 1: that weekend on Saturday and Sunday, and the opening ceremonies
Speaker 1: should be memorable because gonna have the largest collection of
Speaker 1: current former Bears players and coaches that you've ever seen before. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what the fun thing about it is, rarely
Speaker 1: do you get that the enormity of a group like
Speaker 1: that that are in relaxed moments where they have a
Speaker 1: chance to be really congenial with the fans and with
Speaker 1: each other. And there's so many stories outside just the
Speaker 1: football game itself about relationship development, player development, about the
Speaker 1: expansion of your role with the team, and there's gonna
Speaker 1: be so many fun legendary players to talk to when
Speaker 1: you get the chance to meet and like it's this
Speaker 1: charter franchise at the NFL, it's gonna be a once
Speaker 1: in a lifetime opportunity unless you live to be two
Speaker 1: hundred and all the living Hall of Famers expected to
Speaker 1: attend as well. Jim, I'm sure you'll be making some
Speaker 1: time to come on down as well. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a really fun weekend for Bears fans and at
Speaker 1: a great time to Jim in. The franchise is current
Speaker 1: place right now, coming off a very strong season, certainly
Speaker 1: with high expectations, but nobody taking anything for granted. That's
Speaker 1: coming from the top of the organization down and he's
Speaker 1: making it very clear that they have accomplished nothing. And
Speaker 1: this is a brand new day, and twenty nineteen has
Speaker 1: arrived with a very challenging schedule and a lot of change.
Speaker 1: There's changed throughout the division, there's change on the football
Speaker 1: team itself. Yeah, it's yeah, one hundred year and to
Speaker 1: reflect on the NFL and Bears football and to be
Speaker 1: a part of it, and like you said, in the
Speaker 1: history that is yet to be written. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: sure coach Naggy and the coaching staff and the players
Speaker 1: they want to be a part of their own history
Speaker 1: as well. But you know, it is it's good to reflect.
Speaker 1: It's good to know what you're part of and what
Speaker 1: you represent and it is such a storied history with
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, and I think it's important, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's important when you know, and I bring
Speaker 1: up this story all the time, when I walked into
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers and you see those Lombardi trophies, you
Speaker 1: know what you represent. And I think the same thing
Speaker 1: is true when you walk through the Chicago Bears and
Speaker 1: all the retired players and Hall of famers and and
Speaker 1: guys who have represented and down that jersey and obviously
Speaker 1: the McCaskey family and what they represent as as a
Speaker 1: family owned business. And I think you know, players that
Speaker 1: that chair set and understand that, and uh you want
Speaker 1: to be a part of that. It's something special, and
Speaker 1: uh you know that'll be special to be a part
Speaker 1: of it as well. You know. You know, sometimes a
Speaker 1: lot of times it's a message they had coach, you know,
Speaker 1: Chuck Noll, he's you know, he has greatness around him.
Speaker 1: And when you look at the message at Mike Dicker
Speaker 1: brought to the players the first time he addressed him,
Speaker 1: he'd brought up Super Bowl. And that's the same thing
Speaker 1: with Coach Nagi. Coach Nagi talks about the fun you're
Speaker 1: gonna have, but it's a serious approach to success, and
Speaker 1: I think that message is really important for the players
Speaker 1: to understand that the people up top under know that
Speaker 1: it's a super Bowl journey and nothing else. But you
Speaker 1: guys think of the draft now that you've had time
Speaker 1: to think about it, and the impact of these positions
Speaker 1: with David Montgomery, Riley Ridley, Duke Shelley the nickel corner,
Speaker 1: Kareth White the running back out of Florida Atlantic, and
Speaker 1: Stephen Denmark the corner from Bell Dust to State. Now, well,
Speaker 1: I'm excited for all of them, really because I think
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to come in here and
Speaker 1: compete immediately. I'm excited for the running back because this
Speaker 1: is probably the most well, I don't know. It's an
Speaker 1: offense that your role is undefined, but you can do
Speaker 1: anything from the backfield to the line of scrimmage. I
Speaker 1: thought they brought in some defensive backs that are going
Speaker 1: to be extremely competitive. When you lose guys like Bryce Callahan,
Speaker 1: you need other guys, young guys to develop within the ranks,
Speaker 1: to come up and have the opportunity to play. And
Speaker 1: I love Ridley. I think he is going to be
Speaker 1: a really interesting player. And Jim, I ask you because
Speaker 1: I think he's a type of guy that has to
Speaker 1: have a great relationship with the quarterback because he does
Speaker 1: move out of his break so well. He anticipates his movement,
Speaker 1: but the quarterback has to anticipate that as well. So
Speaker 1: I think the relationship between those two is going to
Speaker 1: be really important. Yeah, obviously comes because it's older in
Speaker 1: Calvin than the Moniker. It's the bloodlines are there. But
Speaker 1: here's why I like him. I think he's tough. I
Speaker 1: mean that guy will block. I mean think playing at Georgia,
Speaker 1: the running backs that have been through there, Sony Michelle
Speaker 1: and Elijah a holy Field this year, I mean that
Speaker 1: guy is gonna help out significantly, I think in terms
Speaker 1: of the run game just with his blocking and toughness alone.
Speaker 1: His rescue seving skills are all standing. Nice got a great,
Speaker 1: great wink span to clean up any Aaron throws or
Speaker 1: off target throws. Seventy eight and a quarter that's the
Speaker 1: largest of any of the Bears wide receivers, and just
Speaker 1: a tad shy of Adam Sheeen, the big guy at
Speaker 1: tight ends. If you were at the draft measuring, these
Speaker 1: guys are at the combine measuring the guys. You would
Speaker 1: be there with only a tape measure and then that
Speaker 1: would I'm just saying, hey, I love the way he
Speaker 1: separates at the top of a route. If you're a quarterback,
Speaker 1: you gotta love that too. We'll pick it up, would
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, and be joined by Old and Creutz coming
Speaker 1: back as well. This is Bears All Access on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy. The Score The Chicago Network presents
Speaker 1: Inside the Bears, brought to you by Verizon. Anthony Adams
Speaker 1: and Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football on
Speaker 1: and off the field every Sunday night, ten thirty five
Speaker 1: pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime at
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot Com around the Bears Official app. I
Speaker 1: have a bit of an issue with Anthony Adams though,
Speaker 1: because after our show of the Draft show we did
Speaker 1: on Fox the other night, Tom there with Luke Canellis,
Speaker 1: I get phone calls about Anthony. He couldn't stop laughing
Speaker 1: because Lauren's getting married soon, and he recommended that there'd
Speaker 1: be a Jeff Joniak on the top of the cake
Speaker 1: because I'm so short and small. Oh yeah, yeah, so
Speaker 1: he had a good chuckle, could not stop laughing. Oland Crutz,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you got a kick out of that, or
Speaker 1: you would get a kick out of that from Anthony.
Speaker 1: You know always about the size of Jeff Joniac. I
Speaker 1: have no idea why that's so important. But good to
Speaker 1: have you, Oland, great to talk to you. How you feeling.
Speaker 1: I feel good, guys. It's great to have It's great
Speaker 1: to be on with you guys. And who would have
Speaker 1: thought that one day I'd be on the radio with Jeff, Jonia,
Speaker 1: Tom Fair and my former quarterback Jim Millers. So I'm
Speaker 1: excited for this radio interview. Listen in fourteen year NFL career,
Speaker 1: I would I would have won a lot of money
Speaker 1: at suggesting. That would have never happened. You remember the
Speaker 1: one time Oland, I gotta get I gotta you just
Speaker 1: sparked memory for me. I begged you at one point
Speaker 1: in your career. We just had started doing feature interviews
Speaker 1: in the TV shows, The Bear's TV Show. Let's let's
Speaker 1: sit down and have a conversation. So you you reluctantly oblige,
Speaker 1: uh and you sat down. In the first question, I
Speaker 1: said something real dramatic about what it meant to you
Speaker 1: to come from the Islands, and how has that helped
Speaker 1: you play your professional football? And you started laughing at
Speaker 1: me right away. I knew I was dead. You weren't one.
Speaker 1: You weren't one to go deep into your feelings, you know, Alan, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's actually a pretty good question now that
Speaker 1: I think about that question. But I remember they came
Speaker 1: after Doug the phone tragically passed away, and miss Rosen
Speaker 1: came to me and asked me if I'd any interest
Speaker 1: in doing the radio, And of course my first response
Speaker 1: was no, not really, but I've grown to really enjoy
Speaker 1: just still being a part of the game, kind of
Speaker 1: kind of be a part of the Chicago Bears in
Speaker 1: a way, get to study film. But I asked Mitch.
Speaker 1: I said, you know, Mitch, it's funny that you came
Speaker 1: to me because I don't really do any media. I said, what,
Speaker 1: what what brought you gave you the idea to ask
Speaker 1: me to do radio? And he said, very bluntly, he said, well, Olan,
Speaker 1: we're in opinion business, and everybody knows you have one
Speaker 1: that that I couldn't argue with. Well, you know what, Olan,
Speaker 1: I was so proud of you the other night at
Speaker 1: the draft, because you came out and you had such
Speaker 1: a clear tone as speaking about the draft choice. And
Speaker 1: then I look at these punters and kickers that come
Speaker 1: up there and they pontificate how important they are to
Speaker 1: the success their organizations. Ollen, I congratulate you for that,
Speaker 1: because you looked great, You're in great shape, and your
Speaker 1: resent or you represented every offensive lineman in the history
Speaker 1: of the league with such pride. So I thank you
Speaker 1: for that above all else. Well, I appreciate that, Tom,
Speaker 1: especially coming from you. But look they I got that call. Listen.
Speaker 1: I heard you guys talking about the Chicago Bears one
Speaker 1: hundred year anniversary. And if you're a former Chicago Bear
Speaker 1: and the charter franchise in the NFL gives you a
Speaker 1: call and they say to you, hey, in the hundredth year,
Speaker 1: we'd like you to announce the Chicago Bears third round pick.
Speaker 1: And you guys can imagine, I mean, what an honor, right,
Speaker 1: what an honor to get that offer. First of all,
Speaker 1: like you guys, I start off a fan, and if
Speaker 1: you're a fan of the NFL, you're a fan of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. And they asked you to walk on
Speaker 1: stage and announce that pick and you get to go
Speaker 1: there and be in the same room with legends like
Speaker 1: Jim Brown, Joe Jacobe from the Washington Redskins. To go
Speaker 1: up and introduce myself, that is a large human being.
Speaker 1: Orlando Paces in there. You know, just guys that that
Speaker 1: you know, if you're a fan of football, you're just
Speaker 1: a fan of being in that room with all these
Speaker 1: football players in there. Even I got to meet a
Speaker 1: couple of younger centers and Nick Mango and Eric Wood,
Speaker 1: which I'm big fans are there. So again to walk
Speaker 1: up on that stage represent the Charter franchise, which is
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, and you know, just walk out there
Speaker 1: were Peanut Tilman, great cornerback, another great Chicago Bear. But
Speaker 1: you know, obviously they wanted a suit and tie and
Speaker 1: I told him that you know, in Hawaii, this is
Speaker 1: a suit and tie. So that was that was the
Speaker 1: one hiccup we had. But but they let me go
Speaker 1: out there. Anyway. You did us proud, Thank you and
Speaker 1: you earned every bit of it old and that's that's
Speaker 1: for sure. And you know when you talk about it
Speaker 1: and hopefully being on the nominees for for twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: for the Hall of Fame. You saw Kevin Mawai just
Speaker 1: when I remember, I'm gonna share this to the list.
Speaker 1: I remember when I came to Chicago and I played
Speaker 1: with Dermani Dawson, and I've said, tell Oland, you're every
Speaker 1: bit as good, and you're you're more in terms of
Speaker 1: the xs and ohs and what you brought into the table.
Speaker 1: And Oland used to challenge me about missing blitzes and
Speaker 1: I challenge him and we kind of call each other out,
Speaker 1: and it was competitive because he was such a good player.
Speaker 1: And do you do you think about that old because
Speaker 1: you're going to have that opportunity, my friend, and you've
Speaker 1: earned every bit of it. That's that's for sure. I'm
Speaker 1: obviously thought about it. It'd be it'd be a tremendous honor,
Speaker 1: obviously to be in a Hall of Fame. You know,
Speaker 1: I didn't ever really think I don't. I think I'm
Speaker 1: kind of a long shot, to be honest, if I
Speaker 1: take a really good look at it. But Kevin going in,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of raises your hopes again. But you know,
Speaker 1: Tom played with another great center and Jay Hilgenberg, who
Speaker 1: who's not in yet, And you know, I would argue
Speaker 1: has had every bit the career I had, So you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes centers you have to wait. It's not something I expect,
Speaker 1: it's something that'd be a great honor. But you know,
Speaker 1: talking about Jim Miller sitting there, sitting there as a
Speaker 1: guy who who I learned a lot about preparation, on
Speaker 1: a cerebral approach to the game. I remember being on
Speaker 1: the airplane and watching Jim just pour over his notes,
Speaker 1: and as a young center, I can't tell you how
Speaker 1: big of an impact that makes on you. You know,
Speaker 1: Jim Miller learned a lot from Casey Wigman. I know,
Speaker 1: you guys remember that name. Case Wing was a very
Speaker 1: good center. Learned a lot from him about being a pro,
Speaker 1: about the xs and ohs, like Jim said, of the game,
Speaker 1: and just how to be a professional. Jim Miller taught
Speaker 1: a lot of us young guys. You know, when we
Speaker 1: were with the Bears, Jim taught a lot of us
Speaker 1: how to be professionals. We just would watch him and
Speaker 1: his preparation, and you emolate that and you'll be just fine.
Speaker 1: Six time Pro Bowl center Old Andrews. You mentioned Kevin Muhi.
Speaker 1: You two were the two centers on the All Decade
Speaker 1: team of the two thousands. You mentioned Jay Higgenberg seven
Speaker 1: more Pro Bowls, So that's a lot of great play
Speaker 1: of the center position. He's our guest here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access with Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller. It
Speaker 1: is old and cruits then incredible durability of the position.
Speaker 1: And I just mentioned this on our Draft show the
Speaker 1: other day. I think since nineteen ninety there are only
Speaker 1: been five teams that have had the starting five in
Speaker 1: their offensive line intact, maybe not in the same position,
Speaker 1: but intact the same five guys for a period of
Speaker 1: five years. It's very very rare in the league. Tom's
Speaker 1: guys did it for a lot more than that from
Speaker 1: that eighty four and on group of guys. But you
Speaker 1: had ten years of sixteen starts. How'd you pull that off?
Speaker 1: You know, there's always a little luck involved and stayed healthy,
Speaker 1: but there's also some hard work involved. Now, and there's
Speaker 1: a little place in there, you know, I know it's
Speaker 1: called the rightfully soul. It's called the Clyde Emrick weight Room. Now,
Speaker 1: what a legend that man is. But if you go
Speaker 1: in there and you put on your work, and you
Speaker 1: put on your armor, and you spend hours in their
Speaker 1: lifting weights and getting your body ready for what's coming
Speaker 1: your way, which is a battle, right, which is a
Speaker 1: battle with a lot of big men. It's a physical battle.
Speaker 1: So you got to get your body ready for that season.
Speaker 1: And there's no better place in the weight room. And
Speaker 1: I try to put my time in in the weight
Speaker 1: room to get myself ready to play every year. So
Speaker 1: if you would ask me, what is the one thing
Speaker 1: that I did that that I thought might have kept
Speaker 1: me healthy and kept me on the football field, besides
Speaker 1: a little luck, it would have been the preparation in
Speaker 1: the weight room, which I know that you are around
Speaker 1: a lot of guys every day who would echo the
Speaker 1: same sentiment sentiment that I just said. Oland, you just
Speaker 1: talked about you got to know what's coming your way.
Speaker 1: And there's not very many people that know Harry Hestad,
Speaker 1: the offensive line coach of the Bears, as well as
Speaker 1: you do. And now, when I think about what James
Speaker 1: Daniels has coming his way when he's going to go
Speaker 1: from guard to center, what is that? What is the
Speaker 1: biggest challenge of that? And why does Harry do such
Speaker 1: a great job of developing talent? Harry just he has
Speaker 1: a really good eye for what every player needs and
Speaker 1: what he needs to ask of them. And he's done
Speaker 1: an amazing job throughout his career of reaching out to
Speaker 1: guys to legends in blocking. If you talk about a Radakovic,
Speaker 1: if you talk about a Joe Moore or which that's
Speaker 1: not a name, I know, that's the name you're a
Speaker 1: familiar with. And Tony Wise another name we're all familiar with.
Speaker 1: And Harry just he learned from from the legends of
Speaker 1: blocking people creating his own style. And really, you know,
Speaker 1: like you know Tom better than anybody. Uh, there's no secret, right,
Speaker 1: it's are you willing to do the tedious stuff? Are
Speaker 1: you willing to stick to the fundamentals? Are you willing
Speaker 1: to do the heavy squats in the off season to
Speaker 1: move guys off the ball? And Harry is just very
Speaker 1: honest with you. He's very honest with Look, you gotta
Speaker 1: get stronger, you gotta work on your fundamentals, your hands
Speaker 1: gotta be inside, your pad level's got to be low.
Speaker 1: And then he's going to ask you to work. He's
Speaker 1: gonna ask you to work harder than that. Maybe you're
Speaker 1: you're used to working in the NFL. He's can ask
Speaker 1: you to drive block that bag ten yards on every play,
Speaker 1: and Harry's gonna ask the other offensive line on the
Speaker 1: other side to give a lot of resistance, which we
Speaker 1: all us three know watching practices nowadays, that doesn't happen
Speaker 1: very often where the guy with the bag is giving
Speaker 1: resistance and the other guy is driving his leg as
Speaker 1: hard as he can for ten yards. Now, to answer
Speaker 1: your other questions, James Daniels was a really good center
Speaker 1: at Iowa, and Kurk for Renz raved about him coming
Speaker 1: out and raved about, you know, how smart he was
Speaker 1: and how he's ready for the next level. When I
Speaker 1: think he said when James came out, I think he
Speaker 1: said that maybe the best one of the best lineman,
Speaker 1: the best center he's ever coached, which is really high
Speaker 1: phrase coming from Kurk Frenz, who is another offensive line
Speaker 1: coach turn head coach. So I think James is gonna
Speaker 1: be ready. I think, like we all know those you know,
Speaker 1: the guys you're sitting with that table. No, when you
Speaker 1: play center, it's just it's you know, making the point,
Speaker 1: getting everybody on the same page, trying to recognize a
Speaker 1: blitz or two, getting on the same page of your
Speaker 1: quarterback just your communication skills and becoming you know, becoming
Speaker 1: the leader of your room, becoming the leader of your
Speaker 1: line and getting everybody working in the same direction is
Speaker 1: the thing that James have to work on the most,
Speaker 1: because I think if you watch his film last year,
Speaker 1: I think you would easily say that that he could
Speaker 1: play in the NFL, and he can block people, and
Speaker 1: he can get his hands aside on pass roll and
Speaker 1: he can move his feet. So it's just going to
Speaker 1: be the mental part of the game that's gonna have
Speaker 1: to catch up for him. Yeah, he did a lot
Speaker 1: of good things last year, That's that's for sure. And
Speaker 1: and Oland take us inside of that mental preparation. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned before, And for the listeners out there, I've
Speaker 1: been with centers that they kind of, you know, you
Speaker 1: get somewhat in a tunnel vision where they didn't look up.
Speaker 1: Olan would look at coverages, he'd see the safety rolling
Speaker 1: down to the backside. Jim, let's change the protection here,
Speaker 1: you know. And like you said, you're communicating, but to
Speaker 1: force yourself outside the box, not just on your man,
Speaker 1: but understanding that the entirety of what the defense is
Speaker 1: trying to do. Like when we're playing Tampa and you
Speaker 1: saw John Lynch wing side. Hey two are coming week
Speaker 1: on week side with John Lynch, you know, and you
Speaker 1: know just to take it and think outside the box. Sole,
Speaker 1: and what motivated you to do that? Because more than
Speaker 1: any other offensive lineman I know I played with, you
Speaker 1: really took pride in that. Yeah, I honestly, Jim, just
Speaker 1: really like you did when you played quarterback. I just
Speaker 1: really loved a chess match, right. I just love being
Speaker 1: out there and trying to recognize those things, and it
Speaker 1: gave me. I felt like such an advantage if I
Speaker 1: knew what exactly was coming in my way. You know,
Speaker 1: Tom can speak to this too, that if you know
Speaker 1: exactly what's gonna with that d lineman is going to do,
Speaker 1: or that nose guard, or you know, if he's a
Speaker 1: little tighter shade he's coming across my face, if his
Speaker 1: left footage back he's doing a rippen move, you know,
Speaker 1: you got such an advantage and you know what angle
Speaker 1: you're gonna do. You know exactly what's doing every place.
Speaker 1: So you know, I just felt like if I studied
Speaker 1: as much as I could when I walked on that
Speaker 1: field on Sunday or Monday or Thursday or whatever day
Speaker 1: we played. I felt I had a huge advantage against
Speaker 1: the guy I was going against if I knew certain things,
Speaker 1: like in the red zone on third and eight, you
Speaker 1: know their blitz percentage was, you know, forty three percent
Speaker 1: or whatever it may be. And if we're in three
Speaker 1: wide receivers and they're in nickel, this is the only
Speaker 1: two blitzes they run. So I see three wide receivers
Speaker 1: come in, and now I know in my head exactly
Speaker 1: what look I'm looking for for the blitz. And if
Speaker 1: that blitz is not coming, now I know where I
Speaker 1: want to take my help. And maybe I could change
Speaker 1: the protection. Say if you're playing against a guy, I'll
Speaker 1: use a current guy. Say if you're playing against an
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald and you're you know, the protection calls for
Speaker 1: you to slide away, and you recognize that blitz isn't coming,
Speaker 1: well how much say protections to Aaron Donald instead of
Speaker 1: leaving that guard one on one. So those are kind
Speaker 1: of advantages I felt like I could have if I
Speaker 1: studied the game. It's great hearing Ollen Crutz talking football.
Speaker 1: Hey we're out of time, but will you join us again?
Speaker 1: Because this is funny. For sure, your three guys. Yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: you'll be at the one hundred celebration. Uh. And I'll
Speaker 1: just say this too, if there are Tom and I
Speaker 1: talk about this all the time. Jim and I talk
Speaker 1: about this all the time when I get to see him.
Speaker 1: But we need protectors of the game. You got natural
Speaker 1: protection instincts in you, and you protect this game in
Speaker 1: many ways. You're teaching it at a youth level. You're
Speaker 1: teaching all of us. So what you've learned throughout the
Speaker 1: course of your long career as well as what Tom
Speaker 1: does and Jim does. So I personally thank you for
Speaker 1: that because the game needs guys at you. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. And then you know, football is a
Speaker 1: great game and taught properly, in my opinion, the greatest
Speaker 1: game there is. But as far as Bears one hundred,
Speaker 1: I heard you guys earlier, man, am I excited down
Speaker 1: there just as a fan and to see all all
Speaker 1: these Hall of famers and we're talking about the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to get in that room. I
Speaker 1: have two boys now to play football Loyola. They're both
Speaker 1: in high school. They're excited to going down there see
Speaker 1: the current guys the older guys, and maybe I can
Speaker 1: convince him that I actually played football at one point
Speaker 1: at a very high level. Absolutely best, appreciate it all
Speaker 1: and thank you so much, old and Crewed spars center
Speaker 1: and six time Pro bowler, A heartbeat of that organization
Speaker 1: during those years, boy from nineteen ninety eight. Love, love
Speaker 1: those flights that we're on because Jim, you're on the
Speaker 1: back of the plane with all and me and Tom
Speaker 1: and Chris Valeria. Those were fun days, a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a pleasure. You know, you're honored, you know,
Speaker 1: the older you get that you play with such a
Speaker 1: great player, and just to respect your game for all
Speaker 1: the time he put in and there's, like I said,
Speaker 1: he earned every bit of it. That is a great
Speaker 1: football player right there. Well, continue on our final moments
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access on this version of the show,
Speaker 1: it's Rookie Minicamp starting tomorrow here at Hollis Off for
Speaker 1: tomp There, Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Jonny Act back after
Speaker 1: this on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Back
Speaker 1: to the program here on Bears All Access, Jeff Jonny Act,
Speaker 1: tomp There and Jim Miller wrapping things up at the
Speaker 1: top of the hour, A wonderful conversation with old and crews.
Speaker 1: You know, there were things that people will never know
Speaker 1: about players. Obviously yourself included, Jim. Yourself included what you
Speaker 1: guys played with, what hurt? What, how much agony you
Speaker 1: know you hid from your teammates and your coaching staff
Speaker 1: just to get on the field. You guys Jim, tom
Speaker 1: Ollen or three examples of guys that would have done
Speaker 1: anything at any time to get on the field, no
Speaker 1: out of the circumstance. And Olan was one of those guys.
Speaker 1: And you only find out when you go review things
Speaker 1: like what he dealt with the year they went to
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, had a stinger so bad he had
Speaker 1: to sleep with what he called neck brace for three
Speaker 1: weeks before the Super Bowl. Or playing with a Liz
Speaker 1: Frank tear in the NFC Championship game in twenty ten.
Speaker 1: That puts down almost everybody. You know. It seems like
Speaker 1: Jim and I and Alan of the guys that play
Speaker 1: a long time, you're gonna play with some type of
Speaker 1: injuries that's gonna be so painful, it's gonna be hard
Speaker 1: to get through. This is one thing that I loved
Speaker 1: about Oland is we were lucky enough to broadcast every
Speaker 1: one of games Oland played, and I came from an
Speaker 1: era that our offensive line had incredible camaraderie. We cherished
Speaker 1: each other's friendships. Olan redeveloped that over the time here.
Speaker 1: Remember all the offensive lineman would wait for each other
Speaker 1: before they would get out of bus. Every single offensive snap,
Speaker 1: they would all have a fist bump to retool the
Speaker 1: concentration level training camp. Everybody goes to eat together, right,
Speaker 1: And that's that's what I loved about Olan is his
Speaker 1: ability to create something special in the team within a team,
Speaker 1: because the offensive line is a unique portion of the
Speaker 1: team because it's its own little team. And when I
Speaker 1: used to sit there, and I used to I used
Speaker 1: to envy it so much because I was inspired by
Speaker 1: a guy that it meant so much too that he
Speaker 1: let it carry through the other nine seven eight offensive
Speaker 1: linement that we're going to be traveling on the field,
Speaker 1: And it was important because I know what it means
Speaker 1: of the success of a player, a team in an organization.
Speaker 1: Jimmy had a ton of respect for the game and
Speaker 1: still does. Yeah, well, I mean you just you know,
Speaker 1: like you said when He's a rock that you can
Speaker 1: count on. You know, you say things like you know
Speaker 1: death taxes, and Olan Cruz will be lining up on
Speaker 1: Sunday because you knew sure as hell he was lining
Speaker 1: up on Sunday and you could count on him. And
Speaker 1: he's always going to know his job. He's gonna know
Speaker 1: his assignment. And you got no worries, none zero. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've seen that guy pop out nickel blitz to the backside,
Speaker 1: not even his assignment done. The guy's got the job done.
Speaker 1: He not only did his job, he did others people's jobs,
Speaker 1: and nobody asked him to do it, did it on
Speaker 1: his own because he give it up for his team.
Speaker 1: That's a hell of a teammate. Well, that guy played
Speaker 1: it and he was a hell of an example for
Speaker 1: everybody to follow. It's difficult to when you're like, you
Speaker 1: take the draft and all these guys coming in here today,
Speaker 1: and Tom stood before some of these guys today. The
Speaker 1: one thing you can't really quantify with any of these
Speaker 1: numbers that you always hear me throwing around Tom or
Speaker 1: you get all the analytics, is what's in the heart,
Speaker 1: how what is important to them? And you won't know
Speaker 1: it until you get him in a uniform and put
Speaker 1: him out there on their first Sunday and their last
Speaker 1: Sunday as a player. And that's how you identify and
Speaker 1: describe what leadership, what love of the game, what everything
Speaker 1: passionate about the game that is important to what Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace is looking for right now and the type of
Speaker 1: guys he wants to bring in. The intelligence factor for football,
Speaker 1: the confidence, the love of competing. You know Olan always
Speaker 1: used to talk about and he still does. And I
Speaker 1: know you do time two about the weight room, and
Speaker 1: it's not easy work and there's no way out. You
Speaker 1: either have to do it or you're not gonna make
Speaker 1: it right. Well, depending upon what your body size, of
Speaker 1: what your position is an offensive line for example, it's
Speaker 1: always your goal, it's always your intention to get stronger
Speaker 1: every year. So when you're driving to the gym in
Speaker 1: the morning to work out up at Hollis Hall and
Speaker 1: you go to the Clyde the legend Emeric weight room,
Speaker 1: you go in there and you have to have inspiration
Speaker 1: and aspirations to squat seven eight hundred pounds. You have
Speaker 1: to try to bench five hundred pounds or more. You
Speaker 1: got to do these exercises that once you back out
Speaker 1: of the bar with seven hundred pounds on your back.
Speaker 1: Now you've got to bend your hips on your knees. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's the fun thing about working out when
Speaker 1: you're an old man like I am now is you're
Speaker 1: never challenged by those the enormity of those weights that
Speaker 1: could go and crush you or hurt you. But when
Speaker 1: you are trying to be a surviving offensive lineman, you
Speaker 1: have to go to the weight room with the intentions
Speaker 1: of every day of lifting weights that most people can't lift. Jim,
Speaker 1: would you have done anything different in terms of offseason
Speaker 1: work to get your body the way you needed it to? Now?
Speaker 1: In retrospect ever, looking back or of today's world, in
Speaker 1: terms of what was available to you, would you have
Speaker 1: done anything differently? Well? I think for me, no, I
Speaker 1: was always I'd probably overtrained more than anything. I was
Speaker 1: always in really good shape, and I always cranked it
Speaker 1: up prior to training camp when most you know, not
Speaker 1: that other guys don't work out, but my throwing sessions
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. So probably overtraining is most of it.
Speaker 1: And you know, because a lot of it, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's rehabbing or trying to get, you know, back
Speaker 1: from an injury or something like that, I'd probably tended
Speaker 1: to overdo it. So i'd probably you know, i'd probably
Speaker 1: temper it a little bit more in terms of allowing
Speaker 1: more recovery from that standpoint, more more than anything. But
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's part of football, like to
Speaker 1: like Tom said, there's no shortcuts now. In order to
Speaker 1: be a great player, preparation is separation and you don't
Speaker 1: think about it, Oh, I gotta go and lift today. Well,
Speaker 1: you want to be a great center, you do. What's
Speaker 1: required in preparation is separation. And so I don't think
Speaker 1: Golan or Tom looked at it like that. Tom would
Speaker 1: compete his ass off and say, hey, this is part
Speaker 1: of this part of it, this is the part of
Speaker 1: it's going to separate me to get on the field,
Speaker 1: and you're willing to do that work because it means
Speaker 1: so much to you. All Right, So yeah, mini camp,
Speaker 1: But starting tomorrow there's going to be a bunch of
Speaker 1: try out guys. There's gonna be a bunch of kickers.
Speaker 1: And I know I was with some people last night
Speaker 1: talking Bears football, and the kicking situation is on everybody's mind.
Speaker 1: So there could be I don't know how many kickers,
Speaker 1: eight kickers working out trying to win a job. You know,
Speaker 1: it looks like none of them have NFL experience at
Speaker 1: this point or limited at that. How are you guys
Speaker 1: breaking this down? How you evaluating here in our final
Speaker 1: minute before we have to run? You know what, you're
Speaker 1: kind of making a little bit too much of it,
Speaker 1: because if you're an offensive guard that's coming here for
Speaker 1: the first time, you're on a line of nine offensive
Speaker 1: guards or seven offensive guards, what's the difference. Listen, if
Speaker 1: you're a kicker out there competing, do your best, show
Speaker 1: your best and try to win the job. Cream always
Speaker 1: rides us to the top. It'll it'll unvail itself. That's
Speaker 1: all I see you. Well, it's gonna be fun to
Speaker 1: watch David Montgomery too, because every time we've seen a
Speaker 1: Bears running back come here through the draft, whether it
Speaker 1: be Anthony Thomas back back in the day, Curtis Enis
Speaker 1: back in the day. Obviously you played with Anthony Thomas,
Speaker 1: Thomas Jones when he came here, Matt Forte when he
Speaker 1: was drafted, obviously, Jordan Howard. It's always fun to see
Speaker 1: the new back, and so I'll be a most interested
Speaker 1: to see just seeing him run around out there this weekend.
Speaker 1: Living your living your playbook. That's what I told the
Speaker 1: rookies today, as you cannot afford men are so take
Speaker 1: your time, your individual time and living it all right.
Speaker 1: That's gonna wrap us up, big Jim, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: As always, we'll be listening to you on Sirius XM
Speaker 1: NFL Radio for Jim Miller, Tom Fair and Herb Lawrence
Speaker 1: at Adam Zinski. Thanks to our guest today Trey Burden
Speaker 1: of Bears tight End and Bears center Olden Cruz, the
Speaker 1: six time pro bowler pair of fifty sevens and Jim
Speaker 1: Miller today on the show Not Bad, I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 1: Have a great night at everybody. We'll talk to you
Speaker 1: next time on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score.
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