Speaker 1: Pleasant Friday night to y'all here in Chicago, Hope ball
Speaker 1: as well. This is Bears All Access. We're brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy When my broadcast partner from news
Speaker 1: radio seven eighty one oh five nine FM WBBM Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears super Bowl Winter tim There, I'm Jeff Joniac and
Speaker 1: joined by from Phoenix former Bears quarterback Jim Miller five
Speaker 1: to seven in Phoenix, Eagles and Chiefs on Sunday, getting
Speaker 1: up early earlier today with us. How you doing, my man?
Speaker 1: I must really love you guys. I turned fifty two
Speaker 1: last night. I went to the Mike Dicka party and
Speaker 1: now I've joined you guys at seven thirty in the
Speaker 1: morning out here. So I really love YouTube Tom. Jeff,
Speaker 1: good to be with you. Well, Happy birthday, big Jim.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. It was a great night. It was
Speaker 1: a really fun time. Brian Irlacker was there, so I
Speaker 1: talked to her Lacker last night. It was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. That's great. It's great to you know, it's
Speaker 1: great to still have this continuous support of Mike Dicka.
Speaker 1: You're continuous support of the Chicago Bears, and hey, you're
Speaker 1: a major media marketed you know, baby, so every where
Speaker 1: you go, it's the party of the night. Well, last
Speaker 1: night was a better than usual party. Brian knows how
Speaker 1: to throwing me, let's put it that way. Dick always
Speaker 1: good and Brian really followed up pretty well. So Brian
Speaker 1: had his own party. Yes, okay, well that is home
Speaker 1: turf right now in Arizona, so uh first and foremost
Speaker 1: and Dika that that famous party, you know, for the
Speaker 1: for the injured veterans is always an important one. It
Speaker 1: draws a lot of big names, a lot of support
Speaker 1: from Mike. How's Mike doing. He's doing great. Rod Droworski
Speaker 1: was there. They've done it for years and Brian, you know,
Speaker 1: because Mike's you know, coach Dick is going through some
Speaker 1: health issues and Brian has kind of taking that Moniker
Speaker 1: and taking it forward. So it's a great thing. All right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna thanks our producers as always, Dan Brilliant, Jordan
Speaker 1: Trentup and the folks here at the Score were brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy. So let's start with the
Speaker 1: awards night last night. And obviously the big drop was
Speaker 1: is going to be in that Hall of Fame class
Speaker 1: Chicago Bear fans obviously wanted to know what the situation
Speaker 1: was with Devin Hester did not make did not make it?
Speaker 1: Tom and Jim, I'll start with you guys on your
Speaker 1: reaction to that first and foremost. Later in the program,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking to Dan Pompey, who's on that forty
Speaker 1: nine man committee to select the Hall of Fame class.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm disappointing, You know, Jeff, We'd have the
Speaker 1: opportunity and the privilege to broadcast every single one of
Speaker 1: Devin Hester Hester's game, So this is not somebody that
Speaker 1: we're hearing about or listening to stories that people had,
Speaker 1: eyewitness accounts of what he was able to accomplish his
Speaker 1: day to day detailing of how he worked at his
Speaker 1: craft in order to be the best in its disappointing. Well,
Speaker 1: I think for me, anytime any of these voters, and
Speaker 1: I talked to a lot of them out here, from
Speaker 1: Jeff Hobson to you know, you look at Alex Marvez,
Speaker 1: all these voters who vote for the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: it's always about who changed the game, who has made
Speaker 1: an impact on the game and changed it, And I
Speaker 1: think Devin Hester has done I mean clearly as a
Speaker 1: statistics proven but as Tom says. The further you get
Speaker 1: away from it, now you start to get into the
Speaker 1: senior class and all those type of things, and it
Speaker 1: gets pretty political. Those guys get in a room and
Speaker 1: they kind of get to the point where if you
Speaker 1: vote for my guy, I'll vote for your guy, and
Speaker 1: they're kind of trading how do you say it, They're
Speaker 1: they're they're kind of basically using votes in order to
Speaker 1: get their guy in and it becomes very political at
Speaker 1: that point. But at the end of the day, it's
Speaker 1: got to be who's who's the guy that changed the game,
Speaker 1: Who's the guy who went back to the game more
Speaker 1: than anyone that has ever done it. And I think
Speaker 1: Devin Hester has done that personally. Yes, Devin Hester did
Speaker 1: revolution ice how teams prepare for the kickoff return and
Speaker 1: the punt return. And it still puzzles me to this
Speaker 1: day why why they even bothered kicking to him because
Speaker 1: he made something happen and that group was so invested
Speaker 1: in getting him to the end zone. It became a fury.
Speaker 1: It just a furious fury to get him to the
Speaker 1: end zone. And it happened to him any times. Again.
Speaker 1: We'll talk more about Devin in particular coming up in
Speaker 1: a segment later on tonight. Also the class itself. Let's
Speaker 1: break that down. So it's defensive heavy. In fact, the
Speaker 1: last two years, eight of the ten modern day finalist
Speaker 1: Fellas are defensive players and offensive players dwarf the number
Speaker 1: of defensive players in the Hall of Fame. But Joe Thomas,
Speaker 1: the left tackle of the Cleveland Browns over ten thousand
Speaker 1: consecutive snaps on a team to not win a lot.
Speaker 1: Durrell reevs. Revis Island, one of the best corners in
Speaker 1: NFL history. DeMarcus ware As a pass rusher, no question,
Speaker 1: Ran Day Barber underrated, Nicole loved as Nicol Blitz has
Speaker 1: had plenty of those and interceptions in his career for
Speaker 1: a great defense. And Zach Thomas. Many people might look
Speaker 1: at that one and say, well, wait a minute, how
Speaker 1: Zach Thomas the middle linebacker the Miami Dolphins Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: But fellas he gets into the Hall of Fame probably
Speaker 1: a name that a lot of folks may not even
Speaker 1: wrap their head around a little bit. Even though we
Speaker 1: enjoyed the way he played, I think he was kind
Speaker 1: of an underrated player. Tim and Jim, I'll start on
Speaker 1: Zach Thomas, because one he did it in a three
Speaker 1: four defense, and he did it in a four three,
Speaker 1: and his numbers are up there with Brian Erlackers. And
Speaker 1: the amount of tackles. I actually think Zach Thomas has
Speaker 1: more tackles than Brian Urlacker. But it was interesting coming
Speaker 1: out of college, Zach and I signed with the same agent,
Speaker 1: Joe Lenta Sports, and Zach, as we know, was an
Speaker 1: undersized guy, a high energy guy, just kind of an overachiever.
Speaker 1: But there's no doubt in his productivity. Like I said,
Speaker 1: if you were to go look at his numbers, they're
Speaker 1: up there with Brian Urlacher. And he did it in both,
Speaker 1: like I said, two different defensive schemes and was very productive.
Speaker 1: And everybody questioned because he was an undersized guy. And
Speaker 1: I actually talked to Zach. I said, Zach, did you
Speaker 1: prefer playing in a four three or three four? He
Speaker 1: preferred a three four because when you have a three four,
Speaker 1: you basically have five guys who lead you unblocked, which
Speaker 1: led him to make even more tackles because of his
Speaker 1: quick twitch and you know, just sux ability to hit
Speaker 1: and you know his love of the game. So I
Speaker 1: thought Zach Thomas was deserving. I don't think it would.
Speaker 1: It shouldn't be a note, shouldn't be questioned because if
Speaker 1: you go look at his numbers, they're right up there
Speaker 1: with Brian Urlacker. Well, you know, Zach Thomas, he did
Speaker 1: what his ability and then what he was gifted with.
Speaker 1: He was a great studier of the game. He had
Speaker 1: great initial reaction, you know, kind of similar in size
Speaker 1: to a Mike Singletary rather than a guy like Brian Urlacker.
Speaker 1: So Zach Thomas, what is he? A five time All Pro?
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, like Jim said, he's successful on
Speaker 1: every system he's played in. And think Zach Thomas deserves it.
Speaker 1: Forty eight pass breakups in his career, sixteen forced fumbles.
Speaker 1: He had twenty and a half sacks, seventy four tackles
Speaker 1: for loss in his career and interceptions seventeen. So Zach
Speaker 1: Thomas gets in eleven hundred plus solo tackles, all right.
Speaker 1: And then the veterans Ken Riley, Uh yeah, they called
Speaker 1: the Snake Cincinnati. This one shot me fifty something years
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati Bengals football. Anthony Munio's and Ken Riley the
Speaker 1: only two Hall of famers from the Cincinnati Bengals to
Speaker 1: this point anyway, Joe Burrow on TRACKAB, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Kenny Riley, you look at his interceptions. You know, this
Speaker 1: is why I think Peter Tillman is going to have
Speaker 1: a good case to make the Hall of Fame as well,
Speaker 1: the ability to cause turnovers because Kenny Riley, I mean
Speaker 1: it's a log jam. You know. We know with the
Speaker 1: you know, there's so few guys that are able to
Speaker 1: get in, you know, basically five guys a year. That
Speaker 1: becomes a log jam. And Kenny Riley has been deserved.
Speaker 1: He's been on the block for for a long time,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad to hear that he finally got in.
Speaker 1: I think Ken Anderson the quarterback, deserves to get in.
Speaker 1: Joe Cleco, Chuck Holey, Don Correale, Tim the guy who
Speaker 1: kind of invented modern day passing football, and I'm glad
Speaker 1: he's in there. Yeah. Don Correal, he deserves the recognition
Speaker 1: of what he's done for the NFL, because I think
Speaker 1: when you come into the NFL and you bring your
Speaker 1: system that you think can be successful, and then forty
Speaker 1: years later, fifty years later, they're still using it and
Speaker 1: even creating more from it. From the offense that Coryell design.
Speaker 1: And you know Joe Klecko. He's an interesting guy because
Speaker 1: when he played with the sack exchange with the New
Speaker 1: York Jets, they were as dominant as you could possibly
Speaker 1: be from a pass rushing defensive line. But he was
Speaker 1: physical up and down the line of scrimmage and had
Speaker 1: the luxury of playing against them, and we beat them
Speaker 1: when we played against Cleckown Gastino. But it's nice to
Speaker 1: seize an older guy like that at the recognition he deserved.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access. We'll take our first break.
Speaker 1: We'll take a look at Awards night and find out
Speaker 1: the thoughts of my partners here, the former Bears here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access were brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Bears Old Access, brought to you by IGS Energy.
Speaker 1: Choose clean energy for your home at IGS dot com
Speaker 1: because every good choice adds up to a better world.
Speaker 1: With Jim Miller and Tom thare former Chicago Bears here
Speaker 1: on the show, taking a look at super Bowl Week.
Speaker 1: We'll get into the game in a moment. We'll also
Speaker 1: hear from Damn Pompeii from the Athletic one of the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame voters on Devin Hester's absence in his
Speaker 1: second track, at his second crack, I should say at
Speaker 1: getting into Canton, Ohio. All right, the awards ceremony last night,
Speaker 1: it is a national television extravaganza for two hours. I
Speaker 1: thought it was an excellent program and a couple of things,
Speaker 1: but first and foremost the one that just had me
Speaker 1: choked up was Damar Hamlin the Buffalo Bill safety walks
Speaker 1: out on stage dramatically after all the medical first responders,
Speaker 1: University of Cincinnati Medical Center personnel, everyone there that helps
Speaker 1: saved his life, probably fifty people on stage, and then
Speaker 1: he talks to America about, you know, getting back and
Speaker 1: ready to go. It was moving, fellas. I don't know
Speaker 1: if either of you were able to see it at all,
Speaker 1: but quite a moment and quite a statement standing ovation.
Speaker 1: There wasn't a dry eye in that place, and players
Speaker 1: are very serious when the camera hand. The audience looking
Speaker 1: at him and just giving him a round applause, intently
Speaker 1: listening to what he had to say. You know, for me, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I'm glad the first responders and the people behind him
Speaker 1: had the chance to get recognized for what they were
Speaker 1: able to accomplish, because I think when you look at
Speaker 1: the seriousness of the issue, the immediacy of the response,
Speaker 1: when you have that end result of him standing up
Speaker 1: in front of that stage talking to the audience, it
Speaker 1: just sends a positive message out to the world. You know.
Speaker 1: It's it's to the accomplishments of the medical field, their dedication,
Speaker 1: to the immediacy of they have to make decisions. So
Speaker 1: I'm glad that is as much as de Mars up
Speaker 1: there recognizing the people, that the people get the recognition
Speaker 1: that they deserve. And what's what's going to be great
Speaker 1: and it's going to happen again because like you said,
Speaker 1: there's that going to be a dry eye in the house.
Speaker 1: He's gonna play football again. You know, even Tom Mayor,
Speaker 1: the doctor from the NFLPA doctor David Sills of the NFL,
Speaker 1: and even our guy, doctor David Child, they believe he's
Speaker 1: going to step on the field and he'll be able
Speaker 1: to play football again. I mean, that's that's gonna be
Speaker 1: another instance where you know, everybody's just gonna be It's
Speaker 1: incredible what he has gone through and what he has
Speaker 1: overcome and all the people that have been involved for
Speaker 1: him for the love of game and to play football,
Speaker 1: and he will step on the field again and he
Speaker 1: will play football. It's just a matter of time when
Speaker 1: that happens, and it's gonna be another field good story
Speaker 1: that he'll be able to accomplish. All Right. The awards, well,
Speaker 1: we just run him down because obviously we faced these guys.
Speaker 1: The Bears did. Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson,
Speaker 1: the teammate of Justin Fields had a great year of
Speaker 1: the Jets, and Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner.
Speaker 1: So quite one two punch put together by the Jets
Speaker 1: there on an offense and defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson with one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty eight catches and eighteen hundred plush yards, a
Speaker 1: legit receiver right now in this league. And somebody the
Speaker 1: Bear's gonna have to deal with we you know, twice
Speaker 1: a year. Nick Bosa the Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: No surprise at eighteen and a half sacks. Just run
Speaker 1: through those real quick, Jim. Any surprises there, and what
Speaker 1: do you think about it? No? I voted for Justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson for Offensive Player of the Year. What I mean,
Speaker 1: he truly is the best receiver in the NFL. Probably
Speaker 1: him and Jamar Chase would be my top two guys.
Speaker 1: But Justin Jefferson just had an incredible, incredible season all
Speaker 1: the way around. I thought a good debate for defensive
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year. Sauce Gardner did have a great
Speaker 1: year for the New York just but Aidan Hudginson. Look
Speaker 1: what the Lions have done. I mean, look what the
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions have done. They finished with their winning record.
Speaker 1: They knew what their fate was before they even stepped
Speaker 1: on the field with Green Bay. And I thought Aiden
Speaker 1: Hudson had a great year. Nine and a half sacks,
Speaker 1: you know, just continue to get better and better, and
Speaker 1: that defense got better as a season win long. So
Speaker 1: I personally voted for Aden Hutchinson. You know, I would
Speaker 1: have picked Frexon Jones and Stena Wilson the rookie for
Speaker 1: Braxton Jones, yeah, of the Chicago Bears, the left tackle.
Speaker 1: I like it. He wasn't a nominee, but I think
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. I think you get a guy that comes
Speaker 1: in here and plays every single snap of the entirety
Speaker 1: of a season, has the amount of pressure that he
Speaker 1: was willing to take onto his shoulders, the accomplishments of
Speaker 1: the running game and the history of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: and you play every single snap of every single game,
Speaker 1: no matter what the conditions are, and you think from
Speaker 1: the monsoon he played in Week one against you know,
Speaker 1: Bosa and his team, I didn't even know if Bosa
Speaker 1: was there, but the San Francisco forty nine ers, and
Speaker 1: then the cold the element of the cold game that
Speaker 1: he played in later in the season, and I think
Speaker 1: Hassan Reddick he could have got recognition for Defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the Year from what he's been able to do
Speaker 1: to really be able to take that defense into division
Speaker 1: competitive to a super Bowl. Chap Peyton Man of the
Speaker 1: Year is Dak Prescott of Dallas, moving speech from him
Speaker 1: as well. Humble beginnings, no easy path to the National
Speaker 1: Football League. But I gotta say this again, because Jared
Speaker 1: Peyton and Brittany Peyton get up there on stage every
Speaker 1: year they are they look fantastic and powerful up there
Speaker 1: representing their father who retired thirty five years ago. Last month,
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy straight games is certainly something that
Speaker 1: Roger Goodell pointed out, didn't miss a game, a benchmark
Speaker 1: to this day for the running back position, Big Tom,
Speaker 1: and you help block for him. But hats off to
Speaker 1: the Peyton family obviously. Connie Peyton as well, observing from
Speaker 1: the stands, couldn't be prouder of those two children now
Speaker 1: adults and representing that family in a very professional and
Speaker 1: high character way. Yeah, you know one thing about Brittany
Speaker 1: and Jared, really when you see these kids running around
Speaker 1: in diapers around Platteville, maybe when they're up there for
Speaker 1: practice or it's the inner squad game or whatever the
Speaker 1: case may be, and then you talk about what these
Speaker 1: two people have matured into and developed into and the
Speaker 1: legacy that they're leaving behind after the legacy their dad
Speaker 1: left behind. Connie Walter's wife is a great woman, and
Speaker 1: Jared and Brittany have turned into two great people that
Speaker 1: really support all of their communities equally as well as
Speaker 1: they're at their dad. Well, here's what I'll say, because
Speaker 1: I interviewed Jalen Johnson who was out here. He was
Speaker 1: the representative for the Chicago Bears, and you know, all
Speaker 1: all thirty two. Players that were nominated, like Jayalen Johnson
Speaker 1: do a great job and what they do in their
Speaker 1: communities is tremendous. But I will say this about Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: the guys following legends. When you follow a guy like
Speaker 1: Roger Stallbeck, a guy like Troy Atman and Dad comes
Speaker 1: under a lot of criticism, you know, because he's under
Speaker 1: a microscope. And even Tony Romo obviously who we took
Speaker 1: over the job from, I thought he represents not only
Speaker 1: himself but the Dallas Cowboys in a great way. And
Speaker 1: then the tentacles of the Chicago Bears continue to reach
Speaker 1: through every single day and path in the league, including
Speaker 1: this ceremony last night time your teammate Ron Rivera, the
Speaker 1: head coach of the Washington Commanders, at the mic introducing
Speaker 1: the Ukrainian football players that some that made it to
Speaker 1: that arena last night. They all got a standing ovation.
Speaker 1: Another moving moment as they showed video of the war
Speaker 1: in Ukraine and that football team. Uh many have lost
Speaker 1: their lives that played in that Ukrainian Pro football league,
Speaker 1: which is a big deal there. Uh that league, you know,
Speaker 1: complete with cheerleaders and everything you'd see in a in
Speaker 1: an NFL field and it hits you in a certain
Speaker 1: way what they're going through there, and that that battle
Speaker 1: with Russia and Chico at the at the mic was
Speaker 1: very good good. You know, Ron Rivera is a good
Speaker 1: representation of what can happen to somebody when they dedicate
Speaker 1: their life to football and the difficulties that these guys
Speaker 1: are facing in their real and their home country. I'm
Speaker 1: glad they bring recognition to it because if there's people
Speaker 1: out there or ways that they can help the citizens
Speaker 1: all there, I hope everybody takes action and does us
Speaker 1: so accordingly. And Jim the newly named Jim Brown Award,
Speaker 1: Jim in the audience health doesn't appear to be very
Speaker 1: good at the moment, but he was there and they
Speaker 1: renamed award. I love that Josh Jacobs of the Vegas
Speaker 1: Raiders earned that hot or what do you think about
Speaker 1: renaming that award? What a great year for Josh Jacobs
Speaker 1: yet won the renaming the award. I mean, Jim, Jim
Speaker 1: Brown's the greatest that's ever played. You know, everybody argues
Speaker 1: say is that Jerry Rice. A lot of people would
Speaker 1: says Jim Brown. I mean for his numbers and his
Speaker 1: impact on football. But Josh Jacobs for the last FA Raiders,
Speaker 1: what a year that he had. They didn't put the
Speaker 1: fifth year option on him and the guy bowled out.
Speaker 1: I mean he had over sixty hundred yards and his
Speaker 1: ability to run the football, and he's gonna be a
Speaker 1: coveted running back here this offseason in free agency and
Speaker 1: the MVP second time in six years. One of your
Speaker 1: Super Bowl quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes gets that on or Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year Brian Dabo the Giants and Comeback Player
Speaker 1: of the Year Seattle quarterback Geno Smith. We gotta take
Speaker 1: a break. When we come back, we'll start breaking down
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Jim is right there in Phoenix with
Speaker 1: us with Tom Thare, I'm Jeff joni Acc. This is
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. We're brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This segment
Speaker 1: of Bears All Access is brought to you by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy. Visit Athletic dot com to request an employment
Speaker 1: in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow. With
Speaker 1: Tom Thare, Jeff joning Acc here in Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the Score Jim Miller with us from Arizona,
Speaker 1: and Jim, you know you've interviewed a ton of people
Speaker 1: here in the last several weeks, starting with the conference
Speaker 1: championship game, going over to the Senior Bowl and mobile
Speaker 1: and right to Phoenix. Did you get a chance to
Speaker 1: talk to Justin Field? He was making the rounds yesterday
Speaker 1: on Radio Row just wondered if he had a chance. No,
Speaker 1: I did not have a chance. Like I said, I
Speaker 1: talked to Jalen Johnson and talked to a couple other guys.
Speaker 1: But I'm generally excited. I think everybody feels this offseason,
Speaker 1: the optimism that's there here. The Bears have the number
Speaker 1: one pick, They've got a lot of salary cap space,
Speaker 1: and you know, just even among his NFL peers, they
Speaker 1: believe his future is very bright, you know, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm in that category as well. I'm
Speaker 1: excited for the young man. I think he works hard,
Speaker 1: I think he's a good leader. I think he represents
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears the way you want your star quarterback
Speaker 1: to represent an organization. And so hopefully it's just a
Speaker 1: bright future and nothing but good things to come. But
Speaker 1: this offseason is going to be a very critical offseason
Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears, and I think for that young
Speaker 1: man's future and we'll see if he can take it
Speaker 1: and run with it. So he's got that opportunity. What
Speaker 1: happens here, Tom, is the marketing reps of all these players.
Speaker 1: They take him to Phoenix and they take him around
Speaker 1: Radio Row. So Justin did a ton of interviews yesterday,
Speaker 1: but you know, he looks the part of your starting quarterback,
Speaker 1: your franchise quarterback. He handled the questions very well. He
Speaker 1: was upbeat, very excited about his own potential. And one
Speaker 1: of the things he brought up with Rich Eyes and
Speaker 1: Tom on his podcast was that he really wanted to
Speaker 1: work on a short passing game, and it's something we've
Speaker 1: talked about and that's a significant thing. He says he
Speaker 1: wants to improve it and those little victories in the
Speaker 1: short passing game will pay huge dividends. Tommy, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know they You know, those are the requirements of a
Speaker 1: quarterback that's trying to get better at Maybe his numbers
Speaker 1: aren't that impressive, work on what your weaknesses are. And
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurst talked a lot about what he was going
Speaker 1: to work on last offseason. As soon as the season ended,
Speaker 1: and that's the same direction that Justin has to be
Speaker 1: pointed in. But the psychological effects of being around a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, I think it's more important for Justin right
Speaker 1: now because you've been around some big marketed football games
Speaker 1: in college and they toe and pull you in every
Speaker 1: direction you need to be to be out there as
Speaker 1: a player that gained as much respect as Justin Fields
Speaker 1: has done over this last season, and then for him
Speaker 1: to go around and get that feel of a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: What you need to do in order to get there.
Speaker 1: What happens once you do get there, The excitement, the respect,
Speaker 1: everything that you've tried to earn as a player, that's
Speaker 1: what you're being rewarded with as an active participant in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. So I don't think Justin ever wants
Speaker 1: to go back there as a member of radio role
Speaker 1: with the marketing team. He wants to go back to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl as a member of the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: football team, and I think this is a good experience
Speaker 1: to get some exposure around the Super Bowl. Jimmy also
Speaker 1: talked about planning to talk to a Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: quarterback Steve Young, to pick his brain about different things
Speaker 1: mobile quarterback. Indeed, I bring this up all the time,
Speaker 1: said Gilliam, tying his cleats together in practice so he
Speaker 1: wouldn't just jump out of the pocket as soon as
Speaker 1: possible throw from the pocket. I guarantee if Steve Young
Speaker 1: is going to bring up that story to Justin Fields,
Speaker 1: of course, and uh, you know, like Tom said, you're
Speaker 1: up and elbows with some of the greats that I've
Speaker 1: ever played in the in the NFL. And what's always
Speaker 1: interesting too is like when I'm down on Radio Row,
Speaker 1: I always ask the players, are you going to the game?
Speaker 1: And as Tom mentioned, they never go to the game
Speaker 1: unless they're playing it. They want to play him. And
Speaker 1: I think that's a good experience for Justice Fields because
Speaker 1: it's it's another goal that you know, he's gonna want
Speaker 1: to achieve in order to define his career. You know,
Speaker 1: let's face a lot of guys who do get in
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame. They have multiple Super Bowls, they
Speaker 1: reached the greatest sights you could ever reach, but it's
Speaker 1: got to come with a ring, it's got to come
Speaker 1: with the Lobardi Trophy. And I think that's a great
Speaker 1: experience for Justin Fields, for him to create goals for himself. Lastly,
Speaker 1: real quick here, the Bears obviously with the number one pick,
Speaker 1: they're gonna get a lot of play for that one.
Speaker 1: Adam Schefter reporting that the number of offers and the
Speaker 1: type of offers are going to border on the ridiculous side.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be very tempting. And Justin Fields was asked
Speaker 1: about that too, about you know, the idea that how
Speaker 1: they approached that number one pick, they got to do
Speaker 1: their due diligence on other quarterbacks. And Justin, to his credit,
Speaker 1: handled that question very well. He says, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody would love honesty in the process, and you know
Speaker 1: he just he's not. He says, his business and so
Speaker 1: whatever happens happens, you got to do your due diligence.
Speaker 1: But we'll pick up that conversation coming up out of
Speaker 1: the break and look, take a look more in depth
Speaker 1: at the matchup between the Eagles and the Chiefs from
Speaker 1: the perspective of two former Bears, Tom There and Jim Miller.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joni here on 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 with Jim Meta
Speaker 1: from Serious x M NFL Radio is moving the chains
Speaker 1: and Tom, there, I'm Jeff Joniac and this segment of
Speaker 1: Bears All Access is brought to you by Athletical Physical Therapy.
Speaker 1: Visit Athletical dot com to request an employment in clinic
Speaker 1: or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow. All right, picking
Speaker 1: up that conversation before we went to break on Justin Fields, Tom,
Speaker 1: the Bears have to do their due diligence here. This
Speaker 1: is a monumental foundational process this offseason given their unique
Speaker 1: assets both financially and draft capital wise. Day if I
Speaker 1: was Ryan Poles, I would have had a booth at
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl having every single team come up with
Speaker 1: their offer. You know, if you want to really condense
Speaker 1: this thing down to the immediacy of the decision that
Speaker 1: you're ultimately you're gonna have to make, But just think
Speaker 1: about making this decision after Justin Fields has revealed himselves.
Speaker 1: I think if you are a year ago, there may
Speaker 1: be a little bit more uncertainty about where you want
Speaker 1: to go with this pick. And this choice to me,
Speaker 1: and I'm never going to derail from this. I want
Speaker 1: them to trade him for more picks. I don't think
Speaker 1: there is that one standout guy that's going to be
Speaker 1: a team changer that you can pick with that first
Speaker 1: pick and then wait until the fifties. Half of that,
Speaker 1: I think, and I hope Bryan Poles is listening to
Speaker 1: every everybody and gets a majority of quality picks that
Speaker 1: he can get for that first pick in the draft. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the Bears are pretty committed to justin fields.
Speaker 1: You know, just by everything that Brian has talked about,
Speaker 1: they're kind of in the driver's seat, and this is
Speaker 1: a critical point for the organization's future. You know, they're
Speaker 1: they're going to have the ability to really create you know,
Speaker 1: like we mentioned, teams can go from worst to first,
Speaker 1: and this is the Bears opportunity to do that. The
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals of the prime example, they had Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: They were last in the division, they picked Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: and they were in the super Bowl in their second year.
Speaker 1: And so how they structure this offseason and the decisions
Speaker 1: that they make are going to be critical at every moment.
Speaker 1: And they got to make the choices for the right
Speaker 1: guys that build the team, whether it's through the draft,
Speaker 1: whether it's through free agency, it's a really monument as
Speaker 1: monumental moment in the organization's history where they can maybe
Speaker 1: change the trajectory of what has happened over the past
Speaker 1: few years. Jim, we were together at the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: and so we saw a lot of players. Shrine Bowl
Speaker 1: had some good players as well. Where three weeks off
Speaker 1: from the combine and started pro days. Did we see
Speaker 1: some bears on that field Inmobile Because at different positions
Speaker 1: across the board, I think I think we may have right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think certain teams really look at that Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: and they really only draft a lot of players. Dallas
Speaker 1: would be one the Seattle Seahawks, where they believe that
Speaker 1: those players are what they witnessed during that week of practice,
Speaker 1: they are going to be part of their future of
Speaker 1: their franchise. Look at Tariq Wollam. I mean here we're
Speaker 1: talking about sauce Gardner. Here. Tarik Woollen is a later
Speaker 1: round draft pick. He was tied with sauce Gardner in
Speaker 1: terms of interception. It's actually led sauce Gardner. So a
Speaker 1: lot of teams view that game as a building block
Speaker 1: for their team. And there's a reason why because one
Speaker 1: of the best talent in the country, and then they
Speaker 1: showed their wars during the week and all that scouting
Speaker 1: that's involved, and a lot of teams believe that you
Speaker 1: can get really good players because that that Bowl game,
Speaker 1: much like we're talking about the history of the game,
Speaker 1: that Senior Bowl is a proven track record of how
Speaker 1: you can build your team. Time. Did you fall in
Speaker 1: at love with any players? You know? I again I
Speaker 1: refer to this team the office of Lineman, but you know,
Speaker 1: just because it's the versatility and the fact that you
Speaker 1: can make a pick and he can fit into one
Speaker 1: of three or four different spots and to make you know,
Speaker 1: a team relevant. But no, there was a couple of guys.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to see the Northwestern defensive tackle Adam
Speaker 1: all Right, Yeah, yeah, And I wanted to see him
Speaker 1: in game conditions, you know, when you're reacting to the down,
Speaker 1: the distance in the play, not necessarily a one on
Speaker 1: one drill or an inside run period. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, Jeff, we've we've never been around this first
Speaker 1: pick in the draft before, so I think it kind
Speaker 1: of changes the way that you have to evaluate every
Speaker 1: single person in the draft this year. All right, before
Speaker 1: we get into the big game on Sunday. Hendon Hooker Tennessee.
Speaker 1: He was there all week, Jim. He's intriguing to me.
Speaker 1: He had an unbelievable year going at Tennessee before the
Speaker 1: knee injury. He's working his way back to a video
Speaker 1: of him making throws. Where do you think he will
Speaker 1: ultimately slot? Will teams? You know that the thinking was
Speaker 1: he's going to fall out of certain levels because of
Speaker 1: the injury. But he's an intriguing player. Yeah. Hey, there's
Speaker 1: been first rounders that have been drafted with toward a seals.
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons of the Tennessee Titans would be won. He
Speaker 1: filled a seventeen in Tennessee. Took him and look at
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons today. We could go through running backs all
Speaker 1: that I interviewed head and Hooker one. He's got big hands,
Speaker 1: he can spin it. He's very talented and I like him.
Speaker 1: He's a leader, you know. So I think a lot
Speaker 1: of teams as he continues to heal and all that
Speaker 1: will will show itself. But I think he's going to
Speaker 1: be a high draft pick in my opinion. He's got
Speaker 1: all the intangibles you're looking for at the position a quarterback.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about the game, super Bowl fifty seven.
Speaker 1: It's it's a beauty, the weirdest thing of all. If
Speaker 1: you're into numbers, like our statistician Doug Colletti is, it's
Speaker 1: amazing the context of numbers. But how these two teams
Speaker 1: through nineteen games are both sixteen and three and have
Speaker 1: scored the exact number of points offensively is beyond me.
Speaker 1: There are many others that are also tied together, but
Speaker 1: this is a colossal matchup and I believe it still
Speaker 1: will be one of the trenches. Jim, what are you
Speaker 1: your keys to victory and whom? Well, I think Steve Spagnole,
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinat Kansas City, is gonna have to be
Speaker 1: really aggressive on first and second down, meaning he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to blitz blitz to stop the run. Because if
Speaker 1: you look at Philadelphia when they're in third and two,
Speaker 1: in third and four and third and five, there's still
Speaker 1: one hundred percent that they could run the football and
Speaker 1: they get first downs. So I think that's going to
Speaker 1: be the key. Because you mentioned the trenches. They've got
Speaker 1: to stop the run game because they've got a young secondary,
Speaker 1: they've given up more touchdown passes than any team in
Speaker 1: the league when you look at Kansas City. So if
Speaker 1: Kansas City can be productive defensively and stopping Philadelphia on
Speaker 1: first and second down, then they'll have a chance. If
Speaker 1: they cannot do that, it's gonna be Philadelphia. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: all the way, they are the better team, They're the
Speaker 1: better built roster, they have more depth, and they got
Speaker 1: a ton of town. You know, to me, I think
Speaker 1: the game boils down to the Kansas City offensive line
Speaker 1: and you know that levels of defenders at Philadelphia that
Speaker 1: they can put out there. They could put fresh bodies
Speaker 1: in the middle of a drive and I would turn
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey into a blocker. I wouldn't let them be
Speaker 1: a receiver in this game because they have different potions
Speaker 1: in different ways that they can formulate their defensive personnel
Speaker 1: and the line of scrimmage, and you can make that
Speaker 1: tight end come inside the formation to be a blocker
Speaker 1: on a guy. And if you can create matchups like
Speaker 1: Hassan Reddick against the tight ends, then that's a winning matchup.
Speaker 1: And I think it kind of spells disaster or puts
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes in a retreat position. So I think This
Speaker 1: game boils down in the Kansas City offensive line as
Speaker 1: much as any other element, including both talented quarterbacks. One
Speaker 1: thing that I see here Eagles jumped on teams ferociously,
Speaker 1: got the lead and then ran the ball in the
Speaker 1: second half. Jim, is that possible here? Is that? Is
Speaker 1: that their pathway to victory because that's been their formula.
Speaker 1: I looked this up or I read this somewhere. Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts only through twenty two passes trailing in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: so he hasn't been used to it, while Mahomes has
Speaker 1: and Mahomes has been the dramatic come from behind guy.
Speaker 1: Let's face it. I mean, Philadelphia has had the easier
Speaker 1: path to get here. You'd have to go back five
Speaker 1: games where they lost to Dallas. Dallas put up forty
Speaker 1: points on Philadelphia. This defense can be scored upon him,
Speaker 1: you know. But as Tom mentioned the blocking for Kansas City.
Speaker 1: You know we saw two years ago in Super Bowl
Speaker 1: fifty five, Patrick Mahomes was running for his life and
Speaker 1: it wasn't a winning recipe, you know, against the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers. So it's gonna be critical. As talented as
Speaker 1: he is, you still got to protect him and obviously
Speaker 1: seventy eight Sexs says it all from Philadelphi Eagles. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, I mean, it's just ten guys deep, including
Speaker 1: Robert Quinner gets about twelve snapsy game. They're ten deep,
Speaker 1: and they come at you in waves. And then you
Speaker 1: know you got Chris Jones in Kansas City and a
Speaker 1: sound reddick of the Eagles fourth quarter and overtime pressures,
Speaker 1: each with twenty seven pressures, including the playoffs type for
Speaker 1: second most of the NFL. I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: one of these fourth quarter dramas. I really think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be an amazing game. You know, if a Domica
Speaker 1: Sue gets a chance when if he's hitting you, he's
Speaker 1: hitting you to hurt you. He's not hitting you for
Speaker 1: you get up comfortably after the play he did at
Speaker 1: last game. And so if he does get one of
Speaker 1: those fatigue shots from an offensive guard that's already wore
Speaker 1: out from Fletcher Cox and the other guys, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, Sue gets a rush that he wins immediately.
Speaker 1: I mean, watch the way that he falls or he hits,
Speaker 1: or he has bad intentions. Going back to justin fields
Speaker 1: and in the backup quarterback against San Francisco, and Jim
Speaker 1: wonder what's great? You wonder what's great? Tom? He's a
Speaker 1: free agent. War daddies. The Bears need war daddies, right hey,
Speaker 1: and listen, if this isn't that the best lesson of all.
Speaker 1: The Eagles were four eleven and one a little over
Speaker 1: two years ago and completely remade this thing with Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson moving on, and they've done it with a young coach.
Speaker 1: So hey, the faith remains for the Chicago Bears and
Speaker 1: every team out there that is not in a situation
Speaker 1: loaded with talent like some of these teams. Jim, enjoy
Speaker 1: the game, Enjoy the rest of your week, Happy birthday,
Speaker 1: behave yourself if you can in Phoenix, and we will
Speaker 1: talk to you next week. Jim. All right, guys, good
Speaker 1: to talk to you. Damn Pompey from the Athletic joining
Speaker 1: us next here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score.
Speaker 1: This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: buy CDW people to get it. Wrapping up our show tonight,
Speaker 1: we saved the best for last. Mister Damn Pompey, a
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame writer for the Athletic and on that
Speaker 1: committee of forty nine, right, forty nine that put together
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty three. Good evening, Dan,
Speaker 1: how you feeling, Jeff, Jonny Act, Tom there with you
Speaker 1: here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score. Disappointment
Speaker 1: reigns though among Bears fans here this afternoon in the eve.
Speaker 1: He'll always be good to talk with you, guys, and
Speaker 1: glad to be here, but I wish we had better
Speaker 1: news to talk about. Obviously, Devin Hester did not get
Speaker 1: in second year of eligibility. Second year he did not
Speaker 1: get in. And actually backtrack a little bit this year.
Speaker 1: Last year he made it to the top ten, and
Speaker 1: this year he did not. So there's a big disappointment
Speaker 1: for me as a voter and someone who believed strongly
Speaker 1: in his qualifications. But you know, I think part of
Speaker 1: the processes that we have many different voices and many
Speaker 1: different opinions and we have to listen to them all.
Speaker 1: Clark Judge, real quick, timmy, let me just say this.
Speaker 1: Clark Judge, who writes for a Hall of Fame publication
Speaker 1: online a website called Talk of Fame. He actually broke
Speaker 1: down how long each argument was for every single nominee,
Speaker 1: and I believe Devin's was thirty three minutes in length.
Speaker 1: And was it a hearty discussion? Were there was it
Speaker 1: a tough sell to get him into this, uh the
Speaker 1: finalist role? Or how did this all work out in
Speaker 1: terms of that that? Does that time frame mean anything?
Speaker 1: Is what I'm saying, Um, it does because there was
Speaker 1: back and forth. It was it was a little contentious
Speaker 1: because there were a number of selectors who believe that
Speaker 1: a special Teams player shouldn't be as validated as a
Speaker 1: player who plays sixty five snaps in a game, and
Speaker 1: there was there was some back and forth about that.
Speaker 1: I know there are a number of voters who believe
Speaker 1: strongly in Hester's candidacy, as I do. But but there
Speaker 1: is a group that came out this year that really
Speaker 1: didn't we didn't hear from a much last year. This year,
Speaker 1: they came out and there were a number of them
Speaker 1: who said, look, you know, he only played so many
Speaker 1: snaps per game. How do we value that against somebody
Speaker 1: like DeMarcus Ware who played many more snaps per game.
Speaker 1: So that's the battle that we're fighting with Devin Hester.
Speaker 1: You know, he's unique in NFL history there's been nobody
Speaker 1: like him who's been inducted in the Pro Football Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame who's been a specialist. Only very few special
Speaker 1: teams players have been inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: And then the other thing. I mean, I think he's
Speaker 1: unique in the fact that he returned football's better than
Speaker 1: anybody ever. So I think you know, that's that's why
Speaker 1: this is not as clean a case as it would
Speaker 1: be if he had been a wide receiver or a
Speaker 1: cornerback or a linebacker. Dan, what's next though, I mean,
Speaker 1: as eric continuous process to keep his name in the
Speaker 1: rolodecks of possible candidates, is it onto the next person
Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears, Dia? I mean, how do you
Speaker 1: keep his name in the conversation but not be an
Speaker 1: over type of presence where people become numb to it. Well,
Speaker 1: I would be really surprised if he did not make
Speaker 1: the finalist list again next year, Tom, because I said
Speaker 1: there is a number, there are a number of voters
Speaker 1: who support him strongly. So I'm going to be shocked
Speaker 1: if he's not in the top fifteen again. Now it's
Speaker 1: just a matter of whether or not you could advance
Speaker 1: him beyond that. And you know, I think as you
Speaker 1: have these conversations in the room, it helps you understand
Speaker 1: what the hurdles are that you have to get over
Speaker 1: this year. You know, I really didn't know how strong
Speaker 1: some of these people felt about the fact that a
Speaker 1: special teams player is not on the same ground with
Speaker 1: a player who's an offensive or defensive player. So now
Speaker 1: I know that. I mean, I think the thing that
Speaker 1: I've been emphasizing with him, will continue to emphasize, is
Speaker 1: that even in a few snaps or a fewer amount
Speaker 1: of touches, had greater impact than the large majority of
Speaker 1: players in the history of the National Football League. And
Speaker 1: you know, it just comes down to I think trying
Speaker 1: to find ways to illustrate that and went over some
Speaker 1: of the people who might feel otherwise. You know, Dan
Speaker 1: the argument of being an every snap player to not
Speaker 1: you know, DeMarcus Ware on the list of the guys
Speaker 1: that are going to the Hall of Fame this year,
Speaker 1: probably played the least amount of snaps per game, because
Speaker 1: when you look at cornerbacks and linebackers and offensive tackles
Speaker 1: and stuff, they are mostly every down type of players.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think that's kind of the argument
Speaker 1: that's going to repeat itself every year that Devin is
Speaker 1: a candidate, But it's about his his performance, and you
Speaker 1: know what he was able to accomplish what kind of
Speaker 1: speaks for itself over and every down player. Yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think another thing that came up was, well,
Speaker 1: why didn't he play offense? Why didn't he excel on offense?
Speaker 1: You know, one person even brought up, well, why didn't
Speaker 1: he play defense? You know, the point that I had
Speaker 1: made was that he was a defensive player primarily at
Speaker 1: the University of Miami and never really played wide receiver
Speaker 1: before the Bears tried him at the position in two
Speaker 1: thousand and the two thousand and eight, I believe it
Speaker 1: was two thousand and nine, so you know, he was
Speaker 1: basically trying to learn a position for the first time
Speaker 1: in his life at the age of twenty six. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think there are many busts in Canton of
Speaker 1: people who started to learn a position age of twenty six,
Speaker 1: So you know, he was really just kind of born
Speaker 1: to return kicks, and obviously he did that better than
Speaker 1: anyone ever, and I think that's something that certainly is
Speaker 1: worthy of induction. So now the point of emphasis on
Speaker 1: kick returns is dropped dramatically with the change in the
Speaker 1: fair catch and everything. Is that something that's going to
Speaker 1: hurt him or help him? I'm not sure, you know.
Speaker 1: I think you know, there probably is not going to
Speaker 1: be another kick returner right who we discuss, although certainly
Speaker 1: Cordarol Patterson has putting up some some great numbers as
Speaker 1: a kick returner, only he wasn't a not a punt
Speaker 1: returner like Devon. But because of the rules changes, I
Speaker 1: would think it's unlikely that we'll ever see another returner
Speaker 1: who's considered it in the same category as him. I
Speaker 1: don't know that that affects his case one way or another.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, basically his case every year is
Speaker 1: going to come down to Devin Hester versus the other
Speaker 1: fourteen guys who were discussing that year. If it's fourteen
Speaker 1: guys and seeing where he stacks up, I think over time,
Speaker 1: you know, time is going to be his friend in
Speaker 1: this process, as it was the friend of Zach Thomas,
Speaker 1: for instance, who had to wait. I think he was
Speaker 1: a finalist times maybe something like that, I forget off
Speaker 1: top of my head. Ronde Barbour was a finalist number
Speaker 1: of times. I think what happens is, you know some
Speaker 1: voters tend to see this is you're in a queue,
Speaker 1: You're getting the line, and over time, you know, finally
Speaker 1: you come to the front of a line. And I
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be a day when Devin Hester, hopefully
Speaker 1: in that too distant future, comes to the front of
Speaker 1: a line. This is Bears All Access, brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy and Calling. All Bears fans get the
Speaker 1: ultimate VIP fan package with Chicago Bears VIP. Secure a
Speaker 1: game ticket and appearance from Bears legends and more by
Speaker 1: visiting Chicago Bears vip dot com. Remaining Moments with Dan Pompey,
Speaker 1: a great writer, Hall of Fame NFL writer at the Athletic.
Speaker 1: Have you spoken to Devin. I have not spoken with
Speaker 1: him yet. No, okay, because last year he said if
Speaker 1: works from me, though he might he might because honestly
Speaker 1: he was very upset a year ago, and so I
Speaker 1: have not spoken to him either. I just got a
Speaker 1: thumbs up when he became a finalist. He sent a
Speaker 1: thumbs up. And the amazing part of this, if I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken, this was all done by January, right, sometime
Speaker 1: in January. And how did this stay so secretive? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, we're kind of sworn to secrecy. I think
Speaker 1: the Pro Football Hall of Fame wants to do it
Speaker 1: this way for a couple of reasons. First of all,
Speaker 1: there's a television announcement and you know, they're they're getting
Speaker 1: money from the NFL networked to do this and exposure.
Speaker 1: And the other thing is they want to have ample
Speaker 1: time to be able to notify all fifteen finalists, you know,
Speaker 1: are you in? Are you out? And they want to
Speaker 1: do it in a dignified way so that everyone can
Speaker 1: kind of digest this and not be you know, just
Speaker 1: hitting face by something. You know, in past years, what
Speaker 1: they used to do is they flew everyone to the
Speaker 1: site of the Super Bowl and then you know, they
Speaker 1: had the meeting the day of the super Bowl, right
Speaker 1: after the super Bowl, or knocking on everyone's door saying
Speaker 1: you made it or you didn't make it. If you
Speaker 1: didn't make it, you know, here's your plane ticket home,
Speaker 1: see you later, you know, And that was kind of
Speaker 1: a kind of a rough way to do it. So
Speaker 1: this is a, like I said, it's a more dignified,
Speaker 1: personal way of doing it. All right. So, our last
Speaker 1: question with Dan Pompey. So next year, some of the
Speaker 1: names Julius Peppers, Antonio Gates, the great tight end safety,
Speaker 1: Eric Berry, they become a part of this mix and
Speaker 1: then the great class of finalists this year, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of receivers. This was a defensive lean. Eight of
Speaker 1: the last ten Modern Day finalists, our inductees, our defensive players.
Speaker 1: It's a little warped in terms of the entire hall
Speaker 1: with offense defense. So as you, again, like Tom's question,
Speaker 1: where do we go from here? How do you think
Speaker 1: that impacts Devin And once you're a finalist back to
Speaker 1: back years, do you kind of stay in that realm
Speaker 1: for a while or not? Yeah? I expect him to
Speaker 1: be in the mix again next year. You know, as
Speaker 1: you said, Julius Peppers is a strong first time candidate.
Speaker 1: Antonio Gates might be candidate. We've got three wide receivers
Speaker 1: that have been sitting there for a number of years
Speaker 1: that eventually the log jam might break with them, Andre Johnson,
Speaker 1: Reggie Wayne and Tory Holt. And then there's a number
Speaker 1: of other guys who are turning like Jared Allen, you
Speaker 1: know who is going to get him one of these years,
Speaker 1: I think, and you know it's but he's going to
Speaker 1: be in the mix without a doubt. Next year. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be pulling for him, all right, Dan, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for taking the time. Great job as always
Speaker 1: on that Hall of Fame committee charting the history of
Speaker 1: the game and preserving it. Thank you so much. All right,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me, guys. That's gonna wrap up our
Speaker 1: show tonight. Four time there, Jim Miller and Dan Pompey.
Speaker 1: Thanks to our producers as well. Have fun this Super
Speaker 1: Bowl weekend for the Eagles and the Chiefs in Arizona.
Speaker 1: Will talk to you next week here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Ray six seventy. The Score,