Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ Moore episode Touchdown Touchdown Pair. I
Speaker 1: am Jeff, Joniack Wlitz.
Speaker 2: Is on dot go.
Speaker 3: What was like playing for Coche?
Speaker 1: Good done. I don't want to answer any questions like
Speaker 1: that pressure coming is a big trouble. Doti Gos Mottest Sweat.
Speaker 4: Bears, et Cetera, brought to you by Miller Lte with
Speaker 4: the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Things are going well a training camp for the Bears,
Speaker 1: and it really ramps up as we approached the phase
Speaker 1: of full padded practices that'll be coming up later this week.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac, Tom Fayer, and Welcome into episode seventy nine
Speaker 1: of the Bears et Cetera podcast, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Another Light. We got the Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer our special guest this week. Second your defensive
Speaker 1: tackle Jabond Dexter.
Speaker 2: Tom.
Speaker 1: How you feeling, buddy, How you feeling.
Speaker 4: I'm feeling good and anticipation of Pad's getting on. I
Speaker 4: think you can tell little bit more about certain positions. However,
Speaker 4: I'm kind of okay with the nopad part of it,
Speaker 4: even though I'm reluctant to say it because I think
Speaker 4: the mental part of it for Caleb Williams, for Shane Waldron,
Speaker 4: for all the specialty positions on this football team, it
Speaker 4: has such an important role in the overall success of it.
Speaker 4: When you have a chance to go through meetings and
Speaker 4: be repetitive about the information that you're installing on the field,
Speaker 4: it's going to be super beneficial in the long run.
Speaker 1: I was almost going to have to ask you if
Speaker 1: you have a fever or something that you made that part.
Speaker 1: I mean, am I talking to the same time theayer
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 4: But you know again, hey, listen, I wish it was
Speaker 4: full pads all the time. You know, we talk about
Speaker 4: there could be three full padded practices before the first
Speaker 4: game at the Hall of Fame game, and I would
Speaker 4: have three padded practices in a day and a half
Speaker 4: of camp. So but I'm looking at the reality of
Speaker 4: modern day football and the role in the importance that
Speaker 4: Caleb Williams is going to play in hopefully a decade
Speaker 4: of success for the Bears.
Speaker 1: Observations about Caleb are going to come fast and furious
Speaker 1: every single practice for the rest of his career. Obviously,
Speaker 1: it's the marquee position in all of sports, and he's
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick and high expectations observations from
Speaker 1: my point of view. Time a couple of things. One,
Speaker 1: you often tend to look at body language as a
Speaker 1: reporter or an observer, and reporters make a living off
Speaker 1: of this, and sometimes reading body language can give you
Speaker 1: a total misread. Don't read into it too much. But
Speaker 1: what I see is an intensity about him as the
Speaker 1: play's call coming in from Shane Waldron, the music's playing,
Speaker 1: it's pumping at a very high volume at practice during
Speaker 1: team drills. It lowers throughout the rest of practice, but
Speaker 1: it's a testament to what he's going to face on
Speaker 1: the road in the coming weeks of his rookie season.
Speaker 1: But he really wants that play in there. He goes
Speaker 1: to players afterwards. I saw a conversation with Key now
Speaker 1: in a conversation with Cole Komen. These are positives for
Speaker 1: me to see how engaged he is in the moment
Speaker 1: that as you always like to say, that instant of
Speaker 1: time where you can make corrections and get on the
Speaker 1: same page.
Speaker 4: That communication will never stop. If we're talking about Caleb
Speaker 4: Williams ten years from now in breaking in a new
Speaker 4: receiver that maybe they brought a board in the draft.
Speaker 4: That conversation is going to continue right now. The role
Speaker 4: of the conversation plays an uber important role in the
Speaker 4: success and the development of timing, of the understanding of coverages,
Speaker 4: the accuracy factor, what you saw out of the coverages
Speaker 4: that were being offered to you on certain down and
Speaker 4: distances in parts of the field right hash left, hash
Speaker 4: middle of the field. So those conversations will never stop.
Speaker 1: A player came up to me the other day and said,
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. He's got a very catchable ball.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it's a short pass, an intermediate pass,
Speaker 1: or a fifty yard pass down the field, a very tight,
Speaker 1: viral catchable ball. The importance of that tom for a
Speaker 1: receiver is what it's just.
Speaker 4: The confidence of the ball is going to be delivered
Speaker 4: at a velocity that's very catchable, no matter if you're
Speaker 4: ten yards away or thirty five yards away. And I
Speaker 4: think sometimes over the course of history, now that we've
Speaker 4: been around football for almost thirty years, we've seen quarterbacks
Speaker 4: that come in here and yeah, their arm is described
Speaker 4: as a cannon, but the cannon has to have control
Speaker 4: if you're throwing a cannon pass that's about an eight
Speaker 4: yard outlet pass to a running back and it splits
Speaker 4: his hands even though they have those gloves that have
Speaker 4: just a lot of grip built into them. It's different
Speaker 4: than the pass that's got to be a floater of
Speaker 4: fifteen to eighteen to twenty yards away. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: think the quarterback's recognition of his arm talents is as
Speaker 4: important as it is knowing what the play is and
Speaker 4: where the ball is going to go.
Speaker 1: And as an extension to that, yeah, you don't want
Speaker 1: the ball eating up receivers, especially in that short game,
Speaker 1: because a lot of passes are going to be completed
Speaker 1: from the line of scrimmage or behind the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage to ten yards, and those are going to be
Speaker 1: catching run plays, Those plays over the middle where you
Speaker 1: got to thread the needle and you got a defender
Speaker 1: on your back. You got to make those nice and easy,
Speaker 1: and those fades in the end zone the back shoulder throws.
Speaker 1: But as an extension of that, and you tell me
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong, I gotta trust my eyes. Yes, there
Speaker 1: have been some incompletions, of course, but the ball is
Speaker 1: not on the ground a lot.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's true. I think you Caleb understands the target.
Speaker 4: Maybe sometimes he's going to hold onto the ball a
Speaker 4: half a second to three quarters of a second a
Speaker 4: little bit too long that will probably be sped up
Speaker 4: the more he gets to understand the offense. But the
Speaker 4: key ingredient there is what you said, and I'm glad
Speaker 4: you did say it, because not being on the ground
Speaker 4: tip balls are disaster. So if you have a ball
Speaker 4: that's not on the ground, it's into the hands of
Speaker 4: the receiver, then that's what we need to see out
Speaker 4: of a quarterback. You talk about a velocity of a
Speaker 4: of a quarterback, and if you're starting to get those
Speaker 4: balls that go through the hands of the receivers the way,
Speaker 4: the first thing that defensive back is living on is
Speaker 4: tip balls, and so you need to see the accuracy
Speaker 4: complement the offense.
Speaker 1: Tastes like middle Time. Go to middle of Night dot
Speaker 1: com slash bears pod to find delivery options near you.
Speaker 1: Celebrate responsibly. Middle Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories
Speaker 1: and three point two carbs per twelve ounces. Met with
Speaker 1: the folks from Miller a couple of days ago. Always
Speaker 1: a fun bunch. They had the middle of late on ice, Tommy,
Speaker 1: first thing in the morning, enjoying practice. You were tempted.
Speaker 4: I know you listen anytime there's an ice cold beverage,
Speaker 4: whether it's something that's offered to you out of practice
Speaker 4: or inside the viewing suite, there's nothing like a cold
Speaker 4: beverage at training camp. And I remember back in training
Speaker 4: camp in our days, they used to have these fifty
Speaker 4: gallon drums that were filled in ice and a thirst
Speaker 4: quenching product. And when you had the time to go
Speaker 4: over there, grab one, open it up, you drank the
Speaker 4: whole can or whatever you were offered because you only
Speaker 4: had maybe two or three plays in order to get
Speaker 4: your drink and get back in line to get your
Speaker 4: next rep.
Speaker 1: So now you're not suggesting that there were beers in there, No, never.
Speaker 4: You know, you had me think they had a different
Speaker 4: you know, whether ye water or whatever product that they
Speaker 4: have on the field. They had these intermittently placed big
Speaker 4: tubs in that It was so good man, when you
Speaker 4: had your chance to go and grab something to drink,
Speaker 4: and those exhausting times at Platteville super rewarding.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the offensive line relative to Caleb Williams
Speaker 1: and his ability to get rid of the ball in
Speaker 1: a timely manner, read it or dump it, or just
Speaker 1: find the completion, because that over the last couple of
Speaker 1: years has been an issue for the Bears offense. So
Speaker 1: it was the longest period of time holding the football
Speaker 1: for justin fields in the NFL, better than three point
Speaker 1: one seconds on average. So what will that do conversely
Speaker 1: for the offensive line when he gets rid of it
Speaker 1: in a quicker fashion.
Speaker 4: Okay, first of all, if they're an opponent stadium that
Speaker 4: has a lowed atmosphere, the offensive guard is going to
Speaker 4: be the indicator to the center that the ball is
Speaker 4: going to be snapped. As soon as they give that
Speaker 4: indicator to the center, that's when the timeframe really starts.
Speaker 4: You get the center quarterback exchange, and then if that
Speaker 4: quarterback can get the ball out of his hands in
Speaker 4: the right amount of time according to the protection that
Speaker 4: the offensive line heard inside the huddle, then rather than
Speaker 4: holding and sustaining your block for a second and a half,
Speaker 4: now you're sustaining your protection for three quarters of a
Speaker 4: second to a second, and then a lot more battles
Speaker 4: can be won. Now the offensive line has to break
Speaker 4: the huddle with the understanding of the time of the
Speaker 4: protection call in the huddle, you have a three step drop,
Speaker 4: it's going to be a little bit quicker than a
Speaker 4: five step drop. If you have a play action pass,
Speaker 4: that means that you're going to go out and try
Speaker 4: to sell the run more than you are going to
Speaker 4: be a pass protector. So there's differences in every protection.
Speaker 4: But with the immediacy of the ball out of the
Speaker 4: quarterback's hands, it really is so beneficial to an offensive.
Speaker 1: Line, all right. Among the quarterbacks you played for, obviously
Speaker 1: Jim McMahon and Mike tom Zach and Steve Fuller, there
Speaker 1: were many others over the course of your time with
Speaker 1: the Bears. How were they in terms of getting rid
Speaker 1: of the football as a group?
Speaker 4: McMahon was in instantaneously because he understood the coverage that
Speaker 4: he was facing from his experience in college, and he
Speaker 4: knew where the ball was going to go as soon
Speaker 4: as it was snap by Jay. But then you also
Speaker 4: had guys like Mike Tomzak that got rid of the
Speaker 4: ball quickly in terms of what he determined to be
Speaker 4: his read and where it would go. Steve Fuller was
Speaker 4: not the athlete that you know tom Zak and McMahon
Speaker 4: were at time, so he had a little bit more
Speaker 4: time getting back to his stance, and then he was
Speaker 4: more of a slow, methodical thrower. And then you had
Speaker 4: Jim Harball come in. It was kind of an athlete
Speaker 4: playing the quarterback position and then had a lot of
Speaker 4: time to be able to try to learn the system perfectly,
Speaker 4: to incorporate his athleticism in his delivery, and sometimes he
Speaker 4: was he held out of the ball a little bit longer,
Speaker 4: but that's the speed of his game picked up as
Speaker 4: time went on throughout his career with the Bears. In
Speaker 4: his career in the NFL, Doug Fluti Doug Flutie was
Speaker 4: he was an inexperienced quarterback playing with a really experienced team.
Speaker 4: I think it was a little unfair to kind of
Speaker 4: make a determination on him because everything was his size
Speaker 4: was talked about more than his delivery, so you had
Speaker 4: to provide protection for him and create a stalemate on
Speaker 4: the line of scrimmage. So he separated. And remember the
Speaker 4: drops back then were three five seven step drops. So
Speaker 4: that's the significant difference when you're talking about those three
Speaker 4: types of drops, and we are so successful at running
Speaker 4: the ball. We ran a lot more play action than
Speaker 4: other did. Other teams did in the NFL, but Doug Flutie,
Speaker 4: we really didn't have a long enough period of time
Speaker 4: to figure out. And I was thinking about Doug today
Speaker 4: because he had a great career in the long term
Speaker 4: when you're talking about the Canadian League, the USFL and
Speaker 4: the NFL.
Speaker 1: And still doing commercials with Frank Thomas.
Speaker 4: Hey, he looks great.
Speaker 1: He's got good flow.
Speaker 4: Sixty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got a really good flow.
Speaker 4: Peter tom Willis, Peter tom Willis had a really slow
Speaker 4: cadence And I remember asking Peter tom Willis because he
Speaker 4: was a Southern drawl type of player, so he would
Speaker 4: go blue fourteen blue fourteen, sit hood in where the
Speaker 4: other guys would go blue fourteen blue fourteen. So their
Speaker 4: hard count was a lot more deceptive to the defensive
Speaker 4: line than Peter tom Willis. And I remember asking him
Speaker 4: if he could speed up his cadence because it's too
Speaker 4: slow the cadence and there's not a lot of deception
Speaker 4: there for the defensive line. But you know, Peter tom
Speaker 4: Willis was a good quarterback, a lot of college experience,
Speaker 4: but he wasn't as a scapable as some of the
Speaker 4: other quarterbacks that we played with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that covers it. Though you didn't have that many
Speaker 1: during your time.
Speaker 4: Right, we are super fortunate to have McMahon for a
Speaker 4: period of time. Tom Zach had some. I think he
Speaker 4: started out ten and zero as a starter in his
Speaker 4: career for the Bears with Steve Fuller here and then
Speaker 4: Harball and Fluty and such. You know, that's what we
Speaker 4: What did.
Speaker 1: You learn from Greg Landry during your time?
Speaker 4: I learned more. Greg Landry was my first quarterback in
Speaker 4: the USFL, so I up late. I was a teammate
Speaker 4: with Greg and he was one of the toughest guys
Speaker 4: I've ever met in my life. One time he got
Speaker 4: hit under the chin and he bit off half of
Speaker 4: his tongue and he never missed a play oh go,
Speaker 4: and then he but as a player, he tried to
Speaker 4: be a mentor as much as he did a teammate.
Speaker 4: And that's what I really respected about him. He didn't.
Speaker 4: He used to tell me, don't fall into a trap
Speaker 4: of some of the guys here in the USFL, because
Speaker 4: they're ending your career right when you're beginning your career.
Speaker 4: And he was a super tough guy that had complete
Speaker 4: control of the huddle. As a football coach, he had
Speaker 4: command of the offense, but sometimes we were fighting in
Speaker 4: an uphill battle because we didn't have the eighty five
Speaker 4: Bears there. We had some movable parts that weren't the
Speaker 4: same as the guys we had at one time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, nineteen eighty four as a Bears player, also as
Speaker 1: a quarterback receiver in tight ends coach from eighty six
Speaker 1: to eighty eight. He went over to u of I
Speaker 1: in the nineties, and of course coming into the NFL
Speaker 1: with the Detroit Lione is the number eleven pick in
Speaker 1: the draft and Greg Landerne he.
Speaker 4: Was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL with Detroit,
Speaker 4: and he just had some years that were absolutely brutal.
Speaker 4: But in the long run, I think that's why I
Speaker 4: respect this toughness so much, because I saw him as
Speaker 4: a Detroit Lion. I played again. I played with him
Speaker 4: as a member of the Chicago Blitz, and I respected
Speaker 4: him as a coach of the Chicago.
Speaker 1: Bears, Comeback Player of the Year in seventy six and
Speaker 1: All Pro first Team in nineteen seventy one with the
Speaker 1: Lions in his third NFL season, And he's a New
Speaker 1: Hampshire guy living out on the East Coast. All right,
Speaker 1: let's switch gears Tommy and move into our conversation with
Speaker 1: Javon Dexter. I love this. I love this because you
Speaker 1: can see the big difference, and we've seen it annually
Speaker 1: from rookies are quite not sure of what they're dealing
Speaker 1: with over the course of the season, maybe a bit
Speaker 1: reserve unless they have a really outgoing personality and then
Speaker 1: this monumental glacial change in their demeanor. And that would
Speaker 1: be the man that Matt eber Flows calls Dino Dexter.
Speaker 1: Gervon Dexter Senior. Our conversation with tom and I we've
Speaker 1: been talking about you since the middle of last season
Speaker 1: on and very excited, and I was trying to flip
Speaker 1: a coin whose body changed the most. You were, Dominique Robinson,
Speaker 1: because you guys both are massive right now. You guys
Speaker 1: look good, you guys, you guys showing off in the
Speaker 1: mirror a little bit.
Speaker 3: That's a that's a tough one. Just because Domb before
Speaker 3: he changed his body, he still looked pretty now, I know,
Speaker 3: so I'll probably give it to myself just because Domb
Speaker 3: was already.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's been a massive, massive, investment
Speaker 1: of time and uh, you feel a totally different player,
Speaker 1: don't you.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's the benefits that you experience.
Speaker 3: Already being able to be out there longer and being
Speaker 3: able to rush while I'm tired of being able to
Speaker 3: move a little better, get out the stack a little better,
Speaker 3: a little faster, a little further, and so all of
Speaker 3: those things is feeling great.
Speaker 4: You know, Javon, you just walked off the podium and
Speaker 4: you said you're blessed with great height, and you are.
Speaker 4: And for me as an ex offensive lineman, one thing
Speaker 4: that intimidated me was height by a defensive lineman because
Speaker 4: that brings length. When you have your pass rush and
Speaker 4: you're going through all your techniques and all your arsenal,
Speaker 4: is there an emphasis on using your length to make
Speaker 4: sure that you can try to make contact to the
Speaker 4: offensive lineman before are their hands can make contact to you?
Speaker 2: For sure?
Speaker 3: I think for for bigger defensive tackles and defensive lineman,
Speaker 3: that's our weapon. Our length is our weapon, just because
Speaker 3: when you create that separation off to get off, it's
Speaker 3: hard for office of lineman to recover from from the length.
Speaker 3: And I think that's when you use that to your ability.
Speaker 3: It works well.
Speaker 4: When you have the length that you're blessed with. I
Speaker 4: look at the vision that you're using. You recently had
Speaker 4: a deflected pass in practice. Caleb had to catch it
Speaker 4: himself and he had to run it because you can't
Speaker 4: throw two forward passes. How do you combine and everything
Speaker 4: with knowing the move you're gonna use out of your stance,
Speaker 4: reading what the play is, pass or run, and then
Speaker 4: using your vision in order to read the quarterback? How
Speaker 4: are you? How are you able to incorporate all those
Speaker 4: within an instance of time?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just try to. I try to get those reps.
Speaker 3: I try to get those mental reps or even an individual,
Speaker 3: I try to get those reps to to where when
Speaker 3: it's time it's a second nature to me. And I
Speaker 3: think I've I've done a better job this year at
Speaker 3: at like you said, doing all of those same things
Speaker 3: at once, and I think so far I've seen myself
Speaker 3: well one play, like like we talked about, where I
Speaker 3: took the past that that was a bigger step for
Speaker 3: me because normally last year I would kind of sit
Speaker 3: there and just use my extension. Well, now I'm getting
Speaker 3: my hands up. Now it creates tip passes create turnovers
Speaker 3: and that's what we want.
Speaker 1: You got eighty one inch wingspan, so might as well
Speaker 1: put the thing that impressed me, and I think it
Speaker 1: goes off and underrated is the effort after the play
Speaker 1: or to continue to play if it gets passed a line,
Speaker 1: you chase down. You you did it last year, You're
Speaker 1: doing it at practice, and that that's a wow when
Speaker 1: you see a guy your size chasing down. And I
Speaker 1: believe coach Flues told you something about backside play wins championships, right,
Speaker 1: that was a quote he gave. But how important is it?
Speaker 1: Because to your point, fatigue may you know, guys may
Speaker 1: not run you know as uh uh as often you
Speaker 1: know after the play and in fourth quarter you can
Speaker 1: make a play downfield to be just as important as
Speaker 1: a sack, right, And how important isn't it? And you've
Speaker 1: always been that way?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: So I would be lying if I said I've always
Speaker 3: been that way. But being drafted by the Bears and
Speaker 3: watching old film and that's the DNA here. So coming
Speaker 3: here and watching the film and seeing how these guys
Speaker 3: fly around get to the ball, and not just the secondary,
Speaker 3: but we the whole the whole unit is doing it
Speaker 3: in like coach flu state, that's who we are, that's
Speaker 3: our resume, and that's how we want to be on film,
Speaker 3: you know, Jivon.
Speaker 4: After you get off your senior year of football, it's
Speaker 4: an exhausting period of time when you go through the combines,
Speaker 4: you're getting ready for the draft. You go through the draft,
Speaker 4: and then you go through your rookie introduction. But your
Speaker 4: freshman year in college you played every game, But your
Speaker 4: sophomore year in college you were super productive in your numbers.
Speaker 4: You had more tackles for loss, you had more sacks,
Speaker 4: you had more production out of your position. Do you
Speaker 4: kind of see that in yourself from your freshman the
Speaker 4: sophomore year for a lack of a better term, professionally
Speaker 4: as you did in college.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the exact same. When you come into something new,
Speaker 3: you kind of float by. You're trying to understand the scheme,
Speaker 3: you're trying to understand your teammates, You're trying to understand
Speaker 3: a lot of different things, and as well as just
Speaker 3: being young, so you don't want to make a mistake
Speaker 3: when you were out there, and so when you play
Speaker 3: like that, you tend to be a little timid and
Speaker 3: trusting yourself. Well, when you go into that next year,
Speaker 3: you know what to expect. You know your teammates, you
Speaker 3: know your coaches, you know the system. So now it
Speaker 3: allows you to play a little faster.
Speaker 1: So does somebody like Montes? What when he rolls into
Speaker 1: the locker room and I forgot what week it was,
Speaker 1: but it just you stand up and notice, first of all,
Speaker 1: you guys are similarly built now, and now you're playing
Speaker 1: next to him on the line. I mean, I love
Speaker 1: when the two of you are lined up next to
Speaker 1: each other. My mind starts becoming coach like and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I can design a lot of stuff here.
Speaker 1: But watching him and some others in the locker room,
Speaker 1: because I think a young player just wants to survive
Speaker 1: their rookie season. There's too much to learn. You haven't
Speaker 1: stopped since college, right, and you'll learn what being a
Speaker 1: professional is. Did his arrival help you become what you
Speaker 1: are right now?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent?
Speaker 3: And I think, like you said, when you're just trying
Speaker 3: to survive and then you get a guy like Montes
Speaker 3: in there and you're seeing what he do what he
Speaker 3: does to prepare for a game and prepare for the week,
Speaker 3: you kind of see, Okay, well he did that on Monday,
Speaker 3: he did this on Tuesday, and then had two sacks
Speaker 3: on Sunday.
Speaker 2: I probably should do that, right.
Speaker 3: So having a guy like that and seeing his success,
Speaker 3: it motivates you to kind of go get it.
Speaker 1: Or like Marcedes Lewis, exactly his routine. He doesn't let
Speaker 1: anything interrupt his routine for the week to get him
Speaker 1: ready to play.
Speaker 2: He's forty years old exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, did he ever talk to you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've had several different conversations with Mercedes, And like
Speaker 3: you said, when you get a guy like that, don't
Speaker 3: we all want to play twenty years in the league.
Speaker 3: So when you got a guy like that who's at
Speaker 3: a place where you want to be, it's almost dumb
Speaker 3: not to ask questions when you see him, even if
Speaker 3: they're just eating lunch, eating, sitting at the table. You're
Speaker 3: missing the opportunity when you don't ask guys like that question.
Speaker 4: You know, Javona in your pregame opportunity, your pregame kind
Speaker 4: of routine that you were going through your work with
Speaker 4: the defensive line coach and you were working on specific
Speaker 4: moves and specific get offs at the on the line
Speaker 4: of scrimmage, and to me, I was kind of impressed
Speaker 4: with you because to me, you never hit a rookie wall.
Speaker 4: Am I true in that statement? Was it the assert
Speaker 4: Was it the montest sweat coming aboard and giving you
Speaker 4: a little bit of a spark? Or did you feel
Speaker 4: fresh the whole year, because it's it's tough going from
Speaker 4: that senior year where you play twelve games maybe to
Speaker 4: go to a seventeen game season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was a little bit of both.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you could say montees, but also I think
Speaker 3: for me it was I wasn't not a place. I
Speaker 3: think when guys hit rookie walls or even when guys
Speaker 3: hit a place to where they're comfortable, and I wasn't
Speaker 3: comfortable how I was playing. I wasn't comfortable. I'm still
Speaker 3: not comfortable in where I'm at and in my role
Speaker 3: as a NFL player. So I think guys hit a
Speaker 3: rookie wall when they're comfortable and they're safe, and they
Speaker 3: think they're safe in their spot. But I'm not even
Speaker 3: close to what I want to be as a football players.
Speaker 3: So that's why I still had goals that I wanted
Speaker 3: to check off and still do.
Speaker 2: So you know, you and.
Speaker 4: Zach are two different positions, two different body type. Zach
Speaker 4: pickings I'm saying a rookie. Also, can you guys talk
Speaker 4: about defensive line play or are there different so many,
Speaker 4: so many differences within your position and your style style
Speaker 4: play that you know you maybe just talk to each
Speaker 4: other about the game.
Speaker 3: No, No, we definitely talk it and Zach as well
Speaker 3: as me as two players that can play both positions,
Speaker 3: so we both talk about Okay, if you're here, this
Speaker 3: is what you do or this is what you have
Speaker 3: or try this or try that.
Speaker 2: So we definitely talk about the game.
Speaker 1: What's your weight? I'm thrill six, right, real six, So
Speaker 1: listened at three twelve, so you slimmed up a little bit,
Speaker 1: but you turned a lot of that into muscle.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: So I have a nickname. My daughters gave it to me.
Speaker 1: I'm Snackshack. Okay, so you know, late night, they actually
Speaker 1: put an alarm on my cupboard, so they caught me
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, you know, eating snacks,
Speaker 1: and so we all love to have a little snack
Speaker 1: and we don't think it's gonna make a big difference
Speaker 1: until you're getting paid a lot of money to make
Speaker 1: sure it doesn't make a difference. Has it been hard
Speaker 1: to say?
Speaker 3: No, I think the first week, ten twelve days, I
Speaker 3: think it was hard for me, honestly, I think. But
Speaker 3: I think once you get a routine and you feel
Speaker 3: like you see you're getting closer to a goal and
Speaker 3: you're getting close to that weight that you want to
Speaker 3: be coming into the until training camp, it motivates you like,
Speaker 3: oh man, I'm close, I'm getting close. I'm getting closer.
Speaker 3: Then after a while it becomes a routine and it's.
Speaker 2: All the way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the thing eating clean, even if you're not
Speaker 1: a professional athlete, just somebody, which I'm trying to do
Speaker 1: as I age here.
Speaker 4: But once you.
Speaker 1: See some benefits, you slim up the pantska go on
Speaker 1: a little better, and your workouts you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I can't believe I just did that. It does it totally.
Speaker 1: Then you look at food is just fuel, right, and
Speaker 1: I would imagine that's part of this is exactly yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: One last thing I got to ask him because he
Speaker 1: was talking about you know, he was running with the
Speaker 1: d NS Tommy in the conditioning drill and at the
Speaker 1: front of the line, I think that's a little bit
Speaker 1: of a competitive juice going as well. Right, But there's
Speaker 1: a guy here and Tommy remembers Tony member of Tony Paris,
Speaker 1: the safety. He was a bulked up, muscled up safety,
Speaker 1: hit like a son of a gun. And one time
Speaker 1: I ran in him and he goes man, you slimmed up.
Speaker 1: While I was training for a marathon, he goes man,
Speaker 1: he goes I could not run more than a mile.
Speaker 1: My body would lock up. Because you guys are doing
Speaker 1: it for bursts of energy and bursts in a real
Speaker 1: small period of time. Right, How of your workouts? What
Speaker 1: did you do in this offseason for what you said?
Speaker 1: You know, you want to be as good as you
Speaker 1: are on first down as you would be on third
Speaker 1: down and first quarter to fourth quarter, because this is like.
Speaker 3: Bursts, right, And so so I split those things up
Speaker 3: because yeah, you get you can go out there and
Speaker 3: try to run marathon, but it won't benefit you for
Speaker 3: a defensive tackle. So what I did was I took
Speaker 3: some of those things. I took how does a marathon
Speaker 3: trainer actually train? And how what that benefit me?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: That was doing that was for one that was eating right,
Speaker 3: and that was the biggest thing I learned that eighty
Speaker 3: percent of it was eating the right way and how
Speaker 3: do you eat and how do you hydrate yourself the
Speaker 3: right way. The rest was I did a workout that's
Speaker 3: called the strong Man. It's called a strong Man workout.
Speaker 3: It's equals to their tire flips. You do three or
Speaker 3: four tire flips. You got six seconds to flip it.
Speaker 3: So you're burning, you're burning fat, you're burning calories, but
Speaker 3: you're also getting stronger at the same time, and that's
Speaker 3: equal to me.
Speaker 2: So for example, the tire flip or.
Speaker 3: The you're picking up one hundred and fifty pounds medball
Speaker 3: and you're walking for six seconds, that's all equal to
Speaker 3: when you're board rushing in the fourth course and your
Speaker 3: laser are getting dead. Well, now, when you do those
Speaker 3: type of workouts, you can you can go.
Speaker 2: A little longer. You're not getting dead.
Speaker 3: And so all of those little workouts running the track,
Speaker 3: running a mile and a half, running a hill, running heels,
Speaker 3: sprint training, honeyard training, so all of those little things
Speaker 3: that I did is off season, equals to.
Speaker 4: One Gabon last question for me, I've been around the
Speaker 4: NFL now for forty years. But I've never been around
Speaker 4: hard knocks. Are you aware of it? Do you kind
Speaker 4: of limit your conversation and were you a fan of it?
Speaker 4: I've been a fan of it before. Have you been
Speaker 4: a fan of it from a young guy growing up?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was a fan of hard knocks. I'm they
Speaker 3: do a good job at not causing it to be
Speaker 3: a distraction.
Speaker 2: They definitely do a good job at that.
Speaker 3: But now I've definitely sometimes watched what I say, but
Speaker 3: it is not like I said. They do a good
Speaker 3: job at kind of staying out the way and just
Speaker 3: doing their job, and we're not. We're still working the
Speaker 3: same way. We're not at this or that for the
Speaker 3: TV or nothing like that.
Speaker 4: So it's the same throughout my whole career. I wish
Speaker 4: it one time I was miked up for one game
Speaker 4: because I would like to listen back to that as
Speaker 4: an older guy, when I was a young guy. Have
Speaker 4: you ever been miked up yet?
Speaker 2: Not? Not here for the Bears, but I have been
Speaker 2: miked up in college.
Speaker 1: You gotta do it one time. It's for your kids,
Speaker 1: do it one gay, do.
Speaker 4: It save it for save it for yourself and your
Speaker 4: family other people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, all right, lastly, and we'll let you go
Speaker 1: to Marcus Walker. He's a Florida State guy. You're a
Speaker 1: Florida guy. Uh, he grew up in Florida. You know
Speaker 1: what's that like? On the field? Does he give you
Speaker 1: some business? Because he's given the offensive business all the time.
Speaker 1: That guy's crazy. I love him.
Speaker 3: I love the Marcus. I don't love his decisions that
Speaker 3: he made to go to Florida State. I think you
Speaker 3: get a terrible decision.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and congratulations it's not getting married.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: How cool is that? Any any any teammates go to
Speaker 1: the wedding.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Zach Pickens came to the wedding. It was a
Speaker 3: great feeling, man, unbelievable feeling. I have a lovely family,
Speaker 3: a lovely wife, a little boy, a little two year
Speaker 3: old n Junior. Yeah, it was great, man, awesome, Thank
Speaker 3: you very much. Appreciate it. Have a great year.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: It's a very important position on the Chicago Bears. Here
Speaker 1: we can talk about Kayleb Williams and the offense. How
Speaker 1: we want three technique defensive tackle. That's big stuff.
Speaker 4: So appreciate the fourth most important on the roster. I
Speaker 4: didn't want to say anything about that I'm putting a
Speaker 4: little pressure on you.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, Yes.
Speaker 1: Sir, appreciate good luck, all right. I always love to
Speaker 1: get your takeaways. Uh, would you agree?
Speaker 2: Though?
Speaker 1: He's a totally different cat right now personality wise, confidence,
Speaker 1: and he's big as a mountain.
Speaker 4: Yes, you know. We talked about it the other day
Speaker 4: when we had Tony Medline on what is Tony Medlin saying?
Speaker 4: You only one year? And that's what Jervon did as
Speaker 4: a rookie. In what I'm oppressed about Gervana is he
Speaker 4: got better throughout his rookie campaign, which is really difficult
Speaker 4: because there's a lot of rookies that hit a rookie
Speaker 4: wall and then they're almost sleep walking through the remainder
Speaker 4: of the season. He never did that. And I think
Speaker 4: that the influence and the production increase when Montes got
Speaker 4: here because he finally had a senior leader on this
Speaker 4: position and in this locker room. That really helped him
Speaker 4: fight through the latter part of his rookie career. But
Speaker 4: now when you look at him coming into a second year,
Speaker 4: you know what was important because you can see the
Speaker 4: change in his body, you can talk to him and
Speaker 4: hear his attitude and then you understand what his assets
Speaker 4: are and how he's going to use him.
Speaker 1: Over four hundred and thirty snaps on defense last season
Speaker 1: and seventy one on special team, so over five hundred,
Speaker 1: did not miss a game, seventeen games and started one.
Speaker 1: He will be the starter at three technique here in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, and I can't be more excited about
Speaker 1: a player again. He put on a bunch of body armored,
Speaker 1: lost body fat. He got married. He knows. I mean,
Speaker 1: all you gotta do is look around the NFL this
Speaker 1: year and Justin Medabikue and his big contract and what's
Speaker 1: ahead here in a couple of years for a guy
Speaker 1: if he can elevate himself because there is never enough
Speaker 1: big guys up front on the offense or defensive line.
Speaker 1: So this is when you have to instantly. But you
Speaker 1: got to become a pro. And he's becoming a pro.
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know.
Speaker 4: The thing about it is when you get a when
Speaker 4: you're a second round draft choice in the NFL, all
Speaker 4: draft choices have a lot of pressure on them to
Speaker 4: perform and be a performer. When you're a first or
Speaker 4: second rounder, there's almost, you know, there's almost the feeling
Speaker 4: that you're going to be a contributor almost immediately, and
Speaker 4: Jervan was. But then when you go into that second year,
Speaker 4: the whole the whole conversation is growth and potential. You know,
Speaker 4: what is he doing to make himself a better player
Speaker 4: from his rookie year? And I think that Gervana has
Speaker 4: done so much. That's evident when you look at him
Speaker 4: going into a second year. When he does get into
Speaker 4: full pads and he starts playing against different opponents in
Speaker 4: the preseason games, that's when we're going to see the
Speaker 4: best out of Jervan. But I hope it continues to
Speaker 4: increase throughout the whole season and we get to see
Speaker 4: him use that six to six frame like an interior
Speaker 4: defensive lineman that I would be intimidated by playing against
Speaker 4: that length of an inside guy.
Speaker 1: All right, well here's what I'm looking for. Yes, I
Speaker 1: want to get some you know, I love him via
Speaker 1: just an a hillacious, packet pocket collapser and but you know,
Speaker 1: getting those hands up in the air at his size
Speaker 1: and his eighty one inch wingspan on top of it.
Speaker 1: So I just looked this up. Kevin Williams, remember the
Speaker 1: Williams Wall with Pat Kevin Williams. Kevin Williams again a
Speaker 1: big defensive tackle. Lengthwise, seventy three batted balls in his career.
Speaker 1: That's number one. And I don't know what the time ranges,
Speaker 1: but here here are some of the guys. JJ Watt,
Speaker 1: of course, was widely known for this. He batted balls down,
Speaker 1: he got his hands up. He had seventy. Carlos Dunlap,
Speaker 1: the former Cincinnati Bengal seventy, Julius Peppers the Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer sixty eight, Jason Taylor sixty four, cam Jordan sixty one,
Speaker 1: Klais Campbell fifty eight, Jared Allen, a former Bear at
Speaker 1: fifty eight. You get my drift here. That size leads
Speaker 1: to batted balls, which leads to potential interceptions even at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage at the linebacker level or tipped
Speaker 1: down the field into this secondary.
Speaker 4: Okay, So it's kind of funny you bring those type
Speaker 4: of numbers for a career up because my brother and
Speaker 4: I were talking about Javon Dexter and the numbers I
Speaker 4: was expecting out of them this year. What do you got?
Speaker 2: So?
Speaker 4: I want I want eight batted balls, which is not
Speaker 4: a lot I want. I want I want six sacks
Speaker 4: out of him and want not I want eight for loss.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, I'm not looking I'm not.
Speaker 4: Looking for numbers that I expect out of him in
Speaker 4: his third, fourth and fifth year. But if you give
Speaker 4: me those types of batted balls and you say you
Speaker 4: get four of them to convert to interceptions, say you
Speaker 4: get tackles for loss, that makes the down and distance
Speaker 4: insurmountable to get a first down. And say you get
Speaker 4: five sacks on whatever down you want to get him on,
Speaker 4: because you know that the analytics of getting a first
Speaker 4: down after you give up a sack, it goes down considerably.
Speaker 4: So I'm not asking for unrealistic numbers. But that's what
Speaker 4: I'm looking for out of Javan.
Speaker 1: Here's what he's looking for. He's got it on his phone.
Speaker 1: It's a screensaver. Eight plus sacks this year, fifteen tackles
Speaker 1: for loss, Pro Bowl, All Pro. That's just individual and
Speaker 1: so he's thinking big. Last year, he really came on
Speaker 1: strong at the end of the year. Obviously, he was
Speaker 1: hitting the quarterback nine times in the last eight games.
Speaker 1: Tom so he had twelve. It's on the quarterback for
Speaker 1: the year, two and a half. Two bad of balls.
Speaker 1: So yes, that leverage that he has got to play
Speaker 1: with and keeping his pads down in the run game
Speaker 1: and then in the past game. You know, if you rush,
Speaker 1: if you've lost your rush, get the hands up when
Speaker 1: the ball's coming out. Let's let's get some let's get
Speaker 1: some tip balls, Tommy.
Speaker 4: Okay, Jeff. So you think of Kalais Campbell, you think
Speaker 4: of Buckner, and you think of Eric Armstead. You talk
Speaker 4: about three defensive tackles that have really good length. You
Speaker 4: look at where they are at in their career and
Speaker 4: they're all going to get Hall of Fame consideration, and
Speaker 4: a lot of what they do from the inside and
Speaker 4: what it means to the overall scheme of their defense
Speaker 4: is they're using their length as much as any of
Speaker 4: the other assets they have.
Speaker 1: I got a question for you, what surprises you more?
Speaker 1: Twelfth all time on this list. It's provided by step
Speaker 1: Muse Alex Brown forty two? But what's more surprising the
Speaker 1: forty two or his five career interceptions planned edge.
Speaker 4: The interceptions, they don't surprise me because it's just good
Speaker 4: readability on when the bubble screens and screens come into vogue,
Speaker 4: and Richard Dent was really good. I think Richard Dent
Speaker 4: might have had three interceptions in his career, but the
Speaker 4: defensive end interception doesn't surprise me anymore because these guys
Speaker 4: are working so hard upfield that if a quarterback doesn't
Speaker 4: expect them to already be penetrating by four or five yards,
Speaker 4: sometimes they throw it right to them. But I don't
Speaker 4: know if any of those were tip balls.
Speaker 1: For Alex Pepper's had nine interceptions in his career. Wow,
Speaker 1: just a unique athlete. Richard Dent eight.
Speaker 4: Eight interceptions, correct interception. I'm under selling the big man. Yes,
Speaker 4: sorry about that. Oh my gosh, this is good conversation.
Speaker 4: We're brought to you by P and C, official bank
Speaker 4: of the Bears. And when it's time to tackle some
Speaker 4: game day deals, then go with a grocery who's been
Speaker 4: a part of Chicago since eighteen ninety nine, jewel Osco, the.
Speaker 1: Official grocery store of the Chicago Bears. So when we
Speaker 1: talk about pads coming on, you know, tempers are going
Speaker 1: to flare, the conversation. The ear hustling is gonna ramp
Speaker 1: up considerably because we got a lowed secondary and we
Speaker 1: got some really patient but competitive veteran receivers like a
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen and a DJ Moore and Nicole Kamet and
Speaker 1: Gerald Everett in the tight end position. This is gonna
Speaker 1: be a fiery training camp when the pads come on,
Speaker 1: because already the offense says, it's been pointed out that, yeah,
Speaker 1: you guys have been taking a lot of verbal instigation
Speaker 1: from the defense. It's only going to heighten when the
Speaker 1: pads come on, and it's only going to sharpen this
Speaker 1: football team considerably. I can't wait to watch it. Obviously,
Speaker 1: when you get one on one's offense defensive line, we
Speaker 1: love that, but this is this is a high. If
Speaker 1: that's one, this is one A I can't wait to
Speaker 1: watch it.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, the thing about it is is we're
Speaker 4: going to be privy to that those types of conversations
Speaker 4: because you kind of hear them from the sidelines on
Speaker 4: the practice field. The information in the argument that we're
Speaker 4: not going to be privy to is in the meeting
Speaker 4: room because, Jeff, when you put on full pads, the
Speaker 4: meetings take a whole other level of seriousness because you're
Speaker 4: talking about real football. You're not talking about a defensive
Speaker 4: back coming. Oh man, I would hit you in the
Speaker 4: open field. You know, you don't know that, but now
Speaker 4: all these portions of whatever your job requirement is is
Speaker 4: going to be real because you're going to have pads on,
Speaker 4: and now the coaches they have to be more critical
Speaker 4: of you. That's when you have to get thicker skin
Speaker 4: in the meeting rooms, and that's when you can't take
Speaker 4: offense if the coach is trying to coach you, because
Speaker 4: pads are for real on the practice field that the
Speaker 4: fans and we'll be able to hear, we'll be able
Speaker 4: to see it in hard knocks for gosh sakes. Yeah,
Speaker 4: but inside those meeting rooms, that's more real than any
Speaker 4: part of football that we don't get a chance to see.
Speaker 1: What else is on your list of can't wait to
Speaker 1: see type things anybody in particular, or a group against
Speaker 1: a group, or obviously just the continuing development and progress,
Speaker 1: the incremental improvements that Caleb Williams will take and make.
Speaker 4: You know, two things are first of all, a year smarter,
Speaker 4: a year wiser, a year more intelligent, and more difficult
Speaker 4: to practice against Tremaine Edmunds and t J Edwards because
Speaker 4: last year when we came to training camp, Tremaine Edmunds
Speaker 4: was out a little bit, and these guys were just
Speaker 4: being introduced to a new system, and I think the
Speaker 4: first couple of games of the regular season, they really
Speaker 4: weren't what they ultimately became. So to put those guys
Speaker 4: out in the field every day, I e. Singletary Otis
Speaker 4: and Wilbur it was a complete nightmare. So now when
Speaker 4: you add those guys in Sanborn and the rest of
Speaker 4: the crew, I think watching that linebacker position and the
Speaker 4: influence between the back end of the defense and how
Speaker 4: they interact with the defensive line. And then to me
Speaker 4: is the competitiveness of the running back position. I know
Speaker 4: DeAndre Swift has brought a board to be three down
Speaker 4: running back, but when you lose the legs of justin fields,
Speaker 4: you got to have the legs of the running back position.
Speaker 4: So how are they gonna be included? Is there gonna
Speaker 4: still be that role of importance in terms of the
Speaker 4: analytics and the percentages of the running game and the
Speaker 4: way it's called. Are we going to have more screens
Speaker 4: and play action involved in the offense? And then how
Speaker 4: is the running game gonna really factor in to help
Speaker 4: Caleb and I think when you look at two really
Speaker 4: important portions of the overall team success. Running back and
Speaker 4: linebacker are two of the key ingredients that holds everything together.
Speaker 4: You've got to have a performance of an offense whether
Speaker 4: you got one of these guys in an important blocking role,
Speaker 4: are they gonna catch a screen or if there's a
Speaker 4: designation run to them? And then on the other side
Speaker 4: of the ball, how does our linebacker position factor in
Speaker 4: and make the overall scheme of the defense better, faster
Speaker 4: and stronger.
Speaker 1: Well, we're learning that Kevin Byrd is a heck of
Speaker 1: a communicator back there does not shock me at all.
Speaker 1: Classy guy, classy veteran ballhawk, twenty eight career interceptions. And
Speaker 1: did you hear coach Fluse saying that John Hook is
Speaker 1: the best corner coach in the NFL.
Speaker 4: To bring that up, I meant to bring that up yesterday,
Speaker 4: and I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 1: Can't agree with him more. I mean, just a wonderful coach, feisty,
Speaker 1: he's got his player's best interests. And you know, there's
Speaker 1: plenty of history lessons about guys that may not have
Speaker 1: liked him early in their career, and they are close
Speaker 1: friends to this day. Guys like Tim Jennings who took
Speaker 1: his share of verbal abuse at times from John Hoak
Speaker 1: to get him to play a certain way. Just he's
Speaker 1: got the player's best interest in mind, the team's best
Speaker 1: interest in mind, and just a fiery coach.
Speaker 4: Love that guy, Love me John Hoak. You know, here's
Speaker 4: a guy that probably didn't have the athleticism to play
Speaker 4: a position of such importance on a football team, and
Speaker 4: he went out there and had a career. And it's
Speaker 4: kind of funny. Hampton was telling me a story that
Speaker 4: when John Hoak was here the first Thanksgiving. Yeah, Dan
Speaker 4: Hampton had John Holk over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 4: And then you just think of the lineage here with
Speaker 4: the Chicago Bears. But what he's meant and how he's
Speaker 4: developed a position that's one of the most To me,
Speaker 4: it's the second most difficult position in football. And I'm
Speaker 4: glad that Fluse gave him such a high compliment from
Speaker 4: the podium the other day.
Speaker 1: And he didn't just say he said it with emphasis, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: exactly demonstrative. I know you're very intrigued. Obviously, the punter
Speaker 1: for the Bears is going to be the rookie out
Speaker 1: of Iowa, Tory Taylor but the left footed, cordless weightman.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll see him in the Hall of Fame game.
Speaker 1: I did some work on this guy. What an interesting guy.
Speaker 1: What a Belgian born left footed punter out of South Alba.
Speaker 1: Moved to the US at fifteen. His mom's family is
Speaker 1: from South Africa. Dad from Belgium who was a professional
Speaker 1: basketball player overseas, and the family moved to the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: So he did play his high school football here in
Speaker 1: the States. But he's a very good punter. He had
Speaker 1: a year with Denver in twenty two. He had the
Speaker 1: most punts in the NFL that year and he was
Speaker 1: number twelve I think, or ten in hang time. But
Speaker 1: that team struggled and he had ninety plus punts, so
Speaker 1: in the mile high air for the most part, with
Speaker 1: all those home games out there. But this guy can
Speaker 1: punt the football. And you've brought it up to me.
Speaker 1: And I liked that they have a left footed punter
Speaker 1: and a right footed punter in it. I didn't realize this,
Speaker 1: but since twenty oh seven or twenty oh Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: had a left footed punter, so he did the spin
Speaker 1: of the balls, different challenges, the bobbles, any hesitation could
Speaker 1: mean disaster in the punt return game.
Speaker 4: As you know, how far is the Netherlands away from
Speaker 4: Australia when you want to talk about the distance of
Speaker 4: the same position player that are so far apart in
Speaker 4: where they are raised and how they are raised. It's
Speaker 4: incredible that it's the two punters this year of the
Speaker 4: Chicago Bears. But I do I think it's super beneficial
Speaker 4: to have a left footed punter in camp to get
Speaker 4: these guys with fifty or sixty.
Speaker 1: Reps fourteen seven and eighty four kilometers Tommy amazing.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just amazing when you think about where
Speaker 4: the NFL is going in terms of worldwide recognition and
Speaker 4: talent and talent coming aboard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good to see, that's for sure, because more
Speaker 1: and more international influence on the agenda. Indeed, Miller Lite
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Speaker 1: Back to the practice field on Thursday and Friday for
Speaker 1: the Bears. Tommy and the Pats come out on Friday,
Speaker 1: fans will be out. They'll be enjoying that view for sure.
Speaker 1: If you haven't been there yet, I think there've been
Speaker 1: one fan practice. It looks fantastic. They did a great job.
Speaker 1: The seating areas now have a canopy to protect you
Speaker 1: from the heat of the day, and the practices are
Speaker 1: going to be better than two hours two and a
Speaker 1: half hours. But when the Pats come on, so it'll
Speaker 1: be a long day out there in the morning. Come
Speaker 1: on out. If you haven't already purchased your ticket or
Speaker 1: bought your ticket that gets you into the facility. It's
Speaker 1: a tremendous setup. The Bears staff has been working diligently
Speaker 1: here the last few years, but they have been preparing
Speaker 1: this for many, many weeks in advance of this. The
Speaker 1: fields look great. It really looks beautiful and a great
Speaker 1: view for HBO's hard knocks to take it all in.
Speaker 4: Before we go. So I started watching the rugby seven
Speaker 4: manter rugby on the Olympics today and when I think
Speaker 4: of kickoff and kickoff return. And I look at some
Speaker 4: of this New Zealand team or the USA is playing
Speaker 4: the Fijians today, you're scouting. Listen, when we talk about
Speaker 4: players introduced from around the world that want to play
Speaker 4: a different sport or somehow how do they develop their ability,
Speaker 4: we may see some we may see some rugby players
Speaker 4: in the future coming from that sport to play on
Speaker 4: kickoff and kickoff return.
Speaker 1: Well, Kansas City signed Luis Reese, a European rugby star
Speaker 1: Luis Reese zemmet. He will likely be on the kickoff
Speaker 1: coverage during the preseason, so you can take an eyeball
Speaker 1: to it and Dave Tobe's crew over there.
Speaker 4: They tackle and block. So that's the thing about it is,
Speaker 4: I don't think they're just have only a singular skill set.
Speaker 4: I think that they have a portion of team skills.
Speaker 4: Punt punt return, kickoff, kickoff return.
Speaker 1: Tom with the spirit of the Olympics, Uh, what would
Speaker 1: what sport would you have wanted to try to be
Speaker 1: an Olympian?
Speaker 4: Oh, I mean it's either beach volleyball or wrestling.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was thinking I was thinking the wrestling part,
Speaker 1: but the beach volleyball makes complete sense. You might you
Speaker 1: might have been a terror out there those days at
Speaker 1: North Avenue Beach. I never got to an experience tract.
Speaker 4: I would have got distracted by the surfing from the
Speaker 4: beaches that they are. I probably wouldn't invest in the
Speaker 4: right of mind.
Speaker 1: When's the last time you played volleyball on the beach?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 4: Right before I got my first hip replacement?
Speaker 1: And you miss it? Do you miss it?
Speaker 4: I miss all activity? Of course.
Speaker 1: Visity heart Seltz your flavors for every vibe, Celebrate responsibly.
Speaker 1: Multen Cores Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tommy will see you
Speaker 1: in Lake Forest at training camp on Thursday and Friday.
Speaker 1: Don't be late and we will talk to you again
Speaker 1: coming up next week. By the way, our podcasts include
Speaker 1: a visit from former Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton, who
Speaker 1: was at practice the other day. One of Lovey Smith's
Speaker 1: guys and that era of Bears living in the city.
Speaker 1: And the other one is one of note Devin Hester,
Speaker 1: the Hall of Famer, will join us. That will drop
Speaker 1: next Thursday, the morning of the game against the Houston
Speaker 1: Texans in Ken So. We had a great conversation with Devin.
Speaker 4: What a thrill. It's been to talk to the ex
Speaker 4: BET players, even Chase Daniel and stuff, because we don't
Speaker 4: get a chance to talk to them a lot other
Speaker 4: than about football stuff while their career is going on,
Speaker 4: and get a chance to talk to them for at
Speaker 4: least a half hour or throughout the podcast. It's it's been.
Speaker 4: I've loved every minute of it just because there is
Speaker 4: no you know, there, there's no separation. We're just all
Speaker 4: you know, former football players talking about life.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of perspective that we hear and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: nobody's rushing to get to a team meeting and you
Speaker 1: only have ten minutes with them, and they're not they're
Speaker 1: not completely locked in, all right, Tom, thank you, Thank
Speaker 1: you to Gervon Dexter, Sr. And for Tom there, I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniha. Thanks for listening. Everyone. Please subscribe now the
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Speaker 1: get your podcasts and do that. Subscription helps us out,
Speaker 1: appreciate it and bear down everybody