Speaker 1: Cut open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown Bears.
Speaker 2: I am Jeff jonihack.
Speaker 3: Blitz is not Donnie got what was like playing for
Speaker 3: Coche Good.
Speaker 1: I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
Speaker 1: coming is a big trouble. Dommi gos Mottest Sweat.
Speaker 4: Bears et Cetera brought to you by Miller Light with
Speaker 4: the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: We welcome the new head coach of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson, in this episode one of the Bears et
Speaker 1: Cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer.
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff Joniak.
Speaker 1: This episode of Bears et Cetera is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Miller LIGHTE good to have you alongside. I've been
Speaker 1: writing a little notes, little nuggets Tom, over the course.
Speaker 5: Of the day.
Speaker 1: I have so many little pieces of paper and scribbles
Speaker 1: because I'm running out of room to kind of characterize
Speaker 1: what we have here in Chicago now with thirty eight
Speaker 1: year old Ben Johnson, introduced as the eighteenth full time
Speaker 1: head coach in Bear's history nineteenth overall, and you consider
Speaker 1: interim boss Thomas Brown last season, but color me fascinated,
Speaker 1: color me intrigue, color me excited and hopeful.
Speaker 4: How about you, Well, you're a guy that's full of scribbles,
Speaker 4: and that's no difference in any other day of your life,
Speaker 4: whether it's because of a new head coach or just
Speaker 4: preparation for a game. When I look at a situation
Speaker 4: like this, Jeff, I got to look at it in
Speaker 4: a lot of different ways. I have to look at
Speaker 4: it as a Bears fan. I have to look at
Speaker 4: it as an ex player when you're all of a suddenly
Speaker 4: starting to going to try to impress a new head coach.
Speaker 4: And then you have to look at it as an
Speaker 4: alumni and a broadcaster. And so I am super excited
Speaker 4: about what I saw at the conclusion of him addressing
Speaker 4: the podium because he didn't say anything unrealistic. He didn't
Speaker 4: fill our heads full of false hope. He filled our
Speaker 4: heads worth a realistic work that's ahead of him in
Speaker 4: order to continue this process of what the organization wants
Speaker 4: to see out of him, and that's a consistent winner,
Speaker 4: and I think that's what we all want to see
Speaker 4: out of them. But when I look at the hiring
Speaker 4: of a new head coach through the eyes of a player.
Speaker 5: You're better be on high alert.
Speaker 4: Man, because I knew you were going to say that,
Speaker 4: even though your slate is wipe clean, you better understand
Speaker 4: that you're probably getting ready to go into one of
Speaker 4: the most difficult training camps that you've ever been through,
Speaker 4: because that's the initial process of most head coaches that
Speaker 4: are hired in professional football in college football. And I've
Speaker 4: been a part of changes on both levels. So I
Speaker 4: really enjoyed what Ben said at the podium, and I'm
Speaker 4: really excited to see this journey get underway.
Speaker 1: And we will hear some of my one on one
Speaker 1: interview with Ben Jonson before the news conference that took
Speaker 1: place at HALISAW. It was wonderful conversation, wonderful meeting. But
Speaker 1: the one thing that you'll hear is our goal is
Speaker 1: to win and win now. There was no shying away, No, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is going to take some time. We know what's
Speaker 1: up though. We know it's a process, no question about it.
Speaker 1: But he is not shying away from it. And I
Speaker 1: think that's his personality. Tom this guy. He sets high
Speaker 1: standards for himself and he's certainly going to set high
Speaker 1: standards for his team.
Speaker 4: Well, that was one of the most encouraging things to
Speaker 4: me that he said, because you know, Jeff, when you
Speaker 4: go back and you look at the season and you
Speaker 4: look at the reality of the division, the Bears were
Speaker 4: as close to winning the division as they were into
Speaker 4: at the end of the division. And so when you
Speaker 4: look at this process and the development and what quarterback
Speaker 4: that's going into a second year, and some of the
Speaker 4: assets he talked about already being put in place in place,
Speaker 4: and what Ryan's going to put in place, it is
Speaker 4: realistic for him to stand up there and say, look,
Speaker 4: we're here to win, and we're here to win now.
Speaker 4: And I think that should be the most encouraging thing
Speaker 4: to everybody that is part of the Bear pandemonium, because
Speaker 4: you know, it is fun to listen to him stand
Speaker 4: up there and talk about winning with confidence.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought up the ex player in you,
Speaker 1: the eighty five Bear, the Super Bowl winner, and just
Speaker 1: the types of coaches that have surrounded your life from
Speaker 1: the time you played youth football to the time you
Speaker 1: finished your career in Miami with Don Shula, and You're
Speaker 1: not gonna be able to look at it any other
Speaker 1: way from through a player's eyes and what expectations are.
Speaker 1: If you were sitting in that meeting room, or were
Speaker 1: you sitting in that press conference room with guys like
Speaker 1: Roma Dunze, DJ Moore, Caleb Williams and Cole Komett. He
Speaker 1: was looking right at them when he spoke to them.
Speaker 1: As a player, you can appreciate that better than anybody.
Speaker 1: So if you were that player at the age of
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty eight, seven, twenty eight,
Speaker 1: whatever these guys are are right now, they're in that
Speaker 1: realm right there, would you be having an adrenaline rush
Speaker 1: of like, Okay, I get it, let's go listen.
Speaker 4: If I was a player that was able to touch
Speaker 4: the football, if I was one of those special guys,
Speaker 4: a receiver, a tight end, a running back, a quarterback,
Speaker 4: and then see that body of work that Ben has
Speaker 4: already put on display around the division, around the league,
Speaker 4: I would be trying to draw plays in my head.
Speaker 5: Going, I wonder if Ben would even consider this.
Speaker 4: I wonder if you think about this, because they're just
Speaker 4: coming off of a game this past week, what it
Speaker 4: four or five days ago, and you have the broadcasters say,
Speaker 4: oh my god, I've never seen that play in the
Speaker 4: history of my career, and that was the pitch to
Speaker 4: David Montgomery and the shovel pass forward. I've never seen
Speaker 4: it either. I've been around some of the most creative
Speaker 4: minds in offensive football for almost forty years as a
Speaker 4: player and a broadcaster, and I've never seen it. So
Speaker 4: if I'm one of those guys Jeff, that I know
Speaker 4: that I have the opportunity to touch the football, I
Speaker 4: would be out of my mind. I would have a
Speaker 4: hard time sleeping tonight, and I have a hard I
Speaker 4: would have a hard time not being in the building tomorrow.
Speaker 4: So I can make eye contact with Ben Johnson and
Speaker 4: just let him know how excited I am to be
Speaker 4: a part of it. But then you think about the
Speaker 4: process of success and you talk about what they have
Speaker 4: to do on the offense and defensive line. That's a
Speaker 4: that's a really important part of the future of the
Speaker 4: success of the Bears. But you can ignore the creativity
Speaker 4: that this guy has already shown us, especially in the
Speaker 4: division for a few years.
Speaker 1: When he walked into the auditorium to visit with me
Speaker 1: for the different Bears platforms, and you will hear the interview,
Speaker 1: but not this part. But he goes first thing, he said,
Speaker 1: how'd you call stumblebum? And I said, you got me?
Speaker 1: I just thought I just thought it was a guy
Speaker 1: stumbling around. I go, yeah, you got me good, and
Speaker 1: he just started laughing. I appreciated that that was. That
Speaker 1: was a funny little entree to meeting Ben Johnson. The
Speaker 1: other thing is that this is not from any particular tree.
Speaker 1: This is a collaboration of different influences in his career.
Speaker 1: If you read the backgrounds and the stories, Adam Johns
Speaker 1: of the Athletic did one, Dan Pompeii did one while
Speaker 1: back prior to him became a coaching candidate for the
Speaker 1: Bears while he was with Detroit. It's it's Eric Corial,
Speaker 1: It's West Coast offense, its influences of of of many,
Speaker 1: Mike Martz, it's it's Adam Gase, It's I mean, there's
Speaker 1: a long list. He's been exposed to a lot of
Speaker 1: different things. Tommy, is that an encouraging component for you.
Speaker 1: It's not from a particular tree. This is going to
Speaker 1: be and he made it clear this is gonna be
Speaker 1: the Bears offense. It's gonna be it's gonna be Caleb's offense.
Speaker 4: Right, And that was again, another super encouraging thing that
Speaker 4: I heard from him out of the podium, because I
Speaker 4: don't want a manual from another offensive coordinator in your
Speaker 4: pass and saying, Okay, we're gonna insert this during this
Speaker 4: type of defense. We are going to put this in
Speaker 4: during this type of defensive front. And I think that's
Speaker 4: the creativity that Ben Johnson has shown all of us.
Speaker 4: And again we had we got to see him twice
Speaker 4: a year since he's been around Detroit, so it's not
Speaker 4: you know what, this is not something that we're not
Speaker 4: familiar with. And a lot of the different plays, whether
Speaker 4: he's throwing a pass to an offensive tackle, the different
Speaker 4: formations that he has on the goal line, and all
Speaker 4: the other things that he used at the perfect time
Speaker 4: to use the play that nobody suspected or seen before.
Speaker 4: Now you've got Jared Goff taking center quarterback exchange acting
Speaker 4: like he stumbled. Also, I could buy time for the
Speaker 4: receiver to get done and let the defenders drop their guard.
Speaker 4: I can't wait to see the creation of that mind
Speaker 4: with a quarterback like Caleb and the other assets that
Speaker 4: they have aboard from Cole to Rome to DJ in
Speaker 4: every one of the off their offensive weapons.
Speaker 1: And one of the big things too, I think is
Speaker 1: a strong takeaway here is and George McCaskey said it.
Speaker 1: He met the media a conversation with George as well
Speaker 1: when the zoom interview started, because he didn't come here
Speaker 1: to Hallas Hall until afterwards the zoom. He says, I
Speaker 1: want this job. When the Zoom ended, he reminded them,
Speaker 1: did I tell you I want this job? And you
Speaker 1: know that excitement for something you know? And I think
Speaker 1: back to when you wrapped up your career. You dabbled
Speaker 1: in some television, you dabbled in some radio, and the
Speaker 1: opportunity to become the analyst for the Bears and the
Speaker 1: Bears Radio Network, you made it clear you want this job.
Speaker 1: That passion was exuding from you. You don't want to
Speaker 1: have any doubt from the person you're interviewing about whether
Speaker 1: they're just going through the process or they're just using
Speaker 1: you for another opportunity elsewhere to create a market. He
Speaker 1: didn't want to market. He wanted to be a Bear.
Speaker 4: I love that, and like he said, he wanted to
Speaker 4: stay within the division. And I think that's really important
Speaker 4: because there's some there's incremental issues that you already know
Speaker 4: about the division. And I think when you're a guy
Speaker 4: that's saying, Okay, I'm going to go from Detroit to Chicago,
Speaker 4: they have some centerpieces already in place. Now what can
Speaker 4: I do to put my own stamp on this team?
Speaker 4: And he did not ignore the fact that Dan Campbell
Speaker 4: was an important part of his coaching development over the
Speaker 4: last couple of years. But this is no longer about
Speaker 4: all the other coaches. This is about what Ben Johnson,
Speaker 4: the head coach of the Chicago Bears, is going to
Speaker 4: do moving forward. All the influences that he has in
Speaker 4: his football life because of the other people that he
Speaker 4: played with and was tutored by, that's all.
Speaker 5: You take all that into account.
Speaker 4: But when he walks into that building from now on
Speaker 4: and you're got that parking spot, you know exactly where
Speaker 4: to go in, you know where your office is, it's
Speaker 4: got to be an unbelievable feeling for a young man
Speaker 4: like that.
Speaker 1: Yells has a great respect for the Bears defense said
Speaker 1: it was challenging that that's what he talked.
Speaker 4: About, you know, whether you want to minimalize it down
Speaker 4: to the red zone or the entire field. And I
Speaker 4: like to hear him think that way. Because he knows,
Speaker 4: you know, part of the development of his coaching staff,
Speaker 4: what they already have out there, what they need to
Speaker 4: build upon. In the fact that what do I'm gonna
Speaker 4: do now when I see these guys every day in
Speaker 4: camp to try to keep them as difficult as they
Speaker 4: were for me, make it difficult on the opponent, but
Speaker 4: all ultimately how to get him better.
Speaker 1: He an new or gently used coat lad around. Head
Speaker 1: to your local jewel asco until February tenth and donate
Speaker 1: one of your new or gently used coachs to the
Speaker 1: thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears coat drive. Helped keep Chicagoans
Speaker 1: warm this winter. All right, so let's listen in to
Speaker 1: the new head coach of the Bears, the gentleman who
Speaker 1: helped a Detroit Lions team have two fabulous seasons. He's
Speaker 1: been there for three, and over those last two seasons,
Speaker 1: no unit in the league has average more points per
Speaker 1: game or yards per game each of the last three seasons.
Speaker 1: Coordinating that to trade offense, Johnson's crew had top five
Speaker 1: in total offense every season, including number two here in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four with a four thousand yard quarterback, and
Speaker 1: each season under Johnson. That would be Jared Goff. This
Speaker 1: is our interview with a new Bears head coach, Ben Johnson. So,
Speaker 1: welcome to the next chapter of your football life, and
Speaker 1: it happens to be with the charter franchise of the
Speaker 1: National Football League.
Speaker 3: How do you put that in the words?
Speaker 6: It's hard to express.
Speaker 7: This is such an iconic franchise with such a storied
Speaker 7: history that only when you're a little boy do you
Speaker 7: think of something like this, and so to see it
Speaker 7: to come to light just like it did, opportunity I
Speaker 7: could not turn down. I'm beyond excited. It Really don't
Speaker 7: have words to express the excitement and enthusiasm I have
Speaker 7: right now for this job.
Speaker 3: Your Mandit had many opportunities.
Speaker 7: Why Chicago, That is a great question.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you. I'll tell you this Number one.
Speaker 7: The place I spent a lot of time coming up
Speaker 7: during the summers to see Chicago Cubs games, and I
Speaker 7: fell in love with the city.
Speaker 6: I fell in love with the people up here. That's one.
Speaker 6: Number Two.
Speaker 7: I believe in the structure that we have in place,
Speaker 7: from George to Kevin to Ryan, there's gonna be complete
Speaker 7: alignment in everything that we're doing. I love the team
Speaker 7: that Ryan's already assembled, and we'll look to continue to build.
Speaker 7: And finally, I wanted to stay in this division. I
Speaker 7: wanted to be in this division. This is a good division.
Speaker 7: Three teams made the playoffs. I have a lot of
Speaker 7: respect for the talent and the coaches that are in
Speaker 7: this but anything worth doing and fulfilling, it's the hard
Speaker 7: thing to do.
Speaker 6: It's the hard way.
Speaker 7: And so I embraced this challenge of being in the
Speaker 7: NFC North and I can't wait to get started.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, Ryan, one of Bryan Poles's famous lines
Speaker 1: that I grab onto all the time. I live it.
Speaker 1: The hard rate is the right way. So you're a
Speaker 1: glutton for punishment. I guess it's going to be.
Speaker 3: A heck of a division.
Speaker 1: What about when you got here, the welcome committee, the
Speaker 1: entire building showed up. You come out with a lot
Speaker 1: of energy. Your family's with you, your three kids, your wife,
Speaker 1: your youngest daughter staring up. I was just enamored with that,
Speaker 1: she was. How did that make you feel?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'll be honest, I was not expecting that. I
Speaker 7: wasn't expecting this place, this facility, the people within it.
Speaker 6: There's an energy right now that I really can't put
Speaker 6: into words. So I know this.
Speaker 7: I know my family is so happy right now to
Speaker 7: see the potential of where we're going and the people
Speaker 7: we're going to be around.
Speaker 1: All Right, you're gonna get asked a lot about vision.
Speaker 3: What's your vision for this franchise?
Speaker 7: Well, I mean our goal, our goal is to win,
Speaker 7: and it's going to be to win now, and so
Speaker 7: that's going to be stressed early and off into our group.
Speaker 7: What we put on tape for this franchise is we
Speaker 7: want a physical team. We want a detail orient team
Speaker 7: that's great at situational football, and we want an explosive team.
Speaker 7: And that's gonna be on both sides of the football.
Speaker 7: Three phases to be honest with you, along with special teams.
Speaker 7: And really, when we're talking about setting the culture, which
Speaker 7: is going to be step number one here in the springtime,
Speaker 7: accountability and integrity are going to be the cornerstones of
Speaker 7: everything we're going to be about. We're going to have
Speaker 7: a team first mentality from starting to finish. Our players
Speaker 7: are going to understand the staff is going to be
Speaker 7: there to support them. There will be consistent communication and structure.
Speaker 6: And.
Speaker 7: Really, at the end of the day, there will be
Speaker 7: a level of discipline that they're looking to embrace here.
Speaker 1: Well, I can picture myself as one of the ninety
Speaker 1: players that will be here and this will be your
Speaker 1: first team meeting. That's right, You'll be standing in this room,
Speaker 1: the George muggs Haallis Auditorium. I'm similar. The message will
Speaker 1: likely be similar. But how power empowering is that when
Speaker 1: you get in front of a group of guys and say, hey,
Speaker 1: follow me, we're going to learn how to win.
Speaker 7: There's no question I think this is every player. Every
Speaker 7: player wants consistency and they want to be able to
Speaker 7: get better. And that is what I plan on doing
Speaker 7: and the staff that I bring in, that's what we're
Speaker 7: going to be tasked to do, is to get every
Speaker 7: player on this team to be the best versions of
Speaker 7: themselves and to elevate this team to winning football consistently.
Speaker 1: I know that the media always focuses on the head
Speaker 1: coach quarterback relationship, and that's one of the fifty three,
Speaker 1: but it's the most important position in all of sports.
Speaker 1: So the enticing aspect of working with a young quarterback
Speaker 1: with a bountiful amount of talent, how is that with
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think standing on the opposite sideline from him
Speaker 7: this year, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for
Speaker 7: not only the talent level that he possesses, but also
Speaker 7: the type of person he is leading that huddle. I
Speaker 7: know it was a rocky rookie year for him, and
Speaker 7: I'm excited to help grow and together this offense and
Speaker 7: the pieces. I want to be clear, it's not just
Speaker 7: Caleb I am. I am so fired up to work
Speaker 7: with him, but there are so many great pieces to
Speaker 7: the puzzle already in place. This defense gave me, gave
Speaker 7: me trouble the last two years. I stayed up at
Speaker 7: night trying to find ways. I think the red zone.
Speaker 7: We couldn't score touchdowns in the red zone. They got
Speaker 7: after us. And it seemed like almost every single time
Speaker 7: we played the Chicago Bears when I was in Detroit,
Speaker 7: that came that game went down to the wire.
Speaker 3: A few teams did. Yeah, you know, they were outstanding
Speaker 3: at it. So you mentioned other players, the skill they got.
Speaker 1: DJ Moore got from Dunsay, you got Cole Comet, you
Speaker 1: got DeAndre Swift.
Speaker 3: That's just a sample size.
Speaker 1: It is your offense, an offense that is adaptable to
Speaker 1: all sorts of kind of skill.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's not my offense. This is going to be
Speaker 7: really I like to fancy it the quarterbacks offense. We
Speaker 7: are going to tailor this right around Caleb Williams. It
Speaker 7: will not be necessarily, but you've seen from from me
Speaker 7: the last three years. It's gonna we're gonna find out
Speaker 7: exactly what our quarterback does well, and that's really what
Speaker 7: we're going to anchor on. And then the supporting pieces
Speaker 7: around him, we're gonna look to accentuate those as well.
Speaker 1: So the different looks the same and the same looks different.
Speaker 1: You know where you heard that one before? My old friend, Ye,
Speaker 1: John shop. We'll talk about John Shoop at another time.
Speaker 3: I love that guy. What does that all mean?
Speaker 7: What that means is we want we want to keep
Speaker 7: defenses on edge, all right, when you're on an offensive perspective.
Speaker 7: We don't want them to know exactly what's coming multiplicity
Speaker 7: formationally schematically to where uh, when they see one formation
Speaker 7: and they're expecting one play that they saw on tape.
Speaker 6: They get hit in a different direction.
Speaker 3: That sounds simple.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's simple.
Speaker 1: It sounds simple and the most complicated game I think
Speaker 1: when people break it down. If you are sitting in
Speaker 1: a team meeting or a room to break down one play.
Speaker 1: I've had coordinators tell me, yeah, I can sit in
Speaker 1: a room and break down one play for eight hours. Yeah,
Speaker 1: saying there's.
Speaker 3: No way, but yeah, that's the case.
Speaker 1: You've been described as creative, We know that, fearless, no nonsense.
Speaker 1: Are these some attributes and adjectives that you would agree with?
Speaker 6: Yeah? Yeah, Listen.
Speaker 7: I've every step of my journey, whether it was quality control, position, coach,
Speaker 7: offensive coordinator, I morphed into a world that would make
Speaker 7: me the best at that particular job, and every step
Speaker 7: along the way tight ends coach.
Speaker 6: Oh see, the last few years, it's whatever that job required.
Speaker 7: And so this new job is a completely different skill
Speaker 7: set and responsibility, and so I will find exactly what
Speaker 7: it takes to excel in this new role.
Speaker 1: How excited are you to work with Ryan Poles, his staff,
Speaker 1: Kevin Warren, mccaskey's everybody in the build.
Speaker 7: Listen, they blew me away on the interview. I spent
Speaker 7: time just alone with Ryan on that interview and then
Speaker 7: in a group setting with all of them, and it's
Speaker 7: clear their commitment to build a sustained winner here in Chicago.
Speaker 7: I think Ryan's done a phenomenal job already accumulating talent
Speaker 7: here in this building. And I can't be more excited
Speaker 7: about George and Kevin and the support that they're willing
Speaker 7: to give us and the resources they're willing to give
Speaker 7: us to get this thing going.
Speaker 3: The familiarity you touched on it within the division? Is
Speaker 3: that a positive?
Speaker 1: Because you faced everybody before for the last many years.
Speaker 7: There's no doubt, And once again I have tremendous amounts
Speaker 7: of respect for all the coaches and players already in
Speaker 7: this division. But really, as a competitor, I didn't want
Speaker 7: to leave.
Speaker 3: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: As a young kid growing up now I have this
Speaker 1: correct Asheville.
Speaker 3: North Carolina.
Speaker 6: That's right.
Speaker 3: Could you have imagined this day?
Speaker 6: No? Absolutely not, absolutely not.
Speaker 7: Like like I said, I grew up watching WGN Chicago
Speaker 7: Cubs with my little brother and to see that one
Speaker 7: day I would land in that city as the head
Speaker 7: coach of the Chicago Bears, it just gives me goosebumps.
Speaker 3: And it hasn't been without challenges.
Speaker 5: Correct, That's right.
Speaker 3: I think there was a time where you didn't you
Speaker 3: didn't know what you were going to be able.
Speaker 6: To do Oh yeah, right, yeah?
Speaker 1: Is that the adversity that you know everybody's got some
Speaker 1: YEA was at it.
Speaker 7: There's always hills and valleys every journey that you take.
Speaker 7: And yeah, when I got let go from Miami seven
Speaker 7: that was twenty eighteen, it took me a while to
Speaker 7: land back on my feet. I worked so hard to
Speaker 7: climb the ladder there in that organization. And then when
Speaker 7: something you love, which was the game of football, gets
Speaker 7: ripped away from you, it hurts, it leaves it leaves
Speaker 7: a hole in your soul.
Speaker 6: And I was I was so.
Speaker 7: Fired up just to get the opportunity to start over
Speaker 7: again and work hard, put my head down, and fortunately
Speaker 7: good things happened.
Speaker 3: All right, And the last question, what's your message to
Speaker 3: the fans.
Speaker 7: Message to the fans is we are completely committed to
Speaker 7: building a sustained winner here. We are going to have
Speaker 7: high standards, but we're also going to have high level
Speaker 7: of support for these players. The bar is gonna be
Speaker 7: every time they step into the building so high, because
Speaker 7: that's the only way we're gonna push. We're gonna challenge
Speaker 7: these players to become the best versions of themselves along
Speaker 7: the way, though, we're going to provide them the necessary
Speaker 7: resources to.
Speaker 6: Hit those goals.
Speaker 3: Congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 6: In best of luck, Yeah, thank you, Jess.
Speaker 1: So we touched on some of it, but then you
Speaker 1: marry it with the news conference. Tom wants to be physical,
Speaker 1: wants to be explosive, situationally sound, and he really appreciated
Speaker 1: being asked in his Zoom with the Bears about specific
Speaker 1: game management situations. They put them in a position a
Speaker 1: what would you do here ABCD, and he said that
Speaker 1: was unique to other interviews he's had over the last
Speaker 1: couple of years for a head coaching job.
Speaker 5: So, I mean.
Speaker 1: Clearly that was a aig, a big necessity to make
Speaker 1: sure you get somebody who can handle those situations.
Speaker 2: It's imperative.
Speaker 1: It is how you forge ahead in this very difficultly
Speaker 1: you got to be great in game management situations.
Speaker 4: Well you know how timely that you put together an
Speaker 4: answer for a difficult question and you're not necessarily expecting.
Speaker 4: I think that tells you a lot about a guy,
Speaker 4: whether you're face to face or in zoom. And if
Speaker 4: you say the exact answer that they want to hear
Speaker 4: without hesitation, they know that. Listen, they are on the
Speaker 4: path of the right person. And so when you have
Speaker 4: some of these questions out of the ordinary, I think
Speaker 4: it's really beneficial to every one of those guys sitting
Speaker 4: there with them.
Speaker 1: Well, you know that's precisely why. Okay, so you don't
Speaker 1: want somebody to be rehearsed. It's not the combine when
Speaker 1: agents get their players and they're going to ask you, ABCD,
Speaker 1: you know, here's what your answer is going to be.
Speaker 1: He spoke from the heart at that podium. It is
Speaker 1: not like some prepared gript right. And the more he spoke,
Speaker 1: whether it was with me individually or at that podium
Speaker 1: for the first time as the head coach of the
Speaker 1: charter franchise of the National Football League, you could feel
Speaker 1: his intensity rising. You could feel his answers becoming more compelling,
Speaker 1: and he was more in you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Did you get that same impression I did?
Speaker 4: You know what I liked about it, Jeff, about the
Speaker 4: whole interview between you and he and when he was
Speaker 4: at the podium with the media, is he understands the
Speaker 4: energy of the city of Chicago by going to a
Speaker 4: baseball game, and it's not something that you have to
Speaker 4: be sitting in the stands. But you can feel it
Speaker 4: when you're walking around the neighborhoods. You can feel the
Speaker 4: passion of the Chicago fan base for all of their
Speaker 4: sports and all of the support that we have in
Speaker 4: the city. And he understands how an organization like Detroit
Speaker 4: can go from the bottom to the top. And we've
Speaker 4: seen it ourselves going to the stadium a couple times
Speaker 4: a year. So I'm really happy that Ben Johnson was
Speaker 4: exposed to the passion of the fans of the Bears
Speaker 4: and the fans of sports in the city of Chicago
Speaker 4: to understand his role and the importance of success in
Speaker 4: Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: You know, he only sat in the bleachers. That's where
Speaker 1: he goes. Sits in the bleachers. You can't get anybody
Speaker 1: that's fantastic.
Speaker 4: Can any better feel of passion and been sitting in
Speaker 4: the bleachers and whatever. Wherever you go in sports, wherever
Speaker 4: around the world you may go to a game, it's
Speaker 4: not always sitting here in the high dollar seats. It's
Speaker 4: sitting in the seats with the real fans in understanding
Speaker 4: how they feel about their city, about their sports teams.
Speaker 4: And if he comes in here and he's the never
Speaker 4: he's the next playoff winning head coach for the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 4: He's gonna feel at first hand.
Speaker 2: That's funny.
Speaker 1: I was listening to WADO in Sylvie the other day
Speaker 1: and they had Mike wilbon ont speck for him, the
Speaker 1: journalist and writer and TV star, and he said, if
Speaker 1: it was him, he'd encourage him to seek out some
Speaker 1: of the greats of our city, members of the eighty
Speaker 1: five Bears. Go have dinner with them, Go have a
Speaker 1: cup of coffee, Go get a feel for what this
Speaker 1: city's all about. Go go have dinner with Michael Jordan.
Speaker 1: Good luck getting that reservation right with Michael or any
Speaker 1: number you know. But he's already done it in a
Speaker 1: matter of manner of speaking, by being a Wrigley Field
Speaker 1: fan over the last decade or so and growing up
Speaker 1: watching WGN television and watching Cubs games and sports on WGN.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, this is.
Speaker 1: Asheville, North Carolina born and bred, University of North Carolina
Speaker 1: walk on quarterback. It seems to me this was meant
Speaker 1: to be a little bit Chicago was meant to be
Speaker 1: for this young guy.
Speaker 6: You know you.
Speaker 4: I remember in the interview you asked him if he
Speaker 4: could imagine as a little kid in Asheville, North Carolina,
Speaker 4: that he'd be sitting here today, and he said, no,
Speaker 4: but I would like to hear some of the conversations
Speaker 4: as the teenagers between he and his brother, when the
Speaker 4: kind of started feeling or realizing what your future is
Speaker 4: gonna be. And then the first time that you really
Speaker 4: hooked into that fish and you go, oh my god,
Speaker 4: it's got me, It's got me, and it's never gonna
Speaker 4: let me go. You swallowed the hook of football and
Speaker 4: you're still on that line. So I got to imagine
Speaker 4: some of those conversations with the brother of to where
Speaker 4: you're at now has got to be amazing.
Speaker 1: For savings in service, get more with Geico and have
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Speaker 1: the thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears Coat Drive help keep
Speaker 1: Chicagoans warm this winter. Ryan Poles really focused on the
Speaker 1: progressive offensive mind as Johnson and his quote mind toward
Speaker 1: innovation things you've touched on. But I think he also
Speaker 1: was enamored with this no that there are going to
Speaker 1: be high standards, there's going to be discipline. He's going
Speaker 1: to push these players and challenge these players, these same
Speaker 1: players of which many are the leaders that went and said, hey,
Speaker 1: we need to be challenged first and foremost Caleb Williams
Speaker 1: and held accountable. And I did talk with Caleb one
Speaker 1: on one. We'll hear that on our next episode and
Speaker 1: also on their Bears Weekly show on Thursday night on
Speaker 1: ESPN Radio one thousand. This is what they've been asking
Speaker 1: for and he's going to deliver it to him some
Speaker 1: terms that we've heard from other coaches. You know, be
Speaker 1: comfortable with the uncomfortable. It's the same thing that Kevin
Speaker 1: Warren speaks of. I am a big proponent and I
Speaker 1: said it in the interview. You know, Ryan Poles has
Speaker 1: sat a long time ago. The hard way is the
Speaker 1: right way, and I do subscribe to those concepts. Life's
Speaker 1: not simple, and you got to go through the heart
Speaker 1: to get to the end and to become a winner.
Speaker 1: In all walks of life, nothing's easy, no linear path.
Speaker 1: It is not simple, especially in this sport, in this
Speaker 1: league where there are so few that make it to
Speaker 1: the final, the final game, which is the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and so few have won that game at that quarterback
Speaker 1: position or at the head coaching position. So I get
Speaker 1: a kick out of those I don't know, you're I
Speaker 1: don't know if you're that type of guy.
Speaker 2: You know, you're just.
Speaker 1: Well, you're you're about Yeah, it's you and I are
Speaker 1: different in that regard because you're an athlete and I'm not.
Speaker 4: Let me, you know, make reference to one of the
Speaker 4: points when they brought up the repeated word by a
Speaker 4: lot of guys in the postseason, of accountability, and he
Speaker 4: talked about reference to accountability and what it means to
Speaker 4: a team. But it's also realizing that the message of
Speaker 4: accountability is going to come from the leaders inside the
Speaker 4: locker room. And I do think it's super important to
Speaker 4: make sure that you have those guys who are accountable
Speaker 4: and they're held accountable by other players, either at your
Speaker 4: position or leaders inside that locker room. And that's what
Speaker 4: needs with the leadership of Ben Johnson in this coaching
Speaker 4: staff and Ryan Poles and Kevin and George and everybody,
Speaker 4: that has to be the message that started today from
Speaker 4: the podium and carries a tremendous amount of weight throughout
Speaker 4: the entirety of the regular season.
Speaker 1: Tom, I wish you were here to see the expression
Speaker 1: on Caleb William's face when he sat down. He's very relaxed,
Speaker 1: seems refreshed, re energized. After that season, it may have
Speaker 1: been one of the more toughest seasons we've seen.
Speaker 2: A quarterback go through.
Speaker 1: And it had to be emotionally draining, physically draining, spiritually draining.
Speaker 1: Because you don't get a break as the number one
Speaker 1: pick in the NFL Draft. You go right back to
Speaker 1: work from after playing your college season. You never really
Speaker 1: find time to breathe. He had a moment to breathe,
Speaker 1: and now he's going to dive in deep. But he
Speaker 1: seems ready to take on that challenge.
Speaker 5: You know, for Ben Johnson, for Caleb.
Speaker 4: So the hardest part for Caleb is over going through
Speaker 4: that first year. Now it's Ben Johnson understands the template
Speaker 4: that he has to develop and mold into the quarterback
Speaker 4: that he ultimately sees winning a division and winning the
Speaker 4: Super Bowl. And I think any coach that was recruited
Speaker 4: by a lot of professional teams, he was most excited
Speaker 4: about the key position in place, and that's Caleb Williams.
Speaker 4: You know, It's almost like a Bob Ross painting. When
Speaker 4: he paints the background, you can't tell what it it's
Speaker 4: going to be, and then a half hour later it's
Speaker 4: one of the prettiest pictures that you could ever imagine.
Speaker 4: And you can't believe how talented the guy is. And
Speaker 4: I think that's a little bit about Caleb. You got
Speaker 4: that base coat down, now let's paint the picture of
Speaker 4: his future success.
Speaker 1: So he told the media that gathered to speak with
Speaker 1: him here at Hallisa quote, he told me, it will
Speaker 1: be my offense and build it around me. What kind
Speaker 1: of weight does that carry for Caleb now that he's
Speaker 1: got that green light.
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, you understand the athleticism you're dealing with.
Speaker 4: You understand the accuracy that you have. You understand the
Speaker 4: courage inside the pocket that you're going to start developing.
Speaker 4: You understand the assets and the move, the ability to
Speaker 4: throw on the move. This is not a thirty six
Speaker 4: year old Jared Golf. This is a twenty something young
Speaker 4: Caleb Williams that has his future ahead of him, and
Speaker 4: he's got all the athleticism in the world, all the
Speaker 4: arm talent in the world, all the vision, the intelligence
Speaker 4: that you need.
Speaker 5: So that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: You're developing just the base of a canvas, and eventually
Speaker 4: it's it's gonna be an an ultimate you know, just
Speaker 4: a beautiful painting with a lot of details.
Speaker 1: This podcast is brought to you by the official beer
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Speaker 1: to find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: Ninety six calories and three point two carbs per twelve ounces.
Speaker 1: So to roll up your sleeves time where Ryan Polls,
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson and everybody else in the building to now
Speaker 1: secure the right group of coaches to take care of
Speaker 1: the rest of the job, the positions, the coordinators and whatnot.
Speaker 1: So I think there's going to be a lean towards
Speaker 1: experience that will help a first time head coach.
Speaker 2: I think that's wise and smart.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how that's all going to play out
Speaker 1: in the end, but they're actively doing that right now.
Speaker 1: And in other cases, with Aaron Glenn leaving now Detroit
Speaker 1: going to the New York Jets as their head coach,
Speaker 1: Detroit's gonna lose, lose some things, some players.
Speaker 2: There's going to be coaches leaving beyond just.
Speaker 1: Those two coordinators, So you know you're you're somewhat weakening
Speaker 1: your opponent right out of the gate with this decision
Speaker 1: to bring Ben Johnson here and the removal of Aaron
Speaker 1: Glenn who did such a great job with a depleted
Speaker 1: defense and kept them viable right through the bitter end
Speaker 1: into the NFC divisional loss.
Speaker 4: Well, I think that's a key ingredient of getting Ben
Speaker 4: Johnson Ben Johnson hired right now, is to make sure
Speaker 4: that he can get into that pool of really good
Speaker 4: assistant coaches and get him hired as quickly as possible.
Speaker 4: Detroit also lost their defensive line coach, was a highly
Speaker 4: prized possession that's going to New England.
Speaker 5: So if you can.
Speaker 4: Get on that board, get a board. And I'm sure
Speaker 4: Ben Johnson has had a lot of coaches in mind
Speaker 4: for you know, the last couple of years, considering he's
Speaker 4: been one of the key candidates to become an NFL
Speaker 4: head coach, and so hopefully a lot of those pieces
Speaker 4: have already been in place. Now you have the opportunity
Speaker 4: to go out there and offer them a Chicago Bear opportunity,
Speaker 4: and I hope they capitalize on it. And he puts
Speaker 4: together a staff that gets into that building and starts
Speaker 4: putting implementing their plan together. And like he said, he's
Speaker 4: going to have a big role on offense, but now
Speaker 4: he's head coach, he's going to have a role on
Speaker 4: defense and special teams as well. So you're going to
Speaker 4: have to efficiently divide your time up and make sure,
Speaker 4: like you said, I'm going to get an offensive coordinator
Speaker 4: that I have one hundred percent trust in that can
Speaker 4: set the table and then we'll work it from there.
Speaker 1: For savings and service get more with Geico put also
Speaker 1: something into focus. Obviously, he was a North Carolina quarterback,
Speaker 1: a walk on, as we indicated and then developed a
Speaker 1: relationship with. At that time offensive coordinator at North Carolina
Speaker 1: was John Shupe, someone we became quite familiar here with
Speaker 1: two thousand and one, two thousand and three for the Bears,
Speaker 1: now coaching in Europe, still coaching, talk about or really
Speaker 1: a grinder, that's exactly who John Shupe was. Bears went
Speaker 1: to the playoffs on that one season that was our
Speaker 1: first season together as play by play crew with Hubarcish.
Speaker 2: It was a wonderful season.
Speaker 1: It was a playoff season and we got to know him,
Speaker 1: and I got to know him in a way that fire.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was very intense, but he's the one
Speaker 1: who encouraged Ben to get into coaching. So that's what
Speaker 1: he did. Grad assistant in Boston College. Happened to share
Speaker 1: the same little tiny office with Ryan Poles did as
Speaker 1: a grad assitizen a year prior, which is kind of fascinating.
Speaker 1: And then three years there in Chestnut Hill, including a
Speaker 1: twenty eleven as tight ends coach. So then seven years
Speaker 1: in Miami he was offensive assistant, assistant quarterbacks coach, tight
Speaker 1: ends coach, assistant wide receivers coach, wide receivers coach. That's significant.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of different coaches and exposures that you
Speaker 1: saw there. Then he went to Detroit with Dan Campbell.
Speaker 1: There was a time when he didn't work because you
Speaker 1: heard in the interview I did with him, didn't know
Speaker 1: what was going to happen with his career. So that
Speaker 1: was an adverse situation that he got through. But he
Speaker 1: also is a grinder.
Speaker 2: You could tell.
Speaker 1: You could tell from talking to other people about him,
Speaker 1: and that also is he's all about ball is no nonsense.
Speaker 1: He has already set the standard and the bar for
Speaker 1: what this team is going to be expected to be.
Speaker 2: And usually people.
Speaker 1: Who are in that position Tom for the first time,
Speaker 1: they make statements and this is how we think we're
Speaker 1: going to be. But you always hear it takes a
Speaker 1: while before the culture is set or the identity of
Speaker 1: the team. I believe that that's almost already set. This
Speaker 1: is he laid out the game plan of what they
Speaker 1: want to be.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but he's familiar with the Bears. He's been preparing
Speaker 4: against these guys now for the last few years. He
Speaker 4: understands the division. He understands what he's up against when
Speaker 4: he's facing the defense of the Green Bay Packers or
Speaker 4: the defense of the Detroit Lions whomever they hire, or
Speaker 4: Minnesota Vikings. So he's so far ahead of the hiring
Speaker 4: process that most of these guys have been in our
Speaker 4: lifetime that he can already see the future and he's
Speaker 4: got to look at the horizon. And the thing about is, Jeff,
Speaker 4: what have we known one hundred assistant coaches throughout our career? Yes,
Speaker 4: every one of these guys are grinders, man, because it
Speaker 4: is not an easy life. You got to be willing
Speaker 4: to pick up and move every year two or three.
Speaker 4: And so when Ben Johnson finally, ultimately through all this
Speaker 4: hard work and grinding, gets an opportunity, it's not a relief.
Speaker 4: The pressures on. And I'm encouraged by what I hear
Speaker 4: out of him about what he sees for this team
Speaker 4: and what he imagines for the immediate future.
Speaker 2: What's interesting to me.
Speaker 1: You had some of the NFL writers, the national experts
Speaker 1: on the NFL theorizing or kind of predicting, well, does
Speaker 1: he really want to stay in a division that has
Speaker 1: three of the best teams in football, three playoff teams
Speaker 1: coming from Detroit included, to come to the Bears, a
Speaker 1: team that has struggled here over the last fifteen years,
Speaker 1: or you.
Speaker 2: Know, is he going to go a different path?
Speaker 1: And this guy had no interest in doing anything but
Speaker 1: staying right where he is. He wants to face the
Speaker 1: best and he wants this challenge. This is what he wants.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 4: Well, okay, let's I mean, we're not going to talk
Speaker 4: about him, but you take every other job in consideration
Speaker 4: that's open, and you think of the pieces they have
Speaker 4: in place as opposed to the pieces they have in
Speaker 4: place here in Chicago.
Speaker 5: You get interviewed on Zoom and then all.
Speaker 4: Of a sudden you're driven into Hallis Hall and it's
Speaker 4: the taj Mahal of facilities in the NFL. Everything that
Speaker 4: you need to make your football team the best team
Speaker 4: possible is right there in front of you down nineteen
Speaker 4: twenty Football Drive. And so don't paint a picture that
Speaker 4: this site is a better place for you to be
Speaker 4: than where you're at. The decision you made and where
Speaker 4: you're at. Sell me on some other team and I'll
Speaker 4: debate it with you.
Speaker 1: This podcast is brought to you by the official beer
Speaker 1: partner of your Chicago Bears tastes like Middle Time Chicago.
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Speaker 1: find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: Ninety six calories and three point two cards per twelve ounces.
Speaker 1: A couple of notes real quick here all four conference
Speaker 1: championship teams. Tom, I don't know if you've heard this.
Speaker 1: Zero turnovers in the playoffs. You think ball security is
Speaker 1: going to be number one goal this weekend? I didn't
Speaker 1: know that.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, it's the thing that surprises me about
Speaker 4: it is in some of the outdoor games that they
Speaker 4: played in already that it's it's surprising that ball security
Speaker 4: was not an issue in some of those games. The
Speaker 4: only time the ball security was when Mark Andrews unfortunately
Speaker 4: dropped the two point conversion. But does that mean it's
Speaker 4: an offensive league or the these are offensive teams that are,
Speaker 4: you know, fighting for the championship because I kind of
Speaker 4: look at a team like Philadelphia. Philadelphia kind of reminds
Speaker 4: me of the eighty five Bears because they have an
Speaker 4: experienced defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Buddy Ryan. Then you
Speaker 4: have a quarterback that statistics aren't gaudy, but they have
Speaker 4: a running back who's a Hall of Famer. They have
Speaker 4: an offensive line that could be considered one of the
Speaker 4: best in the NFL, and they have a defensive line
Speaker 4: that can go toe to toe with them. I look
Speaker 4: at them and even and if you look at you know,
Speaker 4: Jalen Hurts has two touchdowns, McMahon had two touchdowns. Jalen
Speaker 4: Hurts is sixty something percent. McMahon was fifty nine percent.
Speaker 5: So if you.
Speaker 4: Look at the comparative, the comparisons right now of a
Speaker 4: team that has the opportunity to do what Philly could
Speaker 4: possibly do. It reminds me of the eighty five Bears.
Speaker 1: That's an interesting look at you. Nicely done, nicely done.
Speaker 1: What about the other side of the fence, AFC.
Speaker 4: It's hard to deny that one of the greatest players
Speaker 4: in the history of the league. And Patrick Mahomes always
Speaker 4: has an idea. He always he's already thinking faster than
Speaker 4: all the other guys on defense. To me, Josh Allen
Speaker 4: has an opportunity to put himself on that next shelf,
Speaker 4: not necessarily the shelf of Patrick Mahomes or Brady and
Speaker 4: those guys, but he certainly is an incredible quarterback and
Speaker 4: he's got these guys into a battle for their life.
Speaker 4: To me, I still what haunts me and we talk
Speaker 4: talked about it. Sixteen carries last week for Derrick Henry.
Speaker 4: You should be ashamed of yourself. He averaged five point
Speaker 4: eight or five point three yards per carry. If you
Speaker 4: didn't go into the game and the head coach said, look,
Speaker 4: offensive coordinator, he's going to carry the ball thirty times
Speaker 4: or don't come back in the locker room sixteen times
Speaker 4: In that game. That's why you're at home, and that's
Speaker 4: why Buffalo is moving on.
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson named MVP.
Speaker 5: He deserves it.
Speaker 4: He is the most one of the most incredible football
Speaker 4: players I've ever seen amongst a group of star athletes
Speaker 4: in the greatest sport in America. And Lamar Jackson deserves it.
Speaker 4: He's He's just an incredibly talented young man.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 1: A couple other nuggets. This was from The Sun Times
Speaker 1: Mark Pottash. In Ben Johnson's three years as the Lions
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, the Lions were fifteen and fifteen when allowing
Speaker 1: twenty three or more points. That's the most in the
Speaker 1: league in that span and second best winning percentage during
Speaker 1: that same time Fame, the Bears did not win any
Speaker 1: of the twenty five games that that happened to Oh
Speaker 1: in twenty five. That offense gave you a shot to
Speaker 1: win when your defense, you know, did what they could,
Speaker 1: but sometimes because of injury and whatnot, they couldn't hold
Speaker 1: the other side.
Speaker 2: That's crazy. That's a crazy stat to.
Speaker 5: Ben Johnson press conference today.
Speaker 1: Because like that, oh my goodness, and then the Lion
Speaker 1: season ended. What for Mike you said four or five
Speaker 1: days ago, is They've lost Ben Johnson, the lost Aaron Gunn,
Speaker 1: they lost Terrell Williams. Patriots defense and their offensive line coach.
Speaker 1: Hank Fraley, they say, is in the mix for the
Speaker 1: Seahawks offensive coordinator job or who knows what other jobs?
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 4: One of the biggest surprises in my football life thinking
Speaker 4: of Hank Frayley as an offensive coordinator, because I remember
Speaker 4: him well as a player. I see him on the
Speaker 4: sidelines and walking laps before the Detroit Chicago Bears games.
Speaker 4: And he doesn't give you that appearance, that template of
Speaker 4: an offensive coordinator because you know of his background of
Speaker 4: being an undersize thicker, middle thicker in the middle offensive lineman.
Speaker 4: But if he gets the offensive coordinator job, I wish
Speaker 4: the best for him and I wish.
Speaker 5: Him all the success in the world.
Speaker 4: All right, Tom, the offensive line there, they don't want
Speaker 4: to let him go.
Speaker 5: They're fighting for.
Speaker 2: It, right.
Speaker 1: You know, when you get a good offensive line coach,
Speaker 1: it's hard to hard to want that man to leave.
Speaker 1: There's some great ones, including the Philadelphia is stout They
Speaker 1: call him stout right, Jeff Stoutlin. Outstanding offensive line coach
Speaker 1: there in Philadelphia, really good offensive lineman in this particular
Speaker 1: final four of the NFL and that's going to be
Speaker 1: a big focus obviously for the Bears, that in the
Speaker 1: defensive line. So we'll be looking forward to breaking it
Speaker 1: all down next week. Again, we'll have Caleb Williams on
Speaker 1: the podcast I sit down with him. Hope to have
Speaker 1: general manager Ryan Poles as well. Until then, Bears Weekly
Speaker 1: on Thursday night in the ESPN one thousand for town There,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniak.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Everybody, please subscribe now the Chicago Bears Official Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
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