Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Miller Lite and Hulu. We have a portion of the
Speaker 1: Bears schedule for twenty nineteen. Makes it more real right today?
Speaker 1: The preseason schedule release will tell you about that and
Speaker 1: much more as the Bears gear up for the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: On a shortened edition of Bears All Access, Jeff Joni
Speaker 1: acabon with my broadcast partner from news Radio seven eighty
Speaker 1: and one h five point nine FMWBBM, Tom Fair and
Speaker 1: Jim Miller from sirius XM NFL Radio, the Bears quarterback
Speaker 1: of the Past. Joining the program. Coming up at about
Speaker 1: six h eight will be new running back Mike Davis.
Speaker 1: Lots to discuss before we turn it over to Bulls asketball. Fellows.
Speaker 1: Good evening, How are we doing, big, Jeff? You're like
Speaker 1: you mentioned, The preseason schedule is out and it gives
Speaker 1: you a lot of direction. Now it starts giving a
Speaker 1: thinking about scheming throughout the preseason. You think about how
Speaker 1: it fits according to your plan of attack as a player,
Speaker 1: how do you fit in the roster, playing time, designation
Speaker 1: of areas of where you're gonna play these teams, the
Speaker 1: travel arrangements and are you going to practice against somebody
Speaker 1: during the preseason is still the unknown and it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's worked for the Bears in the past. Yeah, think
Speaker 1: about last year. We're talking about six games, right because
Speaker 1: the induction of Brian or Elactt probably you know, I
Speaker 1: think coach Nagie talk about it being a good thing
Speaker 1: to play that extra game and for the Bears to
Speaker 1: have that opportunity. And I think now being cut down
Speaker 1: to just four games this year, they'll be much more prepared.
Speaker 1: They know how the schedules kind of laid out and
Speaker 1: what the coaches it's expecting. So have to make the
Speaker 1: most of it. Just with with less opportunities on the
Speaker 1: field for this football team. Well, if you're a young
Speaker 1: player on the football team, you know you're gonna play
Speaker 1: a lot of snaps in the preseason. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the plan will be for starters this year, But
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna get snaps. You know you're gonna
Speaker 1: get a lot of reps in those games. It starts
Speaker 1: with a home game against Carolina, then a trip to
Speaker 1: New York to meet the Giants, and then a trip
Speaker 1: to Indy to meet the Colts, home to Tennessee to
Speaker 1: wrap it up at first blush. You know, it's considered
Speaker 1: by fans and whatnot just preseason, but it's much more
Speaker 1: than that, because even though the Bears won twelve games,
Speaker 1: went to the playoffs, and had such a great run
Speaker 1: in a first year under Matt Nagge, there is still
Speaker 1: much growth and much to accomplish for this football team.
Speaker 1: So no practice, no snap will be taken lightly right,
Speaker 1: you know, But Jeff, I think we learned to or
Speaker 1: not understand, but respect the way Matt and Aggie Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace went along with the game plan in the preseason.
Speaker 1: Because the guys that were backing up and trying to
Speaker 1: learn the system and understand they had a chance to
Speaker 1: play with an experienced quarterback and Chase Daniel Tyler Bray
Speaker 1: had experienced in the system. They had a good understanding
Speaker 1: how to develop their talents and traits, and I think
Speaker 1: it gave Matt Naggey an opportunity to be a little
Speaker 1: bit more aggressive at each practice with the first unit guys,
Speaker 1: and yeah, so he practices them aggressively for four days
Speaker 1: in a row and then allows the developing understudies or
Speaker 1: the competition go out there and have a camera and
Speaker 1: reality in front of them to go and showcase their talent. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think typical. You know, preseason, they're not
Speaker 1: going to show a lot. I think it's a fact
Speaker 1: finding mission, like you said, whether it's a young guys
Speaker 1: that will be added to the team through free agency
Speaker 1: or the draft, where you're getting to know them. Chuck
Speaker 1: Pagana is probably gonna get to know that the defensive
Speaker 1: players what they can and cannot do, what he's going
Speaker 1: to ask them to do, put them in uncomfortable spots,
Speaker 1: And that's what I think it is. For a lot
Speaker 1: of teams. It's more of a fact finding mission. I
Speaker 1: think how it is. I think they know the nucleus
Speaker 1: of the team is pretty good and they know what
Speaker 1: those players can do. We'll see what the young players
Speaker 1: can do in terms of growth, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of that will be displayed in the practices not
Speaker 1: necessarily in play in a preseason year. We also got
Speaker 1: to know what the definition of being calloused is for
Speaker 1: a preseason it didn't necessarily mean you know, getting bull
Speaker 1: in the ring and you start cracking each other left
Speaker 1: and right throughout practice. There was a physicality to it.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of time on the field, but
Speaker 1: that was also a mental component in preseason right and
Speaker 1: you know some of that is um you know, left
Speaker 1: up to the players that are here for the very
Speaker 1: first time. I think when you're in the players that
Speaker 1: have been around this system, you're going to see a faster,
Speaker 1: more aggressive, more physical camp earlier because they're not thinking
Speaker 1: out of their stance. They're coming out with you know,
Speaker 1: destruction depending upon what side of the ball they play
Speaker 1: on where and what position. With a better understanding, you're
Speaker 1: probably going to get better battles again on the offensive
Speaker 1: and defensive line because of Ted and and a Keem Hicks.
Speaker 1: And it's you know, I'm not overstating it, it's going
Speaker 1: to happen, but you're going to see a faster starting
Speaker 1: offense this year to training camp than you saw last
Speaker 1: year throughout training camp, and I think you see coach
Speaker 1: is more vocal they want more time with the players,
Speaker 1: and maybe that's you know, we'll start today with negotiations
Speaker 1: on a new CBA with the NFL and NFLPA. Because
Speaker 1: even out at the owners meetings, Jeff and Tom Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick talked about it. John Harbaugh has harped on it repeatedly.
Speaker 1: John Gruden Chucky's he wants more time with the players,
Speaker 1: and that typically for young players, we're gonna get your
Speaker 1: most growth because again with the CBA, you just see
Speaker 1: don't have enough time and there's less reps for these
Speaker 1: young players. Player or coaches a lot more time with
Speaker 1: these players to get them ready. Our producers are Eli
Speaker 1: Herskovitch and Herb Lawrence. This is Bears All Access. Coming
Speaker 1: up next, Mike Davis, the newest Bear running back. We
Speaker 1: joined the program. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. Welcome back to Bears All Access brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty products to over
Speaker 1: one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS
Speaker 1: Energy at igs dot com. Welcome back to Bears All Access. Jeff,
Speaker 1: Jonny account there, Jim Mutter now joined by the newest
Speaker 1: Bear running back Mike Davis, to South Carolina products Stone Mountain,
Speaker 1: Georgia to uh the University of South Carolina, the Niners,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, and now the Bears. So from the NFC
Speaker 1: West to the NFC North, we welcome you, big fellow.
Speaker 1: How you doing, Hey, how are you doing? I'm doing
Speaker 1: go excited because this is another coach in your string
Speaker 1: of Steve Spurrier and Pete Carroll, high energy coach, young
Speaker 1: coach with a lot of offensive vision. Are you excited
Speaker 1: to join this kind of type of coaching staff in
Speaker 1: this offense? Yeah, man, I can't wait to come in
Speaker 1: and make him plays. Hey, Mike, when you were playing
Speaker 1: as a young man and you got introduced to Steve Spurrier,
Speaker 1: did he change you at all from the what type
Speaker 1: of running back you thought you were going to be
Speaker 1: when you entered college? Oh? I wouldn't say he changed most.
Speaker 1: I mean, Conda, I would say it was most definitely
Speaker 1: opener coming in from high school to college. Um, a
Speaker 1: lot of live bags apple playing there. Come in and
Speaker 1: just play it right away. Well, in that case, I
Speaker 1: had mont Blattimore in front of me, and it was
Speaker 1: just more of a yeah, you had to wait the uh,
Speaker 1: you had to wait their turn. And Mike Jim Miller
Speaker 1: here one, welcome to Chicago and congratulations was signing with
Speaker 1: the Bears, and just kind of want to talk about
Speaker 1: your journey, you know, bouncing between San Francis and Seattle
Speaker 1: and last year when you got your opportunities. I mean,
Speaker 1: your your yards per carry extremely impressive, but really all
Speaker 1: the build up to that time where you got your
Speaker 1: opportunity and I think showed flashes of why the Bears
Speaker 1: and teams like Seattle were interested in why Seattle brought
Speaker 1: you back into the mix from their standpoint prior to
Speaker 1: the Bears, Yeah, it was I wanted to make sure
Speaker 1: that I made the most of my opportunity. Seattle had
Speaker 1: the running back in the first round and under they
Speaker 1: wanting him to play a lot more, and I just
Speaker 1: knew they wanted to try to, like easily basically out
Speaker 1: of the door. But I wanted to make sure that
Speaker 1: they know that you won't be easy to just pushing
Speaker 1: me out of the door. Mike Davis sounded the line
Speaker 1: with US Bears running back and free agent acquisition as
Speaker 1: the Bears get ready to unveil the twenty nineteen season.
Speaker 1: The schedule will come out sometime here in the next
Speaker 1: week or so. And Mike, you know, a season high
Speaker 1: and carries last year career high and carries last year,
Speaker 1: a couple two hundred yard carry seasons in college at
Speaker 1: a time and place in the NFL when the committee
Speaker 1: approach is prevalent. There was only Ezekiel Elliott last year
Speaker 1: that they carried the ball more than twenty times, actually
Speaker 1: twenty point three attempts per game. Everybody else in that
Speaker 1: eighteen to fifteen range there was a lead back. But
Speaker 1: it is just something that you become used to, I guess,
Speaker 1: to share the load a little bit. Um, Yes, you
Speaker 1: get used to obviously. And um, it's more for when
Speaker 1: the opportunity comes, you must be ready for it. Um.
Speaker 1: I'm quite sure anybody can take well, I want to
Speaker 1: say anybody, but the guys who are up there as
Speaker 1: for as like le Beyond and saw Gurley and all
Speaker 1: those guys, they are willing to take, you know, twenty
Speaker 1: care of the game. It doesn't say, Um, this is
Speaker 1: more about when that time. Um, you just basically make
Speaker 1: the most of it, you know, Mike, you got to
Speaker 1: look outside the running back position when you're looking for
Speaker 1: a new team as a free agent, when you look
Speaker 1: at the two quarterbacks you're gonna play with, Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: now Mitchell Trubisky. Do you see any similarities in the
Speaker 1: growth possibility of Mitchell Trubisky's game or even the traits
Speaker 1: in the style they play with? Um? Yeah, I was
Speaker 1: you know Miss can run as the think Miss is
Speaker 1: probably Contum. I always called Russ slow when I was
Speaker 1: just yeah, Um, so that's kind of funny. But um,
Speaker 1: I can most definitely say he's most definitely accurate. Um.
Speaker 1: I trained with him out in a Huntington beach a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. So UM, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: be in Um from your standpoint, whether the couple of
Speaker 1: years in San Francisco or the last couple in Seattle, Like,
Speaker 1: since you came out of college, what do you think
Speaker 1: you've improved at the most, Mike and where your game
Speaker 1: is at? Um? I think I improved on everything. Uh man.
Speaker 1: One thing was was big was really a conditioner. UM
Speaker 1: My diet, Um I actually changed a lot once once
Speaker 1: I got cut, and um, this is I was just
Speaker 1: out to basically approved to go wrong and I just
Speaker 1: always had the revenge that I check on my shoulder
Speaker 1: in my head. This is something I never forgot, Mike
Speaker 1: da I was just wanted to remind people. Sorry body,
Speaker 1: damn Mike. Mike Davis, our guest our Bears running Back
Speaker 1: here and Bears All Access in Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. One of the things I enjoy about
Speaker 1: you when you hit the edge is that stiff arm.
Speaker 1: How important is that because not every back uses it,
Speaker 1: and not every back is maybe strong enough to have
Speaker 1: it actually make an impact when you're trying to escape
Speaker 1: a tackle. Um, I'm willing to actually do anything when
Speaker 1: it comes breaking a tackle. Um, stiff arm, running you over,
Speaker 1: run around, I'm legit trying to do it all. But
Speaker 1: stiff arms is something that I mean, you've got to
Speaker 1: have the running back, you know, Mike. You come from
Speaker 1: a pretty explosive offense out there in Seattle, and coach
Speaker 1: Naggi is really receptive for players to bring plays to
Speaker 1: him that they think they can flourish with. So in
Speaker 1: the back of your mind, either grown up or grown
Speaker 1: through the offense you just came from, is there a
Speaker 1: play after you become familiar with the bears your new
Speaker 1: offense that Hey, coach, this is what I feel confident
Speaker 1: and this is the type of routes or passes that
Speaker 1: I feel that I can flourish with. Is there anything
Speaker 1: that you would like to bring up in those types
Speaker 1: of meetings? Oh no, I'm not really that type of guy. Um.
Speaker 1: I've watched them and watched the big plays and watch
Speaker 1: games to him and everything after that, and I'm whatever
Speaker 1: they throw in, I'd be able to do. So I'm
Speaker 1: all for whatever coach and Naggie puts in. Other than
Speaker 1: bringing something to him, I'm not that kind of player. Well,
Speaker 1: you may come up with some nicknames. They got Willie
Speaker 1: walk Us and a slay the fridge play to Kim Hicks.
Speaker 1: So you may want to rethink that, Mike, because you
Speaker 1: better raise your hand in the meeting if you if
Speaker 1: you want the football a little bit more. It seems
Speaker 1: like Naggi's had some fun with some of the play calls.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean, I'm most definitely see the fun
Speaker 1: and everything, but like coming up with a play, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'll actually the one for that. Can
Speaker 1: you spend it? Mike? Have you ever thrown it like
Speaker 1: a toss? Four thirty eight pass. Well, we'll come up
Speaker 1: with a nickname for that. You can spend the football,
Speaker 1: can't you? Oh, I just thought a little bit um,
Speaker 1: you know at that time. Come, you know, I almost
Speaker 1: definitely slinker. Now, Mike Davis, the South Carolina product, our
Speaker 1: guest here on Bears All Access in Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the Score. Jeff, Tim and Jim with you
Speaker 1: as well a few more moments here with Mike Davis.
Speaker 1: Obviously you're out there in Huntington Beach with Mitch and
Speaker 1: some of the receivers, and I don't know who also
Speaker 1: came out there. But the value of that you probably
Speaker 1: can't even put into words because you're new to the equation.
Speaker 1: This offense is only one year old though, so you're
Speaker 1: you're on the ground floor this opportunity with this offense
Speaker 1: as a pass receiving back, it's not just the swings
Speaker 1: and the screens, but Matt Naggie likes to have guys
Speaker 1: that can actually be very sound route runners and very
Speaker 1: discipline runners. How would you describe your route running ability
Speaker 1: as a receiver? Um, I would say I'm pretty side.
Speaker 1: I know was something I was able to to do
Speaker 1: in Seattle and UM coaching, I getting knows that and um,
Speaker 1: when i'm I'll be able to line up outside inside,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter where you putting me out, be able
Speaker 1: to run every route, Um, anything he throws at me.
Speaker 1: So questions. That's something that I love about me coming in.
Speaker 1: You know, my durability is one of the keys to
Speaker 1: success in the NFL. So six games in two thousand
Speaker 1: and seventeen, but fifteen and two eighteen, that's a big jump.
Speaker 1: How did you feel at the end of that season
Speaker 1: when you had the fifteen opportunities and did you feel,
Speaker 1: you know, fresh along the way even though you had
Speaker 1: a bigger load a competition to go against that season. UM, yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel good coming out as long as the end
Speaker 1: of the season healthy. Um, that was one of the things. Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't have any issues coming into the season or anything.
Speaker 1: So I think I did it pretty good job as
Speaker 1: far as say health and take care of my body.
Speaker 1: All right, Mike, that's going to wrap us up here tonight.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you taking a few minutes and joining us
Speaker 1: Laford to meeting you up at Hallis Hall and the
Speaker 1: offseason program starting next week so you'll get to meet
Speaker 1: all your teammates at a brand new, beautiful facility. Enjoy
Speaker 1: your time in Chicago. Good luck, all right, thanks you
Speaker 1: so much. Thank you Mike. That's Bears running back Mike
Speaker 1: Davis joining us. When we return, Jim, Tom and I
Speaker 1: will take a look at some of the key movement
Speaker 1: opportunities in this NFL this week in the latest on
Speaker 1: the meeting between the NFLPA and the NFL's Management Council today,
Speaker 1: What's it all mean, Jim Miller's opinion on it from
Speaker 1: a national perspective, as well as the NFL Draft All
Speaker 1: coming up next on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy The Score. The twenty nineteen Miller Light
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Draft Party will be held on Saturday, April
Speaker 1: twenty seventh that Soldier Field noon to six. The event
Speaker 1: featuring on field activities, locker room tours, player autographs, and
Speaker 1: of course, live draft coverage and analysis from Bears football
Speaker 1: experts like Tom There. Get your ticket today at Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears dot com slash Draft Party. Gonna have a big
Speaker 1: crew of guys out there. Well attended draft party in
Speaker 1: advance of the one hundred celebration that's coming up in June,
Speaker 1: so a lot of good times for Bears football fans.
Speaker 1: Had the occasion fellows today to meet some more Bears
Speaker 1: fans at the Black Courage Award given to Zach Miller today.
Speaker 1: Once again he delivered a powerful message accepting the award
Speaker 1: that's voted on by teammates and appears in the locker room,
Speaker 1: and you're not going to find a guy that has
Speaker 1: more respect in that room than Zach Miller. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: really admire Zach Miller the way that he's been so
Speaker 1: resilient about his training and getting back to a normal
Speaker 1: as normal as he can possibly get back to walking
Speaker 1: to running, to be in physical His attitude around the
Speaker 1: locker room shows that even in an injury scenario, the
Speaker 1: game and the work effort is still important to him.
Speaker 1: And I think that's an important message to send out there.
Speaker 1: And I think we all have a tremendous amount of
Speaker 1: respect for Zach Miller, and he is really deserving of
Speaker 1: an award for a guy that knew that they weren't
Speaker 1: going to step on the field. He was a really important,
Speaker 1: an important part of the process last year. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: say it all the time, when you overcome those you know,
Speaker 1: at least the adversity that he's been through, multiple surgeries
Speaker 1: with the injury and what he's gone through, and again
Speaker 1: it's it's hard a lot, I know, ultimately, you know,
Speaker 1: for teams, it says a lot about players when they
Speaker 1: overcome things like this. You know, whether it's say even
Speaker 1: Thomas Davis, the former linebacker for the Carolina Panthers now
Speaker 1: out there for the charges I mean three acls and
Speaker 1: obviously the significance of the injury to what Zach has
Speaker 1: been dealing with, in the adversity that he's fought through
Speaker 1: to get to this point, it just it says a
Speaker 1: lot about him as an individual, and he exemplifies everything
Speaker 1: that that award represents. Yes, because it's not just that injury.
Speaker 1: You know, he had two separated shoulders in high school.
Speaker 1: You know, he walks on at Nebraska flourishes in Nebraska Alma,
Speaker 1: gets drafted, gets injured almost four consecutive years, and then
Speaker 1: manages to put together two really good years for the
Speaker 1: Bears before that injury October of seventeen. So the question
Speaker 1: fell us today was and in the media of the
Speaker 1: local media had a chance to visit with him in displays,
Speaker 1: can you play again, I don't know yet, and there'll
Speaker 1: be a time probably soon that will make that decision.
Speaker 1: I haven't made that decision yet. It's something that we're
Speaker 1: exhausting every option we can, and I know it's getting close.
Speaker 1: But I can't hold it hostages forever, you know. And
Speaker 1: I don't plan too, but there's some things that I
Speaker 1: need to try and do physically and see if it's possible.
Speaker 1: And the thing he wanted to emphasize, he's not going
Speaker 1: to drag this out. He doesn't want to hold anybody
Speaker 1: in the organization or take up a roster spot if
Speaker 1: it's not something that he can do. He does still
Speaker 1: feel pain in that leg and so forth when he's jogging,
Speaker 1: and jogging certainly is not playing and so there's still
Speaker 1: some hurdles to climb. But the guy's working. He never
Speaker 1: wants to say no, right. I mean, that's the attitude
Speaker 1: you have to have, you know too, Like I said,
Speaker 1: even to how normal can you get back to? And
Speaker 1: that's going to help your way of life as you
Speaker 1: go on. He's a young man. He's got so much
Speaker 1: in his future ahead of him and so much of
Speaker 1: the message that he wants to to deliver and the
Speaker 1: way he goes about the rest of his life, his
Speaker 1: ability to recover from such a horrific injury because people
Speaker 1: are so familiar with it. It was shown all around
Speaker 1: the world. So you know, Zach Miller is kind of tsunamous.
Speaker 1: He you know, he runs the same parallel as perseverance
Speaker 1: and hard work. Yeah. No, Only he's going to know
Speaker 1: when it comes to that point. You know. I think
Speaker 1: players know, like you know, when I blew up my
Speaker 1: hip for the Giants, they just say, hey, that's it.
Speaker 1: That was finality, you know. And he hasn't crossed that
Speaker 1: that bridge yet. He hasn't he doesn't have all the
Speaker 1: facts that he needs to make that decision. But when
Speaker 1: that time comes, he'll know that. I think as as
Speaker 1: a player, you know, and I think you know who
Speaker 1: was it this week, Ryan Shazier or the Steelers. You
Speaker 1: see he's doing box jumps right, incredible with the entry.
Speaker 1: He's come back, and he studs he would like to
Speaker 1: come back and play. I don't know if that's realistic
Speaker 1: or that, but only he is going to know that
Speaker 1: at that point in time. I really believe that, you know.
Speaker 1: You know, just last night I was at this event
Speaker 1: in the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame down in Springfield, Illinois,
Speaker 1: and I can't remember his name. I was trying to
Speaker 1: look it up. Rufus was his first name. He was
Speaker 1: a great basketball player from the area and throughout his
Speaker 1: career he got hurt early and then he had to
Speaker 1: go into coaching, and it was listening to a story.
Speaker 1: If he was a successful player, he would have been
Speaker 1: concerned about himself. But after he had this injury and
Speaker 1: he took a different direction. He started coaching. He touched
Speaker 1: thousands of men and women in coaching in his volunteer work.
Speaker 1: The story in his case was inspirational because he did
Speaker 1: more after the injury than he did maybe if he
Speaker 1: would have stayed healthy throughout his career. On the same
Speaker 1: thing for Zach Miller, because he has admitted many times
Speaker 1: and he's talked about it today, just the amount of
Speaker 1: mail he's getting from other young athletes or others who
Speaker 1: have suffered a similar injury. Because any one of us,
Speaker 1: you're getting a car accident, you're getting a skiing accident,
Speaker 1: the same type of injury could happen. It's just a
Speaker 1: rare moment, but it could happen, and others have been
Speaker 1: inspired by the battle. He talked about the countless messages
Speaker 1: day in and day out people are rehabit or going
Speaker 1: through something that say, hey, I was able to get
Speaker 1: through a day by seeing your stories. And that's cool
Speaker 1: for me to just impact somebody indirectly, but it's something
Speaker 1: that really makes it feel good, and it's worldwide. He said,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people from foreign countries that have
Speaker 1: seen his video, seen his stories, and you know that's
Speaker 1: the part of this. There's a reason for everything, right
Speaker 1: and maybe in this case and whatever it does to
Speaker 1: fuel whatever he's going to wind up doing, whether it
Speaker 1: be in football out of it, you know he can
Speaker 1: take that way. You know, Jeff, when that injury happened,
Speaker 1: initially they thought it could possibly be unrecoverable. So when
Speaker 1: he goes through the stages, and he goes through because
Speaker 1: we get to see it, he goes from the apparatus
Speaker 1: is on his legs, to crutches, to then to a
Speaker 1: cane and a walker and then you see a slight lamp.
Speaker 1: Then you see a more organized walk throughout the process
Speaker 1: of Zach Miller. There he's inspiring other people and athletes
Speaker 1: that have these injuries that once thought of worst case
Speaker 1: scenario could possibly happen to them. Yeah. Now I just
Speaker 1: think I just because I understand from from his standpoint.
Speaker 1: But like you said, Jeff, he's overcome so many things
Speaker 1: that his mental makeup is I'm going to attack this
Speaker 1: one hundred percent, and only he will know when it
Speaker 1: gets to that point, to that point where he just says,
Speaker 1: all right, this is one fight that that maybe I'm
Speaker 1: not going to be able to reach the end, but
Speaker 1: only he is going to know that. But he is
Speaker 1: prepared mentally to do that because he's already overcome so
Speaker 1: many things, and that's how a lot of players are wired.
Speaker 1: But I think ultimately, you know, he'll do what's what's
Speaker 1: best for himself and what's best for his career. And
Speaker 1: we'll see if this fight he's able to complete as
Speaker 1: well well asable guy and he'll have even if it's
Speaker 1: not on the playing field, there could be a role
Speaker 1: for him in this organization in some capacity. He did
Speaker 1: a lot last year. He mentioned Matt Naggie a lot today,
Speaker 1: having a major impact on accepting him and having him
Speaker 1: experienced the season even though he couldn't play and experience
Speaker 1: what a great season it was. Just you know, It's
Speaker 1: one of the most inspirational stories I've ever covered. I
Speaker 1: was in his home and did a story for Bears
Speaker 1: Game Night, our Game Day Live last fall and during
Speaker 1: the season, and we know, honously he represents something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: his teammates voted him in. He represents something, what he
Speaker 1: stands for and what Bears stands for, and that's why
Speaker 1: they they honored him and bestowed that that prestigious award
Speaker 1: on him for everything he represents. And every one of
Speaker 1: those players and everyone in that organization understanding. I know,
Speaker 1: I understand it. You know, even even from here in Michigan,
Speaker 1: what he represents hims. You know, I think what you are.
Speaker 1: You know, one thing that you'd understand better than Jeff
Speaker 1: and I is We've always talked a lot and heard
Speaker 1: a lot of about how supportive he is the Mitchell
Speaker 1: Trubisky on the sidelines during the game, how important it
Speaker 1: is for a quarterback to have a sounding board outside
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. Yeah, I just you know, there's so
Speaker 1: many things here. Mitchell at that point of such a
Speaker 1: young quarterback and probably has a million things going through
Speaker 1: his mind, new offenses, new coaching staff, teammates, and here,
Speaker 1: you know, here Zach Millard just trying to be a
Speaker 1: good teammate. Hey, how what can I do to help
Speaker 1: my teammate out to make him better? Zach understood it
Speaker 1: as a former quarterback, everything that that young man was
Speaker 1: going through as he played at North Carolina, and he
Speaker 1: was one reached out there and gave him a hoping hand.
Speaker 1: I think Zach comes with a great knowledge of what
Speaker 1: helped Mitchell all would and as a former quarterback himself,
Speaker 1: so good sounding board as well for Mitche Trubisky. That's
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, Tom Bear, Jeff Jonnyak and this is Bears
Speaker 1: All Access one segment ago before we handed off to
Speaker 1: Bull's basketball in the regular season home finale at United
Speaker 1: Center tonight against the New York Knicks. This is Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Chuggle Bears Network presents
Speaker 1: Inside the Bears, brought to you by a Horizon. Anthony
Speaker 1: Adams and Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football,
Speaker 1: on and off the field every Sunday night, ten thirty
Speaker 1: five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime
Speaker 1: at Chicago Bears dot com or on the Bears official app.
Speaker 1: Jeffy tomp Fare and Jim Miller, our guest here on
Speaker 1: bears all access for another ten minutes or so, six
Speaker 1: minutes or so, I should say, Tom, will you what
Speaker 1: do you got? I don't. I don't have Twitter. But
Speaker 1: they were showing me pictures of Double A dancing in
Speaker 1: front of Shack. Did you see that? I caught a glimpse.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. You know, first of all, he moves
Speaker 1: his feet as well now as any time throughout his
Speaker 1: entire career, even you know, being out of football for
Speaker 1: a couple of years. He's he is, he's fearless. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, I tell you. He's sitting there going eyeball
Speaker 1: to eyeball with Shack doing some pretty aggressive dance steps
Speaker 1: in front of him, and Shack couldn't hold a straight
Speaker 1: face for it. Double A is, uh the personification of entertainment. Yes,
Speaker 1: and he has scared scared he knew he can keep up. No,
Speaker 1: there's no way Shat can move his feet like Dell.
Speaker 1: I think Double A can still play the way he
Speaker 1: dances out there. All right, let's talk something that's uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: Usually for sports fans, they get tired of hearing it.
Speaker 1: But it is a fact of life and all the sports,
Speaker 1: the collective bargaining agreement Big Jim, it runs out after
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, the ten year deal that was was hammered
Speaker 1: out after the lockout and so forth. But today what
Speaker 1: appears to be the first of at least what we know,
Speaker 1: the league in union meeting and they're going to meet
Speaker 1: regularly in the coming months to try to intersect this
Speaker 1: and maybe prevent anything like this. Is this is considered
Speaker 1: a good thing and what do you what do you
Speaker 1: know about it from a national perspective? Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: it is a good thing. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: everybody knows what's motivated by It's a TV contracts, right
Speaker 1: because Sean McManus, I remember Pat and I talked to
Speaker 1: him rate the leading up to the to the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl about CBS and the deals that they want in place.
Speaker 1: And you know, from the NFLPA side and the NFL side,
Speaker 1: they know where the gravy train is. It's with the
Speaker 1: TV contracts, and they, you know, understand that they don't
Speaker 1: want a work stoppage because that's going to affect those
Speaker 1: TV deals not only from a player's side, but from
Speaker 1: the NFL an owner's side of things. So I think
Speaker 1: the TV contracts are motivating it. That's why they they've
Speaker 1: reached out to one another who wasn't at the NFL
Speaker 1: owners meetings, John Clayton. I talked to John Clayton, and
Speaker 1: he expected because everybody, you know, thought that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of animosity between the NFL, NFLPA and the NFL,
Speaker 1: and there has been over certain issues. But John Clayton
Speaker 1: thought that this is this is something that's going to
Speaker 1: motivate this deal to get done in terms of the
Speaker 1: next CBA. And I would think the broadcasting networks that
Speaker 1: are out there are going to be a big part
Speaker 1: of it because they want what labor piece right, so
Speaker 1: keep that gravy train going and why they probably will
Speaker 1: ultimately be able to work out those network contracts because
Speaker 1: they'll know that a labor piece deal is in place
Speaker 1: with a new CB. You know, I'm all for it
Speaker 1: starting the negotiations, the conversations about it, but I don't
Speaker 1: want the two sides to get together, have some meetings
Speaker 1: and then come away and throw out some really destructive
Speaker 1: language out there, because it's so easily passed around nowadays
Speaker 1: by everybody on both sides. If they can come out
Speaker 1: of there and it's not going to be an easy
Speaker 1: agreement and depending upon the terms, the terminology all that.
Speaker 1: So you know, just try to be two sides that
Speaker 1: are working together to get this done because you just
Speaker 1: don't want attitudes to start interfering with the early negotiation abilities.
Speaker 1: Well you experienced it yourself. You know, I could still
Speaker 1: recall there's there's there's audio of you time coming on WBBM,
Speaker 1: you know during that period of time, and you were
Speaker 1: just salty. You were salty. Well, we didn't have you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't have the ability to communicate the message correctly
Speaker 1: that they can today. You know, you'd have a small
Speaker 1: portion of the players come to a hotel at in Chicago,
Speaker 1: get together, get the message of an interrupted meeting out there,
Speaker 1: and then go to their teams and then lose part.
Speaker 1: You know, it's lost in the trans transition, transition. So
Speaker 1: it's just um, you know, I just think I'm all
Speaker 1: forward getting this thing done early and trying to get
Speaker 1: you know, get everything etched for years to come. See,
Speaker 1: we're all at different times because all the things that
Speaker 1: Tom fought fought for and players fought for benefited me.
Speaker 1: I was under the first collective bargaining agreement nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: four when I was drafted. That's when it first was initialized.
Speaker 1: And granted, the deals have been better since then, and
Speaker 1: hopefully they continue to fight for benefits and things like
Speaker 1: that for former players like Tom myself, because things are
Speaker 1: different now. As Tom mentioned, I don't think that's ever
Speaker 1: a good strategy for Demors Smith and the NFLPA Players
Speaker 1: Association because I was a part of it, and I'm
Speaker 1: critical of them. I don't think it's a good negotiating
Speaker 1: tactic to come out and say, oh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a war. Yeah, why your partners with one another. You
Speaker 1: are partners regardless of whether you like it or not
Speaker 1: with the National Football League. So hammer out what you
Speaker 1: need to do. And that was kind of the brilliance
Speaker 1: of Gene Upshaw. Gene Upshaw and the former commissioner. They
Speaker 1: could get in the room and they could just hash
Speaker 1: out a lot of things and get things done. And
Speaker 1: it wasn't in public eye, but yet a lot got
Speaker 1: done for the benefit of players and the benefit of
Speaker 1: the NFL. Join Us for Bears one hundred the celebration
Speaker 1: weekend in Rosemont, June seventh through the ninth, Enjoy player autographs,
Speaker 1: photo ops football panels and activities for all ages. Get
Speaker 1: tickets today at Chicago Bears dot Com. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a heck of an event. Act just the Mike Singletary,
Speaker 1: Brian Urlacker, Dick Bunkiss seminar should draw a lot of
Speaker 1: attention in and of itself, so it's going to be
Speaker 1: a fun time. Make sure you get some tickets to that.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the festivities. Kicking off what's going to be an
Speaker 1: interesting twenty nineteen campaign for the Bears. So many topics
Speaker 1: to get into. We'll pick it up at our next show. Fellas,
Speaker 1: thanks so much as always, four time fair Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: our special guest, Mike Davis, The Bears Free You running Back,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joni Ac Fulls Basketball coming up next the
Speaker 1: New York Nixon Town at United Center for this regular
Speaker 1: season finale at home and Steve Cash on the Gang
Speaker 1: Chuck's Horse Key Bill wanting to have the call. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, everybody, have a good night. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access.
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