Speaker 1: Welcome in to Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production.
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Speaker 2: Pizza, and Miller Liked. Here are your hosts.
Speaker 1: Jeff Chiliac aka the Merrow Bearsville and his psidekick Tom
Speaker 1: the Surfmaster.
Speaker 3: Theyer NFL facilities have cleared out for a month or so,
Speaker 3: including HALLI saw the calm before the storm, so to speak,
Speaker 3: and we can't wait for the storm. Welcome into another
Speaker 3: edition Bears Weekly here on ESPN Chicago and the Chicago
Speaker 3: Bears Radio Network. I'm Jeff Jonnyak with Super Bowl Bear
Speaker 3: Tom Thayer and former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious
Speaker 3: XM NFL Radio, moving the chains a full hour of
Speaker 3: conversation thanks to our producers Jordan tread Up and Dan
Speaker 3: Burrilly from the Bears and the folks here at the
Speaker 3: ESPN one thousand studios. The executive producer of the Bears
Speaker 3: Radio Network is Eric Ostrowski, and coming up in our
Speaker 3: next segment tonight, we sit down with new starting rank
Speaker 3: guard Nate Davis fellas, how we feeling, Jim, what's going on? Man?
Speaker 4: Doing well?
Speaker 5: This last couple of days, I was up at Michigan
Speaker 5: State baseball camp with the boys. So baseball season for
Speaker 5: the summer and we get right into football. So hard
Speaker 5: to believe, you know, here we're a little over a
Speaker 5: month away and everything's going to get rolling again.
Speaker 3: Tom, he's on a summer break like the rest of
Speaker 3: the league. I know you love here with that. I
Speaker 3: know you got to watch up when.
Speaker 6: You talk about the or the facilities being closed and stuff.
Speaker 2: I am for that.
Speaker 6: In terms of the coaches and the training staffs and
Speaker 6: the equipment guys, because once they start training camp, that's
Speaker 6: seven days a week, twenty four hours a day. So
Speaker 6: somebody does need a little bit of a rest time
Speaker 6: because we have a chance to talk to some coaches
Speaker 6: and stuff. When what are you going to do during
Speaker 6: this period of time? And is there only vacation of
Speaker 6: the year again, like my rat last week, and I
Speaker 6: heard a lot about it. I hope that the players
Speaker 6: don't believe that they deserve a vacation because it's really
Speaker 6: not vacation time.
Speaker 2: It's continuing to prep time.
Speaker 6: So yeah, if the coaches get to clear their mind
Speaker 6: a little bit, so being enjoy some time with your families,
Speaker 6: because the families are the ones that suffer the most
Speaker 6: to head coaches, assistant coaches, the staffs of each organization.
Speaker 2: So I am for the break for those guys.
Speaker 3: Reporting day is Tuesday, July twenty fifth. Course rookies and
Speaker 3: quarterbacks start a little earlier than that training camp schedule
Speaker 3: now in place July twenty sixth through August fourteenth, tom
Speaker 3: only nine public practices this year. Of course, a week
Speaker 3: in Indianapolis to get ready for the colts and that
Speaker 3: co practice scheduled there will take some of that away.
Speaker 3: But if you want to go, you gotta get a
Speaker 3: tick and get over there. There's only nine of them,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 6: What, Jeff, I'm almost thinking as the audience that training
Speaker 6: camp practice is a thing of the past unless you're invited.
Speaker 6: Because a lot of these teams staying at their own facilities,
Speaker 6: they really don't have what is needed to provide for
Speaker 6: huge crowds that we used to be a part of,
Speaker 6: either in Platteville or down in Bourboneta and stuff. So
Speaker 6: you know, nine practices opportunity for them to come and
Speaker 6: see the Bears in a preseason work atmosphere, but not
Speaker 6: so sure how long that will even last.
Speaker 3: And Jim, only a few of those will be in pads, frankly,
Speaker 3: and this is not to say the Bears will be
Speaker 3: practicing longer than that. Obviously, training camp does have a
Speaker 3: finite number on it, but they continue to work. You
Speaker 3: think about it, The camp ends August fourteenth, but the
Speaker 3: season doesn't open until the second week of September.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you guys know how I feel about it, and
Speaker 5: I don't want to go on a rant like Tom
Speaker 5: just said, but you know, it's a shame because to me,
Speaker 5: training camp that was the only major supporting event that
Speaker 5: was open to the public, you know where you know,
Speaker 5: you'd be down in Bourbone and you get twenty eight
Speaker 5: thousand fans that would show up to watch the Bears
Speaker 5: and they could get it's a very intimate atmosphere where
Speaker 5: you can get up close and personal and witness, you know,
Speaker 5: for professional football. No other sport offered that. And it's
Speaker 5: a shame that it's kind of going away, as Tom suggested,
Speaker 5: because there's only a finite amount of days you mentioned
Speaker 5: nine days that that fans maybe it just doesn't work
Speaker 5: out for them. You know, how many people can get
Speaker 5: in there at Hallis Hall to begin with? Can they
Speaker 5: Can they really service twenty eight thousand fans that showed
Speaker 5: up in Bourboney I would say no, and that's unfortunate.
Speaker 5: And there's a lot of kids that will be missing
Speaker 5: out on that that maybe you know, it's for them
Speaker 5: to want to play football. You know, some little boy
Speaker 5: who's nine years old and goes to watch a training
Speaker 5: camp practice, because I know that's what inspired me as
Speaker 5: a kid to want to play football. And to me,
Speaker 5: it's it's a shame because it's a it was a
Speaker 5: very to me, crucial and pivotal area where a team
Speaker 5: can connect with its fans.
Speaker 3: Well, you get your free ticket at Chicago Bears dot
Speaker 3: com slash camp starting July sixth at ten am. You
Speaker 3: can select the four tickets per date, subject availability and
Speaker 3: like Jim said, there is limited attendance overall. There is
Speaker 3: the Meyer Bears Family Fest at Soldier Field that'll be
Speaker 3: on Sunday, August sixth at ten thirty five am. That'll
Speaker 3: be a big crowd opportunity there at Soldier Field.
Speaker 7: All right, So.
Speaker 3: All the OTA's mini camps, VET camps, all the signings
Speaker 3: for right now anyway in place, Jim, take stock of
Speaker 3: the team. Where are they at right now?
Speaker 5: I think they're in a good place, you know. I
Speaker 5: think coach Everflus and the staff they've been working hard.
Speaker 5: Sounds like players now, second year players there. You know,
Speaker 5: things just happen a lot quicker for them. You know,
Speaker 5: the install goes a lot easier.
Speaker 4: The new young.
Speaker 5: Draft picks picks. They're going through their indoctrination, so to speak.
Speaker 5: And I think they're going to get a lot of
Speaker 5: playing time as well. I think we know Darnell right
Speaker 5: most likely will be starting at the right tackle spot,
Speaker 5: so he's got to be prepared for that. He'll make
Speaker 5: you share mistakes, no doubt, but it'll be a growth spurt,
Speaker 5: much like the players last year. As for the veterans,
Speaker 5: they should be feeling pretty good. You know, they should
Speaker 5: be feeling very good of what's expected of them and
Speaker 5: what they need to do to execute and lo to
Speaker 5: win games right, and so they need to be the
Speaker 5: crucial motivators of the continued growth for those young players.
Speaker 5: I still think and we know that they're missing some areas.
Speaker 5: I do believe they do need to add another pass rusher,
Speaker 5: and even Koach ever plus has talked about that, so
Speaker 5: maybe a late addition or two is still going to happen.
Speaker 3: Come training camp, Tom, where do you see it?
Speaker 7: Ken?
Speaker 6: I just hope that they give some of the like
Speaker 6: when you talk about a guy like Darnell Wright, or
Speaker 6: the running back position or the defensive line where some
Speaker 6: of these young guys are going to be expected to contribute.
Speaker 6: They have to understand the reality of full speed football,
Speaker 6: and I don't know if they can show that in
Speaker 6: practice or do they need to have more playing time
Speaker 6: in the preseason games. So the worst thing I want
Speaker 6: to happen to the Bears is they have a bunch
Speaker 6: of young guys, first and second year players starting in
Speaker 6: that Green Bay game and being caught off guard because
Speaker 6: there is a difference between the speed of the regular
Speaker 6: season in what you see throughout training camp in preseason
Speaker 6: when you have a quick whistle at camp and then
Speaker 6: you have, you know, a limited amount of playing time
Speaker 6: and exposure to real football and training camp. So and
Speaker 6: you know, as Matt Abrafleu said last year, he's not
Speaker 6: afraid of playing young guys, but the young guys need
Speaker 6: to come in with some experience so they're not caught
Speaker 6: off guard by the speed, the physicality and their job requirements.
Speaker 2: When you talk about playing four quarters.
Speaker 3: All right, first game of the year, Packers, we've already
Speaker 3: talked about it behind the scenes, Tom and I, Jim,
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's the great unknown Week one. But
Speaker 3: I got annoyed. I saw a Twitter clip on NFL Network.
Speaker 3: Preston Smith, the outside linebacker the Packers, is on there
Speaker 3: and they had predicted their first eight games, and they said, hey,
Speaker 3: how'd you feel about going six and two to start
Speaker 3: the season, but they had opening loss to the Bears
Speaker 3: in Atlanta the next week. He goes, hold on, I've
Speaker 3: never lost to the Bears. I didn't. I've never lost
Speaker 3: to the Bears. As a Washington commander, I've never lost
Speaker 3: to the Bears. So you know that idea that he's
Speaker 3: never they've never lost to the Bears at a certain point,
Speaker 3: many of those guys haven't. It just gets your blood up,
Speaker 3: doesn't it.
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, and it should.
Speaker 5: And for the Bears, it's time to change the tenor
Speaker 5: you know, it's trying to time to change the tone
Speaker 5: of this matchup. Green Bay has dominated it for over
Speaker 5: the last decade. I would say, you know, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 5: is gone, it's time to change history here. You know,
Speaker 5: there's an opportunity with the young Jordan Love. And then
Speaker 5: quite frankly, they were a very good football team last year.
Speaker 5: Green Bay knows that they were good. They couldn't stop
Speaker 5: the run, and I don't think they'll be able to
Speaker 5: stop the Bears run game week one, and the Bears
Speaker 5: need to give him a reality to those of things
Speaker 5: they are about to change.
Speaker 2: Oh, I agree one hundred percent.
Speaker 6: I mean, the Bears got to change the tone and
Speaker 6: the tempo and the outcome and the way that people
Speaker 6: are thinking down the road.
Speaker 2: Because you know, Jim, when you think about.
Speaker 6: This first game of the year, in the last game
Speaker 6: of the year, they're going to play the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 6: that's two completely different teams by that much time in
Speaker 6: between Game one and Game seventeen.
Speaker 3: Jim, we got to take our first break when we
Speaker 3: come back. We'll be joined by Nate Davis, the offensive Guard,
Speaker 3: the newest Bear here on Bears Weekly on the ESPN
Speaker 3: one thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network. This segment
Speaker 3: of Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW people
Speaker 3: to get it. Jeff Joniyak along with Tom Thayer and
Speaker 3: Jim Miller to help me along, and just a moment
Speaker 3: first our visit with news starting guard the free agent
Speaker 3: acquisition from the Tennessee Titans. Big Nate Davis joining us.
Speaker 3: Good to talk to you, Good to see how.
Speaker 7: You doing, fling good. Thanks for having me too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, good to have you. The big news is that
Speaker 3: everybody's here. The attendance has been unbelievable this team, and
Speaker 3: we were talking about how much guys love them playing
Speaker 3: with each other, and as you get to know your
Speaker 3: team even a little bit better, maybe already know that
Speaker 3: they really do love getting out there together.
Speaker 8: Yeah, one hundred percent. Just being to be a part
Speaker 8: of the energy that's out there every single day is
Speaker 8: definitely a blessing. It definitely keeps you going every single
Speaker 8: day too, even in the hard days. But now it's
Speaker 8: a good group, a young group. Everyone was excited to see,
Speaker 8: you know, what we can really put together and see
Speaker 8: what we can.
Speaker 7: Do for the season.
Speaker 3: That's the end the underline, right, A young group and
Speaker 3: you're one of the vets on this team. Man, it's
Speaker 3: there's not many guys in that five to ten range
Speaker 3: of experience, and this is your fifth year in the league,
Speaker 3: so you're one of the leaders here. Do you do
Speaker 3: you sense that difference of a young team that really
Speaker 3: had to cut their teeth last year and learned some
Speaker 3: other hard bumps along the way.
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I definitely feel it.
Speaker 8: You know, come from an old line who you know,
Speaker 8: I was a young guy playing with the guys who
Speaker 8: were thirties and stuff like that, and then you know,
Speaker 8: switching over to the other side.
Speaker 7: I definitely feel it.
Speaker 8: But it's also cool experience too at the same time,
Speaker 8: just seeing the group, the growth that people, the growth
Speaker 8: that the players have already had, seeing what they can
Speaker 8: accomplish to in this league, is definitely excited to be
Speaker 8: part of.
Speaker 3: Jim Miller, who also works at Serious XM NFL Radio,
Speaker 3: it was a quarterback here in two thousand and one,
Speaker 3: and he always would tell me, hey, you know, we
Speaker 3: knew we were gonna be a good team, just in
Speaker 3: the weightlifting portion. And things were different back then, of course,
Speaker 3: in terms of the schedule, but these guys lobbed the
Speaker 3: weight room and they were competing in the weight room,
Speaker 3: and so he wrote down on a piece of paper
Speaker 3: what he thought the record would be for the season.
Speaker 3: They shoved it in a drawer in the video director's
Speaker 3: office and he wrote thirteen and three Garnet. The Bears
Speaker 3: went thirteen and three in two thousand and one, went
Speaker 3: to the playoffs, and then the six team was coming
Speaker 3: off an O five season. They went to the playoffs,
Speaker 3: got beat by Carolina in the first round of the playoffs,
Speaker 3: but they came back a different bunch. No one really
Speaker 3: believed they were gonna go to the They went to
Speaker 3: the Super Bowl. I mean, I'm not saying all that
Speaker 3: could happen. I mean it could, but do you get
Speaker 3: the sense from your experience from the time you got
Speaker 3: in the league coming out of the University of Charlotte
Speaker 3: to where you are today that a lot of that
Speaker 3: bonding that happens throughout the course of the offseason pays
Speaker 3: off later.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Just the things we do off the field too, not
Speaker 8: just on the field, just feeling, like I said, back
Speaker 8: to the energy thing, we're all just you know, pointing
Speaker 8: the right direction. Wanted to get better and want to
Speaker 8: compete with each other and push each other to be
Speaker 8: the best player we possibly could be. We are definitely
Speaker 8: in the right direction. We are definitely working towards the
Speaker 8: goals that we have.
Speaker 3: And you know, when everybody's not pulling on the same rope,
Speaker 3: right right, I mean it's pretty palpable.
Speaker 7: You feel it.
Speaker 3: As a player, what do you think you can bring?
Speaker 3: Forget about your on field talent, let's talk about Nate
Speaker 3: Davis the man. What do you bring to that locker
Speaker 3: room that will help the Bears get to that next level?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I would say, you know, not just off the
Speaker 8: field things with you know, how I treat my body
Speaker 8: to you know, male prep and stuff like that, the
Speaker 8: little things, but just my mentality, the way I show
Speaker 8: up the work every single day, the way I do
Speaker 8: every single drill, the way just my mentality of trying
Speaker 8: to get better every single day. Hopefully I'm not I'm
Speaker 8: not a huge loud guy, but I try to lead
Speaker 8: by example and that's something that definitely take pride in.
Speaker 3: Hey, thet little thing is no longer nutrition, it's a
Speaker 3: big thing, right, So if you're eating right, you're putting
Speaker 3: in your body, maybe guys will ask you, hey, what
Speaker 3: are you doing, Nate? I mean, does that happen in
Speaker 3: the locker?
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's already happened a couple of guys have already asked,
Speaker 8: you know, why why do you do this to that
Speaker 8: or why that? And then you know, explain those things.
Speaker 8: Like me, I have joined that too, So being able
Speaker 8: to pass that knowledge down to them and then see
Speaker 8: them actually take part in that too.
Speaker 7: Is that's a good feeling.
Speaker 3: Sore you a big I mean clearly you're you're muscled up.
Speaker 3: The viiceps are popping right now at me. Right now,
Speaker 3: I feel like I need to go do some pushups.
Speaker 3: Do you fuel your body in a very particular way
Speaker 3: or do you take advice from the nutrition staff here,
Speaker 3: or what's what give me a typical meal day?
Speaker 8: For Nate Davis, it was it was a culination of
Speaker 8: many years of talent error of feeling, you know what's
Speaker 8: right for my body, but just you know, listening from
Speaker 8: you know, nutrition staff here, to just the people in
Speaker 8: my path to this point. Now, you know, just waking
Speaker 8: up in the morning and everything's particularly from breakfast, lunch,
Speaker 8: and dinner. You know, it's hard to get a lot
Speaker 8: of protein. Yeah, it's hard to give you exact Yeah,
Speaker 8: sure you know what I do, but I just know
Speaker 8: that's very particular.
Speaker 3: Well, think about this Lake Forest College is not far
Speaker 3: down the road from here, and that's where the Bears
Speaker 3: used to train. There was no cafeteria. So Otis Wilson,
Speaker 3: a star linebacker on the eighty five Bears, was here.
Speaker 3: I was talking to him on the sidelines and he's
Speaker 3: just shaking his head. He goes, Man, this place is immaculate.
Speaker 3: This is like beautiful. He goes, if if we had
Speaker 3: something like this then now granted exaggeration, kicks and he
Speaker 3: felt he could play for twenty years because they had
Speaker 3: to go out and get fast food. That's what they ate.
Speaker 3: They had. Nobody's packing a brown bag lunch and there
Speaker 3: was no no services like that back in the day.
Speaker 3: Do you feel that's well you you entered into the
Speaker 3: league during that era, you know, it hasn't been that
Speaker 3: way for very long. How much of a benefit is
Speaker 3: that though, for you that you don't have to leave
Speaker 3: the facility or worry about why you're gonna plan your
Speaker 3: meals when you you don't have it here.
Speaker 8: Yeah, even with the train stuff, you know, everyone is
Speaker 8: in the right direction together whatever they have to do
Speaker 8: to help you get to the best, you know player
Speaker 8: you could possibly be. I think it's huge everywhere you
Speaker 8: go if you just walk around the bill and you
Speaker 8: just see different types of you know, recovery tools or
Speaker 8: like you said, mill plans or mill prep for players
Speaker 8: like you know, it's it's it's emmaculately. It's definitely a blessing.
Speaker 3: All right, Let's talk about Nate Davis, the player, great
Speaker 3: career there in Tennessee, got in on the rookie I
Speaker 3: think you started in week five your rookie year, and
Speaker 3: that's the year one of the years Derek Henry led
Speaker 3: the NFL in a rushing So that's something you're never
Speaker 3: gonna forget. And you have a new address now. But boy,
Speaker 3: what a memory to play with a Hall of Fame
Speaker 3: player your rookie season. Take me through that process of
Speaker 3: coming in week five, starting and then never giving it
Speaker 3: back up, you know, and just blocking for a player
Speaker 3: like that on a team like that.
Speaker 7: Yeah, No, it was definitely something I'll not forget. Something special.
Speaker 8: Definitely a lot of ups and downs, but everything that
Speaker 8: has put me in a direction or the path them
Speaker 8: in now is because of those moments right there. So
Speaker 8: extremely grateful to be with those guys, to be you know,
Speaker 8: drafted by that organization from giving the tools to carry
Speaker 8: that now and you know, help out the team.
Speaker 3: He was, without question the lead back here. It's going
Speaker 3: to be back by a committee. It appears any difference
Speaker 3: for an offensive lineman when that happens, when you know,
Speaker 3: you get to know one guy, it's going to get
Speaker 3: the bulk of the carries versus an array of backs.
Speaker 8: I mean not to not too much of a difference.
Speaker 8: The mentality is still the same. You know, do your job.
Speaker 8: Blockley got behind you, and whoever's back that we want
Speaker 8: to see him succeed. We want to help him out
Speaker 8: the best way possible.
Speaker 3: What have you learned about Chris Morgan the offensive line coach?
Speaker 3: Everybody who they call him seem all of course, But
Speaker 3: what have you learned about his coaching style?
Speaker 8: Very personal, which I love. He gets to know the
Speaker 8: player first before or he gets to know the man
Speaker 8: first before the player, and just the way he's able
Speaker 8: to speak to individuals knowing how okay he needs to
Speaker 8: be coach this way, this guy needs to coach that way.
Speaker 8: He has a lot of He's been in lead for
Speaker 8: a while too, so he's seen a lot of things.
Speaker 8: So his perspective is very key for anything we do.
Speaker 8: Said I said a little bit earlier, but it's definitely
Speaker 8: the right thing for me to be with this coach.
Speaker 3: He is, he's awesome, he presses the right buttons for me.
Speaker 3: I love to get to know the man first, and
Speaker 3: I believe the whole coaching staff that's kind of their thing.
Speaker 3: I've heard this from multiple position groups. Know the man first,
Speaker 3: because you do have to know what you're dealing with.
Speaker 3: I know, maybe in the old days everybody got yelled
Speaker 3: at the same way, but there are different ways to
Speaker 3: do it with that aspect of it. What what what
Speaker 3: is that connection like for you for somebody to take
Speaker 3: the time to get to know the man, because hey, listen,
Speaker 3: you're you're a veteran man. It's not like a guy
Speaker 3: is coming into the league raw. You know what you're doing,
Speaker 3: but they got to get to know you a.
Speaker 7: Little bit here, right. It makes you take a step
Speaker 7: back a little bit. You know, well, they actually, you know,
Speaker 7: care about it. Yeah, he cares.
Speaker 8: About me more than just the guy in the field
Speaker 8: with number sixty four. It makes you just want to
Speaker 8: do better. It makes you want to do more. It
Speaker 8: makes you want to, you know, the be the best
Speaker 8: person you possibly be for the team. Knowing that they
Speaker 8: care about you, not only as the player, but just
Speaker 8: off the field too.
Speaker 3: We get obsessed with Okay, a guy gets drafted and
Speaker 3: you were a third round pick. You're one, get your
Speaker 3: feet wet, Hey, you get in there. You started the
Speaker 3: bulky year, then year two, you know, you make that
Speaker 3: big and then year three is your take off. Here,
Speaker 3: now you're five, You're an established veteran. What do you
Speaker 3: see for yourself here in the next party. This is
Speaker 3: truly like the next phase of your career. If you're
Speaker 3: a really good offensive lineman, which you are, you're going
Speaker 3: to play in league ten to twelve years.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: You know, I have my own goals and every single
Speaker 8: year I create new ones, and I know I have
Speaker 8: a lot of work to do still, and I'm excited
Speaker 8: for that process. I have to right people around me.
Speaker 8: Like I said, this coach stops amazing too to continue
Speaker 8: to push me. But yeah, I'm expected for myself to
Speaker 8: be even better, to make another step or jump as
Speaker 8: you will.
Speaker 7: So yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 3: Are you a guy that writes down your goals? Keep
Speaker 3: some private or how do you attack that? And are
Speaker 3: you willing to share?
Speaker 8: So I write them down at Q private I'm just
Speaker 8: one of those guys who I'm not a huge I
Speaker 8: guess I'm not a loud guy. Yeah, so I know
Speaker 8: what I need to do and I'm gonna continue to
Speaker 8: work for that every single day.
Speaker 3: So when you say you're a loud guy, but you
Speaker 3: know you're a very personable guy. But our situations, like
Speaker 3: like we're having a conversation right now talking about offensive
Speaker 3: lineman don't like talking about themselves often. Are you you
Speaker 3: seem comfortable? Are you or is it not your thing?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 7: Uncomfortable?
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's just I'm a guy who just leads by example.
Speaker 8: I'm not a guy who's just gonna start yelling and
Speaker 8: stuff like that. It's just it's just me at the
Speaker 8: end of the day.
Speaker 3: So take me through what looks to be right now,
Speaker 3: a young offensive line with some key veterans in it. Uh,
Speaker 3: take me across the board what you've already learned. Let's
Speaker 3: start with the with the left tackle, Braxton Jones and
Speaker 3: Devin Jenkins on the left guard.
Speaker 8: First thing, because is hard workers their mentality. Like just
Speaker 8: I was talking to my friends back at home. I
Speaker 8: was like, man, this guy is like he could be special,
Speaker 8: especially like the left side in general, they could be special.
Speaker 8: They're young, they're hungry, they're asking all the right questions.
Speaker 7: Yeah, just they could be great. Simple Is that simple
Speaker 7: as that?
Speaker 3: Braxton. I talked about this last week with with coach
Speaker 3: Moe and some mother fault. He is so open about
Speaker 3: what he needs to work on, you know, and you
Speaker 3: could see it in his face. He's a genuine article. Yeah,
Speaker 3: gush center code white here. Yeah, whatever you ask him
Speaker 3: to do, he'll do it. I'll do it right.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, no complaints or now I almost want to
Speaker 8: call him the workhorse. He just every single day is
Speaker 8: the same guy. He's gonna work hard, do the right things,
Speaker 8: communicate when he needs to communicate. Someone you can definitely
Speaker 8: lean on. Definitely decided that, you know, he's my center.
Speaker 7: Yep.
Speaker 3: And good to have you know, two vets sitting right
Speaker 3: there next to and then you get the rookie darn
Speaker 3: all right. First thing, I see, Wow, got some long
Speaker 3: but to do you see people forget you have thirty
Speaker 3: three and a half for thirty three and a quarter
Speaker 3: inch arms as well, big long arms. But he's a
Speaker 3: big guy.
Speaker 8: Yeah yeah that's first seas Yeah, big guy, smart, He
Speaker 8: has all everything you needed to be a great right
Speaker 8: tackle on this league for a very long time. I'm
Speaker 8: excited to grow with him. I'm excited to see the
Speaker 8: progrescy Maanson's league.
Speaker 3: And we don't have time to get through the entire group,
Speaker 3: but it'll be some good competition come training camp, don't you.
Speaker 3: There's competition going obviously for the swing positions and the
Speaker 3: backup into your jobs, and it's going to be a
Speaker 3: competitive camp. I have a really strong feeling about that.
Speaker 3: Those young guys have got to play last year. Now,
Speaker 3: you know, get they wet their beak a little bit right.
Speaker 3: They want they don't want anybody taking their snaps. Do
Speaker 3: you get that feeling as we wrap up our interview.
Speaker 8: Here, Yeah, competition is the biggest thing. We continue to
Speaker 8: push each other, we're all you know. It's not like
Speaker 8: a bad type of competition. It's a okay, let's let's
Speaker 8: see what you do to continue to push each other
Speaker 8: to see how great we could. You could truly be
Speaker 8: at a position, and that's what you need in this game.
Speaker 8: And it's such a the NFL, at the highest level
Speaker 8: of football, it's that competition.
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate you being here. Hope you'll join us again.
Speaker 3: Sometime during the season and great to have you being
Speaker 3: a Chicago Bear. Gonna have a great time here.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I appreciate you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Nate Davis our guest. We'll continue on Bears
Speaker 3: Weekly here on ESPN one thousand Chicago and the Bears
Speaker 3: Radio Network after this timeout. Welcome back to Bears Weekly.
Speaker 3: Jeff Joniac, Tom Thayer, and former Bears quarterback Jim Miller
Speaker 3: from Serious xm NFL Radios. Moving the chains. Hey, you
Speaker 3: want VIP access to every Bears home game, exclusive seating,
Speaker 3: sideline credentials, and more now available. Get the ultimate VIP
Speaker 3: fan package this season by visiting Chicago Bears vip dot com. Jim,
Speaker 3: we heard Nate Davis. That was my one on one
Speaker 3: with him after the end of a veteran miniicamp. Bright guy, excited, guy,
Speaker 3: really I love I broke down the offensive line and
Speaker 3: the idea that he believes Braxton Jones and Tevin Jenkins
Speaker 3: have special and then he's seen that already in the
Speaker 3: limited time working with him.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think you know, Tevin really showed a lot last
Speaker 5: year when he was plugged in at right guard. Now
Speaker 5: he's making that move over to the left guard and
Speaker 5: Braxton Jones. We've said it, he grated out higher than
Speaker 5: any tackle who was drafted last year. And I know
Speaker 5: Olin Kreutz has been working with him. He's a young right,
Speaker 5: smart young man who's talented, so it's really up to
Speaker 5: him to take another big jump here in his second year.
Speaker 5: And I like Nate Davis plugging in at right guard.
Speaker 5: Why because that's a nice veteran to really help out
Speaker 5: a young right tackle in Darnell right, you know, so
Speaker 5: to have that experience there to work with a young player.
Speaker 5: And Cody White here, we know he's just been stellar
Speaker 5: since he's been a Chicago Bear. He's been versatile, he's
Speaker 5: a good lead, played all the positions, and now with
Speaker 5: a young quarterback looking to grow again here in Justin Fields,
Speaker 5: I think it's nice to have Cody White here in
Speaker 5: his experience at the center spot.
Speaker 3: Tom, you're a right guard, You're a right guard. Nate
Speaker 3: Davis is a right guard. A lot of similarities here
Speaker 3: as he moves in. You had a little experience under
Speaker 3: your belt when you arrived at the Bears in eighty
Speaker 3: five and helped out that drive to the Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 3: What do you see from Nate and what do you
Speaker 3: suspect he'll bring to the table here as a veteran
Speaker 3: coming in in free agency.
Speaker 6: You know, I got to say I was really impressed
Speaker 6: the first time I got to see Nate Davis because
Speaker 6: this guy, he looks the part.
Speaker 2: He looks like you.
Speaker 6: Want an offensive lineman to look thick, big and strong
Speaker 6: in the lower body, in a big, strong upper body.
Speaker 2: This is what I want out of Nate Davis.
Speaker 6: Jeff and you and I have talked about it a
Speaker 6: little bit over the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2: Who's the alpha male in this locker room.
Speaker 6: I need Nate Davis from the day he puts on
Speaker 6: his full pads in helmets in the beginning of a
Speaker 6: can He's got to be an alpha male. He's got
Speaker 6: to change the whole mentality of that offensive line. Tavin
Speaker 6: is still growing into that Braxton Jones everything we heard
Speaker 6: out of them in the podium throughout the early portions
Speaker 6: of his career.
Speaker 2: He's got that type of intelligence.
Speaker 6: Jimbo Kovert walked in day one as an alpha male
Speaker 6: on this football team, and I think Darnell Wright can
Speaker 6: do the same thing.
Speaker 2: However, they need.
Speaker 6: To have an example and when Jim brought up ooland
Speaker 6: Krutz in the past. He was as alpha male as
Speaker 6: you could possibly get. But that's what Nate has to
Speaker 6: be day one, not month one.
Speaker 3: He's not a big talker though he's not a vocal guy.
Speaker 3: Is that okay?
Speaker 6: You don't have to be a talker to be an
Speaker 6: alpha male. You just have to lead by example. You
Speaker 6: have to show these guys the work ethod that's expected
Speaker 6: of them even though they're a younger guy, because it's
Speaker 6: on display from a veteran. So look, if you want
Speaker 6: to have a long, successful career in the NFL, we
Speaker 6: need an alpha.
Speaker 2: And we it now.
Speaker 3: All right, I got questions for you then, Jim, did
Speaker 3: you who is the alpha that you were in a
Speaker 3: locker room with that Tom just described that doesn't need
Speaker 3: to be the big voice or the guy who's you know,
Speaker 3: holding guys accountable verbally. They just go out there and
Speaker 3: play ball and they have that professionalism that is attached
Speaker 3: to their athleticism.
Speaker 5: Who comes to mind, Yeah, well I played it with
Speaker 5: a ton of guys. GERMONDI Dawson was that way. He
Speaker 5: wasn't a big talker. He just went out and played
Speaker 5: and he was the most athletic guy, and he dominated.
Speaker 5: He showed how dominant he was, and people knew not
Speaker 5: to mess with him. You know, olen was obviously that way.
Speaker 5: And you know, again, you can go out and show it,
Speaker 5: and players see it on the tape. They know who's
Speaker 5: dominating and they know who's the badass out there in
Speaker 5: the alpha male that Tom's talking about. And I do
Speaker 5: like that thought that Nate Davis needs to do that.
Speaker 5: I think Darnell Wright definitely has that ability because, like
Speaker 5: we talked about, physically, he's so gifted. He can push
Speaker 5: people around just because he's bigger than stronger than most.
Speaker 5: So I think he can be that guy as well,
Speaker 5: just because he's that physically dominant. Now, just go out
Speaker 5: and do it, and trust me, players, what games players
Speaker 5: respect more than anything in the locker room is your toughness,
Speaker 5: because you need to be tough to play football. It's
Speaker 5: a tough man sport and it's not for everybody. But
Speaker 5: if you show that toughness, trust me, everybody knows who
Speaker 5: they can count on and who's going to be there
Speaker 5: when things get tough.
Speaker 6: You know, you know, r Locker wasn't alpha male, as
Speaker 6: alpha as you can get it.
Speaker 2: He was not a big talker. Mike Singletary.
Speaker 6: He was a top of the top of the heap
Speaker 6: alpha male, and he wasn't one of these guys looking
Speaker 6: at me type of conversationalist.
Speaker 2: So you know, there's a lot.
Speaker 6: Of guys that we've all had examples to be around. Jeff,
Speaker 6: you as many as Jim and I. However, you get
Speaker 6: to probably know the alpha side of some of these
Speaker 6: guys more than the.
Speaker 2: Rest of us.
Speaker 3: All right, would you have considered both of you guys alphas?
Speaker 4: Will I consider myself in alpha?
Speaker 5: I had to talk a lot, certainly being a quarterback,
Speaker 5: but I think players knew I was going to be there.
Speaker 4: You know what, times got tough.
Speaker 6: Listen, man, We had a great example of an alpha
Speaker 6: male from Dick Stanfeld, our offensive line coach, and I
Speaker 6: think he inserted himself and every one of the guys
Speaker 6: that he ever coached, and I think that you know,
Speaker 6: we all fell on the line according to plan, and
Speaker 6: we are proud to be considered an alpha male.
Speaker 3: All right. Another another thing about this offensive line. I
Speaker 3: love love that the five guys lined up and basically
Speaker 3: that's your offensive line until further notice. And this time
Speaker 3: of year ago, we had no idea how it was
Speaker 3: going to play out. Is this a positive heading into
Speaker 3: training camp? Tom and Jim?
Speaker 6: I think it, of course it is because the more
Speaker 6: time that you can have names on the board that
Speaker 6: are going to line up first, that's when the competition starts. Jeff,
Speaker 6: because I was that type of guy that came in
Speaker 6: and my name wasn't in that first unit. So everything
Speaker 6: inside of me was designed was you know, effect in
Speaker 6: the way you practice and everything to try to climb
Speaker 6: that ladder. So I look at the frontier guys, Yes,
Speaker 6: it's nice to have their name.
Speaker 2: On the list. However, there's about fifteen guys that are
Speaker 2: behind them, jeft, that are chopping on the bit, chopping
Speaker 2: at the bit to increase their opportunities.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean, think of Alex Leatherwood, that's a former
Speaker 5: first round pick. Whether he's a right tackle or whether
Speaker 5: he plays a right guard, he should be hungry.
Speaker 4: You know, a.
Speaker 5: Rookie who is drafted is ahead of him right now,
Speaker 5: and Alex that should be burning in his gun that
Speaker 5: you know, this kid's just been plugged in there and
Speaker 5: the expectation is that he's going to be.
Speaker 4: The right tackle. If I'm Alex at Leatherwood.
Speaker 5: I'd be pissed, quite frankly, because I haven't lived up
Speaker 5: to my billing as a draft pick nor what I
Speaker 5: should be able to play at the level I should
Speaker 5: be able to play at as a pro. I do
Speaker 5: think having the name slated in is good for continuity.
Speaker 5: That's the direction the Bears coaches wanted to go in.
Speaker 5: But like I said, then Tom said, other players better
Speaker 5: be hungry to try and remove those names because that's
Speaker 5: where they.
Speaker 7: Want to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Talk the same way about Larry borm who is
Speaker 3: not a first round pick but had shown great potential
Speaker 3: right out of the gate as a middle round pick.
Speaker 3: Talking about Jitari Carter, a guy Tom was on last year,
Speaker 3: he got a lot of snaps in this offseason. All right,
Speaker 3: let's switch gears to the quarterback position. Because the incessant
Speaker 3: and relenting, unrelenting comparisons of Justin Fields in year two
Speaker 3: and Jalen Hurts in year two the numbers were very similar,
Speaker 3: almost right to the number, and then the takeoff year
Speaker 3: in year three. Is too much being made to this
Speaker 3: because while they are similar quarterbacks, they're not the same
Speaker 3: guy that there's different aspects of their games. Jim must
Speaker 3: start with you, because you're the quarterback in town can
Speaker 3: follow suit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean he should feel comfortable right now. It's
Speaker 5: his second year in this Loup Getzi offense, and you're right,
Speaker 5: year three to year four, this is where your career
Speaker 5: has got to be on the ascent, all right. This
Speaker 5: is where things should be coming together, and he should
Speaker 5: just explode onto the scene in every aspect of his game,
Speaker 5: whether it's running the ball, whether it's passing. Check with me,
Speaker 5: he's at the lion of scribbage defenses that he now
Speaker 5: understands and knows how to attack. And so, like I said,
Speaker 5: I threw out pretty modest goals for him last week.
Speaker 5: Throw for over three thousand yards. Cut the turnovers in half,
Speaker 5: cut the sacks in half. All those things should happen
Speaker 5: because it's coming together mentally for Justin Fields. He's got
Speaker 5: all the talent in the world. Now it's time to do.
Speaker 7: It, you know.
Speaker 6: To me, Justin just has to play better as a quarterback.
Speaker 6: He has to do the thing that Jim just said.
Speaker 6: You got a decrease you're running yards. You have to
Speaker 6: increase your passing yards, decrease the amount of.
Speaker 2: Sacks you take.
Speaker 6: But this is not a one man job. This is
Speaker 6: a supporting cast job. You look at what Philadelphia offered
Speaker 6: Jalen Hurts when he went there to be that.
Speaker 2: Quarterback that's getting better. Your whole team was getting better.
Speaker 3: Well, they certainly did get better with Jalen. We expect
Speaker 3: the same with another break ahead. This is Bears Weekly
Speaker 3: on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network. This segment
Speaker 3: of Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW. People
Speaker 3: to get it Jeff Joniak along with former Bears Tom
Speaker 3: Thayer and Jim and are good to have you alongside
Speaker 3: as we begin the quiet part of the NFL season.
Speaker 3: It's probably the only month of the year. But wait,
Speaker 3: the league will come up with something. I mean, there's
Speaker 3: so much out there, so much conversation, it's endless. I
Speaker 3: want to talk about Darnell Mooney, Tom and Jim. Darnell
Speaker 3: Mooney working himself back. I saw him last week. We
Speaker 3: had a nice conversation. He felt that this journey that
Speaker 3: he has undergone, being injured for the first time in
Speaker 3: his life, he learned a lot. He learned a lot
Speaker 3: about himself. He's glad he went through the process. We'll
Speaker 3: dig in why later when we talked to him in depth,
Speaker 3: but he feels good, he feels ready to contribute. He
Speaker 3: had that ankle injury Week twelve, so cut his season
Speaker 3: short a year after being a thousand yard receiver, Tom,
Speaker 3: what are your expectations Forarnell Mooney post injury?
Speaker 6: You know, the most important thing about Darnell Mooney is
Speaker 6: he's got such a determined work ethic that he's going
Speaker 6: to be able to overcome injuries and become a better
Speaker 6: wide receiver within developing the relationship that Justin feels.
Speaker 2: That they already have in place.
Speaker 6: I don't know what type of conversation we'd be having
Speaker 6: about Darnell Mooney if case Claypool was coming off of
Speaker 6: one of the best.
Speaker 2: Off seasons in the history of his young career.
Speaker 6: I know there are probably not two of the same
Speaker 6: guys at the same position. However, there is a need
Speaker 6: for Darnell Mooney, there is a need for him to
Speaker 6: continue to improve, and there's a need for him to
Speaker 6: have that continuous relationship with Justin that puts both of
Speaker 6: these guys arrows pointed up.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 5: I think he's got the speed, He's a two way
Speaker 5: go player. I still think he's got to get physically
Speaker 5: stronger to fight off coverage. But his speed is his
Speaker 5: second to none. He's a two way go player. Then
Speaker 5: he put DJ Moore at the X, so that should
Speaker 5: open up some things in the middle of the field
Speaker 5: because he'll garner at least DJ Morewell's safety coverage, and
Speaker 5: that should give opportunities to Mooney. You know, it's to
Speaker 5: be injured and come off injury. He should be a
Speaker 5: very hungry player. He knows what he wants to accomplish
Speaker 5: in the National Football League, and I'll think he'll be
Speaker 5: a complimentary piece to be able to do that. I
Speaker 5: always used to poke my head into the door of
Speaker 5: the receiver's room, whether it's Bobby Ingram or Robinson or
Speaker 5: Marty Booker, you know, you name it, whoever was in
Speaker 5: that room. I said, whoever gets open gets the rock.
Speaker 5: So get open, and you should get the ball because
Speaker 5: that's what justin fields. That's his job to do that.
Speaker 5: So just get open, man, That's all Mooney's got to do.
Speaker 3: Tom's laughing because I could just picture right now because
Speaker 3: I don't know that I've seen Jim this fired up
Speaker 3: in mid June, mid to late June. Here he has
Speaker 3: brought his a game today and you could see it
Speaker 3: on his face.
Speaker 5: If you get open, you're going to get the ball,
Speaker 5: period the end. So do your job. I'll do my job.
Speaker 5: Let's get it done here.
Speaker 6: You know one one thing real quick, as last week
Speaker 6: you said, hey, go back and look at that speech
Speaker 6: by Mike Tomlin that he was giving the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 6: But this is what I want to make a point
Speaker 6: of Dick Stanfeld, our offensive line coach. She always used
Speaker 6: to say, as long as your arrow is pointed up,
Speaker 6: you're going to get all the coaching you can possibly
Speaker 6: want and need and to make you a better football player.
Speaker 6: As soon as your arrow starts pointing down, we got
Speaker 6: to look to replace you. And it's the same type
Speaker 6: of Spece and Mike Tomlin gave to this generation of
Speaker 6: players that Dick Stanfeld gave to our generation of players.
Speaker 6: So no matter what name you bring up from injured
Speaker 6: to healthy, if their arrow is pointed up, they're going
Speaker 6: to increase their opportunity for success of the.
Speaker 2: Bears and their own personal success. So whether it's.
Speaker 6: Darnell recovering from an injury or another guy that's still
Speaker 6: trying to learn.
Speaker 3: What his job is about and a guys looking for,
Speaker 3: you know, a contract extension. He'd like to stay here,
Speaker 3: Darnell Mooney, and I just think this situation he's in,
Speaker 3: with the added weapons and a third year for Justin
Speaker 3: in the same offense for the first time, this is
Speaker 3: going to benefit Darnell Mooney along with many other Bears.
Speaker 3: All Right, couple of other topics here. I just saw
Speaker 3: this earlier today. I didn't realize this, but according to
Speaker 3: Pro Football Focus, cole Comet had the most run blocking
Speaker 3: snaps of any tight end in twenty twenty two, and
Speaker 3: he had a good run block grade according to PFF,
Speaker 3: top seven in the league. That number shocky time.
Speaker 6: No, I think it's the biggest compliment you can play
Speaker 6: to a tight end or any exterior blocking personnel that
Speaker 6: you can put out there, but the tight end and
Speaker 6: their role, and the importance of the running game, the
Speaker 6: movement of the tight end position, the variety of positions
Speaker 6: front side, backside, HVAC, fullback. I think cole Comett has
Speaker 6: done a great job of all of those. But I
Speaker 6: don't think any of us would sit here and deny
Speaker 6: the fact that inside the red zone, that's when we
Speaker 6: have to be talking about cole Comet the most this season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 5: You know, if he's top seven, as you mentioned, his
Speaker 5: goal should be the top five. You know, they're going
Speaker 5: to run the ball just like they did last year,
Speaker 5: so get more of the same, and he needs to
Speaker 5: continue to do that. But like the area that Tom's
Speaker 5: talk about, he needs to explode more in the passing game.
Speaker 5: He is a true all around tight end. He's not
Speaker 5: just an inline guy. You can move him around and
Speaker 5: do some things with him, and he showed his athleticism.
Speaker 5: You know, how about that one handed seamrout catch that
Speaker 5: he made last year. It's within him to do it.
Speaker 5: And now with Justin in this passing offense growing, he's
Speaker 5: going to be even more incorporated into the passing offense
Speaker 5: and the red zone for more potential touchdown receptions. So
Speaker 5: maybe he Cole Comet his name can be considered in
Speaker 5: some of the top tight ends that we always bring up,
Speaker 5: whether it's a George Kittle or all the other names
Speaker 5: that are out there at Travis Kelsey. He has that
Speaker 5: within him and so more is expected.
Speaker 7: All right.
Speaker 3: This is interesting to me. This is where expectations that
Speaker 3: the definition of expectations from the fan base and those
Speaker 3: who write and speak about NFL football. So again, Pro
Speaker 3: Football Focus ranked all the linebacker units, and I know, Jim,
Speaker 3: you guys rank units on your show as well on
Speaker 3: Sirius XM, second best in the entire NFL, behind only
Speaker 3: the forty nine ers, the Chicago Bears, Tremaine Edmonds a
Speaker 3: lot of attention. TJ. Edwards on a Super Bowl team
Speaker 3: a year ago, put up some good numbers. How do
Speaker 3: you see it?
Speaker 5: Well, that's a good ranking, and I do think they
Speaker 5: have the athleticism there. There's some still pretty good course
Speaker 5: out there.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 5: I don't think you know Roquan the former Bear. You know,
Speaker 5: he just got one hundred million dollars for a reason.
Speaker 5: They got a pretty good group over there with Patrick Queen,
Speaker 5: or how about the guys down in Tampa with Devin
Speaker 5: White and Lavonte David. So I want to see it
Speaker 5: to believe it. I think the Bears have the type
Speaker 5: of talent that they need at linebacker, but I want
Speaker 5: to see it to believe it in order to have
Speaker 5: that high of a ranking. So these guys haven't together yet.
Speaker 5: Those other groups that I just mentioned have and they
Speaker 5: played really well.
Speaker 3: Tommy, you know, as all to me.
Speaker 6: I don't think you can rank a linebacker crew linebackers
Speaker 6: unless you rank the defensive line in front of them,
Speaker 6: Because when you look at the defensive lineman again that
Speaker 6: Edmunds and TJ. Edwards are played with the last couple
Speaker 6: of years, that's top notch. You look at the defensive
Speaker 6: line in Baltimore, you look at the defensive line in Dallas,
Speaker 6: you look at the.
Speaker 2: Defensive line in San Francisco.
Speaker 6: You want to rate these linebacker positions and tell me
Speaker 6: how productive their defensive line is. That's what's going to
Speaker 6: tell you about how good the linebacker position can be.
Speaker 3: Edwards seventh in the league in tackles last year, Edmonds
Speaker 3: the best coverage grade and that size and length will
Speaker 3: certainly help the Bears defense out significantly. One more segment
Speaker 3: to go. This is Bears Weekly. You're on ESPN Chicago
Speaker 3: and the Bears Radio Network. Want VIP access to every
Speaker 3: Bears home game, exclusive seating, sideline credentials and more now available.
Speaker 3: Get the ultimate VIP fan package this season by visiting
Speaker 3: Chicago Bears vip dot Com. Jeff Joniak, Tom Fhayir, Jim
Speaker 3: Miller from Serious XMNFL Radios Moving the Chains. We wrap
Speaker 3: up tonight's show. This is the whip around a lot
Speaker 3: of different topics. I'm gonna start with one that's kind
Speaker 3: of strange. When did what moment in your careers did
Speaker 3: you know it was time to retire?
Speaker 4: Well, for me, it was kind of you know a lot.
Speaker 5: I think all players would like to go out on
Speaker 5: their own terms, but for me, that wasn't the case.
Speaker 5: Once I blew out my hip for the Giants that
Speaker 5: the doctor basically told me, hey man, that's its finality
Speaker 5: for you. So it was decided for me, and then
Speaker 5: you have to come to grips with it. And once
Speaker 5: it was decided for me, you know, I've got to
Speaker 5: live with it and and be able to move on.
Speaker 5: So that's how it happened for me, and uh, you know,
Speaker 5: I've been able to do that and move on from it.
Speaker 5: Didn't wasn't able to come to an end on my
Speaker 5: own terms, which is unfortunate, but you know, that's the
Speaker 5: way life is.
Speaker 6: You know, at the end of my career, I had
Speaker 6: two year career, a two year contract with the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 6: So at the end of my first year with the
Speaker 6: Miami Dolphins, I was sitting on kickoff return and overtime
Speaker 6: against the New England Patriots.
Speaker 2: And I, as I was sitting there.
Speaker 6: With the hands on my hands on my knees, watching
Speaker 6: the ball fly over my head, I said to myself,
Speaker 6: I don't want to be here anymore. I turned, they went,
Speaker 6: I went and made my block, walked out of the
Speaker 6: bus after the game, and I was sitting with coach
Speaker 6: Shula and he says, hey, I would like you to
Speaker 6: come in and compete next year for the starting right
Speaker 6: guard spot. And I said, Coach, I think I'm going
Speaker 6: to retire, so you know, you better be prepared for that.
Speaker 6: He goes, I never listened to a veteran the first
Speaker 6: week after the season's over. Take your time, figure it out.
Speaker 6: Come to Mini caamp and I knew, I knew I
Speaker 6: was done, but you know, and that's the way it was.
Speaker 6: I mean, I was on the field and I convinced myself.
Speaker 3: Why you opened the door because you said, coach, I think,
Speaker 3: which means you're beat and you're done right right, that's it.
Speaker 3: But you know the not so comical part of it.
Speaker 3: And you know, you guys obviously have had long careers
Speaker 3: now in broadcasting. You found a niche to still stay
Speaker 3: in the sport. Jim working at Michigan State as a
Speaker 3: color analyst for years and then having such a great
Speaker 3: career at serious XMNFL radio. Were you scared to retire
Speaker 3: to determine what was next? Tom? Jim? Because you know,
Speaker 3: I had a conversation with Jason McKee the other day
Speaker 3: about that topic, Because you know, you think, okay, but
Speaker 3: now what Like you're home and you're waking up it
Speaker 3: later in the day and you're like, Okay, what am
Speaker 3: I going to do with the rest of my life?
Speaker 3: You guys are retiring in your thirties. Did you ever
Speaker 3: feel scared, Tom about what was next? What were you
Speaker 3: going to do with your time in Jim followsuit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I live a life scared. I never
Speaker 2: know what's coming around the corner.
Speaker 6: And then when you I retired when I was thirty
Speaker 6: three years old, And when you go out and you
Speaker 6: fill out a job application, they said, well, what have
Speaker 6: you been doing for the last thirty years playing football?
Speaker 6: You know, there's not a lot of people out there
Speaker 6: looking for ex players. But I think if you get
Speaker 6: your sell mentally physically, you stay physically prepared, the opportunities
Speaker 6: are going to present themselves, and I was super fortunate
Speaker 6: of that. And I loved football when I played it,
Speaker 6: and I loved it after the I got done playing it.
Speaker 2: So that's that really benefited me a lot.
Speaker 5: Yeah, for me, I knew I was still always going
Speaker 5: to be involved in football. To me, it's the It's
Speaker 5: the greatest sport on the planet. I wanted to be
Speaker 5: connected with it, whether it's coaching or through the NFL
Speaker 5: at the league offices or doing what I'm doing right now.
Speaker 5: And I really got intrigued with the media side of
Speaker 5: it because you can break down football, uh to listeners
Speaker 5: out there, to really inform them and just make them
Speaker 5: more informed football fans.
Speaker 4: So I'm a lifer.
Speaker 5: Hopefully I can can do this for many more years
Speaker 5: because I enjoyed it so much. But I'll always be
Speaker 5: involved in some capacity.
Speaker 3: I love football more than anything. I swear. I am
Speaker 3: addicted to it. And so I was coming home from
Speaker 3: Des Moines, Iowa, where my mom celebrated her eighty fifth
Speaker 3: birthday over the weekend, and I was coming home and
Speaker 3: I had Super Bowl one of the Super Bowls on
Speaker 3: the early one, Super Bowl three, I think it was
Speaker 3: just on through my YouTube through my car. I wasn't
Speaker 3: watching the game, Tom, don't worry. I was keeping my
Speaker 3: eyes on the road. But you know, you forget about
Speaker 3: some things because and a lot of fans may not
Speaker 3: remember some of these things. But back in the day
Speaker 3: before the headsets and before coaches had a certain amount
Speaker 3: of time to give the play call to the quarterback
Speaker 3: in his headset, or the defensive calls were coming in
Speaker 3: for the d you had messengers. And it just it
Speaker 3: struck me because it was Dallas. It was Mike Ditka
Speaker 3: for Tom Orlandry running the plays in the tight ends
Speaker 3: were the messengers? Who were your messengers, Jim and Tom
Speaker 3: and a guy coming off the sideline coming into the
Speaker 3: huddle and giving you the play. Did that not happen
Speaker 3: in your NFL career? That never happened? Okay.
Speaker 4: Also, we would either signal and then of course they
Speaker 4: came up with the.
Speaker 5: Headsets, But that would really that would take you back
Speaker 5: to for me high school where they have a messenger,
Speaker 5: which is typically for us. It was the running back
Speaker 5: position because we alternated running backs, where they'd come in,
Speaker 5: they'd tell me the play, and I'd call the play.
Speaker 5: We'd go up there and run the place. So for
Speaker 5: me that goes back to high school and then in
Speaker 5: college it was always signaled. So we had a messenger
Speaker 5: that way until they came up with the headsets, which
Speaker 5: really was probably my second year in the NFL.
Speaker 4: Is when they came up with the headsets.
Speaker 3: Tom I neat stories here.
Speaker 6: I mean on every one of our you know, every
Speaker 6: interchangeable guy, whether it b Emery Moore had Tim Wrightman
Speaker 6: at tight end, Dennis Gentry, Dennis McKennon, and Kenny marjoram
Speaker 6: Willie Galt in the wide receiver position. Every once in
Speaker 6: a while you get Calvin Thomas coming in from Matt
Speaker 6: Suey and vice versa. You know, So any interchangeable body
Speaker 6: outside of offensive lineman with the Bears, they were eligible
Speaker 6: to be a messenger. And so according to the down
Speaker 6: and distance, according to the formation we were going to use,
Speaker 6: or the personnel grouping. That's how really they got hand
Speaker 6: picked from the sideline. That's why if you ever see
Speaker 6: an offensive coordinator from our era, Ed Hughes or Greg Landry,
Speaker 6: you see about five or six guys that are walking
Speaker 6: everywhere with him with him and staying in just within
Speaker 6: a you know, a quieted tempo of how he wanted
Speaker 6: to call the play.
Speaker 3: Did the plays sometimes get a little screwed up when
Speaker 3: they got to did they forget it?
Speaker 2: In our era? They did?
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 6: That's why I think that the quarterbacks had to know
Speaker 6: the information so well that if a player came in
Speaker 6: and gave them the formation and the strength, then they
Speaker 6: could figure they could probably say the play to themselves
Speaker 6: after they started it. So, you know, in my era,
Speaker 6: I remember when Jim Harball went from the messenger to
Speaker 6: the headset, and I think the headset and the helmet
Speaker 6: probably helped them help them the most.
Speaker 3: All right, two minute times, So we got to do
Speaker 3: a whip around here. Ready, here we go. Sports Illustrated
Speaker 3: writer Gil buttertel Manzano did a first round redraft of
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two Braxton Jones, we go number nineteen, Jakwan Brisker,
Speaker 3: twenty five.
Speaker 5: Hey, those are good grades and those players have played well,
Speaker 5: so again we'll see how they grow. I like what
Speaker 5: Brisker can do physically, and I like Braxton Jones. I
Speaker 5: think he's physically more talented to what people know, and
Speaker 5: he's a smart player. What you need to have success
Speaker 5: in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Tom I think brisker may be the way he walked
Speaker 3: around the practice field during this offseason. He's ready to go.
Speaker 3: He's died. I think he's going to have a huge year.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, those redrafts are a bunch of baloni. Anyways,
Speaker 6: I just think that you see great football players, whether
Speaker 6: you're drafted in the fifth round or the second round,
Speaker 6: or you're free agent like some of the guys that
Speaker 6: we've come across in our career.
Speaker 3: All right, Tom, there's a football player, four star quarterback
Speaker 3: Austin Simmons. He's skipping his final two years of high
Speaker 3: school major, great GPA, he was homeschooled. He's joining Ole
Speaker 3: missus F football program this summer at seventeen. That's according
Speaker 3: to Barstool Sports. Do you agree with this idea?
Speaker 7: I do not.
Speaker 6: You know, you look at guys like Marinovich that were raised,
Speaker 6: you know, by their father to be a football player.
Speaker 6: It guarantees you nothing. So I would rather see him
Speaker 6: grow up and mature a little bit more.
Speaker 3: Jim, where will Daniel Hunter wind up? And Delvin Cook?
Speaker 5: I think Delvin's gonna end up with the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 5: is where I think he wants to be and where
Speaker 5: he'll strike a deal. Daniel Hunter, who knows he could
Speaker 5: even be a bear?
Speaker 7: Oh boy.
Speaker 3: We end the show on x acclamation point right there.
Speaker 3: That's gonna do it for us, for Jim Miller and
Speaker 3: Tom Thayer, Thanks Nate Davis and our producers. That's all
Speaker 3: the time we have. This is Bears Weekly on the
Speaker 3: new radio home of the Bears, AM one thousand ESPN Chicago.
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you next week.
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