Speaker 1: Here we are once again, no game to look forward
Speaker 1: to here in week ten, but hope you're having a
Speaker 1: great evening. Thanks for joining us and welcome to Bears
Speaker 1: All Access brought to you by IGS Energy. Thanks to
Speaker 1: our producers Jordan trut Up and Dan Billion, the folks
Speaker 1: here at the score. Good to have you alongside. I'm Jeff,
Speaker 1: Joni Acam, a broadcast partner in Super Bowl Bear, Tom
Speaker 1: Thare and Tommy coming up, we're gonna summarize what has
Speaker 1: been a rocky ran through the first nine games and
Speaker 1: what to look forward to in the final eight. We're
Speaker 1: gonna do that as well, joined by Pro Football Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame writer Dan Pompey from The Athletic to get
Speaker 1: his thoughts on a variety of topics. But Tommy, what
Speaker 1: was your approach as a player for the bye week
Speaker 1: and what is it now as an announcer? Jeff, we
Speaker 1: never had a bye week because we practiced during the
Speaker 1: bye week. Coach Diffka dangle the carrot in front of
Speaker 1: our faces that if we practiced well during the bye week,
Speaker 1: in which we are in full pads every day, that
Speaker 1: we would get Saturday off. We did not have this
Speaker 1: luxury of the collective bargaining agreement making sure that you
Speaker 1: gave a responsible amount of time off for the players
Speaker 1: to recover. So as much as you know they wanted
Speaker 1: to call it a bye week, it was only a
Speaker 1: bye week in the sense you didn't have a game
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Do you think it's worthwhile now though, of
Speaker 1: course I do. Yeah, I think anyways that you can
Speaker 1: benefit these players to get a little rest, recovery to
Speaker 1: their bodies. I don't want them to leave the game mentally,
Speaker 1: because you can forget a lot of really important information
Speaker 1: quickly if you stay away from your iPad or if
Speaker 1: you're a player that's on the cusper, on the verge
Speaker 1: of understanding what every one of your assignments is. But
Speaker 1: a guy like a Kiem Hicks, a guy like Khalil Mack,
Speaker 1: a guy like Eddie Jackson, Allen Robinson, these guys can
Speaker 1: recover during this week of not being on their feet
Speaker 1: to the point where they can play when they get
Speaker 1: ready to practice next week. I went on interesting and
Speaker 1: it probably doesn't shock me, but justin Fields basically, according
Speaker 1: to man Naggie at his news news conference on Monday,
Speaker 1: said yeah, he's not going to get away from the game.
Speaker 1: It's just not who he is, you can't. Yeah, which
Speaker 1: is a good thing for him though, that's a good thing.
Speaker 1: But I think it is equally as much for Larry
Speaker 1: Boram or you know, um, Travis Gibson, from all these
Speaker 1: you know, Kendallville Door, Jalen Johnson, Duke Shelley, all these
Speaker 1: guys that are still learning the information to master their craft.
Speaker 1: It's equally as important for those guys at that position,
Speaker 1: justin fields after the game on the w BBM postgame show,
Speaker 1: after the Lawson Pittsburgh was very pleased with certain aspects
Speaker 1: of things. Frustrated with another slow start with the offense
Speaker 1: in terms of penalties and field position of the first half,
Speaker 1: but he says, those chunk plays started to happen. We've
Speaker 1: been trying to, you know, create more explosive plays from
Speaker 1: the get go, and you know, just I mean, we're
Speaker 1: just going to continue to do that. And just just
Speaker 1: like I said before, when we start the game, we're
Speaker 1: gonna start fast and you know, finished fast. Don Did
Speaker 1: you see significant steps in development for Justin in that
Speaker 1: second half? Yes, Jeff, I want to go back to
Speaker 1: say I think this was the most important game the
Speaker 1: Bears played this season, because when you heard the Bears
Speaker 1: come out of the tunnel and that stadium was about
Speaker 1: half full, it was as loud as any stadium that's
Speaker 1: you know, completely full. And so for the Bears, even
Speaker 1: though they had such poor starting field position early in
Speaker 1: the game, they never let that compound into such a
Speaker 1: lead by the opponent that they couldn't overcome that. I
Speaker 1: think there's so many building blocks that you can take
Speaker 1: from this game, whether it's the performance of Justin or
Speaker 1: the performance of you know, the line making sure that
Speaker 1: they stayed in tune with what they are going to
Speaker 1: try to accomplish, how well the defense played up front
Speaker 1: early partitions of that game. I think this game has
Speaker 1: a chance to play dividends going forward, even though they
Speaker 1: ended up losing the game. And Naggie and the Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show on Monday night on news Radio one oh
Speaker 1: five nine w bbm Abot fields getting the ball to
Speaker 1: his playmakers. I think what's happening is you're starting to
Speaker 1: see just and feel more and more comfortable with these
Speaker 1: reps he's getting with these particular receivers and running backs,
Speaker 1: and now we got to grow off of that. We're
Speaker 1: kind of finding a nice little balanced schematically with what
Speaker 1: we like to do with them. We're finding out what
Speaker 1: his strengths and weaknesses are and we're trying to put
Speaker 1: it all together to make it the best for us.
Speaker 1: And part of that time, in addition to keeping that
Speaker 1: running game rebin it is the best thing they do
Speaker 1: as a team on any unit right now. That's the
Speaker 1: number one thing. They run the ball extremely well. Montgomery
Speaker 1: back using them in the wildcat, but the emergency cole
Speaker 1: commet here is something to keep an eye on. And frankly,
Speaker 1: the week before it was Jesse James and then Jimmy
Speaker 1: Graham what Naggie called probably the best throw that you're
Speaker 1: gonna see anybody make on an NFL field that Jimmy
Speaker 1: on that twenty eight yard play. I mean, these are
Speaker 1: developments Darnell Mooney as a big play threat developing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I do like to keep the older the
Speaker 1: veterans incorporated in the game plan. That play you talk
Speaker 1: about to Jimmy Graham, but I was equally as impressed
Speaker 1: by the third down throw that he made to Alan
Speaker 1: Robinson because if you look at the flight of the football,
Speaker 1: the location of the defender, it was a pass that
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of guys that can make. But
Speaker 1: the thing that impressed me most and is, listen, man,
Speaker 1: Dave Montgomery. I'll stand up and shout from the highest mountain,
Speaker 1: how he important. He is the success of this team.
Speaker 1: And I like what I see a Khalil Herbert. But
Speaker 1: there was a couple plays that reminded me of Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson of talking about justin fields, because he's really cognizant
Speaker 1: of where the line of scrimmage is. And even when
Speaker 1: he was scrambling outside the pocket and it looked like
Speaker 1: he was trying to put a grab on the football
Speaker 1: that he was going to run, he was able to
Speaker 1: readjust it and find a target down field. One of
Speaker 1: them was Darnell Mooney for the touchdown. So now, if
Speaker 1: we want to make these comparisons to Russell Wilson and
Speaker 1: what he put on display early in his career when
Speaker 1: he was going through the learning stages, I think this
Speaker 1: is a game in this type of environment that we
Speaker 1: saw out of Justin all right. Coming up next, we'll
Speaker 1: be joined by Dan Pompeii for about a half hour
Speaker 1: three different segments with the Hall of Fame writer from
Speaker 1: the Aletic he'll join the program, Tom and I will
Speaker 1: be back in just a second. Here on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All
Speaker 1: Access brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose clean energy
Speaker 1: for your home at IGS dot com because every good
Speaker 1: choice adds up to a better world. Please to be
Speaker 1: joined with Tom Thare, Jeff Joni, Act the Athletics, Dan
Speaker 1: Pompeii at Dan Pompeii on Twitter and here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy to Score. Dan, thanks for taking
Speaker 1: the time to join us. Let's get into the history
Speaker 1: because we lost a piece of history this week with
Speaker 1: the passing of legendary strength coach Clyde Emrick a friend
Speaker 1: to everybody, and as you wrote in a great piece
Speaker 1: in March of twenty nineteenth, you profiled him in the
Speaker 1: Athletic a revolution mary figure in pro football, and you
Speaker 1: only have so many people that can carry that label.
Speaker 1: He truly was a revolution every figure. It wasn't you know,
Speaker 1: true pioneer as you guys well know somebody. I mean.
Speaker 1: He was the elder state statesman of the Bears organization,
Speaker 1: having spent close to sixty years or maybe even more
Speaker 1: than sixty years when some affiliation with it and you know,
Speaker 1: there's nobody left like him. Really. You talk about a
Speaker 1: guy who started out working with Stan Jones, you know,
Speaker 1: and then he went to Doug Atkins, and then he
Speaker 1: went to Buckis and Sayers and you know, on and
Speaker 1: on buffone, and then he moves into the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: era with guys like Tom Thayer. He bragged about fair
Speaker 1: squatting seven hundred and five pounds and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: all the way to the you know, to the Bryan
Speaker 1: or Lackers and then the current regime. You know, he
Speaker 1: worked with Cody Whitehair and and guys on the team
Speaker 1: now and and uh an addition of working with people
Speaker 1: and making them better, I think he touched human beings
Speaker 1: and made their lives better and was such a special
Speaker 1: man to be around. Always had time for you, had
Speaker 1: a good word for you. He even helped me with
Speaker 1: with weightlifting at one point, and h helped George Hallis
Speaker 1: at one point. How about that? Uh So, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know you're not gonna see the like of of
Speaker 1: Clyde Emrick ever again. You know, he just a truly
Speaker 1: special man and God rest his soul, Danny. He tried
Speaker 1: to help me as Tommy knows, and he always called
Speaker 1: me fun coachable, but you know I gave, I gave
Speaker 1: the college try. What's unmistakable boh boh about him obviously
Speaker 1: is the resume, but from a human point of view,
Speaker 1: just as a guy, the handshake every time, and the
Speaker 1: excitement to see you, Hey Jeffer. Yeah he's hey Jeffer
Speaker 1: and firm handshake into his eighties. I would love to
Speaker 1: know what that grip strength was all about. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just years of being a dedicated weightlifter. Some of
Speaker 1: the stories he tells me as him being a high
Speaker 1: school kid when he got introduced to weightlifting, and he
Speaker 1: was kind of an introverted soul and his activity after
Speaker 1: school was going to a weight room, whether it was
Speaker 1: inside of his house in the most primitive of conditions
Speaker 1: to when he started going to the YMCA, And he
Speaker 1: didn't attract attention because of his personality. He attracted attention
Speaker 1: because of what he did in the weight room, his physique,
Speaker 1: the way that you took what was weightlifting back in
Speaker 1: the fifties to where it became in this generation. And
Speaker 1: I think when you have an footprint in the NFL
Speaker 1: like he left behind and like Dan mentioned, you're handpicked
Speaker 1: by the guy that started the NFL, George Hallis, and
Speaker 1: it's carried a legacy to every strength coach from now
Speaker 1: into the past. All has some type of Clyde Emrick,
Speaker 1: you know, handprint on him. I just think that it's
Speaker 1: amazing because he treated everybody equally, whether he was trying
Speaker 1: to rehab a guy like Ed McCaskey during his time
Speaker 1: with the Bears, to trying to give help and inspiration
Speaker 1: to Virginia McCaskey when she was recovering from injuries, and
Speaker 1: then to the modern day players how he inspires them
Speaker 1: and the conversations you had with him. If you listen
Speaker 1: to what he had to say, you came out a
Speaker 1: better person because of it. And I think every single
Speaker 1: person that's come across that is inspiring. And I always
Speaker 1: used to ask Clyde as a joke. I always say Clyde,
Speaker 1: who's your favorite player? And I wanted I wanted him
Speaker 1: to say me, but he always say Doug Plank. I
Speaker 1: love that guy. Ever got to know what that guy's
Speaker 1: all about. So you know, Clyde didn't pull punches. He
Speaker 1: told you exactly and as honestly as he could answer
Speaker 1: whatever question you asked him. And uh, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: just super happy in my life that I got to
Speaker 1: know and become and stay friends with a guy with
Speaker 1: a man like Clyde Emrick. I think Danny was struck
Speaker 1: by just the individual accomplishments, because you know, I read
Speaker 1: in that story that you wrote that Brian Urlacher used
Speaker 1: to do a bear crawl backwards down steps. Was that
Speaker 1: a Brian original or was that a Clyde induced idea?
Speaker 1: I believe it was a Brian original. But I think
Speaker 1: I did that a few times too, after a night
Speaker 1: out late night, kept getting home, you know, but I
Speaker 1: wantn't doing it to get better though. Yeah, but you
Speaker 1: know you mentioned to Tom mentioned Doug Plank too. He
Speaker 1: used to take Clyde told me this story. Planks probably
Speaker 1: told Tom the story too. Used to take one hundred
Speaker 1: pounds dumbbells and power clean them ten ten times for reps.
Speaker 1: He said, I didn't know of anyone else who can
Speaker 1: do that. You know, Doug Plank is a normal size
Speaker 1: human being, and he had this incredible power, incredible will,
Speaker 1: and you know Clyde had a way, I think of
Speaker 1: bringing that out of everybody. And that's really the point
Speaker 1: that he made so many Chicago Bears better than they
Speaker 1: could have been had he not been part of their lives.
Speaker 1: And I know Tom you would say the same that
Speaker 1: he probably made you into a better football player. Well,
Speaker 1: you know that was the unique quality. You know, Clyde
Speaker 1: constructed your body however it was meant to be constructed.
Speaker 1: I was a different weightlifter than Steve McMichael. Steve McMichael
Speaker 1: was a different weightlifter than Jim Morrissey. And so no
Speaker 1: matter who you were and how your body was shaped,
Speaker 1: Clyde designed whatever needed to be done, which was the
Speaker 1: best for you. And when you talk about those power,
Speaker 1: clean dumbells, and when I became a member of the Bears,
Speaker 1: Clyde was as active in the weight room as any
Speaker 1: player in there. And he was the type of guy
Speaker 1: that would do one arm snatches with one hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty pound dumbell and it was always it wasn't approving ground,
Speaker 1: it was inspiration. And that's just the way he carried
Speaker 1: himself in the weight room. He was so unique about
Speaker 1: the way that he went about his business in a
Speaker 1: really undersized weight room. But I think it was the
Speaker 1: most important development of team camaraderie was the way he
Speaker 1: led the guys when they got to the weight room.
Speaker 1: It was different than what we did on the field,
Speaker 1: but what we did in the way room was equally
Speaker 1: as important to the construction of the Bears for generations.
Speaker 1: Dan POMPEII from the Athletic the Hall of Fame writer
Speaker 1: in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his years
Speaker 1: of outstanding work, coverage and reporting, joining us here in
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score Walter Payton deadlifting
Speaker 1: six twenty five. Dan at two o eight. That doesn't
Speaker 1: seem humanly possible, does it? Well, again, you're you're talking
Speaker 1: about a player who was, you know, beyond human almost right. Uh.
Speaker 1: The strength and the power that that Walter had was
Speaker 1: was truly incredible and part of what made him who
Speaker 1: he was. You know, he's love I love the story
Speaker 1: about him that he used to go up to trees
Speaker 1: and just wrapped his arms around them and uproot them.
Speaker 1: I mean, who who could do that? You know, who
Speaker 1: could who could walk on their on their hands across
Speaker 1: the field. You know, we've all seen him do many
Speaker 1: things that just made you stop and stare, and that
Speaker 1: that strength that he had was surely you know one
Speaker 1: of those things. The other interesting thing that Clyde used
Speaker 1: to tell me is he never he never did those
Speaker 1: things in the weight room, like like you just talked
Speaker 1: about Jeff, when the others were around during a team lift,
Speaker 1: he'd do them when everyone was gone. He'd say, hey, Clyde,
Speaker 1: look what I can do, you know? And that's just
Speaker 1: just so Walter, you know can I want to give
Speaker 1: you three instances of the weight room with one was
Speaker 1: Walter Payton. Somebody was doing deadlifts and they had about
Speaker 1: five hundred and something pounds on there, and Walter walked
Speaker 1: in and it's just as great personality. How much is that?
Speaker 1: And Clyde told him how much he was. He told
Speaker 1: a guy who goes get away, gets over there and
Speaker 1: does a couple reps with it, sets it down, and
Speaker 1: walks out of the weight room. One day after practice,
Speaker 1: there was four hundred and five pounds on the bench
Speaker 1: and Richard Den comes in after practice and he gets
Speaker 1: underneath it and Clyde goes, wait, wait, Richard, you gotta
Speaker 1: warm up. You gotta warm up, Clyde get away. Clyde goes, okay,
Speaker 1: gives them a lift off. Richard does a four hundred
Speaker 1: and five pound bench press, sets it back on the rack,
Speaker 1: walks out of the weight room. So we are in there,
Speaker 1: and Johnny Morris was in there with us, and we
Speaker 1: are filming these heavy lifting segments. And so we used
Speaker 1: to have this table that was about three and a
Speaker 1: half feet high, and William Perry had fifty pound dumbells
Speaker 1: in each hand and did ten reps up and down,
Speaker 1: a cliometric exercise that Clyde used to have him do
Speaker 1: all the time. I actually still have a VHS copy.
Speaker 1: It was these types of guys between Fridge, between Richard,
Speaker 1: between Walter that were inspired because Clyde was in the
Speaker 1: weight room and they didn't have to put this stuff
Speaker 1: on display all the time. It was just the inspiration
Speaker 1: of Clyde in that room. It was these guys kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to show Clyde, not everybody out. They weren't
Speaker 1: for people to gather around. So and I was in
Speaker 1: there and all three of these times with these guys
Speaker 1: walking in and it was inspiring to me. But it
Speaker 1: was also supported and inspired to buy Clyde. Talk Bears
Speaker 1: Football with Dan Pompey coming up after this on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the score. This segment of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access is brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy.
Speaker 1: Visit Athletico dot com to request an appointment in clinic
Speaker 1: or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow. With Tom There,
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac and Damn Pompeii from the Athletic, the Pro
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame writer joining us parts unknown on
Speaker 1: a job. I'm sure, Dan, let's let's dig into this
Speaker 1: Bears team. I gotta ask you, though, from a professional
Speaker 1: point of view, when you wrap up a Bears game
Speaker 1: in the Athletic every Monday morning, it's very succinct comments.
Speaker 1: Is it harder to write that series of thoughts the
Speaker 1: way you're doing the way you crafted versus a longer,
Speaker 1: longer form Story's what's harder? Well, thank you, Jeff. I
Speaker 1: What I do after the game is completely the almost
Speaker 1: the opposite of what you guys do, because what you're
Speaker 1: doing is reactionary in its instant right. So I try
Speaker 1: to take a step back after the game and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: what did we just see that matters, that's significant, that
Speaker 1: maybe has something to say about what's going to happen
Speaker 1: moving forward, And you know, I think it's it's not
Speaker 1: terribly difficult. It's just a matter of honing in on
Speaker 1: the right pieces and kind of looking at what some
Speaker 1: of the other reactions to what just happened were. And
Speaker 1: you know, it does. It does. It's not something I've
Speaker 1: had some people say to me, some critics say to me,
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, what did you just do that in
Speaker 1: two minutes after the game? And no, it's it's not
Speaker 1: like that. It's it's it's thought. You know, it takes
Speaker 1: some thought and it takes some kind of deliberation, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's uh, it comes out when you when
Speaker 1: you really try to focus in on what you just
Speaker 1: saw and what it means. Sometimes two days after the fact,
Speaker 1: it's it's old news. But but Dan, I can't help
Speaker 1: because you have such a long history with the Bears.
Speaker 1: You you wrote a book about the hundred years of
Speaker 1: what this team has gone through. So the immediately following
Speaker 1: the game, like Monday night, and the officiating is such
Speaker 1: a big part of the story. Can you separate the
Speaker 1: two of football from officiating? Because it's it's kind of
Speaker 1: picked up steam where it's become a national story and
Speaker 1: it's a topic from everybody. You know, I was listening
Speaker 1: to Buckus on the Rich Eyes and Show talking about
Speaker 1: the officiating. I've listened to ten national you know, correspondence
Speaker 1: talking about the officiating. So how do you separate the
Speaker 1: two of the this instance, and do you think if
Speaker 1: the story stays as long as it is that helps
Speaker 1: or hurts the Bears? Well, I think it's it's certainly
Speaker 1: something that you don't ignore because it was part of
Speaker 1: the game and part of you know, what's happening with
Speaker 1: the Bears this week after the game, and as you said,
Speaker 1: it's it's become a story with some legs a little
Speaker 1: bit even nationally. So um, you know, I think there
Speaker 1: were other parts of the game though, certainly that that
Speaker 1: demanded our attention and you know, required analysis. So you know,
Speaker 1: you don't you don't want to have that one aspect
Speaker 1: kind of eclipse everything else that happened. But you know
Speaker 1: that the officiating was certainly a factor and something that
Speaker 1: people love to focus on officiating. You know, I think
Speaker 1: anytime almost any time a team loses, there's usually a
Speaker 1: call or two they say, we'll look at that call.
Speaker 1: If it had gone the other way, you know, would
Speaker 1: have been different. In this case, there were several of
Speaker 1: those calls, right, and you know, um some calls that
Speaker 1: really left people scratching their head. It was interesting, you know.
Speaker 1: The one that seemed to get the most attention was
Speaker 1: the taunting call against Cassius Marsh, which you know, the
Speaker 1: NFL has pretty much said, no, that was that was
Speaker 1: the right call, and it was one that I really
Speaker 1: didn't understand all the craziness about that. Either. I know,
Speaker 1: he didn't go, he didn't do something that was that
Speaker 1: was flagrant, but I thought he took a risk by
Speaker 1: kind of standing and looking at the other sideline or
Speaker 1: whatever he did, or you know, put his hands on
Speaker 1: his hips. Um. You know, one of the points I
Speaker 1: made in my column after the game is, you know,
Speaker 1: if I were coaching a team now with all this
Speaker 1: kind of uh ambiguity about this taunting call, I would
Speaker 1: tell every one of my players after every play, you
Speaker 1: need to walk back to your sideline. Don't dance, don't
Speaker 1: do don't spike, don't you know, don't look at just
Speaker 1: go back to the satellite. And if you're incapable of
Speaker 1: doing that, you get a problem playing for me. So
Speaker 1: they call a couple roughing the quarterback penalties against the
Speaker 1: Bears when there was kind of in the momentum of
Speaker 1: the play. And then you go back and you watch
Speaker 1: that tape, no matter what angle you want to look at,
Speaker 1: there's a couple of hits after the fact that Justin
Speaker 1: took that he got no respect on the call. Do
Speaker 1: you think this can change and start giving him the
Speaker 1: calls that he deserves, or do you think the officials say, hey, look,
Speaker 1: I'm not responsible for protecting this guy. It's that's the
Speaker 1: job of the team, the offensive line or whatever. Because
Speaker 1: I think in a game like the other night, some
Speaker 1: of those calls that Justin should have gotten could helped
Speaker 1: the outcome of the game on behalf of the Bears,
Speaker 1: where the taunting call really helped benefit the Steelers, and
Speaker 1: some of the other calls against Roethlisberger that weren't as
Speaker 1: as egregious as we saw happen to Justin. Those calls
Speaker 1: certainly could have should have gone the other way with Justin.
Speaker 1: But you know, he's got two things working against him. First,
Speaker 1: is that, as you say, you know, he's on the
Speaker 1: opposite end of the experienced spectrum of Ben Roethlisberger. So
Speaker 1: you know, until you kind of get that level of
Speaker 1: respect I think sometimes the officials look at you a
Speaker 1: little different. And then the other thing is, you know,
Speaker 1: he is kind of a mobile quarterback, and if you
Speaker 1: look at the history of mobile quarterbacks, guys who take
Speaker 1: off and run with the football, they often do not
Speaker 1: get the same kind of calls that the more stationary
Speaker 1: quarterbacks get. Lamar Jackson is complained about it repeatedly even
Speaker 1: this year, that you know, he gets treated more like
Speaker 1: a running back than a quarterback. That that seems to be,
Speaker 1: you know, a difficulty in officiating from that standpoint. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes I think it's hard to look at a quarterback
Speaker 1: with that kind of athleticism and mobility as the quarterback
Speaker 1: that he is. Both will be honest. Play at Soldier
Speaker 1: Field and the Bears come out of the bye week
Speaker 1: on the twenty first should be a fun game to call. Indeed,
Speaker 1: Damn pomp pay along with Tom there Jeff Joning aac
Speaker 1: here in Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. What's
Speaker 1: your takeaway Dan on number one right now? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: the last two games have really been impressive, and you know,
Speaker 1: he's made steady progress and it's exciting to watch the
Speaker 1: growth and he's come such a long way in such
Speaker 1: a short period of time. We didn't see what we've
Speaker 1: seen in the last game or two in the early
Speaker 1: outings of Justin Fields and makes you wonder if he
Speaker 1: can continue to, you know, accelerate his growth the way
Speaker 1: he has been accelerating it. And he clearly has special talent,
Speaker 1: and I think the Bears coaches have continued to find
Speaker 1: ways to help him bring it out and show it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's gonna be fun to watch for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year or to see where he
Speaker 1: goes with this. You know, for me, it's the stage.
Speaker 1: It was Monday night in that place. My ears were
Speaker 1: ringing all the way into yesterday. Honestly, from that stadium,
Speaker 1: it was loud, and you know, granted I keep my
Speaker 1: headphones up high, so that doesn't help. But it was
Speaker 1: just the moment. It was the stage, that second half
Speaker 1: and the comeback and the belief that he showed. I
Speaker 1: just think that's gonna pay dividends. I think that probably
Speaker 1: turned some veterans heads around a little bit, Dan if
Speaker 1: they were thinking, like, this is the season where it's
Speaker 1: not going anywhere. You know, we got a lot to
Speaker 1: play for because this guy could help US win games,
Speaker 1: you suspect that that could trigger that thought out of
Speaker 1: the bye week certainly as possible. I think the thing
Speaker 1: about any great young quarterback is he is a harbinger
Speaker 1: of hope, you know, And I think that's what we've
Speaker 1: felt with Justin Fields ever since the Bears moved up
Speaker 1: to draft him and shocked everybody. You know, I think
Speaker 1: if you look at the fan base and which usually
Speaker 1: the media, which usually have reflections of the team, right,
Speaker 1: you've seen a lot of hope, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: for a while there it looked like, well, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe people were too hopeful or you know, to expect
Speaker 1: too much too soon. But now after these last two games,
Speaker 1: it kind of gives you a little reset and pushes
Speaker 1: everything forward again. It makes you think, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: he can do some things. You know, maybe he can
Speaker 1: even get this team out of some jams and carry
Speaker 1: them in certain situations. You know, you don't want to
Speaker 1: put too much on him because he's still a young player,
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, if the Bears continue to be
Speaker 1: committed to the running game, if their defense can get
Speaker 1: back on track a little bit, if they come up
Speaker 1: with some takeaways, you know, that's the thing that really
Speaker 1: could help quarterback right, give them, give them some added
Speaker 1: possession possessions. And they've really you know, interceptions. I mean
Speaker 1: they've been they've been really deficient at that all season long,
Speaker 1: and they shouldn't be because they could rush the passers.
Speaker 1: So I think, um, you know, it's like I said,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun to watch this kid moving forward
Speaker 1: and the kind of impact he can have on the team.
Speaker 1: Damn pomp Pay with us from the Athletic with Tom Theyra,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Jony Act. One more segment to go. We'll
Speaker 1: dig into that defense a little bit with Danny here
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Download the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears app to play our new predictor game Risk
Speaker 1: It brought to you by Bette Rivers for your chance
Speaker 1: to win two hundred and fifty dollars in free bets
Speaker 1: and a custom Bears jersey. With Tom There, Jeff joni Ac,
Speaker 1: Damn pomp Pay from the Athletic, our guest Pro Football
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame writer Tommy, you got the first question
Speaker 1: of this last segment with Dan, Go ahead, okay, I
Speaker 1: know we're going to talk about the defense a little
Speaker 1: bit more. But Dan, I'd like to pick your brain.
Speaker 1: So at the halfway point in the season last year,
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson point four targets per game this year five
Speaker 1: point five at the halfway point this year, are responsible
Speaker 1: for seventeen first downs at the end of last year
Speaker 1: responsible for sixty eight. Are you surprised the trading deadline?
Speaker 1: Trading deadline came and went without any movement here because
Speaker 1: I listen, I love Alan Robinson. I love this commitment
Speaker 1: since the day he got here. But you know that
Speaker 1: I don't know, and there maybe there are some guys
Speaker 1: that you know, you know, could have been you know,
Speaker 1: baited in front of other teams, and it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson, the numbers stick with me right now. You know,
Speaker 1: I get what you're saying, and I guess I wouldn't
Speaker 1: have been shocked if something happened, But it made sense
Speaker 1: to me not to trade him or not to make
Speaker 1: any big moves from this standpoint. First of all, you're
Speaker 1: trying to develop justin Fields and you want to give
Speaker 1: him every opportunity to develop. And even though the numbers
Speaker 1: the production have been down with Ellen, I think you know,
Speaker 1: he still is your most reliable target out there. And
Speaker 1: a guy who I frankly expect every week to do
Speaker 1: more than he's done in the past. In the first
Speaker 1: half of the season, Um, there's no reason why he
Speaker 1: shouldn't be doing more. And then I think the other
Speaker 1: thing is, you know, you've got everyone is out there,
Speaker 1: you know, coaching for their lives and playing for their jobs,
Speaker 1: and I think, um, you know, you'd kind of send
Speaker 1: a bad message to the entire organization if you said, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're gonna, we're gonna go trade Alan Robinson and a
Speaker 1: Keem Hicks or you know whoever it is you're gonna
Speaker 1: you're gonna trade because everyone's out there trying their best
Speaker 1: and trying to make this work. And I think I
Speaker 1: think that would be that would have been the wrong
Speaker 1: thing if I were the general manager. Oh so, now
Speaker 1: going to the other side of the ball. You know,
Speaker 1: you think about the defensive backfield and it's continuous and
Speaker 1: needs to continuously develop. Is Jalen Johnson a good a
Speaker 1: good guy to start the development of your defensive backfield with.
Speaker 1: It seems like he's been you know, up to covering
Speaker 1: the team's best receiver. He can move to each side
Speaker 1: of the field, but you know, the other guys alongside
Speaker 1: of him probably need to increase their play. Yeah, absolutely, Tom.
Speaker 1: I think you know, the secondary has been an issue
Speaker 1: pretty much all season long for the Bears and an
Speaker 1: area where they need improvement, you know, whether it comes
Speaker 1: internally or externally in the off season. Probably going to
Speaker 1: have to be some externally in the off season. But
Speaker 1: I think Jalen really has fulfilled the hope that Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace and Matt Nagee and Sean Decide had for him.
Speaker 1: Really has come on, you know, had a good rookie
Speaker 1: season obviously, and has been capable of stepping up into
Speaker 1: more demanding, more difficult role this season, which you know,
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, uh, kind of justified them for letting
Speaker 1: go of Kyle Fuller. Now, what didn't justify Kyle Fuller's
Speaker 1: departure is the play of Fildor on the other side,
Speaker 1: who has struggled all season long. So you know, they
Speaker 1: need they still need some help. I think in that secondary,
Speaker 1: ro Quan Smith is having a good year, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Damp On pay our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the score and remaining moments, he will get
Speaker 1: a contract, how much that is will be determined here
Speaker 1: in the in the months and weeks to come. But
Speaker 1: the future of a twenty five year old being a
Speaker 1: face of the defense, to me, it's it's him and
Speaker 1: on the other side it's fields on offense. Is that fair?
Speaker 1: And you know, we see how he plays. He plays
Speaker 1: with a very aggressive style. How do you feel about
Speaker 1: rolle quantities he stacks up among other NFL linebackers that
Speaker 1: recently are in those big pay days. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think he's he's right there with him. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good young inside linebackers off the
Speaker 1: ball linebackers in the league and um, you know, he's
Speaker 1: he's right there with them. And I think he's certainly
Speaker 1: stepped up this year. I think he's playing with more confidence.
Speaker 1: I think he uh, you know, the value of a
Speaker 1: little experience that he's had is is very evident in
Speaker 1: his play, the way he reads, the way he moves
Speaker 1: to the ball. Um, you know, his his speed, uh
Speaker 1: is coming out more this year. Right, He looks faster
Speaker 1: this year because why because he's reading more, he's more confident, Um,
Speaker 1: he understands more, and um, you know, I think the
Speaker 1: future is very bright for him. Obviously he's a guy
Speaker 1: who should be the face of this defense for a
Speaker 1: number of years. Now, let's talk Hall of Fame because
Speaker 1: you're you're a part of that mix. You're on that
Speaker 1: board that helps select those class members. Jimbo Covert at
Speaker 1: Sprinkle this year's version, I was an honor for Tom
Speaker 1: and I had to be on the field to introduce
Speaker 1: them in front of the fans a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: ago and get their Hall of Fame ring and portraits.
Speaker 1: The chance is a Devin Hester. We talked about Revolutionary,
Speaker 1: We talked about Clyde Emeric. We want to throw him
Speaker 1: in there too. Are there going to be more categories
Speaker 1: for people like Clyde Emrick like there was for Bill Nunn,
Speaker 1: the scout that went in from the Pittsburgh Stealers. Well,
Speaker 1: he would fall under the contributor category. You know, we've
Speaker 1: been getting one contributor in every year, and yeah, it'd
Speaker 1: be wonderful to see Clyde considered for that. There's there's
Speaker 1: a lot of competition for that one spot over you.
Speaker 1: You're competing with general managers for instance, you're competing with scouts.
Speaker 1: I mean there have been people talked talking about trainers
Speaker 1: who who belong or you know different Ed Sable was
Speaker 1: a contributor from NFL films. Um there's you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's a broad category with a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of different people in it. So you know, yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: at some point uh Clyde would be considered certainly is worthy.
Speaker 1: Like I said, as far as Evan his first year
Speaker 1: of eligibility, you know, I have no doubt he is
Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer. I have no doubt he will
Speaker 1: be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just a
Speaker 1: matter of when he gets in. As I told Devon
Speaker 1: when I talked, don't be disappointed if you don't get
Speaker 1: in the first year, because it's tough. You know, there's
Speaker 1: there's so many qualified candidates from across the NFL, number
Speaker 1: of whom have been waiting for many years to get in.
Speaker 1: And the other thing that is unique about Devon's case,
Speaker 1: or not unique, but rare, is that he's a special
Speaker 1: teams player. And we see how special teams players have
Speaker 1: been treated by Hall of Fame voters. You know, it's
Speaker 1: taken them a long time to get in. The few
Speaker 1: who have gotten in, and you could count those on
Speaker 1: one hand, and then many others have not gotten in.
Speaker 1: But you know, Hester is different from any of them,
Speaker 1: and that you know. To me, he's the Tom Brady
Speaker 1: of return men. So I think, you know, if only
Speaker 1: he had like a radio announcer who could have given
Speaker 1: him a signature call, you know, then then he'd be
Speaker 1: a slam duck. Right, Yeah, go ahead, Tim, you're ridiculous,
Speaker 1: something like you are ridiculous. Yeah, well, if it AMMS,
Speaker 1: it'll feel like a piece of me went in there.
Speaker 1: I will tell you that, go ahead, you will be
Speaker 1: you will be the your call in the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame forever. Dan the conversation when you try to present
Speaker 1: or you do a great job of presenting a guy
Speaker 1: like Jimbo Covert because he's a little bit farther removed,
Speaker 1: but his production is undeniable. When you when you talk
Speaker 1: to the rest of the members of the group that
Speaker 1: you talk to on behalf of Jimbo Covert. What is
Speaker 1: the point that you have to make for some of
Speaker 1: these guys to recognize how talented of a guy he
Speaker 1: was immediately, not two or three years into his career.
Speaker 1: You know, I played in the College All Star Game,
Speaker 1: was a senior in college the same time Jimbo was,
Speaker 1: And he's the type of guy when you shook his
Speaker 1: hand for the first time that you knew that he
Speaker 1: was going to be a starter the day whatever team
Speaker 1: drafted him. Yeah, Tom, I think, you know, the challenge
Speaker 1: with Jimbo is he had two things that were kind
Speaker 1: of people that made people overlook him. The first is
Speaker 1: that he only played in two Pro Bowls. Second, was
Speaker 1: it in ever real long career. But anyone like you
Speaker 1: or Jeff who saw him play would tell you that,
Speaker 1: you know, he was. He dominated everybody. So I think
Speaker 1: the challenge with him was just to get past that hurdle,
Speaker 1: which which took something like how many years did it take?
Speaker 1: Twenty five years of eligibility wherever it was, and you know,
Speaker 1: and then we were fortunate to have a centennial class
Speaker 1: where we examined a lot of players that you know,
Speaker 1: had kind of slipped through the cracks of time, and
Speaker 1: fortunately the committee members were able to look at what
Speaker 1: Jimbo did and how we dominated dominated against great players
Speaker 1: like Lawrence Taylor for instance, and just did it consistently
Speaker 1: over his career and was part of this incredible offensive
Speaker 1: line that you know, led the league in rushing for
Speaker 1: so many seasons. And obviously it was a part of
Speaker 1: great team success too, so it was it was great
Speaker 1: to see Jim Bow recognized. We appreciate all your time
Speaker 1: and insight as always, you know, we think the world
Speaker 1: all you. Danny, appreciate my pleasure. It's always good to
Speaker 1: be with you guys. Thank you for thanks Dan the Athletics,
Speaker 1: Dan Pompeii, our guest, Tom and I will continue our
Speaker 1: conversation on what looks like a very challenging second half
Speaker 1: of the season for the Bears, beginning with the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens coming to Soldier Field next Sunday at a noon start.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that and more coming up here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. This segment of
Speaker 1: Bears All Access is brought to you by CDW People
Speaker 1: to get it Jeff, Joni Eck and Tom Thayer our
Speaker 1: final segment tonight on Bears All Access and hope you're
Speaker 1: enjoying your bye week all across the globe as we
Speaker 1: get you set for the second half of the season. First, though,
Speaker 1: as we touched with Damn pom pay earlier this evening,
Speaker 1: the death of Clyde Emrick at the age of ninety.
Speaker 1: The Bears and NFL's first strength coach passed away this week,
Speaker 1: and it was back in two thousand and eight when
Speaker 1: the Bears honored Clyde Emrick by naming their weight room
Speaker 1: the Clyde Emrick weight Room, and it was an impactful
Speaker 1: moment for Clyde, as he told Lauren Screeden of Inside
Speaker 1: the Bears. Vin McCaskey called me and says, we're going
Speaker 1: to have a meeting with Ted on some accamp. I say, okay,
Speaker 1: So I got stuff together because I helped him on
Speaker 1: some accamp with him, and so we go into Ted's
Speaker 1: office and I put my stuff down and Vienz and
Speaker 1: Ted zeven. First thing, Ted says, well, he says, well,
Speaker 1: he says, this building is named after George Hollis. I
Speaker 1: think that, I says to River, Yeah, absolutely it should be.
Speaker 1: And the training center the as we called the Bubball
Speaker 1: that is named after wald Up and I said, oh absolutely,
Speaker 1: I said it should be. Yeah. Absoltainly and says, well,
Speaker 1: what do you think if we call the weight room
Speaker 1: the Clyde em You know, I'm like, okay, I'm in
Speaker 1: with a total suffice, and obviously it's it's an enormous compliment.
Speaker 1: So what did it mean. Jim had that room named
Speaker 1: in his honor and it will always be there now.
Speaker 1: You know, Clyde's a humble guy, and I think it's
Speaker 1: a reflection of his dedication to the Bears as an organization.
Speaker 1: I don't think outside ownership, there's anybody that's ever walk
Speaker 1: in that building has been more fair in his approach
Speaker 1: and how he treated everybody in that building, from a
Speaker 1: first rounder to a front office member. Clyde treated you
Speaker 1: the same, and he wanted to listen to you, He
Speaker 1: wanted to help educate you and whatever you were asking
Speaker 1: about his experiences in life, and he was able to
Speaker 1: do that. But I think it more important rather than
Speaker 1: his name on the side of that building. In the
Speaker 1: last twenty four hours, I talked a couple of strength
Speaker 1: coaches around the NFL that worked directly with Clyde Emrick.
Speaker 1: The way they go about their job is the way
Speaker 1: that they learned to go about their job from Clyde
Speaker 1: Emeric and I think when he can carry on his
Speaker 1: legacy to other NFL teams and means a lot to
Speaker 1: the Bears organization, but it means a lot to Clyde
Speaker 1: Emrick because he's inspired these guys that do the same
Speaker 1: job he does, and they want to do it like
Speaker 1: Clyde Emrick. And I think if you can inspire anybody
Speaker 1: in the world of whatever you do, if there's a
Speaker 1: broadcaster that goes on that wants to be like Jeff Joniak,
Speaker 1: or there's a guy that wants to be like Clyde Emrick,
Speaker 1: that's inspiring. And here's how it all started. The first
Speaker 1: Chicago Bear that I met with a fellow named Stan Jones,
Speaker 1: who happen't been the Football Hall of Fame now super
Speaker 1: super guy. Anyway, he happened to go to a place
Speaker 1: that I did a little working out at and San
Speaker 1: Jones came in him and asked who was working out there,
Speaker 1: and this fellow said, well, Clyde Emish worked out there.
Speaker 1: He said I'd like to meet him, so we met.
Speaker 1: So then I took stand to the oving Parke, Why, well,
Speaker 1: I did all my training through the years, started working
Speaker 1: with him, and this isometric Craze came out and, like
Speaker 1: I said, Coach Hallis wanted to know anything that would
Speaker 1: help improve the team, so he inquired about it as
Speaker 1: Stan Jones, and Stan said, well, I'm working out with
Speaker 1: a guy that knows about that. He said, well, can
Speaker 1: you bring him up? So he did so. I met
Speaker 1: George Hallis on supple occasions and discussed procedure and what
Speaker 1: the results would be. And what I liked about him was,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd say, Okay, here's what this is all about. Okay,
Speaker 1: He'd write it down, and I'd say something else, he'd
Speaker 1: write it down. He's writing everything down. I say that
Speaker 1: that would prettyny. But it so happened that they won
Speaker 1: the world championship that year, in nineteen sixty twenty. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I can't say that there was much because
Speaker 1: of the isometric because as all knew, But the point
Speaker 1: is it kind of opened a door. And in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy one and I became the strength coach here and
Speaker 1: he loved every minute of it. Tommy listen. I hear
Speaker 1: so many stories about the Irving Park YMCA where Clyde
Speaker 1: started his weightlifting, and how he had grew attachments to
Speaker 1: Stan Jones. I sat with Stan Jones and talked to
Speaker 1: him for two days about what Clyde Emrick meant to him.
Speaker 1: The other stories along the way, the rehabilitation of GAYL
Speaker 1: Sayers after his horrific knee injury. What he did for
Speaker 1: other members of the Chicago Bears playing family. It is
Speaker 1: you know, Clyde never took an approach where he was
Speaker 1: bigger than the game or he was bigger than what
Speaker 1: he wants you to be. And that was the most
Speaker 1: important thing about Clyde because he tells me stories about,
Speaker 1: you know, working out with Doug Buffone, and by the
Speaker 1: time Doug Buffone went to put a suit on, he
Speaker 1: couldn't fit anymore because Clyde turning into a bigger player
Speaker 1: the first time that Jim Thinks asked him to go
Speaker 1: look at Dan Hampton to see if he thought he
Speaker 1: could become a player, and just the reflections that he
Speaker 1: had on appearance and what he could do for into
Speaker 1: a player if he just had him in the weight
Speaker 1: room for a couple months. And then you threw guys
Speaker 1: and that people are more familiar with nowadays. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously Olan Crouch was always going to be in the
Speaker 1: weight room no matter what, but just that Roberto Garza,
Speaker 1: Cody white Hair of today, and you're probably familiar with
Speaker 1: a little bit more of the guys that are so
Speaker 1: dedicated in the weight room up there right now that
Speaker 1: Clyde touched. So it's it's great history, great great lineage
Speaker 1: that links so many generations of Bears football with the
Speaker 1: passing of Clyde. Emrick is you know. I talked to
Speaker 1: Clyde last Thursday and we are sitting in the room
Speaker 1: and talking. He was so inspired because within a twenty
Speaker 1: four hour period, Doug Plank called him, and Olan called him,
Speaker 1: and he was just so thankful that he could live
Speaker 1: leave that impressions on these types of guys that are
Speaker 1: the stalwarts and the stars and the history of the Bears.
Speaker 1: All right, So what's ahead? Matt Naggie and the Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show Monday Night says, yeah, it's it's not going
Speaker 1: to be an easy second half. You know the schedule
Speaker 1: better than anybody. Every week we got we got some
Speaker 1: really good football teams ahead of us, so and that's
Speaker 1: how it should be. We get that we need to
Speaker 1: be able to beat all of those teams that are
Speaker 1: in front of us, and we really feel like with
Speaker 1: who we have and getting getting some of our guys
Speaker 1: back is going to be crucial. But it definitely makes
Speaker 1: you better, that's for sure. And I think really for
Speaker 1: again looking at Justin for him to be able to
Speaker 1: play some of these defenses that he's seeing us. He's
Speaker 1: done a really really good job of, you know, making
Speaker 1: the games slow down a little bit on defense, but
Speaker 1: yet still making plays and being great Monday, you know,
Speaker 1: through Saturday. And that's where we want to keep growing.
Speaker 1: And that hopefully is the case. They got nine games
Speaker 1: to do it, and it starts with Baltimore a week
Speaker 1: from Sunday. Yeah, nothing's easy in the NFL, and that's
Speaker 1: the great thing about competition, and that's the great thing
Speaker 1: about the development of a team that every everybody's pointed
Speaker 1: in the same direction. And I do think there's building
Speaker 1: blocks from that Steelers game that you can turn them
Speaker 1: into a positive that will help this team down the stretch.
Speaker 1: All Right, some quick hitters. Here most impressive play from
Speaker 1: a Bears player in the first nine games of the
Speaker 1: season that maybe you didn't see coming the bendability in
Speaker 1: the corner of Robert Quinn. Here's a guy that really
Speaker 1: took you know, there's a lot of question marks about
Speaker 1: what he's really going to add to the team. Was
Speaker 1: he getting older? No, I think this year he looks
Speaker 1: better and I would go in the same direction. And
Speaker 1: I'm also pleasantly surprised with the play of Khalil Herbert.
Speaker 1: This guy can play in the league for a long time.
Speaker 1: He's got the instincts to do it, and he's got
Speaker 1: the quickness to do it. Defensively, you know, you needed
Speaker 1: the stars to play at a star level. Injuries have
Speaker 1: obviously muted some of that. If these guys can get healthy,
Speaker 1: they can still be a dangerous defense in the second half. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you still have to experience with the creativity
Speaker 1: of new defensive coordinator Seawan, decide allow these guys to
Speaker 1: be in the most threatening positions they can possibly play in.
Speaker 1: And how is pressure on the opponent's quarterback in a
Speaker 1: computer into interceptions in the second half of the season
Speaker 1: as the weather deterior and if they can get some turnovers.
Speaker 1: If they can create turnovers, this is a defense that
Speaker 1: have a different power. Are you worried about the way
Speaker 1: they've handled the run game lately? You know, that's always
Speaker 1: a concern because, like I said, as conditions deterior eight
Speaker 1: in the second half of the season, team's role they
Speaker 1: will want to run the ball more often. What I
Speaker 1: saw out of the defensive front against the Steelers to me,
Speaker 1: I think Eddie Goldman is playing a better brand of football.
Speaker 1: I think a team Hicks can still be as powerful
Speaker 1: as anybody on the defensive line. If you can get
Speaker 1: Blow Nichols, Mario Edwards, Junior Angelo Blacks and Tyro or
Speaker 1: Chiras Tonga, if they can all continue to elevate their play,
Speaker 1: I think this is a team that can still play
Speaker 1: the run pretty you know, pretty good. All right, Tom,
Speaker 1: We'll let you go appreciate it. It's gonna wrap up
Speaker 1: tonight's show with Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks to
Speaker 1: Damn Pomp paying, Thanks of all to you for listening.
Speaker 1: Thanks d our producers Dan Bally and Jordan Trudup, and
Speaker 1: the folks here at the Score. That'll do it for us.
Speaker 1: This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Good night, everybody,