Speaker 1: Hey, pleasant, good, even everybody, and welcome into Bears All
Speaker 1: Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score
Speaker 1: with Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniac and Paul's ranger engineering Dan
Speaker 1: Ba really our producer and boss of the show. Really,
Speaker 1: when you get right down to it, he's the man
Speaker 1: that make things happen. Good to have you with us
Speaker 1: as we approach week eight of the NFL season. Bears
Speaker 1: and Gents coming up Sunday at Soldier Field, and we're
Speaker 1: pleased to be joined by Bears rookie linebacker and special
Speaker 1: team's ace Joel Ea boontey Way. Joel, you got your
Speaker 1: first special teams tackle in the NFL last week? How
Speaker 1: Jack were man? It was great? It was great after
Speaker 1: it took six games, but um, you know, hey, I
Speaker 1: was excited and it felt great. As long as it's
Speaker 1: been since you guys been here, rookies coming in way
Speaker 1: before the Hall of Fame game, has it seemed like
Speaker 1: a long time to you? Because it's almost the length
Speaker 1: of a full college NFL our full college season you've
Speaker 1: been through already. Where's your mind at right now? Fresh?
Speaker 1: Or yeah, no, my mind is fresh. We had a
Speaker 1: bye week, you know, two weeks ago. So but yeah,
Speaker 1: coming in from any camp. Um, and people told me
Speaker 1: before as a rookie, it'd be your your your rookie,
Speaker 1: it would be your longest year and and everything. So
Speaker 1: I was ready for that. And um, you know, like
Speaker 1: you said, college, you know it's almost over, the season's
Speaker 1: getting close to being almost over. But um no, it's
Speaker 1: been good. I've been staying fresh, um, and I feel great.
Speaker 1: Western Kentucky Hilltopper. What's your definition of a hilltopper? Um?
Speaker 1: A hilltopper? Because all right, the reason I ask you
Speaker 1: that because I'm from the Jolia Catholic Hilltoppers. That's the
Speaker 1: name of my high school. And I always felt that
Speaker 1: attraction you guys ever since I heard of the Western
Speaker 1: Kentucky Hilltoppers. You know, I don't I don't know the
Speaker 1: history behind that. Um, I have no idea what it means.
Speaker 1: But um, our mascot, big Red is like it's like
Speaker 1: a spirit. So UM, I guess I'd have to go
Speaker 1: with like a spirit or or something like that entity
Speaker 1: or something crazy thing. I'man glenn Ellen Glenbard West Hilly.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot about that. The Castawana
Speaker 1: Hill is that what they call themselves out there were
Speaker 1: brought to you by igs energy. Back to special teams
Speaker 1: because that's where you got to cut your team as
Speaker 1: a young man in the National Football League in most cases. Heck,
Speaker 1: you can talk to Trey Burton about that. Maybe you have,
Speaker 1: have you? Um no, no, I haven't. But um during
Speaker 1: training camp, Trey helped me a lot um as far
Speaker 1: as just learning some of the different techniques on special teams,
Speaker 1: punt techniques, kick return techniques and stuff like that. So
Speaker 1: um yeah, he's definitely definitely helped because research his story
Speaker 1: a little bit or go anywhere him because that's how
Speaker 1: he had to do it. He had to do it
Speaker 1: that way. With the Philadelphia Eagles, he was like seventh
Speaker 1: on the depth chart. But here's a way to make
Speaker 1: sure you make the team. And look what happens five
Speaker 1: years later. You get a big contract and you're a
Speaker 1: primary focus on offense right now, but you had a
Speaker 1: ton of special teams experience in college didn't change. You
Speaker 1: were one of those guys that played everything. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even my last two years, I was starting on punt,
Speaker 1: played kickoff. So it's always been part of my game,
Speaker 1: you know, Joel, I played on kickoff return From the
Speaker 1: very first game I played in professional fall to my
Speaker 1: last game. Over that entire span, I never left the
Speaker 1: kickoff return team. Don't ever look to get off of
Speaker 1: special teams because even if you're a starter, if you
Speaker 1: can contribute out special teams, you talk about lengthening in
Speaker 1: your career because there's a lot of guys that are
Speaker 1: one dimensional. They're a starter and they haven't done anything else.
Speaker 1: So I think for a guy like you, you talk
Speaker 1: about ten eleven years in the NFL, and you know
Speaker 1: the success from special teams can help absolutely no, you
Speaker 1: know echone what you said, I feel like the more
Speaker 1: you can do And even in college, UM coaches said,
Speaker 1: you know UM scout's. NFL scouts will look at you
Speaker 1: if you played supposed teams and you played you know,
Speaker 1: of course defense, you know that makes you more valuable.
Speaker 1: So you know same same when you get to the NFL.
Speaker 1: The more you can do U, the more, the longer
Speaker 1: you can play. Did it seem insane though the first
Speaker 1: time you started seeing NFL special teams because the speed
Speaker 1: is out of control sometimes and then making that jump
Speaker 1: from Western Kentucky to the NFL and some of the
Speaker 1: difficult assignments stay place on you for the different job,
Speaker 1: because you're doing five or six different assignments if you're
Speaker 1: on every special team. Right, Yeah, I think the big
Speaker 1: thing was the technique. So coach Taps during training camp
Speaker 1: and the OTAs did a great job of just teaching
Speaker 1: me the techniques. And so my first preseason game when
Speaker 1: I was out there, you know, it was just kind
Speaker 1: of okay. It wasn't as fast or as as bad
Speaker 1: as you would think, because really the technique is what
Speaker 1: people probably don't harp on enough, and so um, you know,
Speaker 1: you might not be the fastest guy or the strongest
Speaker 1: you have, but if your technique is good, you know,
Speaker 1: it help helps with everything. So notice something last week
Speaker 1: special teams. Blood can rise a little bit, right, you
Speaker 1: get your blood up a little bit. And this was
Speaker 1: my view from the booth on Sunday, But I think
Speaker 1: Sherik McManus something rattled his cage a little bit and
Speaker 1: you had his arm around him, and as opposed to
Speaker 1: this captain, this guy who's who's been around a long time,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe talking down, quieting a troubled rookie or
Speaker 1: something like that, it was flipped. I think you were
Speaker 1: calling him down. Am I right? Yeah, I thought that
Speaker 1: was a veteran move for a rookie. Yeah sherifs. He's
Speaker 1: like my big brother. Man, we're very close, and he
Speaker 1: selled me a lot with the with the process of
Speaker 1: being a rookie and everything, and so um he you know,
Speaker 1: he got into it a little bit with one of
Speaker 1: the players on New England and so man, I'm just
Speaker 1: you know, I'm his brother. So I had his back,
Speaker 1: you know, told him now you know we're good, and
Speaker 1: just walked him off the field. You know, we're sitting
Speaker 1: here talking about all the obligations you have, the special
Speaker 1: teams and the different players you got to work with,
Speaker 1: and then you throw a whole defensive scheme on top
Speaker 1: of that when you start when you got here and
Speaker 1: you're going through three or four different special teams a
Speaker 1: day throughout training camp, OTAs and stuff, and then you
Speaker 1: got a bail of him for a barrel of information
Speaker 1: that you're learning from defense. Was there was that like
Speaker 1: almost an information overload or did you have time to
Speaker 1: digest everything? No? No, I love it. Um, I love um.
Speaker 1: Just knowing having to know both special teams and defense,
Speaker 1: it's a challenge and something I look forward to. So
Speaker 1: I'm constantly in the playbook constantly and in the meetings
Speaker 1: taking notes. UM, it's great, it's great, and so UM
Speaker 1: so far as it's been fine, UM, I haven't. I
Speaker 1: haven't had any issues as far as defensive plays, as
Speaker 1: far as special teams plays. UM, I just do a
Speaker 1: great job of asking questions, taking notes, and then staying ready.
Speaker 1: Inside linebacker. Do you learn one or do you learn
Speaker 1: them both? You learn both the more you know, I
Speaker 1: mean you really you want to learn what the inside
Speaker 1: linebackers are doing, what the outside linebackers, what the d
Speaker 1: lineman the secondary. You want to know what everyone's doing.
Speaker 1: That just helps, UM, you be a better player and
Speaker 1: play faster and somewhat inexperienced in terms of the inside
Speaker 1: linebacker position, because seventeen was your first year at doing
Speaker 1: it correct for on a full time basis. Correct. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so there is there a ton to learn? Assion or
Speaker 1: do you feel it all translates? I feel like it
Speaker 1: all translates, honestly, UM, outside linebacker. UM, I played on
Speaker 1: my junior year and then UM inside linebacker my senior year.
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't see much of a different. It
Speaker 1: wasn't hard to just um going into my senior year
Speaker 1: and um coming into the NFL's it's not been a
Speaker 1: struggle at all. It's been pretty smooth. Tackle numbers went
Speaker 1: way up though. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean, yeah, this guy,
Speaker 1: I mean, you popped it on. I mean, I'm sure.
Speaker 1: I mean it's just like Ryan Pace said, you know,
Speaker 1: he had to go around the building and say, look
Speaker 1: at this tape. And when stuff jumps off tape, it
Speaker 1: gets everybody's attention. It doesn't even matter, you know, you
Speaker 1: don't look for it, right, it just pops out and
Speaker 1: then you go find out who is this guy? You
Speaker 1: know that that had to be interesting for you to
Speaker 1: hear because you obviously know what you can do. So
Speaker 1: but when you're going around a building and the NFL
Speaker 1: officers and they're showing tape to everybody, Hey, you got
Speaker 1: to see this, you know, that's that's that's telling me
Speaker 1: you're doing something right. Absolutely well. Pre you know, pre
Speaker 1: draft comparison to Kwan Alexander, you know, when you think about, Okay,
Speaker 1: what do we portray this guy as? That's pretty solid praise.
Speaker 1: You know, just thinking about how your athleticism and what
Speaker 1: it can translate into absolutely absolutely all right, We're gonna
Speaker 1: take our first break. Joel E. A. Buneway is our
Speaker 1: guest here on Bears All Access. It's brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Centers. You will continue our conversation after this
Speaker 1: break on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back,
Speaker 1: everybody to Bears Alt Access, brought to you by IGS Energy,
Speaker 1: a proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas,
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Speaker 1: Jeff Jonny K Tom there from news Radio seven eighty
Speaker 1: and one to five point FWBBM. We'll have the game
Speaker 1: for you on Sunday nine am pregame noon kickoff against
Speaker 1: the New York Jets, the third in the four games
Speaker 1: against the AFC East. Weird, you're just working your way
Speaker 1: through the division despite the fact you're in the NFC North.
Speaker 1: What'd you learn in these first two trips through the
Speaker 1: AFC East in terms of the Miami Dolphins and New
Speaker 1: England Patriots and what that divisions like. Yeah, no, it's
Speaker 1: a lot more m details obviously, and when you start
Speaker 1: playing these division games and whatnot, and um, you know
Speaker 1: coaches are harping in on the importance of winning these games,
Speaker 1: and so we understand that this this next couple of
Speaker 1: weeks are going to be extremely important, and so we're
Speaker 1: looking we're looking forward to it and getting ready to
Speaker 1: start getting getting these wins. You know, when you prepare
Speaker 1: for a college game, sometimes you may not be real
Speaker 1: familiar with the talent because you don't play a team
Speaker 1: at often. It's just like the Jets, You're you're not
Speaker 1: going to see him very much throughout your career. Here
Speaker 1: with the Bears, when you start learning about a team
Speaker 1: that you're not very familiar, not going to see very often,
Speaker 1: is there a little different things nuances that change because
Speaker 1: of that, or is it kind of you just follow
Speaker 1: along the pattern that Coach Vick has been teaching you
Speaker 1: since you got here. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. We uh.
Speaker 1: Coach Vick does a great job of of giving us
Speaker 1: the game plan and giving us the tendencies and everything,
Speaker 1: and we just follow follow that, having attention to detail,
Speaker 1: looking throughout the week to have a good practice and
Speaker 1: get ready for Sunday. Is Danny Trevathan the brain you
Speaker 1: pick of the active player of the guys that you
Speaker 1: work with is he the brain that you go to? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I picked Danny's brain. I picked a lot to Um.
Speaker 1: Both of those guys have done a great job of
Speaker 1: helping me, UM just get used to to, you know,
Speaker 1: the different schemes and everything. And I appreciate those guys
Speaker 1: who should go to to get used to just being
Speaker 1: a young man on a team full of veteran players.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of young players in this team, but
Speaker 1: some you know, and we had Blow Nichols in here
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and you know, the adjustment
Speaker 1: of Hey, you know, you guys are just young men,
Speaker 1: twenty two years old. Some of these folks have families,
Speaker 1: they're married. You know. Uh, do all the young guys
Speaker 1: hang together or do you tend to hang with some
Speaker 1: of the vets too off the field? No, we the
Speaker 1: young guys definitely hang together. Me you're smiling because you
Speaker 1: know the b Balou Um roquan Um Joshua was another
Speaker 1: rookie UM insight linebacker, Um Javon Wims. We're all I
Speaker 1: think our Roogo lass is very very close. So we
Speaker 1: all hang out, um outside of of the facilities, and
Speaker 1: and you know, we go out to eat and do
Speaker 1: things like that, and so that helps us with the transition.
Speaker 1: And I'm just staying close. Having someone you know chat
Speaker 1: with about stuff is important. It's an interesting collection of
Speaker 1: characters throwing the rookie class it is, you know. And
Speaker 1: the offensive said, you got Anthony Miller, who's you know,
Speaker 1: comes from Memphis, and it's a very proud guy, very
Speaker 1: very bold guy with you know how he fused things.
Speaker 1: And ballall is a very we really got to kick
Speaker 1: out of talking to Ball. He plays like a veteran,
Speaker 1: He thinks like a veteran, he answers questions like a veteran.
Speaker 1: Do you notice that about him? Is very mature kid? Absolutely, absolutely,
Speaker 1: very much. You are very mature. And me and him
Speaker 1: have a lot in comment. I remember when I when
Speaker 1: I first met him, I was like, man, we met
Speaker 1: you were very similar man, and I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: and from there, I kind of I was like, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be cool, We're gonna be closed because what about
Speaker 1: you guys? Do you have in common? What is it
Speaker 1: just the way you think? Mentality? Absolutely, I think we're
Speaker 1: just the way we go about things. Um, I think
Speaker 1: we have a very mature mentality, and you know, just
Speaker 1: being a rookie, you know, there's there's a certain adversity
Speaker 1: you have to deal with them. So I think we
Speaker 1: just have a similar mindset as far as dealing with
Speaker 1: things like that. Since that twenty years that Jeff and
Speaker 1: I have been traveling here with the Bears, this is
Speaker 1: the first year that they're kind of a relaxed Um,
Speaker 1: clothing restrictions on the airplane. You can go a little
Speaker 1: bit more casual. So if you took all those rookies,
Speaker 1: we used to learn a lot about them by the
Speaker 1: way they dressed, in the way they spent their money
Speaker 1: on clothes. Of all your crew of guys, is anybody
Speaker 1: into that wardrobe or is anybody bringing style out that
Speaker 1: you kind of learned a little bit about him? Yes,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of these guys you don't know
Speaker 1: for that long. Absolutely, you know we have a he's
Speaker 1: being a rookies or anyway, Yah know all your rookie guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so the rookies. Javon he's got some style. He he
Speaker 1: goes by juice, so he tries to bring some flavor
Speaker 1: um every week. I feel like, uh, Roquan has some
Speaker 1: nice styles. Um. Anthony Miller has a Memphis swaggy. He
Speaker 1: definitely brings some some swags. So we have a lot
Speaker 1: of different guys who who mix it up and just
Speaker 1: do you throw on the tire? No? Do you go
Speaker 1: tie free because you don't have to? Yeh, some guys
Speaker 1: are wearing tice. Yeah. No, I haven't won a tie yet.
Speaker 1: I do have a blazer, a nice blazer I usually
Speaker 1: wear um. But yeah, yeah, I did see Givanna had
Speaker 1: a couple of games, maybe even going to Miami. He
Speaker 1: was completely styled out, and I was thinking, hottest game
Speaker 1: of the year. You're going down there, You're you're you're
Speaker 1: going going home. He's going home. It's what he was doing.
Speaker 1: You had to represent a little bit, right right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I uh, it's good news for Tom because he hates ties.
Speaker 1: You know what this guy used to do. I don't
Speaker 1: think he does it anymore. He take a nice dress
Speaker 1: shirt like I have on right now, he cut all
Speaker 1: the sleeves off and then put his jacket. Just you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't you just this is it, you know what.
Speaker 1: I was kind of talking about this because you go
Speaker 1: through a football game and you're most likely you're gonna
Speaker 1: scruff up your knee, You're gonna scrape an elbow, you know,
Speaker 1: get some type of cut on you, and then you
Speaker 1: go put on this dress shirt. Now you got a
Speaker 1: big blood stain on the elbow or something. So that
Speaker 1: part of it. I think it's good for the team
Speaker 1: to go out there and it's a business trip. You dress,
Speaker 1: dress business accordingly, go there and play Time's the only
Speaker 1: guy that I've seen it wear a suit and tie
Speaker 1: with a baseball caps. Not bad. Gotta project the dome
Speaker 1: a little bit, right, got to protect the dome. That's
Speaker 1: exactly right, Uh, Joel, it's it's It has been fun
Speaker 1: to watch all the young guys because I believe, and
Speaker 1: we've had this conversation on this show the last two
Speaker 1: draft classes in particular, Uh, there is a different type
Speaker 1: of guy, the maturity level, and there's leadership qualities just
Speaker 1: popping out all over the play. I look at Eddie Jackson,
Speaker 1: for example, He's only in his second year, but he
Speaker 1: you know, looking at the video of your postgame celebrations,
Speaker 1: he's in there breaking people down. I Mean, there are
Speaker 1: a bunch of veterans here, but you know, Eddie's been
Speaker 1: a go to. You got ter Reek's very confident in
Speaker 1: Mitch is your team leader, you have leadership qualities. Appears
Speaker 1: to me, we'll have leadership qualities. Anthony's gonna be a
Speaker 1: loud guy when he has a chance to be. So
Speaker 1: it's interesting they went after guys like this. Clearly that's
Speaker 1: what they want. Absolutely get that impression. I do. I do.
Speaker 1: I think Coach Naggie and uh, mister Pace, we're looking
Speaker 1: for those qualities, and um, they've did it a great job.
Speaker 1: They did a great job of finding guys who have
Speaker 1: those And you know the Bear one. Did you know
Speaker 1: the Bears were looking for you? Looking at you during
Speaker 1: the end of that command the draft and combine and everything.
Speaker 1: I did not. I did not know. Um, was anybody
Speaker 1: out there like fishing for you? Yeah, there was. There
Speaker 1: were some teams that were the Bears weren't and so
Speaker 1: that that was a great surprise for me. Um, just
Speaker 1: obviously being from Chicago and everything, and um, it worked out.
Speaker 1: We'll pick up that part of the story after a
Speaker 1: break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score.
Speaker 1: This segment of Bears on Access is orchestrated by CDW
Speaker 1: CDW people, It'll get it. Jeff, Jonny Act Tim there
Speaker 1: along with Pause, Rang and Dan Barilli and our guest
Speaker 1: Joel Ea Booney Way. I've done good. I haven't messed
Speaker 1: it up one time yet, You've done great. Huh. It's
Speaker 1: the hardest thing, though, when you get guys with similarly
Speaker 1: more difficult names in there tackling each other or banging
Speaker 1: into each other. I've come up with some some doozies,
Speaker 1: just let me tell you over the years, because from
Speaker 1: here to here, from the top of your brain into
Speaker 1: your mouth, you never know just what might come out.
Speaker 1: So if it ever happens, please don't be offended, because
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that right now, right Paul's arrange, he's laughing.
Speaker 1: I've come up awards that don't even exist. All the
Speaker 1: thing about it, Jeff has to learn and a kyer
Speaker 1: roster of names each week, you know, and it's incredible
Speaker 1: that how the names have changed, how difficult it is.
Speaker 1: And you know, you know, even having blow on here,
Speaker 1: you know, talking to him about his name because you
Speaker 1: don't see it that often. And now the Jets they
Speaker 1: have a running back who went on ir yeah blah,
Speaker 1: Paul who's been around a while out for the year
Speaker 1: with a season ending neck injury that could be career
Speaker 1: ending according to Todd Bull, So the Jets, though they
Speaker 1: can run the ball, they do have capabilities and running
Speaker 1: the football. We'll break that down a little bit with Joel.
Speaker 1: When we went to the break, you mentioned that you
Speaker 1: know that you're from Chicago, and obviously when you're in
Speaker 1: the draft, it's amazing how much attention is focused on
Speaker 1: everybody in the draft. So you'll learn a lot about
Speaker 1: all the all the guys coming out every year and
Speaker 1: then it quiets down. So people may not know about
Speaker 1: your story, But if you're listening to this show, you
Speaker 1: haven't heard about Joel and his his journey from Chicago
Speaker 1: to Bowling Green where he grew up and played his
Speaker 1: high school football. Right, you play your high school football there.
Speaker 1: Tell us your story about the Chicago connection once more.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so Um born here in Cook County, Chicago,
Speaker 1: ninety five, nineteen ninety five and lived in the city
Speaker 1: for about two years and then moved to the suburbs
Speaker 1: in Bowling Brook after that, And I was there for
Speaker 1: about six years until I was eight eight nine years old,
Speaker 1: and then my dad got a job at Western Kentucky
Speaker 1: UM in Bowling Green. So um family got up and
Speaker 1: moved there. My dad started teaching. UM, he's a professor,
Speaker 1: so he started teaching your Western and then UM, pretty
Speaker 1: much I grew up there from from eight years old
Speaker 1: till until I was draft did um I was in
Speaker 1: Bowling Green and uh, I'm back, so it's it's nice
Speaker 1: to be back, and uh kind of everything kind of
Speaker 1: came in full circle, so it's great. Was it hard
Speaker 1: for you eight years old where you're ready to go?
Speaker 1: Or did you have friends and like just a whole
Speaker 1: lifestyle growing. I know it's hard at eight years old,
Speaker 1: but moving an eight year old when he's got a
Speaker 1: ton of friends, they don't know if, oh am I
Speaker 1: ever going to meet another friend? Yeah? No, we had
Speaker 1: we had a family members here, We had friends, and
Speaker 1: we did have to leave all of them and start
Speaker 1: a new life in Kentucky, which was a lot different,
Speaker 1: a lot different from Illinois. But UM, I made plenty
Speaker 1: of friends UM in Bowling Green and everything worked out.
Speaker 1: You're you're a good athlete. So was football your concentration
Speaker 1: or did you go down to Western Kentucky probably a
Speaker 1: better climate and have access to more sports or where
Speaker 1: you a football focused guy? Um? I played UM basketball,
Speaker 1: UM throughout high school, played played in middle school played
Speaker 1: UM football as well. Um, those are my main two sports,
Speaker 1: basketball and football. I think I played a little soccer
Speaker 1: when I was young, a little t ball when I
Speaker 1: was young, but no, football was definitely the main sport.
Speaker 1: UM basketball was a clue. What positions you play on
Speaker 1: offense in football? Yeah, I played a receiver, I played
Speaker 1: a running back, and I played kick return on special teams.
Speaker 1: It's it's interesting because when you read the bios of
Speaker 1: these players when they are Joel size or linebackers, and
Speaker 1: it seems like every one of them have a great
Speaker 1: career as a high school running back. Yeah, and Lance
Speaker 1: Briggs remember, Yeah, Lance Briggs tore it up in Arizona.
Speaker 1: Man put up some huge numbers as a running back. Right.
Speaker 1: And you know then it is you got to kind
Speaker 1: of make your where do you gravitate towards when it
Speaker 1: Where is that deciding factor and saying, Okay, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna be a six one, two hundred and thirty pound
Speaker 1: running back, but you're gonna be an athlete at linebacker. No,
Speaker 1: that's great question, um from me. I remember my my
Speaker 1: high school coach asked me, Um, okay, you know you're
Speaker 1: a junior, you're a senior. What do you feel like
Speaker 1: you do better at the college level? And I was like, um,
Speaker 1: I think defense, Um is definitely my staple with my
Speaker 1: calling because I like to hit and um, you know,
Speaker 1: playing linebacker it is just one of the main positions
Speaker 1: you get to hit a lot. So um, and it
Speaker 1: ended up working out, Um, choosing to play linebacker. Well,
Speaker 1: he's got the body of Sekwon Barkley over here, or
Speaker 1: maybe maybe Joel has you know, maybe Barkley has a
Speaker 1: Joel's body because you don't look like a twenty two
Speaker 1: year old kid. Yeah, definitely, I've heard. Yeah. I mean,
Speaker 1: my goodness, I mean you got you had to have
Speaker 1: loved the weight room or you know, is this somewhat
Speaker 1: you know God gave you these gifts? I mean to
Speaker 1: be big? Um, a little bit of both, I think. Um,
Speaker 1: I've always loved the weight room. I've always loved working
Speaker 1: out and taking care of your body, eating right, diet, um,
Speaker 1: all that stuff. So um, that definitely is one. I think.
Speaker 1: Also God blessed me with good genetics and whatnot. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, you mix the two and that's what you get.
Speaker 1: So is your dad a big guy too? No, my dad,
Speaker 1: my dad is not my dad and mom or um
Speaker 1: under six foot and um you know here here I
Speaker 1: am six two. Yeah, So you weren't running through the
Speaker 1: McDonald's drive for you fan in knowledge you ate right
Speaker 1: all the way. You're one of those guys, right. I
Speaker 1: mean I spiled myself, don't get me wrong. You know
Speaker 1: I spoiled myself a little bit. Um, but I wasn't
Speaker 1: running the McDonald's or burger king Yeah, every day. So
Speaker 1: what is it now? I mean, now that you're at
Speaker 1: this level, you can eat as perfect as you want to. Um,
Speaker 1: what has been your routine over time? I mean you
Speaker 1: just are you a guy used every couple of hours,
Speaker 1: jam the protein down, do as much of that? And
Speaker 1: what is your vice if there is one in terms
Speaker 1: of snack food or something something you really enjoy outside
Speaker 1: my my diets? Pretty um, Jen our nutritionist has done
Speaker 1: a great job of helping me. I remember when I
Speaker 1: first got here during l t AS, I asked her,
Speaker 1: you know what some stuff I can make? And she
Speaker 1: send me a whole bunch of stuff that I could
Speaker 1: cook and um, just snacks and stuff you can eat
Speaker 1: that are that are healthy and stuff and so um.
Speaker 1: I know in the mornings, I usually go with some oatmeal, um,
Speaker 1: maybe some pancakes, some eggs. Um. And then for lunch
Speaker 1: before practice, I don't eat a lot. I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: a PV and J sandwich or you know, some pasta
Speaker 1: or something. But um, um that's usually very light. And
Speaker 1: so after after practice, like right now, after um, I'm done,
Speaker 1: I'll probably go and get you know, maybe a sandwich,
Speaker 1: chicken wrap, um, maybe a salad to go with that. Um.
Speaker 1: And then my vice. Um, my sweetness is sweets. Uh,
Speaker 1: my weakness is sweets. So um, I got a sweet tooth. Um.
Speaker 1: I love I love sweets. Who doesn't In the sensitive
Speaker 1: time of football right now and everything that goes around
Speaker 1: surrounding the conversation conversation of allowing kids to play football,
Speaker 1: Your dad's an educator. How was he with you playing football?
Speaker 1: Did he kind of try to encourage you or discourage
Speaker 1: you in any way? And how is he now about it? Um?
Speaker 1: He didn't, He didn't discourage or anything like that. Um.
Speaker 1: He definitely let me be me. UM, let me choose
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do. I played basketball and football. Um,
Speaker 1: but as long as I took care of my my grades. Um,
Speaker 1: he was okay with whatever I did, so, um, you
Speaker 1: know he was fine with that. Um. I did a
Speaker 1: great job of staying out top of school as well
Speaker 1: as well as playing sports. So um, we never had
Speaker 1: an issue. Now, um, now I'm in the in the NFL.
Speaker 1: He's he's obviously very proud and stuff like that. But um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know he's he's he's doing great and he loves
Speaker 1: he loves watching the games and keeping up with me
Speaker 1: and everything. How about mom, Mom, pretty much the same thing. Yeah, MoMA,
Speaker 1: Mom loves um loves uh um what I'm doing, and
Speaker 1: she's proud of me. And yeah, pretty much the same.
Speaker 1: Any other guys from your senior class from Western Kentucky
Speaker 1: make it to the NFL this year. Yeah, our quarterback
Speaker 1: Mike Ye's playing for the Cowboys, and then we had
Speaker 1: a tight end who's playing for the Chiefs, now dion Yoder.
Speaker 1: Because they were impressed about the number of scouts that
Speaker 1: showed up a year guys as pro day, because they
Speaker 1: talked about the three of you guys, and they had
Speaker 1: a selection of six or eight of other guys, but
Speaker 1: that thirty over thirty pro scouts there. It was impressive,
Speaker 1: and you know, because of you guys were on display. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no what w K has done a great job of
Speaker 1: putting players in the league, and um, you know, we
Speaker 1: hope to continue that. And so you know we're just
Speaker 1: you know, good, good fortune and working hard. We'll continue
Speaker 1: our conversation with Jelle Ea booney Way as we break
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. This Sunday's game against the Jets is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Doctor Pepper, the official soft drink
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears. Jeff and Tom with Heal and
Speaker 1: Joel yea booney Way linebacker from Western Kentucky. Bears rookie
Speaker 1: fourth rounder Danny Trevathan was a sixth rounder. He had
Speaker 1: to work his way from the practice squad actually get
Speaker 1: a really good Denver Bronco team when he started his
Speaker 1: NFL career. He did it on special teams, they did
Speaker 1: it at practice and impressed the coaching staff. Kept getting opportunities.
Speaker 1: So and I had a conversation just today with a
Speaker 1: couple of the rookies, Dijon Allen, the offensive lineman, and
Speaker 1: he says he loot to me every single day. He's
Speaker 1: the nicest guy in that locker. Whom I swear to you.
Speaker 1: He sits there, he observes you're so mean. But anyway,
Speaker 1: you know, I always say, hey, how's it going, man,
Speaker 1: he goes, Man, just waiting for my chance, waiting for
Speaker 1: my chance. And when you get the chance, and that's
Speaker 1: what you're all here for. You know, you're here to
Speaker 1: win help as a member of the fifty three man
Speaker 1: roster in the practice squad in his case. And but
Speaker 1: at the same time, it's got to be tough to
Speaker 1: wait for those opportunities. So Danny, a sixth rounder, didn't
Speaker 1: have that pedigree of a first second round pick. You're
Speaker 1: a fourth rounder. Um, but does it give you a
Speaker 1: window to the future and you see how he's doing
Speaker 1: it and how you're it? Does it does M Staying ready?
Speaker 1: Staying ready? Um? You know Danny did a great job
Speaker 1: of that. And you know here he is, um getting
Speaker 1: getting the contract and getting everything that he wanted. So um,
Speaker 1: it definitely helps um. Keep you motivated and keep you
Speaker 1: ready for the opportunity. Don't don't let the opportunity slip.
Speaker 1: Just stay ready, stay humble, and when when that chance comes,
Speaker 1: take advantage of it. You know, throughout any of our careers,
Speaker 1: we all play demonstration squad, and so is it easy
Speaker 1: for you to motivate yourself when you have the reps
Speaker 1: in there because no one has exempt from it, and
Speaker 1: that's the way you you climb the ladder. Anyways, so
Speaker 1: when you get that you're playing demonstration squad, you're kind
Speaker 1: of playing another team's defense, but you see the offensive
Speaker 1: talent ahead of you. Are the types of things that
Speaker 1: you can go through in those practices helpful to your development? Yes? Absolutely, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Um the effort you can play with great effort, you
Speaker 1: can work on your techniques, you can work on pretty
Speaker 1: much all the drills that that you want. So, m
Speaker 1: I think there's two ways you can go about it.
Speaker 1: You can look at it is so you know, I'm
Speaker 1: on the practice squad or I'm I'm the demonstration team,
Speaker 1: and you can kind of just go through the motion,
Speaker 1: or you can use it as a chance to get
Speaker 1: better work on your techniques and stuff. And so that
Speaker 1: that's how I view every situation. And so I'm always
Speaker 1: working on my game and continuing to get better. How
Speaker 1: realistic and even back when you played time, how realistic
Speaker 1: and what effort As you're playing another team's defense, do
Speaker 1: they want you to be because they want you to
Speaker 1: play their techniques and coverage and run fits and whatnot.
Speaker 1: Is it have to hit full metal to the you know,
Speaker 1: pedal to the metal type of practice to make your
Speaker 1: offense better or how how do they want you to
Speaker 1: do it? Yeah? Yeah, Sometimes they they'll tell you, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is exactly what we want. We want this is
Speaker 1: what the player that you're demonstrating um for the week,
Speaker 1: this is what he does. So they want to exactly
Speaker 1: like this and that's okay. And then other times it
Speaker 1: would be like just play how you wouldn't want to
Speaker 1: play it? And then those are the chances that UM,
Speaker 1: I used to to get you know, my my work
Speaker 1: in and work on the things that I want to
Speaker 1: work on. UM. But yeah, you know, it just depends
Speaker 1: on what um, what the uh the coaches want? And
Speaker 1: how about when you what would happen in your day?
Speaker 1: Oh well, everything was live, so it never mattered. We
Speaker 1: didn't never had a relaxed tempo. It was full speed
Speaker 1: and every drill we did, even when we were going
Speaker 1: against demonstration squad. But it's a funny thing about Joel
Speaker 1: is after practice, I saw Kyle Long and Kyle says man,
Speaker 1: we got after today, we had a hard So now
Speaker 1: you're thinking of Joel, who's he looking across from when
Speaker 1: he's got a bubble as a guy like Kyle, Kyle
Speaker 1: Long and in Cody and the whole crew of guys.
Speaker 1: But you know that that's how a guy like Joel,
Speaker 1: that's how you develop into that starter and all. You know,
Speaker 1: the future of yourself is when you get to go
Speaker 1: against the best of the best. For what sixty snaps
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday Thursday deal, yep, absolutely, absolutely the um
Speaker 1: the I think the opportunity is great. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: getting the cover to read, getting the cover Trey Burton,
Speaker 1: you know, and all that stuff. I'm going against Kyle
Speaker 1: and Cody and um Leno and these guys. Man, that's
Speaker 1: you know, that's a great opportunity and chance to work
Speaker 1: on your game and um to get better. You know,
Speaker 1: last night Jeff and I did a deal with Tred Cohen,
Speaker 1: and I brought up because I read so much about him.
Speaker 1: I always read about this Fortnite stuff. Are you a
Speaker 1: video game guy? I don't. I don't play Fortnite a lot. Um.
Speaker 1: I do have the game, but I'm more of a
Speaker 1: NBA two K I play a lot of sports. Um
Speaker 1: I play, Um, but don't don't doesn't like, don't you
Speaker 1: play madness like the sports anymore that you're on a
Speaker 1: team and yeah, like absolutely absolutely, yeah no we do,
Speaker 1: we do. Um. Fortnite was was huge, um you know
Speaker 1: this year and last year. Um, I wasn't the biggest
Speaker 1: player of it, but um, it was definitely popping. So
Speaker 1: if there's an NBA, I mean an NBA game on
Speaker 1: an NFL game or video games, where are you going?
Speaker 1: For sure? It depends on he's playing, But um, those
Speaker 1: sports games for sure. Do you ever talk hoops with
Speaker 1: Charles Leno? The man knows NBA? Yes, he has got
Speaker 1: it down cold. So if you want to have a
Speaker 1: guy talk hoops with you, it's fun for me to
Speaker 1: be in there to hear this because invariably, especially if
Speaker 1: you get a guy like Bellamy in there or you
Speaker 1: know some other guys, uh that, even Jonathan Bullard, you know,
Speaker 1: they like to, you know, talk about who's the greatest,
Speaker 1: who's the best, Who's this, who's that? In the NBA.
Speaker 1: But I covered Michael Jordan during his prime like that
Speaker 1: when they won their six championships. I was there for
Speaker 1: all of that, so it's hard for me to have
Speaker 1: anybody tell me anything different. But I'm an old guy now,
Speaker 1: so I get those who love Kobe and those who
Speaker 1: love Steph and those who love Lebron. Yeah. Um, so
Speaker 1: you know where do you stand on this? Where do
Speaker 1: you standing? Who? Who's Who's the man? Michael is definitely
Speaker 1: the greatest, Um, Lebron I would have to go with
Speaker 1: this second. Um, I think the six for six um
Speaker 1: with five MVP or six for six killer. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the killer right there. I don't think anybody's gonna pass him.
Speaker 1: Kareem is always up there as well. Um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: Mike Mike is definitely not. I'm a huge Kobe fan.
Speaker 1: I like Kobe growing up. Um, but Mike, Mike is
Speaker 1: the goat. I never saw anybody have a killer instinct
Speaker 1: leg Mike, that's for sure. Had a great opportunity. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I ever told you this, but I
Speaker 1: covered the NBA All Star Game, their fiftieth NBA All
Speaker 1: Star Game in Cleveland, and every living Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: is there. So we're talking Oscar Robertson at the time.
Speaker 1: You know, Kareem, u El, you name it. They were
Speaker 1: all there and that was quite the collection, Bill Russell.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you could put all those guys in
Speaker 1: they do it. Obviously, you can do it in a
Speaker 1: video game. Could you imagine putting all those guys on
Speaker 1: the court together. You can't pick who's your best ten.
Speaker 1: Same with the NFL. Oh Man usually the greatest. But
Speaker 1: you know when I when we talked about it again
Speaker 1: last night, when you look at the greatest and you
Speaker 1: see what they are able to accomplish. To me, when
Speaker 1: you're a professional athlete, it's about what you do in
Speaker 1: the off season to stay prepared for the season. And
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of the inspiration you got to
Speaker 1: get from a guy like because Lebron's not just gonna
Speaker 1: be good because he's big. He's good because he puts
Speaker 1: so much effort into the off season. And that's the
Speaker 1: same thing you're gonna have to do throughout your career.
Speaker 1: What's the season's over, he'll up feel good and get
Speaker 1: back at it. Absolutely No, the off season isn't time
Speaker 1: to relax and start partying and uh going on vacations.
Speaker 1: Obviously you can, you know, have a little a little
Speaker 1: time to yourself and whatnot, but um, that's that's the
Speaker 1: time to separate yourself, um from everybody else and get
Speaker 1: ready for the next year. And you always are gonna
Speaker 1: have eye on your future too, beyond football. And you've
Speaker 1: you've made this clear you have hope at one day
Speaker 1: being a pediatrician. Um. So that's something that you'll pursue
Speaker 1: for sure. You know down the road, UM, where is
Speaker 1: where did that of of of medical and you know
Speaker 1: that aspect of your education, when did that kick in
Speaker 1: for you? When when did that become something you were
Speaker 1: interested in? Ever since I was I was a kid,
Speaker 1: my parents, um instilled in me the importance of education
Speaker 1: and my mom being a nurse and my dad being
Speaker 1: a public health professor. Um. You know, I was kind
Speaker 1: of around the health profession. And um then once I
Speaker 1: once I was old enough to decide what I wanted
Speaker 1: to do, you know, being a doctor was what I
Speaker 1: wanted wanted to do. And so UM, no, I give
Speaker 1: all credit to them. You know, it seems like when
Speaker 1: someone has the aspirations to be a doctor and they're
Speaker 1: a football player, it kind of sticks with him because
Speaker 1: you remember John frank the tight end for the San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty nine Denis wasn't it was now he Well,
Speaker 1: he became a doctor. And the thing about it, he
Speaker 1: always talked about it when he came out of college. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm playing football, but eventually I'm gonna go to med
Speaker 1: school and he and that's what he's been able to accomplish.
Speaker 1: So it seems like a guy like you that has
Speaker 1: that for thinking about that is a all that you're
Speaker 1: going to accomplish. Yeah, it is. It is. Obviously I've
Speaker 1: been blessed to be where I am now, but um,
Speaker 1: I feel like that that is what I've wanted to
Speaker 1: do and playing in the NFL was another goal that
Speaker 1: I was able to achieve. But it doesn't mean I
Speaker 1: have to let go of one. So you know, it's
Speaker 1: something I want to do and I plan to do it.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll pick up our conversation with Joel eya
Speaker 1: booty Way our final segment coming up here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the Score. We must thank our
Speaker 1: guest Joel eya booty Way for joining us tonight on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. Ruth's Chris would like to have you
Speaker 1: have this one hundred dollars gift card to enjoy in
Speaker 1: one of their chicagol That area steakhouses. I'm sure you'll
Speaker 1: enjoy a nice steak. You do allow yourself that I do? Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: why not? Right? That's one of time's favorites right there.
Speaker 1: It is. You know that. That's the great thing about it.
Speaker 1: You have a gift like that. And the what the
Speaker 1: Bears do for you in terms of supplying food. You know,
Speaker 1: it's something in the early NFL that wasn't a part
Speaker 1: of our existence. But you know, the Bears they're all in.
Speaker 1: They in terms of technology and everything. They offer you
Speaker 1: everything you can possibly use to increase your performance, your
Speaker 1: profession in the length of time you're going to be here,
Speaker 1: which is cool to see how much the organization cares. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: there's no excuse for not being the best player you
Speaker 1: can be. They have everything, and this campus has grown
Speaker 1: every day. You guys go out there and see the
Speaker 1: construction crews here and you know, from the first day
Speaker 1: of twenty five thousand square foot Bear facility now to campus.
Speaker 1: Get back there. Yeah, guys, guys are nestled away. Train
Speaker 1: running by, you know the train. Everybody loves the train.
Speaker 1: Everybody loves it. Why why just there's some aesthetic value
Speaker 1: to right you're playing in the just it is funny,
Speaker 1: it's it is an idelic setting. It really it's beautiful.
Speaker 1: Um and the field over there is outstanding up But
Speaker 1: as a player, and I'm sure you guys this way
Speaker 1: in college too, when when when you're when you're give
Speaker 1: than something else to make yourselves better, Like this new
Speaker 1: structure will be state of the art. It's all designed
Speaker 1: to help you become a better football player, both on
Speaker 1: the field and in the classroom and through technology. Do
Speaker 1: you feel then that that organization or that's college, whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be, has your back as a player.
Speaker 1: They're investing in your in addition to gestr Patre, Yes,
Speaker 1: investing was exactly word I was going to use. Um
Speaker 1: Um yes, um absolutely. I feel like it motivates. It
Speaker 1: motivates you to be your best, to put everything that
Speaker 1: you can into you know, your your job, and not
Speaker 1: just go through the motions or or just collect the check. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, you see you see them building this and
Speaker 1: offering this, and you're like, wow, you know these guys care,
Speaker 1: and you know they're willing to put in the effort
Speaker 1: and the money to do this. So why wouldn't I
Speaker 1: do the same thing. So, you know, I like what
Speaker 1: the Bears do because you go to all of that
Speaker 1: and you kind of get to know your teammates and
Speaker 1: a training camp setting there you're all close and dorm
Speaker 1: life and everything. Then you come to Hollis Hall, you
Speaker 1: get stuck in the dungeon. You get your lockers downstairs.
Speaker 1: You've got to kind of earn that upstairs, and then
Speaker 1: finally you make it upstairs with the big locker room.
Speaker 1: But it's kind of such an accomplishment that transition is
Speaker 1: such a sense of accomplishment. You get out of training camp,
Speaker 1: now you come to Hollis Hall and then you earn
Speaker 1: a locker upstairs. It's got to be a great feeling
Speaker 1: for you. Um, do I've accomplished that? You know things
Speaker 1: were different when I was here, But that's the way
Speaker 1: it is for you guys. Yes, that's exactly how it was. Um,
Speaker 1: the dungeon was was the growing pains man. You had
Speaker 1: to get through that. And um, you know, when you
Speaker 1: made the team and your your name was in the
Speaker 1: big locker room with everybody, the vets and everything, it
Speaker 1: was a great feeling. How have you taken to vic Fangio.
Speaker 1: Oh love coach vic Um Love coach vic Um coach
Speaker 1: Vick does a great job of, um, you know, being
Speaker 1: personable and and you know, joking around with the guys
Speaker 1: and everything. And so I think everybody, um would say
Speaker 1: he's a great person and um, I've i've I've liked
Speaker 1: everything about Have you ever studied any of Vick's past
Speaker 1: or any of the linebacking groups that he's had in
Speaker 1: his career. Yeah, you know, having gone through those eras
Speaker 1: with Vic he's always you know, been that guy that's
Speaker 1: always stayed at the forefront of defense, but he's also
Speaker 1: been able to transition talent to the way they best
Speaker 1: fit in the into the defense. And because you have
Speaker 1: some kind of unique abilities, Yeah, you run as well
Speaker 1: as anybody. You got length, he got point of attack ability.
Speaker 1: So the more growth he sees in you, probably the
Speaker 1: more fun it is to be around a guy like
Speaker 1: because he expands your opportunities absolutely, Yes, And then you know,
Speaker 1: because you're doing special team as well. You know you
Speaker 1: mentioned Chris Tabor. We had him on the Coaches Show
Speaker 1: on Monday Night. Uh, he's a fun guy too. I
Speaker 1: think people would be surprised. Pretty funny yeah. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: got a great sense of humor. But do you get
Speaker 1: on you guys too, won't us? Yeah, he's definitely, um both,
Speaker 1: you know, he has a great sense of humor and
Speaker 1: meetings can be hilarious at times, and then you know
Speaker 1: sometimes he would get on you, Betty. Betty wasn't too
Speaker 1: pleased this week. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, like, um, this
Speaker 1: week he got on, he got on us, which is,
Speaker 1: you know exactly what we need him and we we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to Sunday to bounce back um on special
Speaker 1: teams and um, you know he's gonna do a great
Speaker 1: job of making sure we're ready when things devolve like
Speaker 1: that like it did Sunday and two touchdowns by a
Speaker 1: special teams unit allowed? Is it snap? Everybody to attention?
Speaker 1: Then the following, yeah, it does, it does um as
Speaker 1: as special teams um is you know, it's one of
Speaker 1: the three phases, and it's it's a big part man
Speaker 1: and us giving up to you know, two touchdowns, I'm
Speaker 1: being a being a special teams player. You know, you
Speaker 1: just you hate that and so uh, you know we're
Speaker 1: ready to bounce back and make sure that doesn't happen again.
Speaker 1: In colleges you have immediate response with tablets, because you
Speaker 1: do now, so if if you do go through a play,
Speaker 1: you can look at the evidence of it right on
Speaker 1: the sideline. Did you did you have that at Western Kentuckey? No,
Speaker 1: we did not. How do you like that? How do
Speaker 1: you like the ability see it? I love it? No,
Speaker 1: I love it. It's a huge you know, he huge
Speaker 1: as far as correcting the stakes and seeing exactly what happened. Sometimes,
Speaker 1: you know, in college you would have to recall what happened.
Speaker 1: You're not sure, you know, Coach ask oh, what did
Speaker 1: you see? And you're like, I think I saw this,
Speaker 1: But you know, with the tablet, it's right there. You
Speaker 1: see exactly what happened and explain the situation. Tough for
Speaker 1: part of two of the Punk Game this week with
Speaker 1: Andre Roberts, a veteran punt returned number one of the
Speaker 1: league right now, So that'll be something to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on Sunday at Soldier Field as the Bears meet
Speaker 1: the Jets. Out of curiosity, what number you were in
Speaker 1: this week on prep team for that fifty eight? Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't have him all memorized yet, but Darren lee
Speaker 1: Zack of a linebacker there he can run, and he
Speaker 1: saw he's made three interceptions already at the linebacker level
Speaker 1: of the Ohio State kid. You like that kid? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a good player. Did you get issued fifty seven
Speaker 1: when you first got here? So? Um? I had forty
Speaker 1: five when I first got here, but there was a
Speaker 1: situation with the with the dB A defensive and so
Speaker 1: um he had to take forty five, and so um
Speaker 1: Mark Quimman guy said, Um, if if the number was available,
Speaker 1: that I would get it back. So that was his number.
Speaker 1: He loves that number. He would have been proud. You
Speaker 1: both like the way right right? What number did you want? Um?
Speaker 1: I wanted sixty one, but I didn't know I was
Speaker 1: um retired for Bill George. Um is that yeah? The linebacker?
Speaker 1: But that's what I was wearing in the USFL, So
Speaker 1: I would who are sixty one? Yeah? I wasn't thinking ahead,
Speaker 1: and so I didn't know him. M Ray Early, who
Speaker 1: was the equipment manager. He just put fifty seven and
Speaker 1: said you have your USFL uniform? Did you steal the jersey? No?
Speaker 1: Because when I took my uniform off, I got into
Speaker 1: my car and drove the training camp. I never had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to grab my equipment or anything. I gotta
Speaker 1: do this because and this is he doesn't like talking
Speaker 1: about himself at all, but this is something I want
Speaker 1: you to put this in perspective. Listen to this, tell
Speaker 1: him and don't don't fudge it. Tell him what you did.
Speaker 1: Because the us so I started, I started practice on
Speaker 1: January sixteenth, and I played. That's when the USFL started.
Speaker 1: We played in the spring, so we didn't play preseason.
Speaker 1: We had eighteen regular season games and then we had
Speaker 1: the playoff. So it did that had My last game
Speaker 1: was on a Saturday night. After the game was over,
Speaker 1: got in my car, drove straight to Wisconsin to start
Speaker 1: training camp on Monday morning for the Bears. For the Bears,
Speaker 1: so because he had drafted him, but he went and
Speaker 1: signed in the USFL. So it had a stretch of
Speaker 1: a year. So and then I finished the season January
Speaker 1: twenty six of the next year, and had forty six
Speaker 1: games in between there. But they won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: So that's the last Super Bowl for the Bears. But
Speaker 1: he played forty six games in one calendar year. Think
Speaker 1: about that. Just think about that for one second, and
Speaker 1: you tell me what your body and your mind might
Speaker 1: feel after no, no, but again you would do the
Speaker 1: same thing. You're twenty three years old and you're going,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I have a chance to go play
Speaker 1: in front of my hometown, my nervous and this was
Speaker 1: trying to make a team that I just got beat
Speaker 1: in the NFC Championship game. There's not a lot of
Speaker 1: room for rookies there, so just the whole challenge of
Speaker 1: making it. But I think, like you, you're inspired every
Speaker 1: day to be a football player, and that's that's what
Speaker 1: keeps you going. Yeah, no, that's that's that's a great story, man.
Speaker 1: That's that's definitely tough. H forty six games in a year,
Speaker 1: that's right. Plus these guys they didn't they they hit
Speaker 1: every day, right, I mean they were full. Yeah. Crazy
Speaker 1: as it may sound now, but that was just normal.
Speaker 1: That's the way it was back. You could go to
Speaker 1: these and grab guys like Cody Well, I'm not I
Speaker 1: don't you know Cody did. You could bring him and
Speaker 1: he'd be he'd do it, and Bobby Massey would do
Speaker 1: a Charles Leno. You know. It's a great locker room,
Speaker 1: is it not. I mean, even though you're a young
Speaker 1: guy in it and you're you're experiencing a pro atmosphere
Speaker 1: for the very first time in your life. You can
Speaker 1: get a feel for a good locker room. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean to tell me why you feel that way. I
Speaker 1: know I feel that way. But you know what about
Speaker 1: this locker room? I feel like, Uh, when the Vets
Speaker 1: and the rookies can get along easy, when they can
Speaker 1: talk about anything, When um, different type of players can
Speaker 1: condemn your locker buddy, can you can have a conversation
Speaker 1: with him, and um, when things like that happened. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you know it's it's a it's a close
Speaker 1: knit group. So I joke around with Kyle, Cody um Leno,
Speaker 1: I joke around with the tight Ends, some Trey um
Speaker 1: Dion Sims, I'm brand Brown and curR. You know. I
Speaker 1: joke around with a bunch of different guys, not just
Speaker 1: the rookies, but you know, the Vets and some guys
Speaker 1: with kids, guys with wives. I talk about you know,
Speaker 1: almost anything you know, and so being to being a
Speaker 1: young twenty twenty three year old, you know, rookies, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. You know, these these guys we can hold
Speaker 1: We can have conversations about absolutely anything, and so in
Speaker 1: the locker room these days for young men. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: outside of the Abbeys and football and whatnot, right right,
Speaker 1: I mean sports is always number one. Um, we try.
Speaker 1: Politics comes up a little bit, Um, it does, it
Speaker 1: does a little bit, but um, you know sports music, UM,
Speaker 1: you know women and and stuff like that. You know,
Speaker 1: day to day stuff. But you know, coach Naggi always
Speaker 1: keeps the message pretty clear. Whatever he says is the
Speaker 1: podium is the right thing to say in front of
Speaker 1: the group of guys that he wants to be close. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And he's done a great job of preaching that, um,
Speaker 1: day in and day out since um, since I've gotten
Speaker 1: near and even before that. Um. And so you know,
Speaker 1: the guys are definitely buying into it. And you know
Speaker 1: we're just we're a closed group. All right, we'll go
Speaker 1: get one on Sunday, Yes, sir, will be nice. Joel
Speaker 1: Ea Booney Way, so please you join us. The rookie
Speaker 1: out of Western Kentucky making an impact here with the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. Yeah, that's gonna do it. For tonight's show,
Speaker 1: for Paul's Ranker engineering Dan really our our producer. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak for Tom there and Joel Iggy. He's gonna
Speaker 1: have a long career here with the Bears. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to everybody, Go Bears as they meet the Jets
Speaker 1: on Sunday at Soldier Field. We'll talk to you on
Speaker 1: the radio and have a great night, everybody,