Speaker 1: Okay, we got some big guys up here, impact players
Speaker 1: for your Chicago Bears, some of the most dominant defensive
Speaker 1: lineman in NFL history. Up Here, we got Hall of Famers,
Speaker 1: all decade performers, Pro Bowlers, many members of the scat
Speaker 1: Bruk one hundred. We got a lot of guys and
Speaker 1: a lot of good stories to talk about. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us, everybody. Hope everybody's doing Okay, we're doing good
Speaker 1: out there. We're gonna show him some love big time
Speaker 1: there watching these guys roll in here and hey, I'm
Speaker 1: a little guy. You're an offensive lineman. You were a
Speaker 1: big guy. These guys are bigger. This would have been
Speaker 1: intimidating now time he's slimmed up, time he's slimmed up.
Speaker 1: But he was a big guy. This is some nasty
Speaker 1: up here. You know. My earliest memories of Bear's greatness
Speaker 1: is Ed o'bradovich because he used to be around the
Speaker 1: locker room a lot. And then when I started looking
Speaker 1: at information, you see the interviews of how much it
Speaker 1: meant for him to be a Bear, his player greatness
Speaker 1: and everything he meant to the defensive line and defensive
Speaker 1: reputation of the Chicago Bears, and then you know, being
Speaker 1: teammates with Half and Chris and stuff, and there he
Speaker 1: is right there, Ed o'bradovitch, baby number eighty seven. You
Speaker 1: think of Obi and Doug Gatkins on the same defensive line,
Speaker 1: the destruction they caused back then, and you think it
Speaker 1: can talent transfer from one year to the next. There's
Speaker 1: two guys that could play twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and
Speaker 1: so on. It's bear greatness, Ed. When you see those
Speaker 1: highlights of yourself, what goes through your mind? I'd like
Speaker 1: to be playing today? You know WHOA look at you move? Baby?
Speaker 1: You know what? I sit there and I look at this.
Speaker 1: And football in any decade is real serious business. And
Speaker 1: I played in what people would call the most violent
Speaker 1: decade of football, and that was in the nineteen sixties.
Speaker 1: And there was one rule, and that one rule was
Speaker 1: there was no rules. We had a coach by the
Speaker 1: name of George Allen who was in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: and he was our defensive coordinator, and he came up
Speaker 1: with defenses and maneuvers and and settings that we play opponents.
Speaker 1: We would annihilate them. They didn't know what the hell
Speaker 1: we were doing, had no idea. And one of the
Speaker 1: things that George came up and you see it in
Speaker 1: today's game and all of them. You'll see where the
Speaker 1: back will come in and check to see if anybody's
Speaker 1: coming inside, and if not, then he wheeled around the
Speaker 1: defensive end for a six hired hook or out in
Speaker 1: the flat or something. Well, when they played his Cargo Bears,
Speaker 1: you couldn't do that because George Allen came up with
Speaker 1: a thing called hanging. And what that meant was you'd
Speaker 1: never let them back come out around you. When you're
Speaker 1: rushing that passer and that back comes around her, you
Speaker 1: hang you. You try to catch him right in the
Speaker 1: throat and bring him down. That's back hey ed. And
Speaker 1: then one more thing, and then there was another terminology,
Speaker 1: how about hanging, and this one was ground them And
Speaker 1: when that came from, that came from the ends end.
Speaker 1: So the defensive tackles was an even number, an over
Speaker 1: shift to the street and stronger weekside whatever. And if
Speaker 1: you let that back, you'd never let it back get through.
Speaker 1: Because he did the same thing. He came up and
Speaker 1: they tried to sneak through the middle of the line,
Speaker 1: and you know, they're always the outlet pass. And again
Speaker 1: you see in every game every week. Now it doesn't matter. Well,
Speaker 1: when they played the Parsity get through, those guys tried
Speaker 1: sneaking by, you know, getting lows and either Fred Williams
Speaker 1: or something. I mean, they'd wack him and drop him
Speaker 1: like a sack assault. And earlier we had Dick Buckets
Speaker 1: out here, and he was talking about some of the
Speaker 1: tackles he made against the Green Bay Packers. He said,
Speaker 1: the reason he was able to make the tackles is
Speaker 1: because you had three guys on top of you blocking you,
Speaker 1: and he had no one else to block him, so
Speaker 1: he would just run and make the play. And that's
Speaker 1: the sacrifice, sacrifice of every great defensive lineman. Well, I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what, guys, I wish the hell they would
Speaker 1: have paid me like that, you know when I heard
Speaker 1: And you young guys, let me tell you something. To
Speaker 1: get every damn figuring yet, because I'll tell you when
Speaker 1: it's over, it's over and you get out into the
Speaker 1: real world. But I'll tell you what. The Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: are the footing and the foundation of the National Football
Speaker 1: League and since since nineteen forty six, and again this
Speaker 1: is what the hell gripes me. Nineteen forty six, we
Speaker 1: won the World Championship twice, sixty three and then eighty five.
Speaker 1: Now enough's enough. I think what I see today in
Speaker 1: this coaching staff, and I see the enthusiasm with this
Speaker 1: young team, and they better come and they better get it,
Speaker 1: because I'll tell you what, folks, You're not gonna see
Speaker 1: these guys playing at this level for five years, seven years,
Speaker 1: ten years. It's not gonna happen. It's in front of them.
Speaker 1: They better see it. And I like the Bears a lot,
Speaker 1: but I'll tell you it's up to those kids. You know,
Speaker 1: a Keem Hicks, you're one of the guys on the
Speaker 1: front line tearing it up. Great advice from a from
Speaker 1: a veteran like this from the nineteen sixty three championship team.
Speaker 1: I know you are interested in in in seeing these
Speaker 1: guys and talking to these guys as fellow defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: But it's interesting to hear the old stories and how
Speaker 1: you try to fit it into today's world, isn't it?
Speaker 1: In terms of football. He's got my blood boiler right now.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Look I'm juiced up. I'm ready to go play,
Speaker 1: right now, Um, the question was, Yeah, it's awesome, man,
Speaker 1: to see the history of the Bears and see the
Speaker 1: guys that I watched growing up, even though I had
Speaker 1: to watch some of them on NFL films, and I
Speaker 1: got to meet guys like Tommy Harris and watch guys.
Speaker 1: It's um for me. I love the game of football, right,
Speaker 1: So I got to watch these guys and it gave
Speaker 1: me something to aspire to, and so it was just
Speaker 1: a pleasure to be up here with them. Dan Hampton,
Speaker 1: I know a man means everything to you. Ob you guys,
Speaker 1: are you guys are tethered? Well, there's there's no doubt
Speaker 1: in my mind that you know. And you can listen
Speaker 1: to this man talk for about three minutes and just
Speaker 1: realize how much he cared about playing the game of football.
Speaker 1: Four the Chicago Bears. Let me tell you something, folks.
Speaker 1: You know, and this doesn't just happen by osmosis. You
Speaker 1: have to you have to have a core that refuses
Speaker 1: to lose and that sixty three championship team. And you know,
Speaker 1: when I first got here, I was very fortunate. After
Speaker 1: a year or two buckets, ob, some of the guys
Speaker 1: they took a liking to me, and I would go
Speaker 1: out to eat dinner with them and they would tell
Speaker 1: me what it was like to play the game at
Speaker 1: the level that you have to if you want to
Speaker 1: be a world champion, and Mango and I we would
Speaker 1: talk about it, and what you know, we'd go back
Speaker 1: to the locker room and we're saying, Hey, whatever we're
Speaker 1: doing now, it's not enough. There's a reason why they
Speaker 1: want a world championship. We have to take it upon
Speaker 1: ourselves to do what we have to do for us
Speaker 1: to win one and a team. I mean, that's exactly
Speaker 1: what Ed is saying right now. The time is now,
Speaker 1: seize the moment. Let's get it done. Twenty nineteen now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, if I can interject something right now, everybody
Speaker 1: up here has played the game enough years. You know,
Speaker 1: good times and bad times are different. Whatever. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you what, and I say what. I see
Speaker 1: this Bears defense, and there has to be there has
Speaker 1: to be pressure from the outside. Okay, I get that,
Speaker 1: I understand that. But a great pass rushing team where
Speaker 1: the pressure comes from the inside. And let me explain
Speaker 1: one more thing to you. You could be at the
Speaker 1: defensive end. I would love to have a Dan Ampton,
Speaker 1: a team picks or somebody, because what you see with
Speaker 1: quarterbacks when they escape, they always do that step up
Speaker 1: and go either left or right and sneak out with
Speaker 1: the bears. Right now, you cannot do that, and why
Speaker 1: because basically, this one guy takes two or three people
Speaker 1: and the quarterback can't come up the middle. He can't,
Speaker 1: So that who the hell's out there waiting for number
Speaker 1: fifty two? The kids a man eater. This is the
Speaker 1: guy that makes it happen. As far as I'm concerned,
Speaker 1: I think, I think, Oh, he's doing a radio show
Speaker 1: right now. You're awesome. You are awesome, all right? And
Speaker 1: the Lovey Smith four three defense, the three technique defensive
Speaker 1: tackle was Tommy Harris and and love Ee. Tommy always
Speaker 1: called you the engine, the engine for the four three defense.
Speaker 1: Did you live and breathe that label that he gave you,
Speaker 1: and did you play like that to be the engine
Speaker 1: of that defense? Yeah? I knew I was going to
Speaker 1: be an important part to the defense, especially since I've
Speaker 1: been running this defense since I've been in high school.
Speaker 1: So the cover to the same Tampa two watching one
Speaker 1: and SAP growing up, John Randall and I knew that
Speaker 1: it all starts with me. If I don't make the play,
Speaker 1: I disrupt every blocking scheme, I kid, And that's all
Speaker 1: I did. We did more than that three time Pro
Speaker 1: Bowler Outstanding Member. Every time. Every time a Packer goes down,
Speaker 1: the place goes nuts. It's kind of funny. And Chris Orts,
Speaker 1: being a local kid from Chicago, watching all this here
Speaker 1: and all this, you're just grinned over there. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: he comes from the same high school as Dick Buckets.
Speaker 1: So when you're Chris Zorts, you're not coming in here
Speaker 1: without the knowledge of what bear greatness can be. And
Speaker 1: when it comes out of your same neighborhood there's a
Speaker 1: certain little bit of ankst that goes with that. Also, Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, this is very exciting. I mean the
Speaker 1: idea and you can hear the passion that all these
Speaker 1: guys up your half and that's what it takes to
Speaker 1: play defense and Tom no offense. You know, I know
Speaker 1: you're an offensive lineman, but the idea that you have
Speaker 1: to give one hundred and ten percent every play is important.
Speaker 1: But then you can see it years later. I mean,
Speaker 1: we still have that same passion to go out and
Speaker 1: crush quarterbacks and crush running backs and try and crush
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. I know when I first got to the Bears,
Speaker 1: it was just an amazing experience for me because I
Speaker 1: was kind of grew up in Chicago, but having a
Speaker 1: chance to practice against Tom every day really taught me
Speaker 1: how to be a better defensive lineman. So, Tom, I
Speaker 1: know you put me on my back a lot of time,
Speaker 1: so I just want to say thank you for doing that. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, when you talk about passion, when I got here,
Speaker 1: my passion came through hamp through McMichael because I admired
Speaker 1: their commitment to the game so much. And it's different
Speaker 1: when you watch them from the outside in then you
Speaker 1: become teammates with them, and it's the same thing you
Speaker 1: know with Halp and you see a guy that prepares
Speaker 1: to be great ends up being a Hall of Famer,
Speaker 1: and that's commit to the game. It's like ed Old
Speaker 1: Bradovitch being around us. You could see the similarities between
Speaker 1: ed Old Bradovitch and Dan Hampton. Now I see it
Speaker 1: between Tommy and a team. There's a lot of similarities
Speaker 1: in defensive linemen. And like I said before, you're sitting
Speaker 1: up here because you're great football players and great X Bears,
Speaker 1: And I think it's the commitment to the game at
Speaker 1: all of you guys have given Dan in the forty six,
Speaker 1: when Buddy moved you over the center, You're pretty much
Speaker 1: impossible to deal with one on one. There's no way
Speaker 1: that's happening. Did that trigger something bigger and special with
Speaker 1: the unit? Well, and obviously the design of the defense
Speaker 1: is what it is. It wasn't infallible, but it was
Speaker 1: a combination of the talents that we had. And think
Speaker 1: about this. I saw Bill parcels Less November and I
Speaker 1: sat down and we talked down in Florida, and essentially
Speaker 1: what he was saying was, you know, we play against
Speaker 1: you know, the Jets, there's really nobody we got to
Speaker 1: worry about. But when we play against the Bears, who's
Speaker 1: gonna block Hampton, who's gonna block Dent, who's gonna block McMichael,
Speaker 1: who's gonna block Otis Wilson, Who's gonna handle Wilbur Marshall.
Speaker 1: There were so many terrific players that it created almost
Speaker 1: not only a schematic advantage, but it almost became a
Speaker 1: race to the quarterback, a race to the running back,
Speaker 1: because you had great players feeding on each other. But
Speaker 1: you know, I'm flattered by the thought of you know,
Speaker 1: meet being on the nose. And it was it was
Speaker 1: an ingenious design because if you have a player that
Speaker 1: a center can't block one on one, then the rest
Speaker 1: of the dominoes start to fall. You got to double him.
Speaker 1: Then somebody else has got to blocked down on the tackle,
Speaker 1: and then next thing you know, you got free runners
Speaker 1: on the edge. So, buddy, he was a genius. And
Speaker 1: wherever he went, he had the number one defense in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and then he came here, we were the number one
Speaker 1: defense for I think five years in a row. Then
Speaker 1: he goes to Philadelphia, he had the number one defense,
Speaker 1: then he went to Houston at the number one defense.
Speaker 1: He always realized the talents of the individual players, and
Speaker 1: again we had an embarrassment of riches of great players,
Speaker 1: and it was a sum total of all concern But
Speaker 1: what my dear friend ed was saying a minute ago,
Speaker 1: the NFL forever in a day will be about blocking
Speaker 1: and tackling. And if you can have someone defeat blocks
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, you can't move the ball against him.
Speaker 1: And the nineteen sixty three Championship team had Doug Atkins
Speaker 1: and Edelbradovic and all these other legendary names and players. Well,
Speaker 1: it was the same way on the eighty five team.
Speaker 1: We had amazing players. I think the year we went
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, seven or eight of us on
Speaker 1: defense alone played in the Pro Bowl. I mean that
Speaker 1: that's pretty good. And you and you start to see
Speaker 1: it again. We all know Khalil Mack is special, he
Speaker 1: really is. Eddie Jackson is special, Danny the middle linebacker,
Speaker 1: Danny Trevathan special. But at all it all starts up front.
Speaker 1: Eddie Goldman is getting better and better by the game,
Speaker 1: by the year. But mag no mistake, this team, this
Speaker 1: defense will rise our fall on the backs of this
Speaker 1: guy right over here at number ninety six, a half
Speaker 1: then six time All Pro. If you would you all right,
Speaker 1: nose guard, defensive tackle, defensive end, wherever you play, you're
Speaker 1: gonna be All Pro. What hammen is if you would
Speaker 1: have stayed at one position your whole career, would you
Speaker 1: have been more dominant or did your dominance come out
Speaker 1: because you could control any position, Well, it would have
Speaker 1: been boring. That's for starters, you know. And see when
Speaker 1: I got here, I was drafted as a defensive tackle,
Speaker 1: but Tommy Harris and Al Harris got hurt in training kimp,
Speaker 1: so they moved me to end and I like playing in.
Speaker 1: And then when Alan Page retired, they moved me inside
Speaker 1: the defensive tackle and I played there. And then when
Speaker 1: we drafted William Perry, he couldn't play in, so I
Speaker 1: had to go back out to end. And then at
Speaker 1: the end they moved me back inside because after eleven
Speaker 1: knee operations, I would slowed down. I couldn't turn the
Speaker 1: corner no more. So I went back inside. But you
Speaker 1: know it doesn't matter. I would play anywhere they wanted
Speaker 1: me to play. That helped the team. And you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta be unselfish, and I gotta tell you, and
Speaker 1: I hate to keep pointing at a keem, but when
Speaker 1: a chem is dominant and he's fresh, especially you know
Speaker 1: early in games, he forces the offense to do so
Speaker 1: much that Leonard, Floyd and and Mac they enjoy the
Speaker 1: benefits of a chem, you know, destroying the interior part
Speaker 1: of the line and having a double and sag and
Speaker 1: the backs having a step up. Well they know they've
Speaker 1: got a one on one rush. And when you have
Speaker 1: a one on one rush man. Hey, if you're a pro,
Speaker 1: you're gonna beat somebody. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I was just trying to do everything I could to
Speaker 1: be wherever I needed to be to help the team.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, you guys keep talking about. Biggat
Speaker 1: came here. He's bought, ready to play about right now,
Speaker 1: he's getting fired up. I mean, it's got It must
Speaker 1: be very flattering to hear this. Getting to meet I
Speaker 1: actually got to meet Dan. It was a year ago
Speaker 1: or year and a half ago, and it was at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field and it was upstairs, and I'm a big guy,
Speaker 1: right and I walk around and I'm towering over people,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it's a different feeling. But when
Speaker 1: I met him and I got to shake his hand,
Speaker 1: I realized how massive and strong of a man he
Speaker 1: really is. Because at his age, he still feels strong.
Speaker 1: Like it's a different kind of being. You know. I
Speaker 1: had the same feeling when I got to meet m
Speaker 1: Kyle's dad, mister Long and um, you know those guys
Speaker 1: were they're just made different, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And so it's a huge compliment for him to say that. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it makes me want to put it on
Speaker 1: my back even more and just go out and destroy.
Speaker 1: And speaking of men mean being made different, Doug Atkins
Speaker 1: was made different. Well who he speaking of is Doug Atkins.
Speaker 1: Doug was played seventeen years in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: most of them with the Bears. Doug was six to
Speaker 1: eight and way to eighty. And not only that, when
Speaker 1: he went to University of Tennessee he was on the
Speaker 1: track team. Guess what he did. He high jumped, you know,
Speaker 1: high high jumped six eight. He is six eighth and
Speaker 1: he way to eighty. He way to fifty at the
Speaker 1: time in college. So we had the players and everything,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna tell you something, what's more important is
Speaker 1: ownership and the coaching staff. My god, we were so
Speaker 1: grateful to have a George Allen. How about a buddy
Speaker 1: Ryan Folks in eighty five. These people are so important.
Speaker 1: They understand the game. They when the trick, when not
Speaker 1: the trick, when the blitz, when overset the line went
Speaker 1: underset a line, and you just got to put it together.
Speaker 1: And I just want to say just one more time.
Speaker 1: I don't mean to talk in circles here, but I
Speaker 1: cannot tell you we thought we were gonna win it.
Speaker 1: We won in sixty three. We thought nobody could touch us.
Speaker 1: At sixty four sixty five, christ say, can we lucky
Speaker 1: we won a game? After that, it all fell apart.
Speaker 1: George Allen left for the Rams, and everything fell apart.
Speaker 1: The great eighty five Chicago Bears is probably it's still
Speaker 1: in my mind, the greatest team I've ever seen play football.
Speaker 1: Here's the catch with that. Here's the catch. They won
Speaker 1: the World Championship once. They never even got back to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl to try to do anything. So the
Speaker 1: point I'm trying to make a keeam in time. You
Speaker 1: knows we all know up here. Boy it's sixteen games.
Speaker 1: You better come in ready and everybody be ready. And
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm I'm dead serious when I say this.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what we need to bring this World
Speaker 1: Championship back home. And from what I saw and from
Speaker 1: what I saw last year, I saw an offense struggle
Speaker 1: come along, struggle come along, but they kept trying to
Speaker 1: get better and trying to improve, and by loy did
Speaker 1: they did. They came along, But they had a defense
Speaker 1: that set the tone. And they'll have a defense this
Speaker 1: year that'll set the tone. And I think the offense
Speaker 1: should be ready to go, because again, folks, one time,
Speaker 1: one time with some of the greatest players that ever
Speaker 1: played this game and coaches, and we only got there
Speaker 1: one time. So it is so important a game for
Speaker 1: you guys to realize where the hell you're at, and
Speaker 1: you've got to tell it. Go up there and crush them. Hey, Tommy,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of talk about the size and
Speaker 1: the brute strength, the defensive tackles, defensive lineman. When did
Speaker 1: you figure out that your speed off the ball was
Speaker 1: gonna be the key to your success? That is gonna
Speaker 1: be your strength is gonna be how quickly that you
Speaker 1: can get him in the backfield, how quickly you can
Speaker 1: make an offensive lineman move or get missed the block,
Speaker 1: And then how quickly did you able to cultivate that
Speaker 1: into sacks. I knew that from high school, from jumping
Speaker 1: snaps and arm over the center and getting straight taking
Speaker 1: hand offs from the running back quarterback. I just knew
Speaker 1: that was my specialty. And I knew that my upside
Speaker 1: was quickness. My downside was if I get hurt, this
Speaker 1: might be it. You know, in the league, if you're
Speaker 1: six eight and you're three hundred seven pounds and just
Speaker 1: like Dan says, Dan was moved inside and out because
Speaker 1: he had a huge frame, he could do a lot
Speaker 1: even if he couldn't be in the corner. They could
Speaker 1: use them down their nose. If I lost my quickness
Speaker 1: or my first step, nobody wants to pay million dollars
Speaker 1: to watch Tommy Harris played. Is not that fast anymore.
Speaker 1: When I knew at that moment that my quickness was
Speaker 1: gonna be everything that people, the Bears fans come to
Speaker 1: see when they drafted me here the fourteenth pick, I
Speaker 1: knew that they weren't going to see any other undertackle.
Speaker 1: I'm not a three technique. I'm one of the only
Speaker 1: undertackles in the game that played in the game. And
Speaker 1: that's from the Tampa two. That's the Tampa two system. Oh,
Speaker 1: I thought you. I was gonna buy down to you. Chris.
Speaker 1: Now now you because you're kind of a different body
Speaker 1: style than Tommy Harris. He had superior quickness, You had
Speaker 1: strength in the middle to take on two blocks. Plus
Speaker 1: you always had the ability to earn leverage because of
Speaker 1: your height. But you also had quickness and instincts. How
Speaker 1: did you turn that into your craft throughout your college
Speaker 1: career then then extended into the Bears. Tom, you've been
Speaker 1: very nice. I mean, you just say it. I was short.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can say it or not. I don't
Speaker 1: know how I made it. I don't know. Um. The
Speaker 1: only thing I was able to rely on was my
Speaker 1: speed and strength. I mean I was six maybe something
Speaker 1: like that, you know. Um. So the fact that I
Speaker 1: was able to survive, um for for seven years in
Speaker 1: the NFL was very beneficial because I saw people like
Speaker 1: Tom who trained constantly. UM. What you guys might not know,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if you guys talked about this,
Speaker 1: but um, before Tom got to the eighty five Bears,
Speaker 1: who was with the Struggle Blitz, and the same year
Speaker 1: you went from the Blitz to the Bears, I think
Speaker 1: there was like like a three or four week in
Speaker 1: between them. It was something like that, a Saturday night
Speaker 1: game to Monday night training camp, Monday morning training camp. Seriously, yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: now if you guys understand it. So literally Tom finished
Speaker 1: with the Blitz on a Friday and was in a
Speaker 1: Bear's training camp on Sunday. I mean that's impossible. So
Speaker 1: the idea that and then I was fortunate enough because
Speaker 1: I came from their name, and Tom kind of took
Speaker 1: me under his wing, but I was able to watch
Speaker 1: and see how he prepared for games, and I just
Speaker 1: really emulated what he did because I thought he was
Speaker 1: kind of the the epitome of being able to be
Speaker 1: that physical type of player, which I needed to be.
Speaker 1: But I was also able to because because my size,
Speaker 1: I wasn't big as everybody else, so I had to
Speaker 1: use that combination of strength and speed. And I was
Speaker 1: very fortunate that I had a chance to make to
Speaker 1: make it in the league for so long. Chris, Mike
Speaker 1: dickament a lot to you, and he thought highly of you.
Speaker 1: Was he instrumental in you becoming against Chicago Bear from
Speaker 1: your She's scouting her for it? X is kind of
Speaker 1: funny story growing up in Chicago. I had made the
Speaker 1: Suntimes All State m a banquet and Mike Diffy was
Speaker 1: the keynote speaker, and my mom and I traveled on
Speaker 1: the bus from her home on the South Side downtown
Speaker 1: and we were waiting in the lobby for the event
Speaker 1: to start, and my myke Segletary was out, excuse me,
Speaker 1: my Dicky was out in the lobby, and my mom
Speaker 1: was like, hey. So my mom was a diehard Bear fan.
Speaker 1: She's like, oh my god, look look that's my Dicka
Speaker 1: and I was like, yeah, I know. She's like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go say hi. And I was like, oh my god, mom,
Speaker 1: he's serious. So she goes over there and they're talking.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my god, my mom was talking to
Speaker 1: my this is crazy. So a couple and says she's like, Chris,
Speaker 1: Chris Camre, come here. I'm like, oh my god, this
Speaker 1: is terrible. So go over there and she introduces me
Speaker 1: like their old pals. Right. It's like, oh, Mike this
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm sorry. Somehow I don't know how
Speaker 1: I got the nerves because I'm I'm eighteen years old.
Speaker 1: Somehow I got the nerve to say, can you please
Speaker 1: remember my name in four years? Well you fast forward,
Speaker 1: and I mean he didn't remember. But when I got
Speaker 1: the call to be drafted by the Chicago Bears, he said, Chris,
Speaker 1: how would you like to be a Chicago Bear? And
Speaker 1: I mean I got chills right now saying this, but
Speaker 1: I was like, sir, I would love to play for
Speaker 1: the Bears. I would pay to play for the Bears.
Speaker 1: And I mean I got a lot of crap for
Speaker 1: that because they talked about the media and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But that was my pastor right, because I grew up
Speaker 1: my mind. I grew up with Bear fans. I mean
Speaker 1: I watched Dan Hampton. I mean I watched Mike Secletary,
Speaker 1: I watched the William Peart, I watched these guys. These
Speaker 1: guys were part of my history. When I was a
Speaker 1: sophomore or a junior in high school, when the Bears
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl, they came down to Daily paza
Speaker 1: on busses. I skipped school, took the number six Jeoffrey Buss'
Speaker 1: on town, climbed up on a street boat, and I
Speaker 1: watched them. So I remember Walter Payton being knocked over
Speaker 1: on the sideline by I forgot what linebacker was for
Speaker 1: Green Bay. I mean, I remember all these gays I
Speaker 1: remember watching as a kid. So the history of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears I knew. So being drafted by my hometown
Speaker 1: team was just an amazing experience. So I really feel
Speaker 1: as though I'm living the life of every Bear fan
Speaker 1: out there. I had a chance to live that for you,
Speaker 1: and it was an amazing experience. So it was amazing,
Speaker 1: and you know, what. I don't get to see Chris much.
Speaker 1: But you're kidding. You went to the parade after the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Absolutely you were there. Absolutely you froze your
Speaker 1: ass off like the rest of us didn't. Absolutely, I
Speaker 1: remember you guys out of the top of the bus.
Speaker 1: I remember all that. You know. I gotta tell you,
Speaker 1: being a part of the Bears is unlike anything you
Speaker 1: know around the NFL. And I've talked to guys, you know,
Speaker 1: Joe Montana or Dan Marino, all these great players, but
Speaker 1: there's always some sort of deep reverence for, as mister
Speaker 1: Obe said, the footing in the foundation of the NFL.
Speaker 1: And I just want to say this. It was great
Speaker 1: to see our coach here this weekend, wasn't Coach Dicka.
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, Just like you, when I heard
Speaker 1: about him having that incident with this hard, I called
Speaker 1: him up and I said, how you doing, Coach? He said,
Speaker 1: I'm okay. I said, well that's good. Mango and I
Speaker 1: are praying for you, and he said, that's great. I
Speaker 1: need the prayers and Mango needs the practice. So it was.
Speaker 1: But it was really good to see him. And you
Speaker 1: know what, there's so many people that means so much
Speaker 1: in my life. You know, Coach Dick, I don't you know.
Speaker 1: As great as the defense was, as great as Walter was,
Speaker 1: he was a big part of us winning the championship.
Speaker 1: And again, like Obie said, coaching has a lot to
Speaker 1: do with it. You know, Vic Fangio is no longer here,
Speaker 1: and now it's inherent upon the players to pick up
Speaker 1: the slack and become even better than they were a
Speaker 1: year ago. And they were damn good at a year ago.
Speaker 1: But just like Obie said, guess what you get enough
Speaker 1: people that make their mind up they want to win, boy,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be hard to stop this year's team. I'm
Speaker 1: just telling you that. What's kind of fascinating, it's fascinating
Speaker 1: about this conversation is you really get to understand that
Speaker 1: the old Bear, our fans, just like you, they have
Speaker 1: answered every question and brought it right back to twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: It's it's the first panel that's done that here today
Speaker 1: as a player that's on this team here and that
Speaker 1: it's you gotta understand, you gotta force behind you. You
Speaker 1: started in New Orleans, you start, you went over to
Speaker 1: New England, you came to the Bears. You're here for
Speaker 1: a long time, Ryan Pace, what's he mean to you?
Speaker 1: He brought you, helped bring you to New Orleans, and
Speaker 1: he brought you here to Chicago and basically started a
Speaker 1: bill of defense around you. Well, you really changed the
Speaker 1: He really changed the rejectory of my career. You know.
Speaker 1: After being in New Orleans for three years, UM didn't
Speaker 1: pan out. Um, they traded me to New England. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know at that point when you get traded I
Speaker 1: don't know if anybody else has been traded up here,
Speaker 1: but it's not it's not a good feeling, right, because
Speaker 1: it's essentially somebody telling you that you're not good enough, right.
Speaker 1: And so, UM, when I went to New England, I
Speaker 1: played there, I finished out that season. Um, I became
Speaker 1: a free agent, and you're looking for your next home.
Speaker 1: You're looking for where you're gonna play, and UM, I
Speaker 1: remember at the time there were three teams that were interested.
Speaker 1: One was New York, one was Detroit. Nobody likes Detroit, right, Uh,
Speaker 1: one was Detroit, and the other was Chicago Bears. And
Speaker 1: my mom, being from the South side of Chicago, you know,
Speaker 1: she was excited when she first heard it. Right, and
Speaker 1: they didn't here, and so at that point, I'm figuring
Speaker 1: out what is gonna be the best fit and what's
Speaker 1: gonna be the best home, and where do I have
Speaker 1: the best chance, you know, to to build and to
Speaker 1: be a part of a team that I want to
Speaker 1: be a part of. And I want to build a
Speaker 1: winning championship caliber team. And UM Pace called me and
Speaker 1: we started talking, and I said to myself, what better
Speaker 1: places there to be than with somebody that originally helped
Speaker 1: get you drafted and want you to be on their
Speaker 1: team again. And then yeah, um And so at that
Speaker 1: point it came to to see what the foundation was
Speaker 1: like with our team, right, and um coach Fox was
Speaker 1: here at the time. We had some really good players
Speaker 1: and Prunella McPhee, Willie Young, guys that an arrest the pastor,
Speaker 1: and I just really felt like this could be a
Speaker 1: home for me and it's worked out so far. Right. Hey, Tommy,
Speaker 1: Tommy Harris, what what was your first, um, the first
Speaker 1: time the Bears contacted you started showing interests in your ability?
Speaker 1: What was the scout or the coach or the personnel
Speaker 1: person that said, Tommy Harris, we have our sites set
Speaker 1: on you, we have interest in you coming to play here.
Speaker 1: It's we've seen all these stories of everybody being contacted.
Speaker 1: There's a great story that Clyde Emrick tells me that
Speaker 1: Jim Finks told him to go down and look at
Speaker 1: the talents of Dan Hampton, who contacted you for the
Speaker 1: first time, and to give you an indication that you're
Speaker 1: going to be a bear. I didn't know. I thought
Speaker 1: I was going to Tampa. So I kept dropping in
Speaker 1: the draft and dropping. I was either gonna go number
Speaker 1: five to Washington Redskins. They took Sean Taylor. Then they said,
Speaker 1: at the least he'll go to Atlanta at eight, and
Speaker 1: they took DeAngelo Hall, I believe. And then I was
Speaker 1: supposed to fall at Houston at ten, but they took
Speaker 1: the other defensive back out of North Carolina, and the
Speaker 1: bear just came out of nowhere and it But there
Speaker 1: had been a little guy that kept following me somewhere.
Speaker 1: Um he's at Kansas City now. I think he's a
Speaker 1: Prince Bowler. Chris Baller kept pop general manager of the
Speaker 1: Indieapolis Colts, and he's one hell of a scout right on.
Speaker 1: But you know what I've been through, So I'm just
Speaker 1: now checking back into football. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I've been out of football, got you? Chris Baller Chris
Speaker 1: Bawler was a guy that found me. I would see
Speaker 1: him in Houston at the facility I was training him,
Speaker 1: but I I didn't know two and two until I
Speaker 1: got to Chicago and saw him in the facility. Like
Speaker 1: oh man. Even so, when when Levy hit me and
Speaker 1: said would you like to be a Bear? I said, Man,
Speaker 1: I can't believe I knew. He had just came from
Speaker 1: that Tampa two system into Chicago and I was ready
Speaker 1: to play in Michael Jordan City. Tony sat Man mean?
Speaker 1: Do you sat Man? Mean? Do you everything? Man? That?
Speaker 1: That man taught me a lot. Man. He taught me
Speaker 1: that it would say that there are many professional football players,
Speaker 1: but only a few are professional. And he was the
Speaker 1: first man that ever propositioned me, would you be one
Speaker 1: of the few? And fortunately I had just started learning
Speaker 1: how to be a professional at the end of my career,
Speaker 1: and that man really took time to teach me more
Speaker 1: off the field than the game of football. Man, he
Speaker 1: means everything to me. Hamp Hey, Big Dan happened. Clyde
Speaker 1: Emrick tells me a story that one of the greatest
Speaker 1: talent evaluators of all time, Jim Finks. He says, Hey,
Speaker 1: I want to go down and take a look at
Speaker 1: this guy, Dan Hampton. He said. Clyde looked at you
Speaker 1: for a couple of minutes and came back and said, Jim,
Speaker 1: this guy's going to be not only a great player,
Speaker 1: he's going to be a Hall of Fame player. Not
Speaker 1: only to have Jim Finks understand what the ability that
Speaker 1: he thought you have. But then you get the evaluation
Speaker 1: of a guy like Clyde on immediate recognition about what
Speaker 1: you could be. That's got to be impressive for you,
Speaker 1: you know, being a young upcoming football player from Arkansas.
Speaker 1: Well again, I owe so much to so many people,
Speaker 1: Clyde Emerck. And it's kind of an interesting story in
Speaker 1: this in the sense when I was in college, I
Speaker 1: was skinny and kind of weak, and I got on
Speaker 1: a wait perm and I started doing these power cleans.
Speaker 1: And a power clean is not easy to do. A
Speaker 1: lot of people going in and do curls for the
Speaker 1: girls and all that, but power clean it, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's real work. So we take the weight off the
Speaker 1: ground and explode up and anyway, it's essentially a football
Speaker 1: move when you're in your stance and you fire into somebody,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's the basis of your explosion. Anyway, I
Speaker 1: was extraordinarily good at it. And so this is way
Speaker 1: before they had the the you know, the big combine
Speaker 1: and all that, and the Bears had me fly in
Speaker 1: so they could kind of give me a look over
Speaker 1: and a physical. Anyway, they had me go on the
Speaker 1: weight room and Clyde Emrick, who I saw last night
Speaker 1: still looks great at how old is he? Eighty three
Speaker 1: eighty six. Clyde Emrick was the first man on the
Speaker 1: planet Earth under two hundred pounds to clean and jerk
Speaker 1: four hundred Now think about that, now, think about that.
Speaker 1: He was he but he was a special guy. But anyway,
Speaker 1: I was in the weight room and there was this
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. It doesn't matter who it was, but he
Speaker 1: was walking around the power clean kind of socking himself up,
Speaker 1: and he had two hundred and twenty five pounds on
Speaker 1: the bar and he'd socked himself up and then he'd
Speaker 1: do it one time and put it on the ground
Speaker 1: and then he'd walk around and sick himself. And I said, oh,
Speaker 1: you guys like to do power cleans and Clyde goes, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, we think it's a very important lift. And
Speaker 1: I said, oh, really, well, I love doing power cleans
Speaker 1: and I'm pretty good that He goes, oh really, I said,
Speaker 1: let me show you, and he goes, no, no, no no,
Speaker 1: no no, don't get hurt. You know. I said, no,
Speaker 1: let me show you, and I went, I had street
Speaker 1: clothes on and like loafers. Anyway, I went over and
Speaker 1: did it ten times and put it back down on
Speaker 1: the ground and his eyes popped out of his socket
Speaker 1: and he could tell that. You know, you know, when
Speaker 1: you train and you have a certain explosive ability. I
Speaker 1: mean that's what football is. You know, it's tech unique tenacity,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna have certain talents. And Clyde Emory
Speaker 1: from that day forward has always been like a huge,
Speaker 1: you know, proponent for me as far as not only
Speaker 1: the weightlifting. But I'll tell you this, and I don't know.
Speaker 1: I came answer this question, can you're starting defensive line
Speaker 1: all do three hundred and sixty pounds power cling? I
Speaker 1: would say everybody can. Everybody can get over three was
Speaker 1: that I said everybody can get over three hundred? Don't
Speaker 1: know about everybody on the starting defensive line in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Way the hell back thirty three years ago. Whatever,
Speaker 1: we could all do three hundred and sixty pounds, Now,
Speaker 1: that's pretty good, long time ago. Richard, Steve McMichael, Fridge, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they could all do it. When Dan played in his era,
Speaker 1: Bears rank number one and fewist rushing yards, fewest rushing touchdowns,
Speaker 1: totally yards, points, and most sacks. Aside from the trophy,
Speaker 1: the fact that it was dominance. Is that important to
Speaker 1: you that you were at the center of that all
Speaker 1: that dominance of that Bears defense during the era that
Speaker 1: you played top of the heap? Well? Yeah, and again,
Speaker 1: like I said, I owe so much to so many
Speaker 1: to play next to Richard Dent, who went into the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame in twenty eleven, to play beside Steve McMichael,
Speaker 1: who played like a Hall of Famer. Steve was an
Speaker 1: amazing player. Mike Singletary played right behind me for some
Speaker 1: eleven years on the outside. Otis Wilbur Gary Fencing. You
Speaker 1: have no idea how much fun it was. I heard
Speaker 1: Gary and Doug Plank up here talking earlier. You have
Speaker 1: no idea how much fun it was to be on
Speaker 1: the field watching those guys knock people out for year
Speaker 1: after year after year, and we weren't very good, but
Speaker 1: by god, nobody wanted to play against them. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you they would drop you. But you know, it's just
Speaker 1: like what Obie told me years and years ago. There's
Speaker 1: a reason why the Chicago Bears were called the Monsters
Speaker 1: of the Midway because they played the game the right way.
Speaker 1: Ed you guys allowed ten points a game in sixty three.
Speaker 1: That's it. Is it underrated that defense in Bears history. Well,
Speaker 1: I think, as a matter of fact, I think there
Speaker 1: was a special somewhere the last few years about or
Speaker 1: there's an article written in newspapers the forgotten Champions in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three. I don't know, But the sixty three
Speaker 1: team compared to the five team, I mean, there is
Speaker 1: no comparison. They were revered. They were i mean, love
Speaker 1: to the max and well respected, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1: Back when I played, it was everything was a battle.
Speaker 1: Everything was a fight. The games were fights. I mean
Speaker 1: there was We're playing the Detroit Lions and we're playing
Speaker 1: up in Detroit. It's the last game of the year.
Speaker 1: Detroit had no We're playing here and two games we
Speaker 1: were playing here in Rigney Field, Detroit had to beat
Speaker 1: us to get into the conference championship. Okay, we won
Speaker 1: the game three to nothing. They went on every fourth
Speaker 1: down they had. They As a matter of fact, Clay
Speaker 1: Ford came down and told him they beat us, they're
Speaker 1: all getting brand new Fords. I thought that was against
Speaker 1: the rules, but apparently it wasn't. But anyways, free to nothing.
Speaker 1: And then I think in the year of sixty six,
Speaker 1: there was a kid the name of Chuck Hughes. He's
Speaker 1: excuse me, a receiver for Detroit Lions. And I just
Speaker 1: want to tell you again the difference in the decades
Speaker 1: and the rules and how it was played. Chuck Hughes,
Speaker 1: I'm being known Stuss until we saw the films the
Speaker 1: following into the you know, the following week, Benny mccraig
Speaker 1: caught him coming over the middle and Benny hit that kid.
Speaker 1: It was like a cluster bomb going off, and he
Speaker 1: went flying up in the air and went down and
Speaker 1: and I don't know how the hell that kid got
Speaker 1: up and he got up, But listen to this, folks,
Speaker 1: So it was a passers. I turned around and I'm
Speaker 1: we're walking back, and he's walking back and he's about
Speaker 1: from me to you away and he goes like this
Speaker 1: pooh boom. What it was they had We were winning
Speaker 1: by four points. A field goal meant nothing, and they
Speaker 1: had the ball and they were moving on us. So
Speaker 1: they had no timehouse left. So we thought, here, this
Speaker 1: guy's faking it. Get that bumb off the field. You know,
Speaker 1: we're screaming everything. He's faking it. He's faking it. And
Speaker 1: then Budgus goes down and looks. He gets on one
Speaker 1: knee and he starts waving to the Detroit bench coming
Speaker 1: out here. The guy died right on the field, twenty
Speaker 1: six years old. Hit three kids died on that field
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six. You want to talk about the
Speaker 1: word realization. Scared the live in hell out of me
Speaker 1: and everybody else. That's how tough it was. You would
Speaker 1: have died on the damn field, and unfortunately it did happen.
Speaker 1: That's a tough one to overcome, right there. That's a
Speaker 1: tough one to go through. I remember seeing a picture
Speaker 1: of Dick standing over you know, Chuck Hughes. But that's
Speaker 1: a part of football history right there. It definitely did happen.
Speaker 1: It's always everyone's fear obviously. Um, well, that's a tough
Speaker 1: one to follow up, right now. That's that's that's tough
Speaker 1: business right there. But you but you all had to
Speaker 1: overcome something you ought to have overcome your own personal journeys.
Speaker 1: Time you included from a physical point of view, the
Speaker 1: mental point of view, if you're overlooked. You came from
Speaker 1: Sacramento City College and a college in Canada to get
Speaker 1: to be a pro bowler in National Football League. Timmy
Speaker 1: overcoming injuries. Ohbe you had to play in Canada first, right,
Speaker 1: you played in Canada? Yeah, first year in Canada, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Dan twelve surgeries. Chris Zorich, humble beginnings. Tom there trying
Speaker 1: to break in on one of the best offensive lines
Speaker 1: in NFL history. Do you all appreciate how hard it
Speaker 1: was to get to where you are and which you
Speaker 1: became as football players. We'll start with Tom. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm like Chris. I grew up in the Chicago Land area.
Speaker 1: I've been a Bears fan my whole life, and I
Speaker 1: grew up watching the guys. I was in awe of
Speaker 1: Walter Payton. I told you I played with the guy
Speaker 1: in the USFL that came here for a day and
Speaker 1: he warned me about Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael, and
Speaker 1: so I came here. I was intimidated be forever got here,
Speaker 1: but I was in awe when I looked across the
Speaker 1: huddle at Walter Payton, almost as a fan. So it
Speaker 1: was you never have a bigger goal in your life
Speaker 1: than to be a member of the Chicago Bears, and
Speaker 1: it was a It was a great opportunity and it's
Speaker 1: been life changing. So just the whole you know, you
Speaker 1: put a lot of pressure on your self for accomplishment,
Speaker 1: and that's I think every one of these guys that
Speaker 1: they kind of put in their mind that they want
Speaker 1: to play professional football at some time in their life.
Speaker 1: There's a lot you have to overcome in order to
Speaker 1: even give yourself an opportunity. What about you, big man.
Speaker 1: I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the Universal Gore
Speaker 1: Dame and all right, go Irish and much like the
Speaker 1: tradition that we have at Notre Dame, the Struggle Bears
Speaker 1: is the same way. So I'm not I didn't have
Speaker 1: a chance to start the whole time I was here,
Speaker 1: but being a part of the Chicago Bears organization for
Speaker 1: the time that I was is a very important part
Speaker 1: of my life. My experiension her name was great, but
Speaker 1: being part of one of the organizations that started the
Speaker 1: NFL is is something that I will always cherish. And
Speaker 1: then you're talking about a kid who grew up twenty
Speaker 1: minutes from Soldier Field. That's just that's icing on the cake.
Speaker 1: So I mean, after my football career was over, I
Speaker 1: could have died then and just have been been a
Speaker 1: very very happy man. So the idea that I played
Speaker 1: my butt off, I gave one hundred and ten percent
Speaker 1: for an organization that I grew up admiring was was
Speaker 1: really just a dream come true. And again, I hate
Speaker 1: to sound like a broken record, but for all the
Speaker 1: fans out there, I played for you guys, and I
Speaker 1: felt as though I was one of you. So thank
Speaker 1: you very much. You know I again, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: Tommy Chris Kam would all say the same thing, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, it's professional football. We get paid to
Speaker 1: do it. But everybody's got setbacks, everybody has challenges. It's
Speaker 1: how you deal with them. And I gotta tell you,
Speaker 1: I'm the luckiest guy you'll ever see to play twelve
Speaker 1: years for this franchise with the guys. I play William Perry.
Speaker 1: You have no idea how much fun it was in
Speaker 1: the locker room, in the meeting room with Fridge. He's
Speaker 1: a scream, He's a scream. And I mean they got
Speaker 1: the friends. Steve McMichael and I have been like that
Speaker 1: for forty years. To play next to Richard Otis, all
Speaker 1: the Gary Finzy, all these great guys, all these great players.
Speaker 1: But think about this, folks. I got to play for
Speaker 1: Buddy Ryan, I got to play for Mike Ditka. I
Speaker 1: get to do radio with my legendary hero Ed o'bradovitch
Speaker 1: on WGN. But here's the best one. I played nine
Speaker 1: years with Walter Payton. Top that, Top that one. Well
Speaker 1: being kind of a guy that was well born and
Speaker 1: raised in Hillside, Illinois. Want to provide oh High School
Speaker 1: in Maywood, University of Illinois, and you know it's like
Speaker 1: one of those dreams come true. And when you start
Speaker 1: out playing and if you excel at basketball, football, whatever
Speaker 1: it is, then your dream is always to be the best.
Speaker 1: You want to be the world champion, Okay, you want
Speaker 1: to win the conference. You want to be the state
Speaker 1: you want to win the national title in football and basketball,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. Well, when it comes to football,
Speaker 1: it was always about the next the next big revenue.
Speaker 1: You know, Can I travel it, Can I make it?
Speaker 1: Can I get there? And I did and I made
Speaker 1: it to Chicago Bears, which I dreamed. That was a
Speaker 1: dream of all dreams for me to play play the game,
Speaker 1: number one, and number two to play in Chicago, and
Speaker 1: number three to win a damn world championship. I have
Speaker 1: my entire families here, my friends are here, and it's
Speaker 1: it's been a one hell of a ride. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what. I look back. I don't look back
Speaker 1: at anything and say no, I think I should have
Speaker 1: I should number whatever it was, what it was, I
Speaker 1: did what I did. And every time, I can tell
Speaker 1: you this, every time I went out in that football field,
Speaker 1: I thought we were going to win the game. Every time.
Speaker 1: I don't care. If we were, we'd be like own
Speaker 1: four and we're playing to New England Patriots in New England.
Speaker 1: I had the mind said that we could whip their button.
Speaker 1: I really did. And I think I could speak for
Speaker 1: all of us supper they have that same feeling. So again,
Speaker 1: to to be here to play for George Hallis who
Speaker 1: started this league, the footing foundation of this whole damn thing,
Speaker 1: and to win the World Championship with it and play
Speaker 1: with the guys that I played with. I thank God
Speaker 1: for that. Thank you, thank you. I think we should
Speaker 1: have went the other ways, like the older guys should
Speaker 1: have went last. But I just want to say, man,
Speaker 1: that's what big growth. Um. I just want to say
Speaker 1: thank you first off for being up here on this
Speaker 1: panel and especially being retired and life happens and it's refreshing.
Speaker 1: I want to thank the Bears for allowing us to
Speaker 1: come back and share this week for myself personally, and uh,
Speaker 1: I just want to say, I don't take it for granted. Man,
Speaker 1: you're one of the greatest defensive tackles. And I told
Speaker 1: you I enjoy watching you. I said him, you back
Speaker 1: him and Khalil Mack. I say, you guys got me
Speaker 1: back At home, I get a bag of chips of
Speaker 1: popcorn and I kick my feet up and I watch
Speaker 1: you two work together. I don't know what else goes on.
Speaker 1: I watch you two work together, and it's the most
Speaker 1: beautiful work of art when you have a tag team
Speaker 1: in there, like that. But the reason why we love
Speaker 1: football so much is because it keeps it endors it right.
Speaker 1: It teach you how to constantly keep going after something,
Speaker 1: and it's the overcoming sport. Just like we all talk,
Speaker 1: we've been through it, and it's to encourage those that
Speaker 1: go work a nine to five all day and have
Speaker 1: something to come home to and the cheer four team
Speaker 1: to get you out of bear and the meet new
Speaker 1: friends at a bar and to meet new people in
Speaker 1: the connection. It's the beauty of this sport is why
Speaker 1: I played it and why I left it sitting Chicago,
Speaker 1: that it constantly brings people together. And when you win,
Speaker 1: when you win, man, it takes all the craft that's
Speaker 1: going on in your life. The thing when the team wins, man,
Speaker 1: it takes a load off of people in their day
Speaker 1: to day lives. So I just tell you know that
Speaker 1: you're you're you're you're putting entertainment. You're inspiring people that
Speaker 1: are working their butts off all day laboring somewhere, and
Speaker 1: when you put your helmet on, know that the city
Speaker 1: is behind you. And I think, y'all love y'all Chicago.
Speaker 1: Maybe they should have started the other way. So I
Speaker 1: gotta follow up all these guys. Um, first thing I
Speaker 1: want to say, we're gonna put too much for a shrug,
Speaker 1: not at all, not at all. Um. What I'll say
Speaker 1: is this, first of all, is that it's an absolute
Speaker 1: honor to be up here with you guys. Um, yeah, please.
Speaker 1: I fell in love with the game of football at
Speaker 1: fourteen years old, and UM, I remember I used to
Speaker 1: just sit in the front room and I'd be watching
Speaker 1: NFL films and I'd be watching replays of the games
Speaker 1: that played on that Sunday, and um, it just took
Speaker 1: ahold of me. And I got to watch all of
Speaker 1: you guys do what I do now as the best
Speaker 1: in the world. And it's an honor to follow in
Speaker 1: your footsteps and to be able to put this bear's
Speaker 1: jersey on and represent us. And I also gotta say
Speaker 1: I accept all of your challenges for this defense, this
Speaker 1: defense that we have here right now. You you weren't
Speaker 1: lying for a second. We have some of the most ferocious,
Speaker 1: most talented, most aggressive, high spirited, fun loving love the
Speaker 1: game of football guys that I've ever been around. And
Speaker 1: for us not to take advantage of this moment that
Speaker 1: we have in front of us right now we would
Speaker 1: be doing ourselves, you gentlemen up here in this city,
Speaker 1: a disservice, So we're gonna take care of business. I
Speaker 1: think the battery went out. I mean the emotion in
Speaker 1: this room right now, it's palpable. It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I know we had fan questions. We're not gonna get
Speaker 1: a whole lot of time. But while a team's got
Speaker 1: the floor, you're in for a touchdown. Last season, Joe
Speaker 1: and Chicago wants to know if you're gonna catch one
Speaker 1: this year? Um, yeah, Uh so, I know you guys
Speaker 1: saw the game right. It was fourth and one on
Speaker 1: the one yard line right now. We had practiced that
Speaker 1: place for I don't know, eight nine weeks, but for
Speaker 1: some reason in my mind, I never thought it was
Speaker 1: really coming. And it came, and it was fourth and
Speaker 1: one and we're in New York, and uh, they actually
Speaker 1: gave me the ball. Who does that? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't really expect it. I know, I'm talking to
Speaker 1: all defensive linemen up here. We never expect to get
Speaker 1: the ball, right. We're hitters. Old coach of mine told
Speaker 1: me you're either going to be the hitter or the
Speaker 1: hittie on every plane. And I'm used to doing the hittie,
Speaker 1: so it was fun and don't put that pressure on me.
Speaker 1: Freezer left last thing, and people had some similar questions.
Speaker 1: But Dan and you appreciate that Matt Naggie takes in
Speaker 1: the history of this franchise at heart. First player runs
Speaker 1: t formation, Freezer left and old to refrigerator, Perry. He's
Speaker 1: got Papa Bear, Papa Bear house plays, He's got all
Speaker 1: these great plays that a little old to history. Three.
Speaker 1: He gets it, doesn't he. Well, the first and foremost
Speaker 1: thing is, uh, you know you're talking about Matt Neggie.
Speaker 1: Thank God, John Fox's asses out of town. That's all
Speaker 1: I can tell yet. Thank God, thank God. But you
Speaker 1: know what, I can't let it go. I'm sorry, we're
Speaker 1: out of time. I can't let it go. We're at
Speaker 1: a time all the all the phone, I kind of
Speaker 1: denote that you don't like Fax or never did. Uh.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about backstage, Yeah, talk backstage. But let me
Speaker 1: tell you folks something. You know, this man right here
Speaker 1: has seen a lot of Chicago Bear football in his years,
Speaker 1: and we talked about it on the post game last year.
Speaker 1: You would look me dead in the eye and he said,
Speaker 1: and there's no question in my mind, if you guys
Speaker 1: find a way to stop the Eagles, that you could
Speaker 1: have went and won the Super Bowl. So those are
Speaker 1: the setbacks and now you realize you have to be
Speaker 1: better in all facets. But Eda brout if it's told
Speaker 1: me on a weekly basis, there's something special about this
Speaker 1: team and Matt Nagy. And you can give Ryan Pason
Speaker 1: awful lot of credit to Vic Fangio. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was a terrific, terrific, you know, coordinator. But at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, you can feel it, we can
Speaker 1: feel it. The main thing is they find a way
Speaker 1: to believe it and bring it home because they know
Speaker 1: it means everything to us. Now, get this, it has
Speaker 1: been thirty four years since we won the damn Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: The last time I checked, thirty four was a pretty
Speaker 1: good number around the Chicago Paris. Yeah. See, you give
Speaker 1: my hand everybody m