WEBVTT - Bears cancel practice in response to Jacob Blake shooting | All Access 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.359 The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.399 and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.400 mobile app for up to the minute Bears content every 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:16.079 day and now welcome to Bears All Access. Your all 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:20.800 access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:24.800 brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:30.120 Physical Therapy and CDW. What started with George Floyd's death 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.080 continues with the police shooting of Jacob Blake and Kadosha 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.960 this week, and what continues is the conversation, thoughtful discussion 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.159 by Bears team leaders and a culture of trust created 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:43.040 by Bears General manager Ryan Pason, head coach Matt Nage, 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.160 with support from the McCaskey family, Virginia McCaskey and Chairman 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.440 of the Board George McCaskey. Good even, everybody, and welcome 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.000 into this week's edition of Bears All Access, brought to 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.200 you by IGS Energy with Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:57.800 Good to be with you from WBM News Radio seven 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.840 eighty and one oh five point nine FMWBB here on 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.640 Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score time it comes 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.640 down to this, It's trust and it's willing to listen. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.920 So there was listening going on and discussion today. We 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.520 were out there waiting for practice to begin, about five 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.520 minutes before practice, got the sense that they weren't going 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.160 to and the media was asked to leave the facility 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.360 as the players sorted things out, and the communication came 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.040 later in the day. And I'll read that statement from 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.000 the players at this time, in the wake of what 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:30.600 has taken place in our backyard of Kenosho over the 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.160 last couple of days, we as a team have a 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.039 lot on our mind. Today we decided to pause our 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.640 football activities to voice to each other, our coaches, and 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:42.959 our staff where we stand on the real issues around 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.280 race and police brutality in our country. We had a 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.280 productive discussion, but we all agreed that talks and discussions 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.680 are simply not enough anymore, and we need action. We 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.600 are putting in plans to take action in our communities, 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.960 and together we believe we can make a real different 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:03.760 We need action not only today but in the days 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.640 to come. End quote. That's a player's statement. They're standing 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.919 on that statement today, Tom and we'll visit with them 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.200 when the time is right. Yeah, you know, one thing 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.720 about the locker room, Jeff. It's a great sounding board 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.000 for the positives and the negatives in life. And so 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.320 right now we're in the conversation of a lot more 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.240 negatives than we are in the positives that surround this 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.680 locker room and these players. But I think it's really 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.440 important and a conscious effort to keep this conversation alive. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.640 It's you know, it's kind of new to all of 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:39.080 us because as sports broadcasters for generations or decades, you 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.080 kind of always concentrate on the sport itself. But now, 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.640 for the last four or five months, we've been talking 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:49.680 a lot a lot more about social issues because of 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.160 the pandemic and the social injustice that's been going on 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.120 that it has turned into a discussion point that we 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.760 have to address. Some of the guests that we have 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.720 had on the show, we talked to them more about 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:06.239 the social issues than we do about their sports careers. Right, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:07.960 this is not how we drew it up. Right when 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:12.520 we went into this, uh, into this business of of sports, 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:16.520 which in many respects is a release for many who 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.160 grind it out every day go to work. UH may 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.240 have problems in their life that no one is aware 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.480 of or in our own respective lives, and it's it's 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.119 it's the it's the break from the reality of life 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:30.920 a little bit and the fun and enjoyment of it, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.280 and and watching some great athletes, UH do their thing. 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.880 But you know, it's really come to our attention the 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.640 kind of pain that's going on here. And you know, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:45.440 I mentioned to you earlier today because I've never really 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.680 talked to you about it. You know, just your ten 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.000 year NFL player, you grew up in Joliet. You've seen 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.119 a lot of stuff in your lifetime too. It Joliet 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.520 Catholic and a Notre Dame, your roommates with the late 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.480 Dave Douers and a Notre Dame, and that eighty five 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.520 team as flamboyant and as crazy and as fun and 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:07.480 as superbly talented as it was, and the years to 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.920 follow and even more successful despite not you know, winning 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.080 the entire thing. You guys had a great bond. It 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.320 was a very tight group, especially that offensive line. I 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.320 asked you, did you discuss these types of things going 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.520 on back in those days as a younger man. Well, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:25.400 you know, the thing about it is is there was 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.000 discussions about important points, but you usually talk to them 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.440 with your smaller peer groups. We've never had issues in 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.320 that our worldwide concerns that take the whole locker room 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.920 into one topic. Yeah, there has been negotiations that were 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.880 device that could be divisive when we're talking about collective 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:49.040 bargaining agreement's about going on strike, about the different personality 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:53.039 clashes you would have, and those type of business discussions 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:57.000 that were affecting your football life. I would never shy 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.359 away from talking about a topic to any one of 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.920 my teammates. I had so much love and respect for 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:05.200 every one of them. That was the one thing that 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.480 I always enjoyed about walking into the locker room every morning, 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.360 whether it was seeing the smiling face of William Perry, 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.599 or the seriousness of Mike Singletary, or just the concerns 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.520 of a guy like Gary Fensick. The locker room is 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.839 so diverse, but our locker room was also really close. 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:28.640 Every one of us cared about each other, And to 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:32.160 me is when I was playing for the Bears and 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.599 we had a passing of Freddie Washington was a young 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.240 man that had a great future ahead of them. We 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.520 were sitting in the sauna the night before Freddie Washington, 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.560 myself and Terry Price, and we are just talking about 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.480 the events of those guys growing up into their career 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.440 in me being an older player at the time, and 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.240 then walking in the next morning and hearing about the 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.919 death of Freddie Washington in a car accident. It was 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:02.160 an overwhelming sadness that took that affected the whole locker room, 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.280 and it was a topic of discussion because we were 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.240 trying to trying to help each other heal. It wasn't 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.599 about black or white. It was just about a young 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.320 man who had a beautiful future ahead of him that 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:18.039 we were concerned about him, about concerned about his family, 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.680 about his friends going forward. And so, yeah, there are 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.479 topics that you don't have time to be aware that 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.240 you don't give a pre awareness of them. You just 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:30.880 have to take them when you learned it, and I 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.080 learned it as someone from the team telling me, I'm 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.240 going to walk in the locker room that morning. It's 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.720 it's a different topic, but the seriousness of the topics 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:43.799 that you can put into a conversation form is really important. 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:45.960 I'll never forget that either. I was a young reporter 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.719 and I remember walking up an old Hollis hall, walking 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.320 up the concrete walkway to the practice field, and I 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:53.839 didn't know what to ask, but you know who the 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.840 first person I walked into, And it may have been 0:06:55.839 --> 0:07:00.120 the only time you ever not get a word, let 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.960 alone something significant from Hall of Famer Mike Singletary. I 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:05.960 went up to him, I asked him a question. I 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.680 had a microphone in his face. He was speechless. He 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.080 could not say a word. He just stared. I'll never 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.600 forget that day. But you know, you talk about what 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.320 they've created in terms of culture and a tight team. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.120 I think of Eddie Jackson. Eddie Jackson. This was back 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.560 in June, Tom, and I'm assuming your locker room was 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.320 the same way. You guys had the freedom to speak 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.920 your mind, even as tough as Mike Ditko was and 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:32.600 your coaching staff was on you guys between the White Lions. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:35.960 Do you feel you had the freedom to express yourselves? 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.560 Of course, And that was the great thing about the 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.880 locker room, because there were some meetings that were led 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.240 by Mike Singletary that he brought all the players into 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:49.000 our small meeting room and we sat there, just us 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:52.560 and having frank conversations about a lot of different events 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.040 that we faced. All Right, here's Eddie from June on 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.040 the support. This was in the aftermath of the George 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:02.080 Floyd death, when these zoom calls happened during the offseason. 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:06.440 Oh yeah, man. One thing I love like, honestly speaking, 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.040 I love about the Bears that you know, we always 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.160 had a support from coach Naggie always, you know, Ryan 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.880 Pace upstairs, mister mccaskie. You know, we always had to support, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.840 you know, from from them guys. And they always openly, 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.760 you know, opening understanding of about the situation and everything 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:24.800 that's going on. You know, they're aware of it, and 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:27.360 you know they don't they don't try to, you know, 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.680 hold us back. You know, they give her the advice, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.040 they did opinions, but they always like to listen. So 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.559 I feel like that right there was just huge for us. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.960 And again today he tweeted out quote, I love the 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.760 unity we have as a team, staff and organization and 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:45.960 those seats planted that's gonna bear fruit for years to come, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.240 I believe with this team and future teams well, in 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:51.680 the chances that we've had to be around the Bears. 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.520 In this short training camp, we see the seriousness of 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.280 the management taking care of the players, each and every 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:02.400 one of them, they've created a safe haven for them 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.120 to come to work and feel that they're walking into 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.640 a safe working environment. That's just part of the issues. 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.720 Now you have the issues of the social injustice that 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:16.440 they have talked about in regular conversations. And yes, you 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.640 do learn a lot about Matt Naggie because as the 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.640 experiences he doesn't have in running a training camp through 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.440 in a COVID situations, we all don't have a great 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.640 deal of experience talking to our teammates about the issues 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.800 that are going on. But I don't think to a 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.480 man inside that locker room from George McCaskey out from 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:39.880 Virginia McCaskey on down, nobody shies away from the difficulty 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.679 and the healing that these discussions can have. And when 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:48.360 those discussions began back then, which seems so long ago, 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.480 but it really isn't. Matt Naggie was doing it on 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.160 zoom calls where you have open discussions but you're not 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.760 actually seeing facial reactions body language. And he brought that 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.280 up this week when asked now about matters like the 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.880 Kenosha situation and how he reads his team. Is it 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:12.120 a better communicating aspect of his jab it's definitely different, 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.800 just because you can see the second by second headshakes, 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.800 you know, or you know, understanding and agreeing, and if 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:21.120 anybody wants to talk, they don't have to hit the spacebar. 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:23.680 So that part's good. And I think all in all, 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.840 with our team going through this before and now be 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.199 unable to understand, how do we react to it now 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.480 and how do we do it together? And just knowing 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.080 too that there's we're we're here. We're all here to listen. 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:36.000 Every one of us is here to listen. And keep 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.560 that word love, don't talk, don't don't just say that 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.760 when things are going on. Continue to use the word 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.440 love every single day with all of us. And for 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:45.600 our guys, we're a very mature team. They get that. 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.840 You know, I thought we handled it really well. It was, 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:49.880 and so they're they're responding really well to all this, 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.960 all this stuff that goes on well. So they chose 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.400 as a team not to practice today. They met as 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:59.480 a team. I believe that there's just extreme frustration with 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:04.240 the ongoing racial injustice in the communities where they come from. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.760 In many cases around the national footballitic sports in general, 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.959 it's it's not always the greatest situations, and they've lived 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.040 it and they've felt it, and we've all heard it 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:18.160 from our own friends in the business, our scouts, coaches 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.520 that we've known over these past thirty years. Tom, and 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.840 you throught your NFL career in your college career, but 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.679 there's an urgency right now to do more and and 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.520 understanding that it's it's going to take some time because 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.920 the first question you ask, I'm saying you just in 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.360 generic terms, not you specifically, but while you got this 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.640 moment of awakening going on on the sports landscape, landscape, 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.880 what are you What are you gonna do? What are 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.920 you going to do? And that's that's the big question now, 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.160 and that's what the players. They want it. They want 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.800 it now, they like they these these folks want these 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:56.040 changes to be implemented, and they all know it's going 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.280 to take some time. Yeah, but when guys like Charles 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.319 lel Ju and your and tree Calling they talk about 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.760 getting Moller involved in their community, that's what they can 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.400 do because they have such a strong voice outside the 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.520 locker room. When these young people get a chance to 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.840 see a three hundred and fifteen pound Charles Leno and 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.240 he's bigger than life and then they will listen to 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.080 the message that's coming out of them and see if 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.400 you can start a healing process, if you can start 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:30.040 a conversation about somebody that you affect outside the locker room. 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.319 That's what these players can do. Each and every one 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.960 of them have a platform to speak on, and sometimes 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.560 their message can get into the minds of some of 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:44.880 these young people easier than your parents can. So I 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.880 do think that they accept the importance of their role, 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.240 their position, and their opportunities, and I think they'll all 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.480 use it to the best of their abilities. First step 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:56.920 in the process is underway. They want to help. That 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.280 road is starting to get paved right now. Tree today 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:04.440 tweeting together we are inseparable, David Montgomery alone, we are nothing. Together, 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.640 we are everything. We're gonna step away. We're gonna hear 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:10.600 from Charles Leno Jr. Busters Screen, and Tari Cohen from 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:12.720 their Zoom calls over the course of this week, not 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.880 only about what's going on with our society, but also 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.439 we're gonna talk a little football tonight as well. We're 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.160 also we'll be joined by Detroit Lions radio play by 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.840 play man Dan Miller, who was kind enough to join 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.520 us and we'll be joining him coming up at the 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.840 bottom of the hour. This is Bears All Access on 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:39.120 Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back, everybody 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.560 to Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy, 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.240 a proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.880 and home warranty products to over one million customers across 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.480 the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at igs dot com. 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:53.920 With Tom there, I'm Jeff Joniac. Good to be with 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.880 you again. Bottom of the hour, Dan Miller, voice of 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.400 the Detroit Lions, would join us as many tea and 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.880 the Lions kind of started the ball rolling at least, 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:04.480 you know, and even when you look at it from 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.200 a broader sense, they canceled their practice today. The Jets, 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.520 the Colts, the Packers, the Watching and Redskins. I know 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.360 I'm missing a few few teams, you know. You look 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.439 at Tom two weeks from tonight, the first game Texans 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.360 are going to be going through a scrimmage tonight as 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.560 they get ready, you know, for the season, because that 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:28.520 is also on everybody's mind, getting started, and also trying 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.320 to balance that with what's going on with their own 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.520 emotions from what they've lived through in their lives and 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:37.280 the color of their skin. And then on top of that, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.320 you got the COVID pandemic and that's still top of 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.160 mind and today word that. As of right now, there 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.680 is one player in the entire National Football League on 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.280 the COVID nineteen reserve list. It's Jaguars tackle Ryan Pope 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.040 with a season to kick off two weeks from tonight. 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.840 Knock on wood. That aspect of things, everybody stays safe 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.760 and everybody's able to pull this off and play football 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.360 in twenty twenty. Yeah, But you know, during this heart 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:11.280 these difficult times, and I don't want to say this calsely, 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:13.320 but it is a relief at when these guys go 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.080 into the building because they are going in there with 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.680 their closest of peers. They're going into an environment that 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.080 Ryan Pace and the whole staff there work to provide 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.960 the safest, most confident working atmosphere they can walk into. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.440 But now different this year is they're giving an opportunity 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:36.280 if the work isn't necessarily going to be done on 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.960 the field, it can be done in the meeting rooms. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:40.560 That can be done in the middle of the field. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.280 If they're having a team meeting. And I think that 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.880 when Matt Nagee started this whole message, he said it's 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.160 about listening in love, and I don't think he's ever 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:53.160 wavered from that one instant. And I think when you 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.840 look at the players and you look at the team 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.680 development from day one to where they're at as of 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:04.600 yet yesterday, this is a group that's working together according 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.040 to the plan the Bears that have put in place 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.320 for them to get ready for that first football game. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:15.440 But now they have some other extremely important issues that listen. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.720 You can't ignore them. You got to talk about them. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.800 You have to have everybody there sharing and understanding. That 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.760 isn't about the listening and the love concept. See, sometimes 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.560 we get sucked into this because we're only looking at 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:29.800 the player and the athlete. We're not looking at that 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.280 player who goes home to his wife or to his family, 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.240 to his kids. He talks to his mom, his dad, 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.280 his grandparents, as aunts, its uncles, from the communities they're 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.920 all coming from, and the amount of pain and their 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.840 stress that they're also absorbing with that while trying to, 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.360 you know, carve out their NFL career, which is a 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.520 small piece of their life in the bigger picture in 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.080 terms of time invested. I mean it's it's it's quite 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.000 the balancing act going on right now. And then and 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.840 then the safety issue, so that has been cleared up. 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.119 Bears have done a great job with their protocols, and 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.919 Charles little Junior, feels comfortable and that's why he's showing 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:11.600 up and going to work every day. I'll tell you 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.080 one thing. Let's start from the top. We got an 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.920 owner it in Regimaccassie Chairman George mccaski, who is committed 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.800 to making sure our families are safe. And then you 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.359 go down to that, let's go beneath that, a's Ryan 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.720 Pace and Matt Naggi, who are all about family and 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:32.320 making sure we're safe. And then I'm gonna ended off 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:37.040 with the ico, Andre Tucker. This guy has done a 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:41.359 phenomenal job with all the things that he's implemented within 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.560 our organization. I think we have one of the if 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:48.040 not the best organization when it comes to a mitigating risk. 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.439 You know, precaution procedures, all the different type of steps 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.080 to take for me to go home to my family 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.119 and my newborn and understand like, oh, we're safe. I 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:03.199 trust these guys and that's the infectious control officer and 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.760 head athletic trainer Andre Tucker whom Charles was referring to. 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.040 But you know, I was concerned when it started, when 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.119 camp started and we were going to start watching and 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:14.280 the media wasn't by I started watching Padi Pratt, I 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.480 didn't know how players we're gonna feel, and you could 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.920 get a real good feeling from what might be going 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.080 through their head by how they were practicing, or how 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.080 they were interacting with teammates or did it look different, 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.320 But it did not. It looked normal. They had the 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.560 enthusiasm and the energy and the juice and they had 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:37.200 been fun practices to watch. Well, you know, Jeff, when 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.280 we walked into the facility back in the eighties, we 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:44.280 were excluded from the outside world because we didn't have 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.800 social media, we didn't have cell phone, we had no 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.800 way of communicating with the outside world. So when we 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.840 walked into Hollis Hall, that was it until we left 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:57.200 the building. Nowadays, it's different. You can contact the outside 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:01.240 world constantly by your cell phone. But Arles Leno, he 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:04.280 talks about how the Bears made sure that it was 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:08.000 family first, and I do believe that if they know 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:11.480 that the Bears, the organization is concerned about family first. 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.600 When they do go out to that practice field, they 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.920 have peace of mind. Okay, this next two and a 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.560 half hours, I can concentrate on the reason I'm here, 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.840 and that's to make myself a better football player than 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.880 when I walk down the field because I know my 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.280 family is safe. Then you go back into the building, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.480 then you get your cell phone, then you start being 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:39.280 aware of what's going on. But when Charles talks about 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.399 their main concern is making sure your family is safe. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.400 I think that's important for these players that when they 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:48.199 do get on the field that they have work on 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.760 their mind. And Matt Neeggie has repeatedly made that statement. 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.359 They will be top of mind. The safety of the 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.000 players and their families will be top of mind because 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:58.760 they do have to go home. They have to go 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.080 home to their wife and kids and be sure that 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.240 they're not bringing it into the home and vice versa. 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.000 It's a it's a it's a it's a contract, it's 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:10.679 a it's a verbal contract of trust. Well, you know what, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:15.520 though on a normal year outside the pandemic, players really 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:19.280 they don't have a great time to socialize during the 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:23.439 course of training camp. You're too fatigued, You're too you know, 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.560 um tired from all the events throughout the day. You 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.600 have studying to do once you leave the building. So 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.800 there's a lot of things on the football side of 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.159 it that have to occupy your mind and attention. But again, 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:39.800 you know, it is it is about the health and 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:44.160 safety of their families and the players stuck the little trick. 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.439 Cohen his reaction this week to the Kenosha shooting and 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:52.240 how it was handled by Matt Nagge. The situation, Uh, 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.720 you know, you would think, you know, with all the 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:58.320 notoriety that in attention that it's been getting, you know, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.159 police brutality, you would think it was slow down a 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.400 little bit and not still be a main topic every 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:05.080 day when you wake up and see it on the news. 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:07.800 But you know, it's crazy that we still see those 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.880 same things happening today in today's world. But it's great 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:12.879 to be on the team who you know openly speaks 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.600 about that and uh, you know, we we have open 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:19.760 conversations about everything that happens around us, and with that 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:22.919 being so close, it was definitely a topic today and uh, 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.359 coach Nay know, Coach Nay made it known that we 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:28.199 all have each other's backs and the way we're going 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:30.720 to carry ourselves about any situation that happens now Now, 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:32.879 Terrek mentioned today that, of course, was a couple of 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.440 days ago on a Zoom call we heard Terik Cohen, 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:39.560 who you know, it's now a veteran. He's trying to 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:41.760 be one of the leaders in that running back room, 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:46.200 and he sounded like one this week. Yeah, he does. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:49.119 I am really impressed by Terie Cohen because from the 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:51.639