Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ more encode touchdown touchdown pairs. I
Speaker 1: am Jeff jonihat Wlitz is up, Dottie.
Speaker 2: Go upcur What was like playing for Coachi Gooddom.
Speaker 3: I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
Speaker 3: coming is a big trouble.
Speaker 1: Dotie gos Mottest Sweaty.
Speaker 3: Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Light with
Speaker 3: the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Well, we're inching towards the September eighth, the opener at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field against the Tennessee Titans. After one of the
Speaker 1: most active and talked about off season pre seasons in
Speaker 1: Bears history, the spotlight has shone brightly on the Bears,
Speaker 1: and this their one hundred and fifth season, offers unique storylines, expectations, anticipation,
Speaker 1: and hope for a postseason run. This episode, number eighty
Speaker 1: nine of the Bears et Cetera Podcast is brought to
Speaker 1: you by Miller Lights with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac coming up our conversation with
Speaker 1: starting center Coleman Shelton. We'll hear from Ryan Poles his
Speaker 1: wrap up of what has been a very busy preseason
Speaker 1: as he looks ahead to the regular season and the opener, Tom,
Speaker 1: how you feeling about everything you heard today? We'll hear
Speaker 1: a little Matt Eberflus as well. A lot of it's
Speaker 1: focused on Caleb Williams and what Shane Waldron will do
Speaker 1: with him and the offense and what they're asking this quarterback,
Speaker 1: and many of it is the is the topics that
Speaker 1: we keep bringing up. First downs, egles, touchdowns, get it
Speaker 1: to your weapons, move the sticks. And then when you
Speaker 1: need to make that big play in a game, when
Speaker 1: you're called upon to use some of that heroicness that
Speaker 1: you've displayed in college, go to it. That's it.
Speaker 3: Well, this being the eighty ninth podcast, we are dedicating
Speaker 3: this to Mike ditt Gun, So let's, you know, make
Speaker 3: sure that the Hall of Fame, our ex head coach,
Speaker 3: world class guy gets his due. You know, I guess
Speaker 3: you know, I think I relive a lot of the
Speaker 3: time that Ryan Poles has been here. But then speed
Speaker 3: it up to Caleb william because he understands the process
Speaker 3: of the development of a quarterback and how there's going
Speaker 3: to be some frustration along the way. You have to
Speaker 3: have eye expectations, but don't have unreal expectations. So I
Speaker 3: think it's exciting where this team is going with the
Speaker 3: in the direction of Ryan Poles, what he's doing, and
Speaker 3: I keep I always kind of think back to the
Speaker 3: one of the first conversations that you and Ryan Poles
Speaker 3: had talking about stripping this down to the studs and
Speaker 3: where where it's become, what's become of a where it's
Speaker 3: at at this point, and with the excitement of Caleb Williams,
Speaker 3: what we've been able to see on Hard Knocks a
Speaker 3: little bit behind the scenes of Caleb the person, not
Speaker 3: necessarily Caleb the quarterback, because that's two different ventures in life.
Speaker 3: But like Ryan says, he's the good person for the
Speaker 3: job and he's a good quarterback. So I'm really excited
Speaker 3: about what the future of Caleb and the Chicago Bears really.
Speaker 1: All Right, with that being said, let's listen in to
Speaker 1: the general manager and his post training camp practice off
Speaker 1: season interview with the local media here at Hallishall on Wednesday.
Speaker 4: I want to just say thank you to our players
Speaker 4: for the time and effort that they've put in. I
Speaker 4: thought they've done a really good job. They came in
Speaker 4: with intent to get better, improve built chemistry, and I
Speaker 4: thought you could see that through the duration of training
Speaker 4: camp this year. I want to thank our coaches and
Speaker 4: really all of our staff. We really press hard on development,
Speaker 4: and I thought there are some really cool situations where
Speaker 4: you saw guys come in as either you know, a
Speaker 4: raw rookie or you know some of that wasn't playing
Speaker 4: to the standard of what we needed, and then by
Speaker 4: the end of training camp they were in the conversation
Speaker 4: of making the roster, which is always good to see.
Speaker 4: Also want to thank our performance team, and really that's
Speaker 4: the alignment with coach Flues. Our rate of of misspractices
Speaker 4: dropped significantly for the first two years, and obviously with
Speaker 4: availability that allows people to improve and get better and
Speaker 4: build that chemistry that we talk about. Also want to
Speaker 4: thank our front office. You can really see every part
Speaker 4: of player acquisition, if it's the draft, undrafted, for agency,
Speaker 4: free agency, at the very highest level, two guys just
Speaker 4: coming in for opportunity at the minimum, they were in
Speaker 4: the mix and really again applied pressure when it came
Speaker 4: to making the roster. And really this year, by far
Speaker 4: from the first three years, was the most difficult time
Speaker 4: whittling this thing down to fifty three. We had some
Speaker 4: really good discussions, a lot of back and forth, constantly
Speaker 4: talking about, you know, worrying about today, but also looking
Speaker 4: into the future, because we're always looking not only just now,
Speaker 4: but also what's the roster going to look like, what
Speaker 4: are the situations not you know, one, two, three years
Speaker 4: from so had really good conversations there, which was good.
Speaker 4: I think the other thing that I really learned this
Speaker 4: year is when you're intentional bringing in the right type
Speaker 4: of people, when you invest in relationships, you invest in
Speaker 4: time in bonding and creating this group and this culture.
Speaker 4: It makes cut down day extremely hard emotional because you
Speaker 4: care about the guys and you want to be want
Speaker 4: to see them be successful. But you know, at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, there's business decisions that have to happen,
Speaker 4: and you got to get this thing down to a
Speaker 4: fifty three roster, which was difficult. But I'm really proud
Speaker 4: of where we are to kick this season off significant improvements,
Speaker 4: which again makes me proud of the work that we've
Speaker 4: done here as an entire organization. In terms of transactions
Speaker 4: that have happened the last two hours. Cars Back on
Speaker 4: Board is in the building and Patrick Scales is going
Speaker 4: to be on IR until he heals up, So I'll
Speaker 4: open it to questions.
Speaker 5: The receiver room and the way you overhauled that. The
Speaker 5: town you been here, you got here, it was pretty bad.
Speaker 6: You had more, not much else.
Speaker 5: It's production kind of dep took the swing and miss
Speaker 5: on the trade and now you've got the room that
Speaker 5: you have now, whereas maybe two years ago you couldn't
Speaker 5: find four guys you felt really good about. Now you
Speaker 5: feel like maybe you only need four guys, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean? How do you go about overhauling that?
Speaker 5: How do you feel about that process?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think the big thing is there's there's a level
Speaker 4: of patients in there. One because when you approach it
Speaker 4: different if it's free agency or the draft. We really
Speaker 4: try to do the best, best available. And I remember
Speaker 4: that first year that was a big question. You're gonna
Speaker 4: get a receiver and get a receiver and we didn't
Speaker 4: have the first first round pick and we end up
Speaker 4: with Brisker and Kyler, and really we felt like that
Speaker 4: was the best available and we knew that it was
Speaker 4: going to take time to really get all the pieces,
Speaker 4: and there's still space for us to improve as well,
Speaker 4: so we're just kind of in this kind of second
Speaker 4: phase of things, but really patience letting the board kind
Speaker 4: of talk to us and then be an opportunistic you know,
Speaker 4: with the trade drafting rome, there's a lot of cool
Speaker 4: things that happened. So and we used every every different
Speaker 4: kind of way to acquire that talent, which was great.
Speaker 6: We saw Keenan was on the bike today.
Speaker 4: Is health No, No, he had last week like a
Speaker 4: clea issue, so some discomfort in his foot, but he
Speaker 4: should be fine.
Speaker 8: R As you evaluate the season, look to measure success,
Speaker 8: Is it playoffs in your mind? Is that the ultimate
Speaker 8: measure for you? Or you look at the roster development
Speaker 8: side more so and say that's kind of the priority
Speaker 8: for this year.
Speaker 6: No, Like, obviously, that's that's my priorties.
Speaker 4: Let's get the roster in the best shape possible because
Speaker 4: that's going to give us opportunity to win games. But
Speaker 4: it's always going to be to win championships, to win
Speaker 4: the division, win super bowls, that's always the goal. Obviously
Speaker 4: getting in the playoffs and in winning playoff games would
Speaker 4: be outstanding. But I think the biggest thing is, like,
Speaker 4: can we take that big jump from where we were
Speaker 4: last year to this year, and I think we're capable
Speaker 4: of doing.
Speaker 9: That aster from what you inherited.
Speaker 10: What are you most proud of.
Speaker 4: About this group and how they come to t Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm I'm proud of the process that we've set up.
Speaker 4: It's not just about acquiring the best talent, it's about
Speaker 4: acquiring the right talent, and I think that's what you
Speaker 4: see in this building. I think it's it's special. Like
Speaker 4: the group of guys, it's it's really special enough. I
Speaker 4: talked a lot about that. But even when you go
Speaker 4: through cut down days and you're letting guys go and
Speaker 4: they're like, man, I just want to be here, like
Speaker 4: I can feel it. I want to be a part
Speaker 4: of this thing. So it's not like I always look
Speaker 4: at it and I'm excited about it. But when you
Speaker 4: hear from people inside the building but also outside, it
Speaker 4: kind of makes you feel really good about the progress
Speaker 4: that you've made. But a lot of hard work, a
Speaker 4: lot of time and developing the process so that it's sustainable.
Speaker 11: Right as you've continued both the relationship with Matt and
Speaker 11: your evaluation about what's left, the strongest impressure on you.
Speaker 11: I always handled the last eight months from overhauling the
Speaker 11: coaching staff and now getting this team ready to go
Speaker 11: into the regular season.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think his resilience.
Speaker 9: For how.
Speaker 4: For where our roster was and for how far we
Speaker 4: knew it had to go to set a standard and
Speaker 4: hold everybody to that is extremely difficult. To keep a
Speaker 4: team together through adversity is extremely difficult. But I think
Speaker 4: at the end of the day that's going to be awesome.
Speaker 4: It's like those things will be established and then when
Speaker 4: the winning comes, you have a stronger product.
Speaker 6: Because of it. And so really I really look at
Speaker 6: the resilience piece of it.
Speaker 4: It's so hard with pressure to stay the course when
Speaker 4: you want to be you know, there's a lot of
Speaker 4: noise in terms of doing different things and changes and
Speaker 4: all that. But to hold the line is it takes
Speaker 4: a special man to do that, and he's done that.
Speaker 4: And then just ability to adapt and adjust. You can
Speaker 4: see that on a daily basis, always trying to get better,
Speaker 4: taking the feedback from players, you know, what do we
Speaker 4: need to change, what do you adjust? What are you
Speaker 4: guys seeing, how are you feeling? And then making the
Speaker 4: tweaks that relationship is has been incredible. And then I
Speaker 4: probably had a third thing is it's kind of coming
Speaker 4: to me, but just investing in relationships. He's had every
Speaker 4: single person on our team over at his house to
Speaker 4: spend time there to get to know them better. There's
Speaker 4: activities and things that he did, but that was done intentionally.
Speaker 4: That wasn't just to do it and check a box.
Speaker 4: It was to really invest in our players and build
Speaker 4: that trust because you need that.
Speaker 6: You remember, guys banged up on the offensively and today
Speaker 6: Bill Murray go off, how comfortable are you with the
Speaker 6: depth you have.
Speaker 3: This?
Speaker 4: This is the best depth I've I've ever had. Actually
Speaker 4: let one of the guys go on cutdowns and it
Speaker 4: was like, man, you did an excellent job. I wish
Speaker 4: you know we could keep you here. It just He's like,
Speaker 4: this is the deepest room I've ever been a part of.
Speaker 4: So we have more versatility, more depth. She We've got
Speaker 4: ten guys, so I feel comfortable. Obviously, you want you
Speaker 4: starting five to be healthy and ready to go, but
Speaker 4: I feel more confident in the depth of our line
Speaker 4: than I ever had before.
Speaker 6: Right, we've seen it.
Speaker 12: We've seen a lot from Caleb on the field, but
Speaker 12: in the building, what have you seen to be the
Speaker 12: effect of his personality, of his social skills, his ability
Speaker 12: to relate with others.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's it's fairly natural. It's not forced.
Speaker 4: I think that's one thing. And we've all been in
Speaker 4: teams before. But like there's people that come into those
Speaker 4: situations and they try too hard and it's like, man,
Speaker 4: that's awkward. You know, it's hard to buy into that.
Speaker 4: And then there's guys that just they can they can
Speaker 4: navigate that so naturally because they're authentic and it's real
Speaker 4: and that's what he's done and they and then on
Speaker 4: top of that, just is as a professional player, like
Speaker 4: you have to perform, we got to do things that
Speaker 4: guy's like okay, like like there's something different about you.
Speaker 4: And then pair that with a good natural, just good
Speaker 4: social skills, some cool things happen and leadership starts to blossom.
Speaker 6: And that's what you see. Now, what do you expect
Speaker 6: from him this year? I expect him to it's a
Speaker 6: great question.
Speaker 4: I want him to lean on the talent around him
Speaker 4: and then when the time is right, and that's an
Speaker 4: instinctual thing and I think that plays right into him.
Speaker 4: That's when you do the special and balancing that and
Speaker 4: then sometimes it's going to get out of whack one
Speaker 4: way or the other, but always come back to that
Speaker 4: is kind of like that that neutral place where he's
Speaker 4: at his best, and I think he has that just
Speaker 4: from studying him and watching years of tape on him.
Speaker 4: He has that ability, and so I think that's kind
Speaker 4: of the big thing is just lean on the guys
Speaker 4: around him, be instinctual. Let that those wild plays happen
Speaker 4: at the right time. I mean, we saw it in
Speaker 4: the preseason a little bit. That's gonna be important.
Speaker 13: Sorry, back to the old line, Yeah, how good can
Speaker 13: that unit be? You made some moves this offseason. I
Speaker 13: don't think you can point at it and so you
Speaker 13: put a ton of resources into it, Like, how good
Speaker 13: can that group beh?
Speaker 6: I think the group can be really good in terms
Speaker 6: of investing in it.
Speaker 4: I mean, Darnell was the first round pick we traded
Speaker 4: for Bates, who has versatility, paidon eight, who obviously needs
Speaker 4: to continue to work on just a dependability and inconsistency.
Speaker 4: Coleman Shelton's has been a great addition. He's a glue
Speaker 4: guy for the upfront. His ability to get everybody on
Speaker 4: the same page and execute at high level has been
Speaker 4: been really good. I think Brax's improved and and Tevin
Speaker 4: is playing his best ball too, So I think that
Speaker 4: that group has the ability to be special and as
Speaker 4: the season goes along, and the beautiful thing is they're
Speaker 4: all those guys strain and you can see that in
Speaker 4: the preseason too, just trying to keep Caleb clean. It's
Speaker 4: important to them, and it's a really strong dad group.
Speaker 6: So it's good.
Speaker 12: I'm pretty sure we've seen you on the field kind
Speaker 12: of mimicking Caleb's throwing motion.
Speaker 6: You never seen that.
Speaker 1: Been doing with that?
Speaker 9: Was it fun for you?
Speaker 12: Was it a fun training camp for you to see
Speaker 12: this guy that you had scouted for so long and
Speaker 12: drafted and then brought here and then watching it in
Speaker 12: the person ever?
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's it's fun. But I don't know, I
Speaker 4: just I can't ever let my mind go too far
Speaker 4: down that road. It's always about improving. But it's it's
Speaker 4: good to see anytime you you dropt the player because
Speaker 4: of what you saw from college and you see some
Speaker 4: of those things transfer over to the pro game, that
Speaker 4: that gets you excited. If it's the other way, it's
Speaker 4: scared of crab Boudy. You know, it's like, where did
Speaker 4: that guy go and we haven't had that really any
Speaker 4: of our draft picks. Everybody has been as advertised or
Speaker 4: if not better.
Speaker 14: You try to grow Caleb into a quarterback who can
Speaker 14: be a game winning quarterback with the game on the line.
Speaker 14: From your lens, what separates the best quarterbacks in this
Speaker 14: league in terms of the ones that are consistently productive
Speaker 14: in the four.
Speaker 4: Four I think it's really I look at I kind
Speaker 4: of say it's like their heartbeat, Like does their heartbeat
Speaker 4: skyrocket in those pressure situations or do you see this
Speaker 4: like calm? And we're not going to know until we're
Speaker 4: in it in terms of the pro side of it,
Speaker 4: but that's what I look for. I want the game
Speaker 4: to slow down, there to be a level of poise.
Speaker 4: And again I'll go back to it's the same combination
Speaker 4: of taking what the defense gives you, leaning on your talent,
Speaker 4: and then when you're forced to be special, be special.
Speaker 6: What did you experience with Patrick through that lens in
Speaker 6: terms of when.
Speaker 14: You realize that he was that guy in Kansas City.
Speaker 6: In terms of what it did for the entire organization.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting because I know there's a lot of comparison,
Speaker 4: comparisons out there, but I don't I don't know what
Speaker 4: Patrick's rookie year would have looked like. But I know
Speaker 4: in year two you saw exactly that when when the
Speaker 4: pressure went up, he was calm, and then when it
Speaker 4: was time to do something special, he was able to
Speaker 4: do it and connect. But I also think, you know,
Speaker 4: we probably don't talk about enough. He really gave opportunities
Speaker 4: for special players to be special, and I think that's
Speaker 4: what took it over the.
Speaker 6: Over the edge.
Speaker 1: Okay, he feels good about this football team, you know,
Speaker 1: and when asked about what his expectations are, he thinks
Speaker 1: this team, if you if you go through the words
Speaker 1: and really listen, he expects it to compete at a
Speaker 1: high level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, first of all, at the beginning, I
Speaker 3: like that there are some arguments inside the cut room,
Speaker 3: because when there are no arguments, Jeff, in the cut room,
Speaker 3: that means that you don't really have a lot of talent.
Speaker 3: That guys are standing on their soapbox trying to draw
Speaker 3: the attention, you know, prove the point why they belong
Speaker 3: on this football team, what they can mean to the
Speaker 3: future development of what they can mean as a veteran leader.
Speaker 3: So that was exciting for me to hear out of
Speaker 3: Ryan Poles, you know, And I'm glad Ryan talked about
Speaker 3: the big picture because of something you and I've been
Speaker 3: talking about for a long time. It's winning the division,
Speaker 3: it's getting to the playoffs, it's pursuing championships year and
Speaker 3: a year out. And until you have that belief within
Speaker 3: your system, within the culture of your organization, it's unaccomplishable.
Speaker 3: And so I'm excited to see where the general manager
Speaker 3: is in his first conversation. When you put the fifty
Speaker 3: three together along with the practice squad.
Speaker 1: Busy Heart, Seltzer flavors for every vibe, Celebrate Responsibly, Most
Speaker 1: Course Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Practice squad numbers fourteen. There's
Speaker 1: room for two more. So Austin Reid is back along
Speaker 1: with Colin Johnson, the tackle, Jake Kerhan, Theo Benedette who
Speaker 1: made himself an immediate star on Hard Knocks, but with talent,
Speaker 1: a big tackle and guard Stephen Carlson, which we both like.
Speaker 1: At tight end, Brendan Bates, he signed with the New
Speaker 1: York Jets, so he went there. Jemrey Croma, a young
Speaker 1: rookie defensive end, Deshaun Mallory from Bowling Brook.
Speaker 3: Tom tell us about him. You know, he's a guy
Speaker 3: that's got an interesting background. He's a self developed kid.
Speaker 3: Johnny Iblow, a former fullback for the Bears, was his
Speaker 3: high school coach and can't speak highly enough about him
Speaker 3: and Johnny Ivblow now on the Jolia Catholic football staff.
Speaker 3: So and when I had a chance to meet Mallory
Speaker 3: in the hallway of one of the hotels we are
Speaker 3: staying at and I mentioned him that I've been friends
Speaker 3: with Johnny Ivlow for the last twenty five thirty years,
Speaker 3: he got a big smile on his face and that
Speaker 3: Johnny Ivlow was telling me what a respectful, hard working,
Speaker 3: good kid this is. Comes from a difficult background, but
Speaker 3: he's put himself in a position to succeed. He's a
Speaker 3: little introverted, but I'm really happy that he's on the
Speaker 3: taxi squad of the practice squad and maybe he can
Speaker 3: develop into that guy that the Bears can play at
Speaker 3: defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: Byron Coward also the defensive tackle Michael Baskerville Carl Jones Jr.
Speaker 1: We both felt strongly about him. The U C L
Speaker 1: a free agent linebacker and then one of my favorites
Speaker 1: Ready Stewart. He had a heck of a preseason, finishing
Speaker 1: it off with a couple of picks and a pick
Speaker 1: six Tommy. He's on with Roe Torrents, who you liked
Speaker 1: for his length.
Speaker 15: Yes, I do you know one thing. Let me just
Speaker 15: back up a little bit to Brendan Bates.
Speaker 3: One compliment that you can have about guys that you're
Speaker 3: letting go is when another team comes and gets immediately
Speaker 3: and they want them to be a part of your team.
Speaker 3: Brendan Bates proved that he belonged in the NFL, but
Speaker 3: a team came out here and said, look, if this
Speaker 3: guy is out there, we have a good scott and
Speaker 3: report and we believe he can play. But I believe
Speaker 3: Steven Carlson can play as well. So I'm excited that
Speaker 3: he's back and will be in the building. I think
Speaker 3: he's always been a good working guy inside that facility
Speaker 3: and he'll help the position at some time in the
Speaker 3: course of his career or this year.
Speaker 1: And veteran safety is quick del Johnson. It was with
Speaker 1: the Bears olive last season, and Tarvarius more often injured
Speaker 1: in his career, but a lot of speed. Veteran at
Speaker 1: the end of These are.
Speaker 3: The types of guys that if they get their opportunity
Speaker 3: to get up to the active roster, the first thing
Speaker 3: they're going to have to do is be super competitive
Speaker 3: on special teams. And every one of these guys have
Speaker 3: proved they have the willingness to do that. So they
Speaker 3: don't get snaps at the position, They're going to get
Speaker 3: plenty of snaps in the four phases of special team.
Speaker 1: So long snapper Patrick Scales goes on short term ir
Speaker 1: to you to get better and they'll figure it out.
Speaker 1: We don't know who the long snapper will be. But
Speaker 1: it also allowed for some salary cap manipulation to get
Speaker 1: Carrie Blasting game back at his original salary, so he's
Speaker 1: back on the roster at fullback.
Speaker 3: You know, Patrick Scales just has to focus on getting back.
Speaker 3: I started my last year after back surgery with the
Speaker 3: Chicago Bears on the pup list, and after I went
Speaker 3: through the pup list process physically unable to perform.
Speaker 15: That's what pop stands for, and then they make it.
Speaker 3: They have to make a decision about you with than
Speaker 3: the twenty one days of your return, and that's when
Speaker 3: I end up going to the Miami Dolphins. But I
Speaker 3: think when you go through the rehabilitation process, no matter
Speaker 3: who you are or what position you play, you just
Speaker 3: have to set your sights. I'm getting as healthy and
Speaker 3: as strong as you possibly can, and when you're ready
Speaker 3: to come back to act the duty, be ready to go.
Speaker 1: Taste like mother Time. Go to middle light dot com
Speaker 1: slash bears pod to find delivery options near you. Celebrate
Speaker 1: Responsibility Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and
Speaker 1: three point two carbs per twelve ounces. Let's listen in
Speaker 1: to Matt Eberflus as he was asked a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about what his expectations are for number eighteen.
Speaker 9: Caleb Williams, Yeah, I really think that comes down to
Speaker 9: play design. You know, I'm just going to micro it
Speaker 9: down to actually to the play. You know, so we
Speaker 9: all know what he can do in terms of his
Speaker 9: arm talent, in terms of throwing on the move and
Speaker 9: those types of things. But you know, in the early
Speaker 9: parts of the game and early downs, you know, he's
Speaker 9: just asked to play point guard. You know, have a
Speaker 9: great operation play point guard. Get the ball to our
Speaker 9: skill either my hand and off or throwing it to him.
Speaker 9: And letting them do the run and then moving around
Speaker 9: and gaining the arts. And it's gonna be big that
Speaker 9: our offensive line plays well, like I've said in the past,
Speaker 9: and everybody plays well around him. That's defense and special
Speaker 9: teams included. So and then when you get to the
Speaker 9: point in the game where it is a critical down
Speaker 9: or a third down or in the red zone or
Speaker 9: whatever that might be, then you might see X factor
Speaker 9: come out. And that's where it is. But again, he's
Speaker 9: just about the process of getting in and out of
Speaker 9: the huddle, being smooth and operating the offense.
Speaker 8: You guys done to prepare him for the challenge that
Speaker 8: he is climbing the mountain.
Speaker 12: During the regular season And is there a way to
Speaker 12: fully prepare him or do you.
Speaker 9: Kind of have to live it a little bit? Yeah,
Speaker 9: the process. So we just talked about going through the
Speaker 9: end season. So we've already done it once. You know,
Speaker 9: we went with cards and stuff we're doing today, but
Speaker 9: we did it already, did it one time Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Speaker 9: and we're going back again through it again to go
Speaker 9: through the process of it. And it's going to be
Speaker 9: a rhythm of these first six weeks, you know, we're
Speaker 9: on seven day schedules this whole time for a better
Speaker 9: part of the first part of the season, so he'll
Speaker 9: get a good them to that. And really it's just
Speaker 9: about that process going through. And we've already walked him
Speaker 9: through it a couple of times in terms of what
Speaker 9: he does on Monday after the game, Tuesday when we're
Speaker 9: game planning, and then Wednesday all the way through Saturday.
Speaker 8: Man, what it feels to to to land the spot
Speaker 8: on the fifty three and how w do you kind
Speaker 8: of outline his workload? Is he going to be classified
Speaker 8: primarily as a running back, would be in the receiver
Speaker 8: room as well, Like, how do you see this going forward?
Speaker 9: I really see him he made it just by his efforts,
Speaker 9: you know, and the production he had in practice, you know,
Speaker 9: in the preseason games, you know, and his willingness to
Speaker 9: be able to adjust and adapt and then be able
Speaker 9: to get that done. In terms of his performance, I
Speaker 9: commend the coaches for doing a wonderful job in that,
Speaker 9: you know, Chad and Jennifer and Chris and Shane and
Speaker 9: all the guys that had to you know, to work
Speaker 9: with him and to help him be successful. He partner
Speaker 9: up with those guys. So it's a really good effort
Speaker 9: by everybody, and again comes down to him being able
Speaker 9: to do it and his willingness to want to and
Speaker 9: the work ethics. So he's going to be a guy
Speaker 9: for set we can use in multiple ways. We can
Speaker 9: use him in the backfield, we can spread them out,
Speaker 9: we can do things a lot of different things with him,
Speaker 9: and that's a team a benefit, you know, try to
Speaker 9: defend that when he comes in the game is a
Speaker 9: little bit different than just a normal type of receiver
Speaker 9: or guy that can lamp in the backfield. So I
Speaker 9: think it creates a little bit of a time on
Speaker 9: task practice wise for the opponent and also preparation wise.
Speaker 9: You know, in the film study.
Speaker 10: Man, do you anticipate austome book and being active and
Speaker 10: if you do, what your what's your kind of general
Speaker 10: plan to use him? Will he just be a situational
Speaker 10: guy or a true rotation or with an intriguing guy
Speaker 10: like that?
Speaker 9: What are you Yeah, I mean you're talking about a rookie,
Speaker 9: you know, a defensive lineman that's a rookie. So we're
Speaker 9: still in the development phase of that and we feel
Speaker 9: really good where he is, you know, in terms of
Speaker 9: a past rusher, we've seen that in the preseason, you know,
Speaker 9: and then really working on his game to be in
Speaker 9: in every down end where he can play the run,
Speaker 9: you know, set the edges that we ask and do
Speaker 9: the things that we want him to do, you know,
Speaker 9: in terms of playing run defense on first and second.
Speaker 9: So we're still going through that process. We feel really
Speaker 9: good about where our ends are.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 9: We have some additions, as you guys know, and we'll
Speaker 9: evaluate that as we go through the week.
Speaker 1: Get Caleb into the week to week grind of being
Speaker 1: an NFL quarterback.
Speaker 8: What part of that weekly processors should to see how
Speaker 8: he handles.
Speaker 9: After the first game, you know, So after the first game,
Speaker 9: this first game is going to be you know as
Speaker 9: a little abnormal because you've got a lot of time
Speaker 9: to prepare, so it's not really a normal NFL week.
Speaker 9: But after that first game, be on a reset, right
Speaker 9: whatever happened, look at the performance, and then go ahead
Speaker 9: and you know self, you know, self, reflect, meet with me,
Speaker 9: meet with Shane, what can I improve on? What did
Speaker 9: I do well? And then be able to reset and
Speaker 9: then go to the next week. That's the biggest part
Speaker 9: that you have to do in the NFL because it
Speaker 9: happens fast. You don't have time to you know, you
Speaker 9: got time to reflect a little bit, but then you
Speaker 9: got to move on to the next week, going on
Speaker 9: to Tuesday, and then through that normal week, which will
Speaker 9: be the second week.
Speaker 6: So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1: Anything else stick out about flu Ship, I think he's
Speaker 1: another one who not only did he get great compliment
Speaker 1: from polls about where he's at, what he's grown, how
Speaker 1: he's adapted, how he's been resilient. You can hear it
Speaker 1: in Matt's voice every time he goes to the podium
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, other than his look, Matt hasn't really
Speaker 3: changed a lot. He's convicted about his defensive style of football.
Speaker 3: He's convicted about allowing the offensive coaches to coach the
Speaker 3: talent over there to the best of their ability in front.
Speaker 3: From what we see in early out of Shane Waldron,
Speaker 3: I'm excited to see where this team is going offensively.
Speaker 3: And then Ryan talked about the importance of Matt Eberflus
Speaker 3: having the players at his house because he learns about
Speaker 3: them outside the building, away from the organization. So I think,
Speaker 3: you know, from playing all those years in the NFL
Speaker 3: and never been, never going to the home of a
Speaker 3: head coach, you know, kind of envious of it when
Speaker 3: I see it on hard Knocks or I hear Matt
Speaker 3: talk about it throughout the off season.
Speaker 1: I mean to give him a call. Maybe you can
Speaker 1: invite us over for a barbecue. You and I.
Speaker 15: I'm surprised you haven't been there.
Speaker 3: You know, you're a front you're his front office as
Speaker 3: anybody that box in that building on a daily basis.
Speaker 3: But no, I just really appreciate his efforts to create
Speaker 3: camaraderie within the building and not only the players, but
Speaker 3: the front office as well.
Speaker 1: This is a note from our esteemed statistician and now
Speaker 1: you've got one as well. On the sweat and Darryl Taylor,
Speaker 1: new defensive en edge rusher, their perspectives and statistically, but
Speaker 1: this was a note, and he texted me again today
Speaker 1: to make sure I saw it so and I said,
Speaker 1: it's preseason note, okay, but I'm going to tell you
Speaker 1: what it is anyway, And did you hear this already?
Speaker 1: The Bears outscored their opponents by a total of sixty
Speaker 1: eight so they had a plus sixty eight point differential,
Speaker 1: which was great in the preseason. Since two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: six teams have been sixty or better, and most of
Speaker 1: those years all teams played. Four of the six teams
Speaker 1: at sixty plus or more, all of them made the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and two of them on a Super Bowl. So Doug's
Speaker 1: dreaming big.
Speaker 3: Hey good, You know, I like Doug to think big
Speaker 3: because that's how you create.
Speaker 15: You have big solutions and you have big efforts.
Speaker 3: So if that's the case, and it means something during
Speaker 3: the regular season, but you know, again, I look at
Speaker 3: it more from the eyes of Shane Waldron. I mean
Speaker 3: the balance attack that he's called in every game, the
Speaker 3: types of creative protections he has for a young quarterback,
Speaker 3: getting all the receivers involved in knowing and understanding the
Speaker 3: importance of the running game so it best complements the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Kevin Byer is going to be okay for Week one.
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen a little discomfort in his foot according to polls,
Speaker 1: as you heard in our interview last week, with a
Speaker 1: cleat issue, so he had some soreness there.
Speaker 15: Okay.
Speaker 1: Let's one of the guys that Shane Waldron knows, and
Speaker 1: a big reason why he's here is Coleman Shelton was
Speaker 1: earned the starting job at center for the Bears, a
Speaker 1: position where he has started the last twenty six games
Speaker 1: dating back to his days with the La Rams. So
Speaker 1: a left handed snapper at the center position. Tom Our
Speaker 1: conversation which we had earlier Wednesday at hallis Hall, Let's
Speaker 1: roll it Welcome back to the Bears, Etc. Podcast Jeff
Speaker 1: and Tom joined by Coleman Shelton, the starting center for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears to start the twenty twenty four season.
Speaker 1: Great to meet you finally, and job well done, man,
Speaker 1: job well done.
Speaker 2: You're clearly a.
Speaker 1: Guy never should be counted out for any reason arriving
Speaker 1: in the league as an undrafted player and you're in
Speaker 1: a heck of a start streak right now and you
Speaker 1: continue with the Bears. Tell us how this process all
Speaker 1: went for you, this training camp and how you arrived here.
Speaker 7: Yeah, Well, as you said, undrafted, So I kind of
Speaker 7: have that mindset going there every year that nothing's guaranteed.
Speaker 7: So I just go in and work hard every day
Speaker 7: and just kind of be the best version of myself
Speaker 7: that I can be. I'm always competing with myself, so
Speaker 7: the main goal is to go out and be the
Speaker 7: best player that I can be.
Speaker 1: The string of starts that you're coming in with, is
Speaker 1: that give you a rhythm so to speak? I know
Speaker 1: is different years and different scheme, similar scheme, but different.
Speaker 1: Does that give you like, okay, this is something now
Speaker 1: I'm getting into habit forming. You're on the field for
Speaker 1: every snap.
Speaker 7: Sure, I mean you know obviously, as you said, new year,
Speaker 7: new team, but you know, I always want to be
Speaker 7: out there contributing for my team and my teammates, and
Speaker 7: I want to be there for him and be available.
Speaker 7: And that's a big focus of mine, is just being
Speaker 7: ready and being there. I don't want to miss any time.
Speaker 3: Paulman, you ever study the history of a position and
Speaker 3: the team you're going to, because when you talk about
Speaker 3: free agents, you can't. I know, you met Jay Hilgeberg
Speaker 3: here a couple of weeks ago. We also have Ollin Cruits,
Speaker 3: a couple of guys that have Hall of Fame credentials,
Speaker 3: and Jay's a former free agent himself.
Speaker 15: So you know that.
Speaker 3: I guess it doesn't have to give you incentive, but
Speaker 3: at least you understand that you can have a historic
Speaker 3: career and still and come from the free agent market.
Speaker 2: Right Yeah, obviously Jay.
Speaker 7: I met Jay and he was a great part when
Speaker 7: he came into the building and talked to the offensive
Speaker 7: lineman and Olin obviously being a husky myself, right, Yeah,
Speaker 7: I had him through that connection. I don't know him personally,
Speaker 7: but obviously he's a legend and you know, I've been
Speaker 7: a big fan of his for a long time.
Speaker 15: Yeahs as well. So when you met Jay, did you
Speaker 15: look at him and.
Speaker 3: Say, oh my god, this is a former center in
Speaker 3: the NFL that has the background and you know when
Speaker 3: he came aboard he it was a punk snapper, field
Speaker 3: extra point field goal snapper, then worked his way up
Speaker 3: into the center position. Did you say, oh my god,
Speaker 3: this is what I could ultimately be at the end
Speaker 3: of my career or were you saying, Wow, this guy's
Speaker 3: not a real big guy.
Speaker 2: Well, it's funny.
Speaker 7: I wonder if there's a statistic on it, you know,
Speaker 7: offensive lineman when they're done with their career, how how
Speaker 7: small they get? You know, it seems like every year,
Speaker 7: each each offensive lineman, we're losing more and more weight
Speaker 7: and getting skinnier and wanting to feel better, you know,
Speaker 7: getting the pressure off our knees and stuff like that.
Speaker 15: So you do you still have weigh ins at this
Speaker 15: era of the NFL. Yeah, we do.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean on the daily, right you measure?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, in camp on.
Speaker 2: The daily and then in season weekly.
Speaker 15: What do they want to get away?
Speaker 2: I play around two ninety five to three hundred. Keep
Speaker 2: it in that range.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 3: When I was with the Bears, we never had an
Speaker 3: indo our facility, so we practice outside every single day,
Speaker 3: warm weather, cold weather, no matter what. And I used
Speaker 3: to start the season at about two eighty five and
Speaker 3: I finished at about two ninety five. And it was
Speaker 3: because of you know, you stop losing that daily weight.
Speaker 3: And so now that you and you finish camp, when
Speaker 3: camp is over and you get into the regular season,
Speaker 3: you're practicing the once a day routine. Will you gain
Speaker 3: some weight or strength or do you kind of stay
Speaker 3: around what you are?
Speaker 7: I always try to stay, you know, exactly my range.
Speaker 7: It's important for me. I struggle keeping weight on. So
Speaker 7: I always have to think, you know, what do I
Speaker 7: have to eat and what do I have to drink
Speaker 7: to keep my weight up and stay in my range
Speaker 7: so I can have the anchor or the stability of
Speaker 7: whatever our need in the run.
Speaker 2: Game and the pass game.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by Miller Lite. Tastes like Miller Time.
Speaker 1: Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories
Speaker 1: and three point two carbs per twelve ounces. Coleman Shelton.
Speaker 1: I should also tell you that he and Jay Hilgenberg
Speaker 1: are best friend. They played with each other all those years.
Speaker 1: But when Tom's talking, wait, he's got a great story.
Speaker 1: I love his stories because he's got so many. But
Speaker 1: he was let go by the Bears after a nine
Speaker 1: year career, goes down to Don shul and the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Then you had a way in there correct tell him
Speaker 1: how that went, Tell him what you did.
Speaker 2: I can't believe.
Speaker 3: You know, it's so hot down on Miami. You kind
Speaker 3: of lose probably twenty pounds every practice. So I used
Speaker 3: to go in on weigh and day and I would
Speaker 3: stick a five pound or ten pound plates inside my.
Speaker 15: Girdle, come on, and then wear a baggy T shirt
Speaker 15: and stand out exactly.
Speaker 3: So we had this guy that used to weigh us
Speaker 3: and he goes, damn, kid, you must be thick because you.
Speaker 15: Don't look like you weigh that much. And it was
Speaker 15: just trying to trying to get one over on him.
Speaker 7: Yeah, pulling the vet move, trying to sneak in a
Speaker 7: few extra pounds where you can.
Speaker 1: Everybody's got him, everybody's got him. Indeed, how significant is
Speaker 1: it that you were in similar systems with San Francisco
Speaker 1: for a short time, but with the Rams for all
Speaker 1: these years and have that familiarity with Shane Waldron.
Speaker 2: I mean, very significant.
Speaker 7: It definitely helped me to hit the ground running when
Speaker 7: I first got here and to only build on what
Speaker 7: I know and being with Shane previously and kind of
Speaker 7: just the offense and the way it works.
Speaker 1: So University of Washington, they're pumping out DB's left and right,
Speaker 1: got some here as well, and Kyler Gordon, but also
Speaker 1: some really significant offensive linemen. So first of all, the
Speaker 1: program's amazing. Watched Roma Duneesay almost every snap last year,
Speaker 1: just getting ready for our games. But that's on late
Speaker 1: at Saturday night, and I'm watching this guy and I'm
Speaker 1: watching these teams. What about the tradition there and the
Speaker 1: coolest venue of all. I was out there last summer
Speaker 1: kayaking in Lake Washington looking at those beautiful homes. I thought,
Speaker 1: my god, Tom, that is the best place to party
Speaker 1: for a football game in America. Just what that was like,
Speaker 1: leaving Pasadena, going there to the University of Washington having
Speaker 1: your career, and just what that program has been about.
Speaker 7: Sure, well, I mean, first foremost, I loved every bit
Speaker 7: of University of Washington. Being in the PNW, it was
Speaker 7: definitely a little shock for me going from LA to Seattle.
Speaker 7: I'd adjusted to that, But I mean just the school,
Speaker 7: the history. You can look at any position really and
Speaker 7: see some greats.
Speaker 2: In the NFL.
Speaker 7: And then especially when we were coming up and we
Speaker 7: had a good twenty sixteen season, all these old players
Speaker 7: would come back and talk to us, from Steve Etman
Speaker 7: to Lawyer Malloy, just all these greats that it's been
Speaker 7: fantastic to be able to just hear them speak and
Speaker 7: then show the tradition of the school. And now, you know,
Speaker 7: we have all these young guys coming out like Rome
Speaker 7: and Michael Pennix, and it's just been fun to see
Speaker 7: the program continue to build and continue to.
Speaker 1: Now you're a big ten guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's weird, you know, Cal, And I've been so
Speaker 3: I was drafted in eighty three and I've been around
Speaker 3: the NFL for nearly forty years, and I brag about
Speaker 3: being in every stadium built in the NFL since and
Speaker 3: all that time, I've never been to the Rose Ball.
Speaker 3: So when Jeff says you're from Pasadena, is it something
Speaker 3: that you're just so familiar with because you grew up
Speaker 3: in Pasadena? Do you pass it on the way to
Speaker 3: work out or school or whatever? And is it just
Speaker 3: second nature to you when you see the Rose Ball?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it is.
Speaker 7: It's just part of our hometown. Grew up a mile
Speaker 7: or two from it and grew up going to the
Speaker 7: Rose Parade and in the Rose Games. It's actually the
Speaker 7: only Pac twelve stadium I didn't get to play a
Speaker 7: game in, So.
Speaker 2: That one hurt.
Speaker 7: Yeah, right, that absolutely, But you know it's so historic
Speaker 7: and so beautiful, and I love going to games there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's amazing, you know, the granddaddy of them all.
Speaker 3: You hear the Rose Bowl parade and all that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I just wish historically I would like to see it
Speaker 3: at one time. But I Jeff brought up Shane Waldron
Speaker 3: in your time with him. So when you came aboard
Speaker 3: with the Bears, did you know the terminology? Did you
Speaker 3: have to spend some time studying it or were you
Speaker 3: familiar with it because your past experience with him, Because
Speaker 3: I think that's one of the most difficult things to
Speaker 3: master no matter what position you play. So if you
Speaker 3: go out there without that thinking process hindering your blocking process,
Speaker 3: did it help you to be with that?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean there's always going to be a few
Speaker 7: little wrinkles year to year or whatever it is. But
Speaker 7: the way I like to describe it is is kind
Speaker 7: of like learning a different language. But for me, it
Speaker 7: was going from like English to Spanglish, you know, kind
Speaker 7: of I knew a lot, I just didn't know everything.
Speaker 7: So it was nice to be able to have that
Speaker 7: foundation of knowledge and just to kind of hit the
Speaker 7: ground running and learn the new things.
Speaker 1: Well, there's only one guy here without a Super Bowl
Speaker 1: ring and that is Jeff Joniyak. A super Bowl ring
Speaker 1: for our guest Coleman Shelton. A super Bowl wing for
Speaker 1: Tom there. I just asked him because he's not a
Speaker 1: big sentimentalist. He doesn't save a lot of stuff from
Speaker 1: his career. I see the photo in the background, But
Speaker 1: where's your super Bowl ring?
Speaker 15: And where's yours?
Speaker 1: So I'll start with Tom.
Speaker 3: Mine's in a kitchen cabinet right about ten feet to
Speaker 3: my right. I'm not a jewelryware so I rarely.
Speaker 15: I mean, I haven't had it on.
Speaker 3: Jeffson Silbers went to the Super Bowl six and six.
Speaker 3: That's the last time that I had it out of
Speaker 3: the box, and I don't didn't even know if I
Speaker 3: wore it that week.
Speaker 15: I think I just brought it down with me for pride.
Speaker 1: Yeah you did, you brought it to Miami. I did
Speaker 1: see it a lot smaller than what you guys now,
Speaker 1: get right.
Speaker 7: Yeah, mine' hitting away. I don't think i've opened it
Speaker 7: since we got it, Is that right? So I mean
Speaker 7: maybe just should you put it on?
Speaker 15: Of course, yeah, you put it on, But that's.
Speaker 2: I haven't opened it much, and obviously it's in safe spot.
Speaker 3: Yeah you know, coleman I I always say that I
Speaker 3: appreciate the Super Bowl trophy that they gave us because
Speaker 3: that's more presentable to people, whether if you own a
Speaker 3: business or you have it at your house or people
Speaker 3: get a chance to see it. And whereas you know,
Speaker 3: for me, I'm more of a beach bomb, so I'm
Speaker 3: not wearing a ring around because but there's no lack
Speaker 3: of you know, pride in it. It's just that when
Speaker 3: people come over and see the super Bowl trophy, it's
Speaker 3: kind of neat.
Speaker 2: To have, right. I get that. Yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 7: I'm not putting on that big ring and wearing it
Speaker 7: around either.
Speaker 15: Not doing that right, No way? So is yours huge?
Speaker 15: Is yours huge? Yeah?
Speaker 2: It's real big?
Speaker 15: Yeah.
Speaker 3: See. I think I think one thing about the Bears
Speaker 3: eighty five super Bowl ring. It's probably the most accept
Speaker 3: the ball and wearable ring of all the Super Bowl rings.
Speaker 3: Because when we go to the Hall of Fame, it
Speaker 3: seems like everybody goes and looks at the busts of
Speaker 3: players they want to see, and then they go look
Speaker 3: at the display of Super Bowl rings. And I still
Speaker 3: think that the Bears is one of the ones that
Speaker 3: are socially acceptable to wear.
Speaker 1: I have an O six NFC Championship ring they gave
Speaker 1: to the broadcaster, so that's pretty cool too. I having
Speaker 1: a nice little box at my house.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: He mentioned the Hall of Fame and we're running out
Speaker 1: of time. We like to keep talking, but you got
Speaker 1: things to do. Uh what about going through Canton? Did
Speaker 1: you resonate with I mean, where did you where'd your
Speaker 1: eyes take anything in specifics? Did you want to see?
Speaker 15: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Uh, well I wanted to see the bus.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was the coolest thing that the whole right,
Speaker 1: the way the lighting was and everything.
Speaker 2: That was amazing.
Speaker 7: It was my first time there and obviously you know,
Speaker 7: birthplace of football Hall of Fame. I was kind of
Speaker 7: just taking it all in on George Hallas Drive.
Speaker 2: Nonetheless, I know.
Speaker 7: It was amazing, right, and it's it's such a historic
Speaker 7: place and for me, just being a huge football fan,
Speaker 7: football guide, love every about it was.
Speaker 2: It was definitely breathtaking, all right.
Speaker 1: So Stafford to Caleb experience, to a rookie number one
Speaker 1: with a very very high ceilings. He seems like he's
Speaker 1: been asking a lot of folks about advice on a
Speaker 1: lot of different things and just exploring the competitive side
Speaker 1: of whether it be an NBA great or another quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league. As he asked you about Matthew Stafford
Speaker 1: and his approach to the game and whatnot.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, Caleb's done a great job of just
Speaker 7: you know, being open to learning and just open to everything.
Speaker 7: He's he's willing to learn and he wants to get
Speaker 7: better every day and that's That's a goal I think
Speaker 7: for every player should have. So I think he's done
Speaker 7: a great job of just kind of taking in everything
Speaker 7: and you know, getting better every day on the field.
Speaker 3: So we watch hard knocks, so we see the rookies
Speaker 3: go up there and they announce our bonus and then
Speaker 3: they sing a song.
Speaker 15: Number one.
Speaker 3: Did you have to sing a song in front of
Speaker 3: your team when you are akie? And uh, did you
Speaker 3: what was your go to song?
Speaker 7: I sing Your Love by the outfield, very hype. I
Speaker 7: didn't get up there in the octave, but I know
Speaker 7: all the words, so it was an easy one. I
Speaker 7: didn't want to mess up the lyrics, so I just
Speaker 7: went up there and sang and I did all right.
Speaker 1: Had a boy surfer and puzzles, correct, these are these
Speaker 1: are two things you love because he's a he's a surfer.
Speaker 7: You know, I haven't surfed in one I love the ocean.
Speaker 7: I'm more a body surf and uh, just kind of
Speaker 7: get on the boogie board or whatever it is. But
Speaker 7: I'm a little a little too heavy right now. I
Speaker 7: don't have like a you know, fourteen foot board that's
Speaker 7: a foot thick. But I haven't surfed in a minute.
Speaker 3: You got to get in stand up paddling. Yeah, it'll
Speaker 3: change your life. And that's what that's what I got
Speaker 3: into after I retired. And now stand up surfing is
Speaker 3: so forgivable to everybody, a big guy like yourself or uh,
Speaker 3: you know, an old guy like myself.
Speaker 15: So I'll you can come out to Hawaii with me.
Speaker 15: I'll get you in it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: So if the twenty twenty fourth season were a puzzle
Speaker 1: that you had to put together for the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: uh how how how challenging would it be? I guess
Speaker 1: because the league.
Speaker 7: Is right, well, I guess for me. The thing with
Speaker 7: the puzzles, there's always a strategy on how to do it.
Speaker 7: You know, you gotta you gotta have your game plan,
Speaker 7: and you got to go and going ready to do
Speaker 7: it and just kind of stick to it and be
Speaker 7: consistent and showing you know day and day out.
Speaker 2: So I guess that's the best way.
Speaker 1: I am and patient, right, patient, which is also a
Speaker 1: mark of a good offensive lineman. Within the framework in
Speaker 1: the instant of one play correct, you gotta have some
Speaker 1: patience to it.
Speaker 2: Definitely. Patience is a big deal. And when the moment arises,
Speaker 2: be ready.
Speaker 1: How tight is this football team. It just from hard knocks,
Speaker 1: just watching and and and I have been around here
Speaker 1: for a long time, so we know the difference. We
Speaker 1: feel the difference where you're coming from in that program
Speaker 1: with Sean McVay and his outstanding way he coaches a
Speaker 1: football team. Do you do you get the sense there's
Speaker 1: something big brewing here?
Speaker 15: Yeah?
Speaker 7: I mean the team is definitely. We're really clicking and
Speaker 7: we're really getting together and bonding as a team. And
Speaker 7: that's the big thing about the NFL is just building
Speaker 7: the culture so everybody goes in the same direction and
Speaker 7: goes for the same goal.
Speaker 2: So that's that's definitely there.
Speaker 1: Time you got the final one and we'll let the
Speaker 1: man go.
Speaker 3: Okay, if you're a puzzle builder and the Bears had
Speaker 3: four corner pieces to start building this thing together, who's
Speaker 3: the four corner pieces?
Speaker 1: Now that's good.
Speaker 11: I like that.
Speaker 7: Well, I think I'll go more broad and say it
Speaker 7: goes from you know, obviously like coaching staff, players, ownership,
Speaker 7: and then the front office stuff, so everything kind of
Speaker 7: goes in together and roll working together for the same goal.
Speaker 6: Like it.
Speaker 1: Nice answer there. We brought to you by PNC Official
Speaker 1: Bank of the Bears. Appreciate all your time. Looking forward
Speaker 1: to talk to you throughout the season, and good luck
Speaker 1: and congratulations.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Appreciate it, guys.
Speaker 1: All right, I was impressed. I was impressed with him.
Speaker 1: I was impressed hearing that he's been a stabilizing force
Speaker 1: on that offensive line, given that was a competition with
Speaker 1: Ryan Bates before Ryan Bates suffered a shoulder injury, and
Speaker 1: maybe Shelton would have won that job out right anyway,
Speaker 1: we don't know, but this guy has seven playoff games
Speaker 1: of experience.
Speaker 15: He started one.
Speaker 1: He entered the league with the forty nine ers, then
Speaker 1: with the Rams and a line that gave up the
Speaker 1: six few of sacks, and twenty three he paved the
Speaker 1: way for the number three rusher in the NFL last year,
Speaker 1: Kyron Williams's he's been in a Super Bowl as a
Speaker 1: as a part time player, released by the Titans. Now
Speaker 1: he's going to face him in Week one. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot to this guy at twenty nine years
Speaker 1: of age six three three and eight two ninety nine,
Speaker 1: three hundred somewhere in there. Sixty year man, what were
Speaker 1: your impressions of the interview?
Speaker 3: You know, I like that Coleman Shelton took competition as
Speaker 3: a part of the reason why why he signed with
Speaker 3: the Bears, and he came here understanding that he was
Speaker 3: going to have to go out there and compete every
Speaker 3: single day. And then when his opportunity presented itself because
Speaker 3: Ryan Bates was playing a lot of right guard, he
Speaker 3: capitalized on it. And that's the thing that I really
Speaker 3: appreciate a lot of these players is they don't run
Speaker 3: from competition. They're attracted to competition, and I think that
Speaker 3: brings out the best in you. So I'm excited to
Speaker 3: see Coleman Shelton develop a relationship with Caleb Williams because
Speaker 3: whether or not anybody thinks it or knows that, there's
Speaker 3: a lot that happens between those two football players. And
Speaker 3: you know, it's the snap process, the tempo of the cadence.
Speaker 3: It's understanding when the quarterback wants the ball to be snapped,
Speaker 3: even though maybe the rest of the offensive line can't
Speaker 3: hear the cadence because they're an allowed stadium.
Speaker 15: There's the correct direction of protection that you have to call.
Speaker 3: Then when you go to the line of scrimmage, you
Speaker 3: have to understand what the alternate play is called, and
Speaker 3: if a change is in the direction of the protection,
Speaker 3: you have to be able to call that out as well.
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of responsibilities that the center has
Speaker 3: to have and you got to play good football. You
Speaker 3: think of the interior of defensive lineman nowadays in the league,
Speaker 3: it's a premium position, and when you think of the
Speaker 3: defense that Matt ab Flues plays, the premium position on
Speaker 3: that defense is a three technique defensive tackle and a
Speaker 3: lot of time that's your responsibility of blocking.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the
Speaker 1: Bears and Busy Heart Seltzer Flavors for every vibe, Celebrate
Speaker 1: Responsibly most and Cores Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Okay. Since
Speaker 1: the Bear shout out the Packers twenty six nothing and
Speaker 1: the twenty oh six season opener on the way to
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, the game, Devin returned to kick and
Speaker 1: Briggs had an interception for a touchdown. The Bears have
Speaker 1: gone seven to ten in season opener since then over
Speaker 1: the last seventeen years, with five of those losses unfortunately
Speaker 1: to the Packers, including one last season. I just bring
Speaker 1: it up because you have really underscored the importance of
Speaker 1: and was asked of Eberflus today of starting fast. Wants
Speaker 1: to start fast, really wants to start fast. He emphasized
Speaker 1: it over and over again. But you also have to
Speaker 1: finish strong, and that is true for every game that
Speaker 1: you play. Why is it one more time before we
Speaker 1: get into the details of the Titans next week on
Speaker 1: our podcast and Bears Weekly? Is this game so important
Speaker 1: to you?
Speaker 3: You can't finish strong if you don't start fast, and
Speaker 3: that's the key ingredient to having success throughout the entire season.
Speaker 3: The worst thing you want to do is come back
Speaker 3: to work on Wednesday after the first game of the
Speaker 3: season and try to explain what happened and why were
Speaker 3: you successful? Where were the emotions coming out of the
Speaker 3: locker room, Where was the excitement, the enthusiasm that we
Speaker 3: put on display all pre season. And when you talk
Speaker 3: about an opponent coming in here that doesn't come in
Speaker 3: here very often. You got to make sure that this
Speaker 3: building is yours, that that's sixty one five hundred fans
Speaker 3: that are surrounding that field, gain of appreciation for the
Speaker 3: effort that you're putting out there. There's so many important
Speaker 3: building blocks of that first game of the year and listen.
Speaker 3: I know there's seventeen games, and I know there's all
Speaker 3: this time left, but man, you got to come out
Speaker 3: and you got to put that that emotion on display
Speaker 3: of improvement that these season ticket holders and Bears fans
Speaker 3: want to see.
Speaker 15: I don't know, Jeff won the last time.
Speaker 3: I've had as many requests for tickets that I that
Speaker 3: I just said, look, I can not do. This is
Speaker 3: the player's first game. They are going to have every ticket.
Speaker 3: So I the excitement, you can feel it, and uh,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm excited to the broadcasting on the radio album
Speaker 3: that's Sunday.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent September eighth. Can't wait, can't wait. It
Speaker 1: feels like it's been a long time. Even though it
Speaker 1: did go fast, it feels like a long time now.
Speaker 1: And now that we have this little delay before they
Speaker 1: get back to work.
Speaker 15: All right.
Speaker 1: You mentioned episode number eighty nine in honor of the
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, your coach for the bulk
Speaker 1: of your career. He's left a major impression on you
Speaker 1: in many ways. It's it's it's kind of uh framed
Speaker 1: who you are as an adult male. I gotta say,
Speaker 1: your parents raised you. You grew up in Juliet, you
Speaker 1: grew up around football. But that kind of intensity and
Speaker 1: expectation of performance that you've carried through to your broadcast
Speaker 1: career seems to be put there by him and several
Speaker 1: other coaches in your life, like Dick Stanfiel for sure,
Speaker 1: But the impact of Mike Ditka on you.
Speaker 15: You work for his approval.
Speaker 3: The first thing, when I came to the Chicago Bears
Speaker 3: and I was drafted by Jim Finks, I kind of
Speaker 3: put a check mark, going, Okay, if Jim Finks has
Speaker 3: made all these great decisions of putting the eighty five
Speaker 3: Super Bowl team together and he drafted me out of college,
Speaker 3: maybe he had an appreciation for the way I played
Speaker 3: in my college career and that I did have versatility.
Speaker 3: But then when you sit in a team meeting in
Speaker 3: these elevated stands and you're looking at Mike Ditka, who
Speaker 3: was a Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame
Speaker 3: football player, one of the toughest reputations of anybody that's
Speaker 3: ever played in the National Football League, and you gain
Speaker 3: his approval on your work ethic, your daily approach, the
Speaker 3: fact that you show up to practice every day, you
Speaker 3: don't miss games, you don't ever come late for your requirements,
Speaker 3: and all of.
Speaker 15: A sudden, in a subtle and he's never gonna give
Speaker 15: you an you know.
Speaker 3: A hugger, an invitation or anything like that, but you
Speaker 3: want to see his approval and your approach to football.
Speaker 15: And I did.
Speaker 3: I do feel that I gained his approval over time.
Speaker 3: But I also had a Hall of Fame offensive line
Speaker 3: coach in Dick Stanfeld. So you talk about these guys
Speaker 3: that might have played in two different eras, but they
Speaker 3: had greatness written all over them, and the only thing
Speaker 3: he wanted to do as a member of those stands
Speaker 3: sitting in front of Mike Ditka, was gained their approval.
Speaker 15: And that's all. That's all I wanted to do as
Speaker 15: a as a football player.
Speaker 3: And you know, all due respect to my mom and
Speaker 3: dad and everything they meant to me, but in my
Speaker 3: professional life, it was about Mike Ditka and Dick Stanfeld.
Speaker 1: True or false? Did he or did he not elicit
Speaker 1: the phrase stop being so gosh darn sensitive?
Speaker 3: He didn't say gosh darn yeah, because you tell me
Speaker 3: all the time.
Speaker 1: I want to know when that came from you, or did.
Speaker 15: Get Now I came from Dica, but I don't like
Speaker 15: to say that swear word. No, we're not going to
Speaker 15: do that.
Speaker 3: That's what you know, That's what Mike Dicka was about.
Speaker 3: And you know he said a lot of other clever
Speaker 3: and creative insults to you. But you don't, you know, insults,
Speaker 3: You don't fold underneath the insult.
Speaker 15: You kind of live up to what he's asking of you.
Speaker 3: And so I appreciate it every minute I spent with
Speaker 3: that group of guys in that coaching staff.
Speaker 1: All right, Tom, that's going to wrap us up for
Speaker 1: a very interesting and thorough Bears et cetera podcast number
Speaker 1: eighty nine.
Speaker 15: Four time. I'm Jeff.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Coleman shelting our guest, and thanks to you
Speaker 1: for listening. Please subscribe now on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Bear down, everybody, it's