Speaker 1: Shut over that Dj Moore nisode Touchdown touchdown Pairs.
Speaker 2: I am Jeff Joniac, glitz us on dot.
Speaker 3: E co UKs her.
Speaker 4: What was like playing for coach Boddom.
Speaker 1: I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
Speaker 1: coming is a big trouble. Donnie cos Montes Sweat Many Bears,
Speaker 1: et cetera. Brought to you by Miller Light with the
Speaker 1: voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Sayer. Well,
Speaker 1: it's over as quickly as it started and participants in
Speaker 1: the first preseason game in Katon, Ohio.
Speaker 2: The Bear is one of the first to end the.
Speaker 1: Preseason with a convincing victory in Kansas City thirty four
Speaker 1: to twenty one to wrap up what is a four
Speaker 1: and oh preseason for the first time since nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 1: Welcome in everybody. I'm the voice of the Bears Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniac with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Sayer and
Speaker 1: our special guest. For episode number eighty seven, which is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Miller Light, we had.
Speaker 2: To have the former Bear number eighty seven.
Speaker 1: It's play I'm at nineteen ninety four playoff team. Tom
Speaker 1: Waddle from Wattle and two and he has been on
Speaker 1: a thousand of the Bears radio network, but also our
Speaker 1: good good friend, a member of that team that went
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and had two playoff games. Tommy, I
Speaker 1: never thought i'd see the day we're doing a podcast
Speaker 1: with us hosting you.
Speaker 3: I am thrilled, I'm honored, and you know I love
Speaker 3: you guys, So it's my pleasure to be with you.
Speaker 5: Pey Wattle.
Speaker 6: I want to hear one thing though, so I hear
Speaker 6: the introduction about you being a member of the All
Speaker 6: Madden team at one time. Do you still have the
Speaker 6: Madden sweatsuit?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Is it wearable or is it like an archive?
Speaker 3: No. I tried to put it behind glass and hang
Speaker 3: it up at one point years and years ago, and
Speaker 3: my oldest daughter said, hey, that looks really cool.
Speaker 4: Is there any chance I can wear it to school
Speaker 4: one day?
Speaker 3: And I was like, This was years and years later,
Speaker 3: and I said, absolutely, you can wear it now. It
Speaker 3: has I have four daughters. It has been passed down
Speaker 3: from daughter to daughter to daughter. It's still in really
Speaker 3: good shape. But yeah, it's it's not the behind glass
Speaker 3: memento that it was years and years ago. It's really
Speaker 3: I mean in John Madden fashion. It's really you know,
Speaker 3: I mean it was durable. It really durable.
Speaker 6: Well a taboo story about that. So Jay Hilgemerg made
Speaker 6: the All Madden Team a couple times. So one day
Speaker 6: I was at his house looking for a sweatshirt and
Speaker 6: he goes, just put that sweatshirt on.
Speaker 5: I go, no way. If you don't make it, you
Speaker 5: don't wear it.
Speaker 6: And so I would never put on an All Madden
Speaker 6: Team sweatshirt if it wasn't my own.
Speaker 2: You got you got to be friendly with him.
Speaker 1: Tommy, did you ever bring up the fact that you
Speaker 1: know wears a little love for Tom Thayer a grinder
Speaker 1: inside there?
Speaker 6: No, but he mentioned me in one of his books
Speaker 6: One knee equals two feet, and he gave me some
Speaker 6: props about playing in the USFL and the NFL back
Speaker 6: to back. So I felt vindicated. No sweatsuit, but it's
Speaker 6: in print. But you guys are made men. When John
Speaker 6: Madden acknowledge you, you know you guys are made men
Speaker 6: in the NFL, right, it's lingered for the rest of
Speaker 6: your careers.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you realized that that year I made it was
Speaker 4: ninety one. I think I think it was me.
Speaker 3: Jerry Rice Michael Irvin. I think maybe one of the one,
Speaker 3: maybe Art Monk was on that list.
Speaker 4: It was the.
Speaker 3: Typical, their prototypical, Jeff, one of these things is not
Speaker 3: like the other one. You all pro, all pro, all pro,
Speaker 3: all pro me which was cool.
Speaker 2: So nineteen ninety four, we're only bringing it up.
Speaker 1: And I tried to get coach Eberflus to bite in
Speaker 1: the pregame interview. I said, man, kind of cool to
Speaker 1: go four and oh, and he wouldn't bite it. You know,
Speaker 1: I know it doesn't mean much. He didn't say that,
Speaker 1: but I did. But I just feel any kind of
Speaker 1: winning is important for this club right now. This has
Speaker 1: been an organization, has been on a roller coaster ride
Speaker 1: and has had so many dips that they're trying to
Speaker 1: establish a winning culture. And maybe it started next year
Speaker 1: with the end of the season and is carrying into
Speaker 1: and it certainly feels that way. But I put some
Speaker 1: importance on it, and they just didn't go into these games.
Speaker 1: They whipped some tail a little bit. They went the blitzing.
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: I love it. I love the blitzing. I love that
Speaker 2: they ran the ball. I love the balance.
Speaker 1: Tommy Thay or what you do you feel what I'm
Speaker 1: saying or doesn't matter because that foreign o Bearstem went
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and went into the second round.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, but the story of the NFL the
Speaker 6: preseason is so individualized.
Speaker 5: If you're a guy like.
Speaker 6: Tom Waddle, if you're a guy like Tom Pair, your
Speaker 6: only intent when you start training camp is to make
Speaker 6: the football team. So if I got twenty pancake blocks
Speaker 6: and the Bears lose every game, I'm okay with that
Speaker 6: because I'm making the team. And unfortunately, that's the only
Speaker 6: portion of the season that it can be individualized because
Speaker 6: the wins really don't matter. And I don't think coaches
Speaker 6: are gonna put a lot of out front stake in it,
Speaker 6: but I guarantee it behind the scenes the privacy of
Speaker 6: a team meeting. They'll complement the accomplishment, but they're not
Speaker 6: going to make a big deal out of it.
Speaker 3: It's such a great point, Tom, And look at some
Speaker 3: of the highlights from the preseason. The Bears had twelve sacks,
Speaker 3: they only allowed two. They had five interceptions, their quarterbacks
Speaker 3: through zero. Now I'm with you, like everything starts for
Speaker 3: real now and now it.
Speaker 4: Starts to count.
Speaker 3: But I think success breeds success in a lot of ways,
Speaker 3: and when you start to have some success, you start
Speaker 3: to expect some success.
Speaker 4: So I think most importantly, guys, to me was the.
Speaker 3: Fact that I thought they got better in a number
Speaker 3: of ways over the course of this entire training camp.
Speaker 3: And the list is long and the improvements, but I
Speaker 3: think overall that was the lasting impression I had from
Speaker 3: this preseason.
Speaker 6: You know, Dicka always says winning is contagious and losing
Speaker 6: is contagious, and so what you say, T Wattle is
Speaker 6: I do believe that, and so it has been a
Speaker 6: productive preseason.
Speaker 1: During the easier to build off a win than a loss,
Speaker 1: although there's a lot of lessons in both tastes like
Speaker 1: Miller time, celebrate responsibly, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ninety
Speaker 1: six calories and three point two carbs per twelve ounces.
Speaker 1: So you, guys mentioned improvement over the course of the preseason.
Speaker 1: Will each of you, at the top of your head
Speaker 1: come up with three major improvements that you saw in
Speaker 1: the preseason. We'll start with T.
Speaker 2: Wattle.
Speaker 3: I would say even the quarterback play. I think Caleb
Speaker 3: Williams showed progress. There were things that he did in
Speaker 3: his first action that I thought was spectacular in Buffalo.
Speaker 3: Some of the throws were fantastic. I thought the third
Speaker 3: down throw he made to DJ Moore in the first conversion,
Speaker 3: I thought was probably his best throw because it showed
Speaker 3: you how he plays the quarterback position in a really
Speaker 3: efficient manner and with a lot of knowledge behind it.
Speaker 3: So I thought that we watched him grow even in
Speaker 3: a short period of time. I would say, also, you
Speaker 3: saw some offensive line improvement over the course of time,
Speaker 3: and you don't have your five standard guys right now,
Speaker 3: but to only give up two sacks of it, of
Speaker 3: course the four games, I think is.
Speaker 4: Really really good.
Speaker 3: And I would say that some young guys rushing the
Speaker 3: pass are probably from you know, I call it improvement.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's not improvement because they were getting after quarterbacks
Speaker 3: from the jump in preseason. But I love watching young
Speaker 3: guys define themselves, so I know, whether it was Booker
Speaker 3: or it was Hardy, I love seeing these guys actually.
Speaker 4: Go out there and get a little bit of notoriety.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would agree with you.
Speaker 6: The complimentary pass rusher to Montese sweat, and whether it's
Speaker 6: Hardy or whether it's Booker, we still haven't seen enough
Speaker 6: of Jacob Martin to maybe possibly put him on the radar.
Speaker 6: Javon Dexter had a really good training camp and I
Speaker 6: think he's a big body that he can use his
Speaker 6: length as an asset.
Speaker 5: So the defensive line is better this.
Speaker 6: Whole team, on the whole roster, the development of depth,
Speaker 6: I think they're better off in a lot of positions
Speaker 6: that if you do have a hiccup during the course
Speaker 6: of the season, you can fill it with a legitimate
Speaker 6: veteran option. And there's some young guys that are developing
Speaker 6: along the way. And like you started with the quarterback position,
Speaker 6: there's no denying that Tyson Pagent is a good, solid backup.
Speaker 6: He's a good sounding board in the quarterback room. The
Speaker 6: complimentary that Shane Waldron is passing along to these quarterbacks
Speaker 6: with balance, and the way he calls the game and listen, man,
Speaker 6: the story is Caleb. When you can go out there
Speaker 6: and if it's like seeing a baby. If you see
Speaker 6: a baby every day, you don't notice the growth.
Speaker 5: If you see a.
Speaker 6: Baby maybe once every two weeks, it seems like he's
Speaker 6: turning into an adult before your eyes. And I think
Speaker 6: that's one of the cool things about Caleb. He has
Speaker 6: showed significant growth since the day he came aboard.
Speaker 1: That antidote from the only one of the three of
Speaker 1: us does not have his own child, but he's seen
Speaker 1: plenty of babies in your family, right right, That's the
Speaker 1: thing about it.
Speaker 6: And I don't see babies every day because I don't
Speaker 6: have one, but I see my niece as a new
Speaker 6: since I've been nine years old.
Speaker 1: Yes, and there are a lot of them. That was
Speaker 1: a great, great anecdote right there. So I'm gonna pick
Speaker 1: up at the baton there because the Caleb story.
Speaker 2: And I had a message this.
Speaker 1: Morning from an unnamed NFL scout that said, you guys
Speaker 1: are going to be just fine. You got him, And
Speaker 1: that's referring to the quarterback, obviously, but also mentioning the
Speaker 1: fact that the depth across the board is substantially different.
Speaker 1: And I can close my eyes now and I can
Speaker 1: see the Bears offense and I can see the Bears
Speaker 1: offense making plays because there are weapons.
Speaker 5: We said that there were going to.
Speaker 1: Be, and Caleb is going to prove that these weapons
Speaker 1: can be thrown open or they can get open and
Speaker 1: create the separation that may have been lacking over the
Speaker 1: years and it's not just going to be Dj Moore.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a lot of different guys. And
Speaker 1: then I revert to the secondary. I've just fallen in
Speaker 1: love with almost every one of those guys. They're all
Speaker 1: not going to be on the team. But how about
Speaker 1: the play of this Ready Stewart, undrafted out of Troy,
Speaker 1: plays with his hair on fire. Physical from the time
Speaker 1: camp started, he was intercepting passes and then put on
Speaker 1: that command performance last night in Kansas City, just terrific
Speaker 1: reads on the ball and trusting himself and being a
Speaker 1: little bit patient there at the goal line.
Speaker 2: And then the pick six.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if Adrian Kilbert's going to make
Speaker 1: the team, but he can blitz anytime for me at safety,
Speaker 1: and he laid out and knocked the ball, that ball
Speaker 1: away that was going to be a big play. It
Speaker 1: was one of the most exciting plays I've seen in
Speaker 1: a long time. And then Booker, I mean, Tommy there,
Speaker 1: I gotta make sure I differentiate the two of you now.
Speaker 1: T Squared t WAD has been all over the development
Speaker 1: of Booker from the jump, and albeit twenty one years
Speaker 1: of age, this guy's going to be an animal. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's how it's going to work out
Speaker 1: over the course of this first year, but in the
Speaker 1: big picture, this guy he could be really something.
Speaker 2: He's just getting stuck.
Speaker 6: You know, one thing about Booker, which another compliment is,
Speaker 6: is when I first saw him on one on ones,
Speaker 6: you can just see a naturally gifted pass rusher that
Speaker 6: doesn't need to be repeatedly coached how to get better.
Speaker 6: My curiosity was how he's going to play the run,
Speaker 6: and because of his pass rushing skills, he plays the
Speaker 6: run equally as well. And so that's what probably at
Speaker 6: the end of the preseason I'm most excited about in
Speaker 6: Booker as much as I am just being a naturally
Speaker 6: gifted pass rusher.
Speaker 3: I think with him as well, and Tom, you could
Speaker 3: speak to this better than I because I was never
Speaker 3: at the point of attack. But I think a player
Speaker 3: like him who doesn't have a ton of experience, like
Speaker 3: you go back to his college days and there's not
Speaker 3: you know, seventeen hundred reps there, I think that he
Speaker 3: would best be best suited, in my humble opinion, of
Speaker 3: being somebody that you rotate in and you allow him
Speaker 3: to grow at his.
Speaker 4: Rates, which I think will be very quick.
Speaker 3: But I just don't think you could take a player
Speaker 3: like him, stuff him in there and ask him to
Speaker 3: or expect him to do too much. Let him dictate
Speaker 3: his growth rate, and I think that you'll be just
Speaker 3: fine with how he does that.
Speaker 4: It's like I equate it.
Speaker 3: To you know, you see quarterbacks that you know, bow
Speaker 3: knicks in Denver's had a really good training camp as well.
Speaker 3: Nobody's played more snaps in college football than bow mixed it.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 3: It's why I think Brock Purdy came in and the
Speaker 3: acclamation process wasn't very difficult because he played so much
Speaker 3: football regardless of the level. And by the way, at
Speaker 3: Ohio Iowa State, I believe Jeff Right.
Speaker 4: Isn't that where.
Speaker 2: Robert, Yes, you definitely know that.
Speaker 4: God, Now you know the.
Speaker 3: Point that I'm making is is that he's still getting
Speaker 3: ramped up with regard to playing football and now you're
Speaker 3: playing at the highest level. And I share your guys,
Speaker 3: you know, appreciation for how well he has.
Speaker 4: Showed himself so far in training camp.
Speaker 3: I just think the process now when it gets real,
Speaker 3: he'll see it'll speed up, it'll get more physicals.
Speaker 6: So one thing to you, wile don't sell yourself short.
Speaker 6: I've seen you at the point of attack a couple
Speaker 6: of crossing routes and the Tampa Bay Bucks in the
Speaker 6: bottom of your chin.
Speaker 5: Has the proof, has the proof to show it that's true.
Speaker 4: But I was, you know, I was on the receiving end.
Speaker 4: I wasn't on the delivering end ever, So.
Speaker 1: I just tried, you stuck your nose like they said,
Speaker 1: they put you put your face in there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, chi chin first.
Speaker 2: Yeah, who hit you or who?
Speaker 4: It was so funny too, Joey Thomas ever Tom, I
Speaker 4: was out there. It was in the first half, and
Speaker 4: I'm balling, you know.
Speaker 3: It said nineteen ninety four, I think, And I hadn't
Speaker 3: played a ton.
Speaker 4: I was the third receiver.
Speaker 3: We had a I think we had an injury and
Speaker 3: I got to start and I was out there.
Speaker 4: I think I had three or four catches in the
Speaker 4: first half of whack.
Speaker 3: Thomas Evert, Steve Steve Walsh, who I love dearly, threw
Speaker 3: me a medicine ball, as they like to say. When
Speaker 3: he clows it up, you definitely you're gonna You're gonna
Speaker 3: find yourself in trouble.
Speaker 4: And Thomas Evert lowers his helmet hits me right.
Speaker 3: Here on the chip and just exploded in my face
Speaker 3: and actually had an MCL issue on the way down
Speaker 3: as well. But I think they asked Wannie who Thomas
Speaker 3: ever played on Jannie's Dallas.
Speaker 4: Defense years and years prior.
Speaker 3: I think they asked Wannie after the game if he
Speaker 3: thought it was a dirty hit, and he goes, no, No,
Speaker 3: I thought it was clean. The following morning in the newspaper,
Speaker 3: there's a picture, you know, on the sports page of
Speaker 3: the tribute Thomas Everett's got his helmet down and hits
Speaker 3: me right on the.
Speaker 4: Chin with beer. It was just one of those moments.
Speaker 1: Have you ever interviewed Thomas Everett on your show? You
Speaker 1: know his whereabouts? Would you like to have a would
Speaker 1: you like to take a meeting? Would you like to harbor?
Speaker 4: Jeff I harbor no, ill will. It was part of
Speaker 4: the job description.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 1: We are brought to you by as well, Visy Heart
Speaker 1: Selzter Flavors for every Vibe Celebrate Responsibly, Most Corps Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: You're referring to the Madden recognition each of you, and
Speaker 1: I hope Tommy says what he's going to say, But
Speaker 1: I hope he is. But you guys have secured many
Speaker 1: momentos over the course of your playing career, whether it
Speaker 1: be at the high.
Speaker 2: School level, college level, or the NFL level.
Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite momento that you still cherish
Speaker 1: that is in your possession in each of your lives? Tommy,
Speaker 1: you better say the right right one here, But I
Speaker 1: don't know.
Speaker 6: Now I'm kind of not saying it because I'm worried
Speaker 6: that if I don't say the right thing that it better.
Speaker 4: Be your super Bowl ring.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 6: Oh well, yeah, I mean I thought that was an
Speaker 6: obvious you know, you know what, I and I.
Speaker 1: Always with you, with you because you're a minimalist and
Speaker 1: you do not that's not your thing is to collect
Speaker 1: mementos or look back on your fine career.
Speaker 2: But yeah, so it's not an obvious for me.
Speaker 6: Well, no point, So let me just clarify that because
Speaker 6: when I was watching Hard Knocks this past week and
Speaker 6: Ryan Pole's they are filming in his office and he's
Speaker 6: sitting in front of his super Bowl trophy.
Speaker 5: The super Bowl trophy to.
Speaker 6: Me is as equally as important than my super Bowl
Speaker 6: ring because I never wear that.
Speaker 5: But if the super Bowl trophy was in our.
Speaker 6: Restaurant when we had a restaurant, or people get to
Speaker 6: see it for the first time. I recently brought it
Speaker 6: to an appearance and people that never got to stand
Speaker 6: next to a Super Bowl trophy did so. I like
Speaker 6: the Super Bowl trophy as much as I do the
Speaker 6: Super Bowl ring, just because I don't wear a lot
Speaker 6: of jewelry and it basically sits in a box in
Speaker 6: a cabinet and rarely sees the light of day.
Speaker 3: Wow, Jeff, I would say, obviously, the Madden sweatshirt is
Speaker 3: something that I'm very, very proud of. To be in
Speaker 3: the company of those great receivers I mentioned and to
Speaker 3: be recognized by, you know, one of the greatest coaches
Speaker 3: of all time was very special to me. But I
Speaker 3: would say, you know, I was the recipient of the
Speaker 3: Piccolo Award my last year in the league, and it's
Speaker 3: voted on as the veteran or the you know by
Speaker 3: your teammates. And the fact that my teammates saw enough
Speaker 3: of me at that time, knowing that I wasn't contributing
Speaker 3: at the same level of a Curtis cop Jeff Graham
Speaker 3: or some of the other players. I was at the
Speaker 3: tail end of my career, but always considered myself a
Speaker 3: professional and how I went about doing my job and
Speaker 3: always gave it everything that I had. That's probably the
Speaker 3: thing that I most treasured from my time in Chicago.
Speaker 6: That is awesome recognition. I mean, you look at the
Speaker 6: Piccolo Award, you look at being named the All Madden Team.
Speaker 6: Those are some awards that are not duplicated by a
Speaker 6: lot of people. And when you have it and then
Speaker 6: you have evidence of it, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: We're going to get back to the Bears. But this
Speaker 1: is a flow in this podcast. So whatever as top
Speaker 1: of mind, did you guys both envision a career in
Speaker 1: broadcasting while you were playing your thinking I might want
Speaker 1: to do that?
Speaker 2: Was that ever?
Speaker 1: Were you ever thinking about that as you were winding
Speaker 1: down your careers respectively?
Speaker 2: Why do you can start?
Speaker 3: Jeff, I have a finance degree from Boston College. And
Speaker 3: I don't say that as a flex I'm not flexing.
Speaker 3: What I'm saying to you is, as I went to
Speaker 3: school and studied this, you know, portion of the economy
Speaker 3: to to actually my thought was is I was going
Speaker 3: to be in the finance world sooner rather than later,
Speaker 3: because it was a long shot that I was ever
Speaker 3: going to be able to actually live my dream.
Speaker 4: So I was I was more than ready to go
Speaker 4: to Wall Street.
Speaker 3: But that's actually you know that that that never occurred,
Speaker 3: and I got an opportunity to play.
Speaker 4: And you know, the.
Speaker 3: Funny thing was is I want to say, the last
Speaker 3: two years I was playing, we all got the opportunity
Speaker 3: to do the Sunday night television shows right like two
Speaker 3: with Dick or whatever else. I was doing a Monday
Speaker 3: night or a Tuesday night radio show with Dave Ennitt
Speaker 3: at one point two, and I just I got exposed
Speaker 3: to the media industry, Jeff, and it was something that
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed. And over the course of time, I
Speaker 3: had an opportunity after I retired to segue right into
Speaker 3: broadcasting and didn't have to use the the finance degree.
Speaker 3: And I found that, you know, for me, at the
Speaker 3: very least, it's it's the closest thing that I've ever
Speaker 3: really experienced to competing. You know, the light goes on,
Speaker 3: you better have something to say. You know, you're still
Speaker 3: a performer in some ways the way you were as
Speaker 3: an athlete. So the adrenaline rush exists at different times,
Speaker 3: as you know as well, So I never envisioned it,
Speaker 3: but I'm sure glad I got the opportunity.
Speaker 4: I've loved what I've done for the last several decades.
Speaker 6: Three days I honestly thought about being a professional wrestler.
Speaker 5: I figured, I.
Speaker 6: Got, you know, I have a bald mullet, I got
Speaker 6: the look. I'm you know, three hundred pounds. I'm a weightlifter.
Speaker 6: I was healthy at the end of my career, so
Speaker 6: I figured I could go take some of that abuse.
Speaker 6: And then I found a surfboard and that was over.
Speaker 6: And then I got into surfing that and then got
Speaker 6: into the media and of the business. But so before
Speaker 6: our last playoff game, the NFC Championship game, we were
Speaker 6: practicing at Notre Dame and I did an interview for
Speaker 6: the back page of the Sun Times. I still have
Speaker 6: a copy of it in the basement of my mom
Speaker 6: and dad's house here. And the last question they asked
Speaker 6: is what do you see yourself doing at the end
Speaker 6: of your career, And I said, I'm going to I
Speaker 6: think I'm going to get into professional wrestling.
Speaker 1: And wow, I see, I've known you for twenty eight years.
Speaker 2: I do not You've never told me that.
Speaker 6: Well, I'll let you. I'll take a picture of this
Speaker 6: article and let you read it. And I really did.
Speaker 6: I was thinking, okay, here, I am I could I
Speaker 6: think I could take what I've accomplished in football and
Speaker 6: I still have size, and I still have health. And
Speaker 6: then I will say then after when Steve McMichael got
Speaker 6: into professional wrestling, we went out to dinner the night
Speaker 6: he got back from a school in Atlanta of a
Speaker 6: month of learning a little bit about the business. And
Speaker 6: he goes, hey, Tommy, look at this, and he lift
Speaker 6: up the side of his shirt. In his entire rib
Speaker 6: cage was black and blue.
Speaker 5: Just vicious. And I go, ming, what is that?
Speaker 6: He goes, that's just from learning how to bounce off
Speaker 6: the turnbuckle.
Speaker 5: That's how to learn how to bounce off the ropes
Speaker 5: and stuff. When I was going, whoa, that that is
Speaker 5: some serious business there.
Speaker 2: I think he took the right path, Tommy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of
Speaker 1: the Bears. Okay, let's let's get into where we're at now.
Speaker 1: Cut down is Tuesday, So many of those guys I
Speaker 1: likely will get back on a practice squad, likely the
Speaker 1: Bears practice squad.
Speaker 2: But I do believe there are going to be some
Speaker 2: difficult cuts. Tommy. We saw.
Speaker 1: Daylas Jones run for one to eleven in a final
Speaker 1: preseason game.
Speaker 2: How do you evaluate that.
Speaker 4: Look.
Speaker 3: I've never denied the athletic ability that Dayles has. I
Speaker 3: just when I balance the good versus the not so good,
Speaker 3: I still come up on the not so good side.
Speaker 3: I just want to know where he fits. I think
Speaker 3: you've got a nice compliment of running backs. I'd hate
Speaker 3: to see somebody like and I don't think that'll happen,
Speaker 3: but somebody like Khalil Herbert find himself in the outside
Speaker 3: looking in because they're trying to, you know, use Dayles
Speaker 3: Jones as a running back. I don't think Vaalas is
Speaker 3: going to be somebody that's going to play a lot
Speaker 3: of snaps at wide receiver if they keep him. I
Speaker 3: think the kickoff return is we've learned over the course
Speaker 3: of time, and we may change our opinion of it
Speaker 3: is really a glorified running play. And if it's a
Speaker 3: glorifi fied running play, I don't know about you, guys,
Speaker 3: but I'd much rather see Khalil Herbert doing that than
Speaker 3: somebody else. So I thought he played really well last night.
Speaker 3: I you know, I don't know if it's enough. I
Speaker 3: think they played Homer and they played others before him.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you read between the lines with
Speaker 3: regard to you know, how they put the guys in.
Speaker 3: But I think Vayalas is on the bubble and I
Speaker 3: think it's in his favor Jeff because he was the
Speaker 3: first offensive draft pick of Ryan Polls and I but
Speaker 3: I think the body of work probably works against him
Speaker 3: a little bit.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: You know, I think that both of Dayles Jones Junior
Speaker 6: and Tyler Scott put themselves on the NFL roster radar,
Speaker 6: but I think that's for all teams. So now if
Speaker 6: there's a team out there that's desperate for speed, but
Speaker 6: Tyler Scott did enough last night to either open the
Speaker 6: eyes of other gms or continue the interest by Ryan Poles.
Speaker 6: And then when you look what Vaalis did in a
Speaker 6: desperation time because Ian Wheeler went out of the game
Speaker 6: with an injury, Homer was already taken out of the game,
Speaker 6: so Valas had to play a bunch of snaps even
Speaker 6: when you know, fatigue could have creeped in. But he
Speaker 6: made some big plays. He had a nice crossfield touchdown run.
Speaker 6: He probably had another run late in the game that
Speaker 6: if he was fresher, he probably would have been able
Speaker 6: to run away from those guys. But at least they've
Speaker 6: increased their radar of other teams looking for possible multiple
Speaker 6: position playmakers.
Speaker 3: And Tom I think I mentioned this a week or
Speaker 3: so ago and it kind of got scoffed at by
Speaker 3: my coworkers. But you know, the move to running backs,
Speaker 3: he was seen as a no lose situation for the Bears.
Speaker 3: Maybe it provides you a little bit of spark and
Speaker 3: he defines himself, or maybe at the very least, he
Speaker 3: goes out there and makes himself attractive to another team,
Speaker 3: and maybe he is somebody that would interest you in
Speaker 3: a You know, however, whatever you'd get back in a trade,
Speaker 3: whether it be a conditional seventh round pick or whatever
Speaker 3: the case may be, I just think what it does
Speaker 3: is it gives the Bears options, and I think Ryan
Speaker 3: Pols has done a brilliant job over the course of
Speaker 3: the last couple of years keeping himself available with the
Speaker 3: number of options.
Speaker 4: In a number of ways.
Speaker 6: Would you put any comparisons between Corderol Patterson and Dayalis Jones,
Speaker 6: No or not?
Speaker 2: I would.
Speaker 3: I mean, I see that people are talking about it
Speaker 3: at Cordero. I believe it was a first round draft
Speaker 3: pick as well, even coming into the league, so I
Speaker 3: think that there was at least some accomplishment from the
Speaker 3: very beginning. Look again, I have nothing against Dalis Jones.
Speaker 3: I've really never met him. I'm sure he's a good guy.
Speaker 3: I know he's got a lot of talent. But sometimes
Speaker 3: and he's one of those guys though that if in
Speaker 3: fact they decide to move on and he goes somewhere
Speaker 3: and he finds success, it's not that's not a situation
Speaker 3: if I was Ryan Polls or anyone in the front
Speaker 3: office that I would have regrets. I just wouldn't. I
Speaker 3: feel comfortable with the roster he's put together. I feel
Speaker 3: comfortable with the guys at running back and at the
Speaker 3: wide receiver position and those that can return.
Speaker 4: And I would just move forward. It's you know, it's
Speaker 4: it's a business.
Speaker 3: I was on the receiving end of the business on
Speaker 3: several occasions, so I know it's not a lot of
Speaker 3: fun at times. But you know, I guess the best
Speaker 3: way to kind of circle back and sum it up
Speaker 3: is is these are these are you know, first class.
Speaker 4: Problems to have.
Speaker 3: Right when you improve the overall talents on your roster
Speaker 3: and you do have to start waving goodbye to guys
Speaker 3: that may fit into other teams systems, then you know
Speaker 3: you've you've upgraded your your overall organization exactly.
Speaker 1: There's certainly levels uh and and where they fit in
Speaker 1: the these certain levels. And in regards to Vailus that
Speaker 1: the cool thing is they've given him every opportunit tunity
Speaker 1: possible to prove himself over time.
Speaker 2: Tastes like Miller Time.
Speaker 1: Go to millerlt dot com slash bears pod to find
Speaker 1: delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: Ninety six calories and three point two carbs for twelve ounces.
Speaker 1: So the obvious is Caleb Williams as the most interesting
Speaker 1: player we all want to see perform in a regular
Speaker 1: season game and see how this season goes.
Speaker 2: That's a no brain or so beyond him.
Speaker 1: Each of you share the next player or two on
Speaker 1: that list that you are most excited to see here
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. It could have been somebody who's
Speaker 1: been here a while or somebody brand new.
Speaker 2: To the scene. But there you got the floor, buddy.
Speaker 6: You know, I was trying to think of this morning.
Speaker 6: I was going to ask you, guys, is who is
Speaker 6: the engine of the Chicago Bears offense? And to me,
Speaker 6: I still think it's DeAndre Swift And he's the type
Speaker 6: of guy I want to see play first, second, third down,
Speaker 6: first second, third, and fourth quarter. I want to see
Speaker 6: what the options are outside of him if he's not
Speaker 6: the designated running back or not the designated receiver, But
Speaker 6: how does he influence the opponent's defense to open those
Speaker 6: other opportunities for all the playmakers that they have involved.
Speaker 6: And I know that the running back position is more
Speaker 6: of a community position, but I'm interested to see what
Speaker 6: DeAndre Swift does as a main influence of this offense.
Speaker 3: Guys, there's so many names here really that you and
Speaker 3: I agree with you, Tom on so many fronts because
Speaker 3: I think there are going to run the ball and
Speaker 3: I think in Tom, I tell me if you agree
Speaker 3: to disagree to you as well, Jeff, Like when you
Speaker 3: see you see how Buffalo in that play that Caleb
Speaker 3: tucked and run and when you go from single high
Speaker 3: safety to too high safety and Caleb recognizes it, what
Speaker 3: you're going to do then, is you're going to give
Speaker 3: yourself the opportunity to talk and run. The point I'm
Speaker 3: making is is I think you're going to see a
Speaker 3: lot of too high against Bears offense. Is they try
Speaker 3: to protect themselves from the combination of Keenan Allen and
Speaker 3: DJ More and Roma doonsay, and that means, what are
Speaker 3: you gonna do? You're gonna run the football, And I
Speaker 3: agree with you, Tom. I think DeAndre Swift was a
Speaker 3: thousand yard rusher last year at four and a half
Speaker 3: yards per Carrie. He's a player that's going to also
Speaker 3: contribute the passing game, so definitely, I think he's going
Speaker 3: to play an enormous role.
Speaker 4: I think Rome also will.
Speaker 3: I love Keenan Allen, true technician, but I think what
Speaker 3: you're going to find this year is Rome has got
Speaker 3: to prove to them, and he will that he's going
Speaker 3: to be a number two receiver sooner rather than later.
Speaker 3: So it then gives you flexibility next year with regard
Speaker 3: to what you're going to do with Keenan. I said
Speaker 3: this for a while too. There's no question that Caleb
Speaker 3: Williams is the most important person in that building right now.
Speaker 3: It's the reason why he was the number one overall selection.
Speaker 3: I think Shane Waldron is just behind him. Shane Waldron
Speaker 3: is entrusted with developing this first overall pick and getting
Speaker 3: the most out of him and also finding a way
Speaker 3: to get the ball to swift into Keenan Allen into
Speaker 3: DJ into Rome of doonsay. So how he coordinates this
Speaker 3: offense is going to be really really important.
Speaker 4: And you flip it on the other side, guys, Dexter's
Speaker 4: the three technique? Does he establish himself there?
Speaker 3: Tyrek Stevenson to me is also a key because people
Speaker 3: aren't gonna throw at Jalen.
Speaker 4: They're just not Why would you, You'd be silly too.
Speaker 3: And I think Stevenson's got all the talent in the
Speaker 3: world and has the capacity to also play as a
Speaker 3: Pro Bowl caliber corner. So we saw the second half
Speaker 3: of last year. I think he's going to have an
Speaker 3: opportunity early in this season as people go away from
Speaker 3: Jalen to really define himself too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna throw in.
Speaker 1: I was going to go with the secondary in general,
Speaker 1: because that's been where I've been all all this last
Speaker 1: season and this season, but because they started taking the
Speaker 1: ball away in such big numbers last year, and they've
Speaker 1: done throughout training camp. They're doing it at all levels
Speaker 1: in the preseason here. But Jalen has moved to a
Speaker 1: different level now the way he's practicing and he is
Speaker 1: feeling his oats and he's feeling his oats as also
Speaker 1: a leader on this football team, and he's talking about
Speaker 1: it and he's backing it up. Just some of the
Speaker 1: practice sessions, how he twisted Keenan Allen into knots over
Speaker 1: the course of time was impressive and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see where that whole secondary goes here in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: And a big part of it.
Speaker 1: Is that Matt Eberflusse and I discussed this with Ryan
Speaker 1: Poles in the lead up to this kickoff against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: is at this is his element.
Speaker 2: Coach is a ball coach. This is what he is.
Speaker 2: He's the head coach and he has to be the
Speaker 2: head coach.
Speaker 1: But he's getting the call plays again, and I believe
Speaker 1: the team took on a different personality when he started
Speaker 1: back doing it last year. And there's a comfort zone
Speaker 1: now and he's got this look in his eye. To me,
Speaker 1: he's it appears to be more intense just dow the
Speaker 1: day to day, and I think it's because as a coordinator,
Speaker 1: you're always thinking, you're always thinking.
Speaker 2: About but now you're at it, you're the head coach
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on, but on game day, just
Speaker 1: like certain players are game day players. I believe Mattibrifluse
Speaker 1: gets fired up about game day, he's gonna call players
Speaker 1: to try and reckon offense. So I think those are
Speaker 1: some of the things I'm looking forward to see as
Speaker 1: they continue to springboard here after what they did last year.
Speaker 1: And then on the offensive side of the ball. You know,
Speaker 1: Shane Waldron, as Tom's pointed out in the broadcast repeatedly.
Speaker 2: Is he's really come away.
Speaker 1: He's He's complimented him in every single broadcast for his
Speaker 1: balance and that's just preseason. But that that to me
Speaker 1: is a trigger because you don't want to play caller
Speaker 1: to just call plays. It's got to be a method
Speaker 1: to your madness, and that is an art. And to me,
Speaker 1: it's the hardest position to find in the National Football
Speaker 1: League in terms of somebody that you trust, somebody that's
Speaker 1: gonna actually make your players better on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. And I believe he's got that in him,
Speaker 1: and he's he's gonna set teams up over the course
Speaker 1: of the game.
Speaker 2: He's not just going to call plays to call plays
Speaker 2: and hope they work.
Speaker 1: He's got a plan and it's the Bears plan, and
Speaker 1: he's working with what he has. He's not forcing his
Speaker 1: beliefs on what they have, and I think that's going
Speaker 1: to net a lot of results. I don't know why
Speaker 1: this name popped in my head, fellas, and maybe you
Speaker 1: guys can help me out a little bit on this,
Speaker 1: but I remember Hunter Hillenmeyer always would tell me, Hey,
Speaker 1: all we want, tell me what we needed, what we
Speaker 1: have to do where I'm supposed to be, and I'll
Speaker 1: do it. And that's it. If you have me questioning
Speaker 1: what I'm doing or wondering why I'm doing it when
Speaker 1: it doesn't make sense to me, that's when the trouble
Speaker 1: starts and things start to unravel. And I don't think
Speaker 1: that's going to be the case with the Bears offense
Speaker 1: with Shane Waldron.
Speaker 2: I don't know how you guys feel about it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what to build on that.
Speaker 3: I think it's one of the things that I that
Speaker 3: left me puzzled in the past, guys, I kept asking
Speaker 3: myself week in week, you know what is going on?
Speaker 4: It doesn't make sense going back to Mitch. You know,
Speaker 4: Mitch was a one.
Speaker 3: Read, throw at guy and always excelled when you would
Speaker 3: cut the field in half. And in his final year,
Speaker 3: as we saw coach Naggie cut the field in half.
Speaker 3: They won three of the last four games and scored
Speaker 3: a bunch of points. I always said, though, that will
Speaker 3: limit you when you step up in class. And then
Speaker 3: they went to the postseason and really weren't able to
Speaker 3: accomplish much because that limits what you're going to do.
Speaker 3: But it took them so long to really accentuate what
Speaker 3: Mitch was capable of doing. And while I never thought that,
Speaker 3: you know that the previous oc here was the the.
Speaker 4: Was football satan.
Speaker 3: I thought he got a little bit too much, you know,
Speaker 3: abuse for some of the things that went on. It
Speaker 3: took him a while to get accustomed to or or
Speaker 3: adjusted to what Justin and his offense was capable of doing.
Speaker 3: I don't have those concerns with Shane Waldron. I'm not
Speaker 3: suggesting that he's going to make you forget about Kyle
Speaker 3: Shanahan and other great play callers.
Speaker 4: But what he does make sense.
Speaker 3: It made sense to me in Buffalo, guys, when you
Speaker 3: know you had a couple of guys missing on your
Speaker 3: own line, you have a shuffling some So what do
Speaker 3: they do?
Speaker 4: I mean he was booting three or four times.
Speaker 3: Not only take advantage of what Caleb does well, but
Speaker 3: to protecting. That's the way I interpret it it. So
Speaker 3: there's a method to what they're doing. And I think
Speaker 3: you guys probably have seen it every day in camp,
Speaker 3: and I concur with a lot of what you're saying, Jeff.
Speaker 5: I agree with that.
Speaker 6: I know, I agree with everything you said. You know
Speaker 6: I can sit here and compliment Shane Waldron even more.
Speaker 5: But I think Gerald Everett, Jeff.
Speaker 6: And I were doing an interview with him the other day,
Speaker 6: and he's got a background with Shane Waldron, and it's
Speaker 6: the best thing that you can have by a player
Speaker 6: that's already played for you, is compliments to the way
Speaker 6: he goes about business. And I think you see it
Speaker 6: in Caleb, you see it in the receivers that they
Speaker 6: have aboard here, but when you hear it from an
Speaker 6: next player, it's kind of that vote of confidence that
Speaker 6: this guy knows what he's doing and he knows what
Speaker 6: he's saying.
Speaker 5: And then going back to Matt.
Speaker 6: Ebrafouths because even when we saw this on Hard Knocks,
Speaker 6: Matt Eberflus can have conversations of coverage with Caleb because
Speaker 6: he understands coverage and what their responsibilities are and what
Speaker 6: they're trying to do to the quarterback. So I think
Speaker 6: that relationship is a good relationship to have when it's
Speaker 6: not Shane Waldron. But the defensive coordinator knows what he's
Speaker 6: talking about when he's talking about what the coverage is
Speaker 6: trying to do to the quarterback. So I think they
Speaker 6: all compliment each other.
Speaker 4: It's such a good point too.
Speaker 3: Tom My father in law, obviously he played for the
Speaker 3: Patriots for years, but then was a broadcaster for twenty
Speaker 3: five thirty years and he was there through the Belichick years,
Speaker 3: and he would always tell me Bill Belichick spends more
Speaker 3: time in the offensive in the quarterback room than he
Speaker 3: does in his defensive room. Now he spends time with
Speaker 3: his defense. But your point is absolutely spot on. He
Speaker 3: knows everything he's throwing at opposing quarterbacks. So who's better
Speaker 3: to actually sit and kind of counsel a quarterback than
Speaker 3: a defensive mastermind. So that's why I agree with you
Speaker 3: when I saw Kochieberflus meeting with Caleb, that's not just
Speaker 3: for show's there's something really good to be taken out
Speaker 3: of that.
Speaker 2: Does it all the time? Too?
Speaker 1: Busy Heart Seltzer Flavors for every vibe, Celebrate Responsibly Motion
Speaker 1: Coors Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And we're brought to you
Speaker 1: by PNC Official Bank of the Bears. All right, our
Speaker 1: final thoughts. Do you feel better about where the Bears
Speaker 1: are at before the offseason began?
Speaker 2: More encouraged? Let's where are you guys at?
Speaker 5: I want them to compete in the division. I want
Speaker 5: them to win division games.
Speaker 6: I want to at the end of the season where
Speaker 6: we walk away and go wow, these guys were physically, mentally,
Speaker 6: and emotionally prepared Week one at Soldier Field against the
Speaker 6: Tennessee Titans, and then that carried through the rest of
Speaker 6: the season. But I keep thinking about you saying, well,
Speaker 6: the season really doesn't start to the eleventh week when
Speaker 6: they start playing division games. Eventually, if you're gonna set
Speaker 6: your sights on getting into the playoffs, you gotta win
Speaker 6: the majority of your division games. So as much as
Speaker 6: I'm interested in Week one, and I want to see
Speaker 6: a better showing than I saw last last year a
Speaker 6: week one. When it comes time for those Vision Games,
Speaker 6: they're gonna have a lot of video to watch about
Speaker 6: Kalab but the Bears are gonna have a lot of
Speaker 6: video to watch up their opponents.
Speaker 3: Listen, I'm as excited and as optimistic about this group
Speaker 3: as I've been in a really long time. I just
Speaker 3: think talent wise, they're better than they've been there, deeper
Speaker 3: than they've been. I think they've got the right guy
Speaker 3: under center. I think, as you guys just talked about,
Speaker 3: a lot of it makes sense. I still, you know,
Speaker 3: because I worry quite a bit about certain things. I'm
Speaker 3: worried that the offensive and defensive line still need a
Speaker 3: little bit of a little bit here and a little
Speaker 3: bit there. I don't know that I'm fully on board
Speaker 3: with everything they've got going on there, But listen, you
Speaker 3: can convince me that that old line will gel nicely
Speaker 3: and that they will become.
Speaker 4: A top ten offense.
Speaker 3: But it's got to start at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3: The center's got to be solid. You've got to have
Speaker 3: a couple of reliable guards and your tackles have got
Speaker 3: to make progress. If all of that happens, this offense
Speaker 3: will be really hard to stop. If in fact, that
Speaker 3: doesn't happen, there could be some issues, especially with a
Speaker 3: rookie quarterback.
Speaker 4: It won't be a straight line to.
Speaker 3: The super Bowl. There will be ebbs, there will be flows.
Speaker 3: It'll be a roller coaster. But I expect more good
Speaker 3: than bad from this team. I really like what Ryan
Speaker 3: Poles has done, and I really like how they've gone
Speaker 3: about trying to mold this group. And Tom you said
Speaker 3: something about did they learn or that they did learn
Speaker 3: from last year's approach to getting ready for the Packers.
Speaker 3: I think that Week one loss to the Packers set
Speaker 3: the tone for the first six or seven weeks of
Speaker 3: the season. I thought it was the worst loss of
Speaker 3: the season. I thought it was the worst thing to
Speaker 3: happen to that team. I get the feeling that they
Speaker 3: learned from that and that they'll be more ready to
Speaker 3: play against the Titans, and they'll be much more ready
Speaker 3: to play early.
Speaker 5: In the season.
Speaker 4: Are I feel good? I feel good. Jet.
Speaker 1: There's a great sense of appetite for victory throughout this
Speaker 1: football team right now. There's some hunger. You could feel
Speaker 1: it in the building when you're there, and you can
Speaker 1: hear it from the players.
Speaker 2: All right, well that's going to wrap us up.
Speaker 1: Would a love to tell more Joe Oaks and tell
Speaker 1: more Tommy Wattle stories, but you know, we get.
Speaker 5: Well, you know, big big Jeff.
Speaker 6: This is a salute to Tom Wattle, episode eighty seven
Speaker 6: of our podcast. It is now we're onto eighty eight,
Speaker 6: so you better go get Glenn Kozlowski's at your phone.
Speaker 1: Number and find them out there. We're just gonna go
Speaker 1: right down the list. That's right, it's in ninety nine, right, No,
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. I know it's valuable as you go
Speaker 1: to work on Are you working today on Wattle?
Speaker 2: And Sylvie? What do you got on course time? All right,
Speaker 2: all right here you've been thinking.
Speaker 3: That you know how much I appreciate you guys, how
Speaker 3: much I love you guys.
Speaker 2: Right back at you.
Speaker 4: You guys are great teammates. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Right backs to special thanks to Tommy Wattle. Four time,
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff. Thanks for listening. Everybody.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe now on the Chicago Bears Official Apple, Spotify.
Speaker 2: YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. Spear down it's