Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. Your all
Speaker 1: access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. We'll get Thursday night. Everybody, welcome
Speaker 1: in as we are brought to you by IGS Energy,
Speaker 1: Jeff Joni Acabong with Tom Dare and Jim Miller our
Speaker 1: producer tonight to Sean Anderson, and we got a full
Speaker 1: show tonight coming up at about six to ten, joined
Speaker 1: by one of the Bears, a rookie members of the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty draft class seventh rounder of the Chavs, Pig Simmons,
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. Then at the bottom of the hour, which
Speaker 1: joined by Bear strengthening conditioning coach Jason Loscalzo. That'll be
Speaker 1: around six thirty. We're gonna have a portion of an
Speaker 1: interview I did this week with former Bears Director of
Speaker 1: Player Personnel Rod Grey As we've spent thirteen years with
Speaker 1: the Bears organization. Now the executive director of the Fritz
Speaker 1: Poler Alliance. Big news this week with the NFL owners
Speaker 1: meeting virtually and making changes to the Rooney rules. We'll
Speaker 1: discuss all of that, but without further ado as we
Speaker 1: await the arrival a big time getting his technical aspects
Speaker 1: off fired up, we go to my friend Jim Miller
Speaker 1: from Serious x M NFL Radio, the former Bears starting
Speaker 1: quarterback in two thousand and one, the great playoff run
Speaker 1: the Bears made our things going over at NFL Radio.
Speaker 1: We're doing great, Jeff, obviously. Yeah, the rules proposals came
Speaker 1: out today. The NFL owners will vote on it next week,
Speaker 1: but the Competition Committee, you know, still a lot of talk,
Speaker 1: you know, will there be technically a booth judge or
Speaker 1: a sky judge is how it's been talked about. So
Speaker 1: that proposals out there, and you know, supposedly what was
Speaker 1: reported today about the on side kicks, you know, we
Speaker 1: know because of the new kickoff rule, they really haven't
Speaker 1: had an impact in the game. They've really plummeted for
Speaker 1: on side kicks. So if your team wants to get
Speaker 1: back in the game, they're considering a proposal to go
Speaker 1: for it on fourth and fifth team at your own
Speaker 1: twenty five, and if you get it, you could advance
Speaker 1: and try to fight your way back into a game,
Speaker 1: and your teams would be allowed to do that two
Speaker 1: times per game. So there's still a lot of football
Speaker 1: talk going around, Patton. There's still or excuse me, Jeff,
Speaker 1: and still a lot of signings that are going on
Speaker 1: right now. So there's a little lot going on in
Speaker 1: free agency in this virtual world that we live in,
Speaker 1: right I believe that's the most interesting one of the
Speaker 1: alternate way to go about it. The onside kick. So
Speaker 1: as in former quarterback, it's fourth and fifteen from your
Speaker 1: twenty five, you're trailing. It's obviously you can be for
Speaker 1: teams trailing. Is it in your DNA to say, hey, coach,
Speaker 1: we're going for it. The percentage is very low, and
Speaker 1: that's not what I asked you. I personally, I probably
Speaker 1: would still take my chances with an onside kick. You
Speaker 1: don't have my kicker try to hit one of those
Speaker 1: front linemen because as you know, with the onside kicks now,
Speaker 1: you can't overload. You can't overload. It's got to be
Speaker 1: five and five on each side of the kicker, meaning
Speaker 1: five players to the right of the kicker, five players
Speaker 1: to left before you could overload it. But for safety reasons,
Speaker 1: that's why they wanted to eliminate and they adjusted that rule.
Speaker 1: But it has plummeted when you look at that number.
Speaker 1: I mean on side kicks, the recovery rate used to
Speaker 1: be over twenty percent, and now that number is plummeted
Speaker 1: to less than eight percent. We did see the Bears
Speaker 1: do one last year, right, the Bears got one last year.
Speaker 1: I probably would still take my chances with an on
Speaker 1: site kick, is what I would do. Because the field
Speaker 1: position you're giving up. Imagine you don't get the fourth
Speaker 1: and fifteen at your own twenty five I mean, I
Speaker 1: mean right away, the other the oppositions already in field
Speaker 1: goal range. Right. Yeah, Well, you know some of the
Speaker 1: math out there, and we're gonna welcome our guest here
Speaker 1: in a second. Twenty four percent on fourth and fifteen
Speaker 1: or longer under ten percent on the on side kickoff.
Speaker 1: So if you're a guy likes to heave it deep
Speaker 1: and feel good about your weapons, I think that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a great conversation. And our conversation picked up. Now
Speaker 1: Tom Thare's gotta love this because Lachevius, Pig Simmons, the
Speaker 1: man is from Tennessee State, seventh round pick of the Bears.
Speaker 1: He definitely, Uh, he's a guy that's going to check
Speaker 1: in early. Lachevius, Welcome to Bears all Access here in
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Good to have
Speaker 1: you along. And Uh, it's hard to say, but are
Speaker 1: you settling in at all? I mean, this is so
Speaker 1: bizarre how the season is starting for off football players
Speaker 1: college or pro. And but are you settling in a
Speaker 1: little bit as a Chicago Bear? Uh? Yeah, thanks for
Speaker 1: having me on the show, by the way, But yeah, now,
Speaker 1: but everything's been so it's just like we just had
Speaker 1: to just had to adapt to the situation. So well,
Speaker 1: it's been pretty smooth being a Bear of And what
Speaker 1: is your first impression of what you're seeing firsthand with
Speaker 1: these virtual meetings? Um, the the relationships were building, like
Speaker 1: with my other teammates, Like we always have these coffee
Speaker 1: shop meetings and stuff, and it's like we're getting to
Speaker 1: know each other as a person less than a player,
Speaker 1: and I think that's very important. Um and down the line,
Speaker 1: Lachevis Jim Miller here, Welcome to the Chicago Bears. You're
Speaker 1: with a great organization, and maybe just talk about that.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, this is your dream. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of young football player's dream to get an opportunity,
Speaker 1: and that opportunity is presented in front of you. It
Speaker 1: does have its challenges that you just pointed out, but
Speaker 1: what does it mean to you to reach a goal
Speaker 1: of yours and now to knock that door over and
Speaker 1: down to make this football team. It's amazing, man. Like
Speaker 1: It's sometimes I'd be thinking about it when I'll be
Speaker 1: waking up in the morning, like wow, like I'm really
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Like I mean, I've been thinking about
Speaker 1: this ere since I was a little kid, and like
Speaker 1: everybody used to always ask me, like what what' you're
Speaker 1: gonna do in your career? Like I said, I always
Speaker 1: want to be an NFL football player. At matter what
Speaker 1: position I played, I just want to be in the
Speaker 1: NFL because I used to play decease a line and
Speaker 1: linebacker and running back everything. I just I want to
Speaker 1: be in the NFL. But Chvus Simmons our guest here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access, Jeff Joniak and Jim Miller awaiting
Speaker 1: Tim Thayre's arrival as well. Um, you know, iferred to
Speaker 1: you as pig, and I don't want people to think, Okay,
Speaker 1: where'd this come from? And your story has been told
Speaker 1: a little bit once you've been drafted, but you know
Speaker 1: you grew up on a farm man throwing a hale
Speaker 1: baal's a hay and getting your your strength that way,
Speaker 1: that natural strength that comes with that being a kid
Speaker 1: growing up on a farm. But it sounds just like
Speaker 1: a total blue collar existence for you. But that's part
Speaker 1: of it, right is that is that part of the
Speaker 1: nickname and what your family decided to refer to you
Speaker 1: as nah is really like my grandma would these homemade
Speaker 1: meals like some college greens and corn bread, and I
Speaker 1: never used a fork and I used to just pig
Speaker 1: out on it and that's how I got it, and
Speaker 1: she just called me a pig and it just stuck
Speaker 1: meror since I was a baby. Well, when you look
Speaker 1: at that in terms of your eating habits, obviously you're
Speaker 1: over three hundred, so it's still continued. I would assume, right,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, I gotta have them greens man. Well, let
Speaker 1: me ask you this, because you are such a good athlete.
Speaker 1: You mentioned all the other positions that you played growing up.
Speaker 1: You have played all five offensive line positions where you know,
Speaker 1: for you, where do you feel the most comfortable. I
Speaker 1: think they project you as a guard. But as you know,
Speaker 1: even Cody Whitehair, he's a talented guy that's played even
Speaker 1: left tackle in college, what do you prefer? Like, it
Speaker 1: really doesn't matter. It's just I want to be put
Speaker 1: in whatever position like the coaches want me to be
Speaker 1: to help the team be successful. And like that's what
Speaker 1: that was my mindset in college too, Like I just
Speaker 1: wanted to help the team be successful a matter where
Speaker 1: it was. Because some guys can only play left side,
Speaker 1: and I feel like, okay, well he gonna play left side.
Speaker 1: He good at left side, and maybe I'm I can
Speaker 1: go try the right side because I can play multiple positions.
Speaker 1: So it's just to put the team in the better
Speaker 1: situations and like help them for the win. All right,
Speaker 1: Well wait with Lachevia Simmons, the big guy working his
Speaker 1: way up the chart now, and I want to introduce
Speaker 1: you to my broadcast partner of the Chevas fellow offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: He's very excited about you, and mister Hambright as well.
Speaker 1: In that seventh round, Tomp there. I've played ten years
Speaker 1: in the National Football League and was a bear starter
Speaker 1: on the Super Bowl team Big Tom. Hey, it's nice
Speaker 1: to talk to you, Pig. I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: a little late to the party, so I don't know
Speaker 1: how to talk to you. But I gotta say, I
Speaker 1: gotta ask you one thing. So in my generation, there
Speaker 1: is a basketball player's name was Alan Iverson and one
Speaker 1: of the most famous press conferences was after after a
Speaker 1: workout where he missed, he said, practice and so I
Speaker 1: look at your priority one, two three and practice, can
Speaker 1: you and listen? I agree with it because I think
Speaker 1: I think strength and conditioning is the most important element
Speaker 1: to get you into the game. Film study what's going
Speaker 1: to keep you in the game, and then practice is
Speaker 1: going to sharpen your technique. So how did you come
Speaker 1: to that one two three list of priorities? Um? Pretty
Speaker 1: much because like before you even get out on the field,
Speaker 1: like I feel like you gotta have you gotta have
Speaker 1: the strength and conditioning, and like you gotta be in
Speaker 1: tip top shape. And then when you also when you
Speaker 1: get out there, you gotta be prepared. So you don't
Speaker 1: just go out there just for fun, just just doing stuff.
Speaker 1: You gotta be prepared. So that's what film study and
Speaker 1: stuff come in. And then after you get everything polished up,
Speaker 1: and then you're go on the field and you work
Speaker 1: on your technique and get rid of the game day. So, like,
Speaker 1: you know, you you are identified as being a candidate
Speaker 1: to come here and be a part of the NFL,
Speaker 1: so they want at practice. You know you're so you
Speaker 1: go through the film says, you go through the meetings.
Speaker 1: What is going to be the one thing that you
Speaker 1: do so well is the reason you have been I
Speaker 1: identified that you have more talent behind you. What's the
Speaker 1: one thing that's going to bring you confidence to camp
Speaker 1: when it begins? Just the ability to finish people. Like
Speaker 1: just I just love finishing blocks. Like because when I
Speaker 1: was in when I used to play football in high school,
Speaker 1: like I really didn't want to play offensive line. I
Speaker 1: played defensive line, and like because I felt like offense
Speaker 1: was kind of soft. But my coach he told me,
Speaker 1: he was like, man, you can do the same stuff
Speaker 1: you do on defense on offense. So I just got
Speaker 1: physical with it. And I feel like that's one of
Speaker 1: my main, like one of my main characteristics on the field.
Speaker 1: It's just being physical and finishing people. I see that
Speaker 1: you got your certification in welding. How did you get
Speaker 1: this welding? I mean that's you know what the welders make,
Speaker 1: don't you have? It makes some pretty good money. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I got my certification in high school. Like, um, I
Speaker 1: actually could have participated in the ACE competition, but my
Speaker 1: my wellderness structor, he knew I was gonna win it,
Speaker 1: so he was like, there's no purpose that you entered
Speaker 1: the competition, and um, like winning the competition and you
Speaker 1: don't be able to get a scholarship to no one.
Speaker 1: So he wouldn't even let me enter the competition because
Speaker 1: I was really good. Well Lachevia Simmons Tackle Bears Draft
Speaker 1: choice and getting his NFL curer getting out of the
Speaker 1: way a big six foot five I'm impressed with a
Speaker 1: couple of things. One, you know, I got some guy
Speaker 1: giving size obviously, and you've had a chisel yourself into
Speaker 1: into your three hundred and fifteen pound plus body or
Speaker 1: whatever it is you're weighing at right now. But the
Speaker 1: thirty five plus inch arms, I've always been intrigued with that.
Speaker 1: For offensive lineman tom My broadcast partner here, Jim, They
Speaker 1: may have different opinions to bout it, but those so,
Speaker 1: how does that serve you well at all those variety
Speaker 1: of positions that you play, And do you feel that
Speaker 1: gives you some sort of edge against some of these
Speaker 1: bigger defensive linemen out there. Yeah, I feel like like
Speaker 1: my arms like they give me a big time. Is
Speaker 1: because one thing about my hands, though, once I get
Speaker 1: my hands on you, it's no getting them all. This
Speaker 1: is like some vice gripts so like, and then come
Speaker 1: from from them old the farm days and stuff like
Speaker 1: taking changing the oil with your barging hands and not
Speaker 1: using those tools and then and there were all my
Speaker 1: Griffins stuff came from So it's just it just it
Speaker 1: just the family tradition. We just had some big, strong hands.
Speaker 1: And can you feel the difference though if you're playing
Speaker 1: inside at guard and then outside at offensive tackle, because
Speaker 1: there's a different tempo that you use the your hands
Speaker 1: to each of those positions. Have you had enough reps
Speaker 1: at each where you you understand the fundamentals from inside,
Speaker 1: but how they transfer to the fundamentals and the needs
Speaker 1: to the outside. Yeah, in the inside you're more, You're
Speaker 1: more in the phone booth and things happen more quicker.
Speaker 1: So that's another reason I like using my Landloar event
Speaker 1: because I'm going to get my hands on the defensive
Speaker 1: tackle first and then on the outside you gotta tackle.
Speaker 1: You gotta be more patient and because you gotta wit,
Speaker 1: you to defend your comes through you. And is this
Speaker 1: just just working on it, working on it every day
Speaker 1: and just refixing your craft. Well, how's the virtual world
Speaker 1: going for you? I know you you're tree it out there.
Speaker 1: I mean, do you even have internet where you're at
Speaker 1: where you can get on the virtual world and learn
Speaker 1: the playbooks, get to learn your your teammates a little
Speaker 1: bit and get to know everybody. But how was the
Speaker 1: concepts and everything going virtually for your lat husband, It's
Speaker 1: been going well. Like Coach one, he's he really have
Speaker 1: been breaking everything down with us, and like the stuff
Speaker 1: really is easy to me, really because like most of
Speaker 1: the things that we're doing like I kind of did
Speaker 1: in college. So it's the same stuff really, and I
Speaker 1: feel like it's gonna be a very smooth transition and
Speaker 1: knowing everything and it's just gonna able me to go
Speaker 1: out there and just play fast. Lachevia Simmons, our guest
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access. It's brought to you by
Speaker 1: Igs Energy, Jeff Johnniac, Tom There and Jim Miller with
Speaker 1: you until seven o'clock tonight, Lachevias, how much pride do
Speaker 1: you take in the aspect of a couple of things.
Speaker 1: One year from Tennessee State. You know the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: MVP on Time's name was Richard that you met him
Speaker 1: last spring. And two Todd Jones, another Hall of Fame player,
Speaker 1: outstanding player. And you're the only pick this year in
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty drafts from an historical black college and university.
Speaker 1: Does that Does that resonate with you in any particular way?
Speaker 1: And then just talk about Denton the history of Tennessee
Speaker 1: State football man. That's it's an honored man to be
Speaker 1: the Olio HBCU player to get drafted this year. And
Speaker 1: I feel like like like I gotta I gotta carry
Speaker 1: everybody on my shoulder for the HBCU, on the community,
Speaker 1: because there's some very talented players like in the HBCU,
Speaker 1: like my teammate Chris Rowland, who he got picked up
Speaker 1: phrasing by the Atlanta Factus. Like that guy, he's amazing.
Speaker 1: He broke Jerry Rice's record and um receptions this year,
Speaker 1: and like it's just so much talent and they come
Speaker 1: through Tennessee State and then just like it's just amazing,
Speaker 1: like what we call the Old Line University because Russe Arnfield,
Speaker 1: like this man, he even put so many guys in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Don't make no sense. That was one of
Speaker 1: the main reason I went to Tennessee State because his resume.
Speaker 1: What's his philosophy? That's that was kind of an interesting
Speaker 1: point that you let up to. Is it a physical philosophy?
Speaker 1: Is at an athletic a technical philosophy? Why why are
Speaker 1: are so productive in developing offensive lineman there? Because he
Speaker 1: he's he's like working on your fundamentals. So if your
Speaker 1: seat ain't right, you're not right. That's that's his mindset
Speaker 1: going into everything. So and he's just he's just so
Speaker 1: technical with all, like he just pay attention to the
Speaker 1: details of everything, and he just wants us to like
Speaker 1: perfect our craft. And like if you buy into what
Speaker 1: he's saying, like you're gonna see improvement fast. Because I
Speaker 1: only had one year of offensive linement experience coming out
Speaker 1: of hospital. I only played offensive line my senior year,
Speaker 1: and he pretty much made me the player I am
Speaker 1: is today because me just listened to him. Well, last
Speaker 1: one for me, we appreciate your time. What is your
Speaker 1: right tenerary every day? Like how much do you get
Speaker 1: to go out? And do you have a park near
Speaker 1: you or where are you working on your your techniques
Speaker 1: and things like that, and in terms of your time
Speaker 1: that you're spending virtually as well, but how is your
Speaker 1: itinerary set up and how you're working out to incorporate
Speaker 1: all these fundamentals you're you're talking about. Um, I wake
Speaker 1: up early in the morning, I get me some get
Speaker 1: a workout in, and I go to treatment and just
Speaker 1: make sure just fine to my body. And then I
Speaker 1: have we have meetings start at ten about ten to
Speaker 1: about three. And then after I got the meets, I
Speaker 1: come straight to the country and my dad he got
Speaker 1: a whole of weight room type thing set up down here,
Speaker 1: got the bench, the squat rack, try sepumstensions, all that stuff.
Speaker 1: And then I got beside our garden. I have attractor time.
Speaker 1: And I had flied up this field with attractor and
Speaker 1: pretty much I just flipped the tire going down and back.
Speaker 1: It's like forty five yards. I flipped the tire down
Speaker 1: and back, and then I drank the tied down and back,
Speaker 1: and then I give me some home sprints in It's
Speaker 1: like some half gasses. And I pretty much just do
Speaker 1: that every day. I just switched it up, Lachevis. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have your strength and conditioning coach Jason Lescalzo on
Speaker 1: here at the bottom of the yar. You're gonna make
Speaker 1: You're gonna make him real happy when you're talking about
Speaker 1: all what you're doing. We're gonna let you go here.
Speaker 1: But we know it's Memorial Day weekend as we honor
Speaker 1: those who served over the years and gave of themselves.
Speaker 1: And we understand you do have a military connection to
Speaker 1: in your family from the army. Isn't that fact true?
Speaker 1: And what can you tell us about that? Um? Yeah,
Speaker 1: my uncle he was in the military for a couple
Speaker 1: of years, and like I had the time to like
Speaker 1: just go out there and spend some time with him
Speaker 1: while he was in UH station in Fort Hood in Texas.
Speaker 1: And it's just he's just he's always he's always had
Speaker 1: me run with him, like doing his little peat stuff.
Speaker 1: And I just I just I just I just speak
Speaker 1: everything he'd done for our country and I just just
Speaker 1: just proud to say he's uncle and you can take
Speaker 1: a little bit of him into the NFL on your
Speaker 1: first snap, how about it, buddy? Yes, sir, all right, Lachevias,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us. We'll meet you, sir,
Speaker 1: Lachevias Simmons our guest here on Bears All Access. We
Speaker 1: continue on after this break on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. Hey, welcome back to Bears All Access,
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas at home warranty
Speaker 1: products to over one million customers across the country. Learn
Speaker 1: more about IGS Energy at igs dot com and enjoyable conversation,
Speaker 1: to say the least, with the Chevas Big Simmons out
Speaker 1: of Tennessee State offensive lineman. I'm gonna try and carve
Speaker 1: out a long NFL career like your old team. Mattim
Speaker 1: there Jim Metal with us as well. Richard Dent, whom
Speaker 1: he met last spring. Everything he had to say, I
Speaker 1: was checking boxes, you know what I did. It made
Speaker 1: me gain belief in what Ryan Pace was saying before
Speaker 1: the draft that he wanted to go out there in
Speaker 1: draft guys with high football intelligence, Jeff, every single rookie
Speaker 1: draft choice that we've talked to this season, this all
Speaker 1: access season, every one of them has displayed intelligence beyond
Speaker 1: a college senior, whether they're an underclassman or a graduating senior.
Speaker 1: And that's probably left the most impressionable mark on me,
Speaker 1: because you have to have these canvases to design into
Speaker 1: a player, to build to build into a player. And
Speaker 1: I'm really excited about what I've heard out of these
Speaker 1: young guys so far. Hit the head with all the
Speaker 1: positions he's played across the line, how significant is that
Speaker 1: for his future? Yeah, I think he's a He's a
Speaker 1: terrific athlete. I don't think you can really just label
Speaker 1: him and put him in one box. I think I mean,
Speaker 1: I would give him a shot at tackle. I think
Speaker 1: everybody's projected him as a guard, but that arm length
Speaker 1: is impressive thirty five inches. You can always kick him
Speaker 1: into guard if you want, and he has the ability
Speaker 1: to play him all so it's not like he comes
Speaker 1: in completely green from that standpoint. But as Tom mentioned
Speaker 1: and just piggyback and off of that, you know, I
Speaker 1: do think there is a maturity level about every one
Speaker 1: of these draft picks. I've read the article earlier that
Speaker 1: I believe you guys were sent as well. I thought
Speaker 1: in one of the interesting answers, basically it was a
Speaker 1: question and answer session of Lachevius, and the question was
Speaker 1: would you rather be liked or respected? And why he
Speaker 1: goes He goes, I would rather be respected, because anybody
Speaker 1: can be liked, you have to earn your respect. And
Speaker 1: I think this is the type of guy. He wants
Speaker 1: to earn everything. He gets nothing, He doesn't want anything
Speaker 1: given to him. And you just heard that workout on
Speaker 1: how long his day is. Wakes up early, gets in
Speaker 1: a workout, meetings from ten to three. Then he goes
Speaker 1: back and I don't know if Tom, if you ever
Speaker 1: incorporated the tractor trailer tire into your workouts, but he's
Speaker 1: dragging it back and forth and doing tractor polls and
Speaker 1: all kinds of things. This guy definitely wants to earn it.
Speaker 1: You know, I've never had access to that type of equipment,
Speaker 1: but I you know, it always kind of transforms all
Speaker 1: of our memories back to the Rocky movie when he
Speaker 1: went to Russia. It started carrying logs on his neck
Speaker 1: and using these rope devised kind of Pulley systems, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know when I when I was a kid, my
Speaker 1: first weights I've ever had my brother in law made
Speaker 1: for me out of hunks of steel. So I think
Speaker 1: sometimes in the course of your career, you every a
Speaker 1: lot of people start out like that. Then it morphs
Speaker 1: into more modern type of equipment that he'll have in
Speaker 1: college and certainly access at the Chicago Bears, however, you know,
Speaker 1: you can hear their attitude. They're willingness to work at
Speaker 1: some of these things and it's gonna pay dividends. So
Speaker 1: if I was veteran Bear offensive lineman, I would be
Speaker 1: listening to some of these young guys because they come
Speaker 1: in and sometimes they light that fire underneath you before
Speaker 1: any of this gets rolling. I do like what he
Speaker 1: says about himself. I'm a bloody your nose type of guy,
Speaker 1: and he has maintained that, and he is blue collar,
Speaker 1: and he sounds like somebody that you couldn't wait to
Speaker 1: get in a room and get on the field to
Speaker 1: start helping to improve and develop. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a developmental player, but it's just the way he answered
Speaker 1: questions and I believe him to be that type of person.
Speaker 1: There's no reason for me to believe otherwise. This is
Speaker 1: a guy who's hungry and really wants it so well.
Speaker 1: I asked him. I asked him as big as asset,
Speaker 1: and he said, finish. I finished blocks. To me, that's
Speaker 1: like taking it to the next level because you think, oh,
Speaker 1: I gotta get out of my stance quick. Oh I
Speaker 1: have to have proper hand placement. But when you talk
Speaker 1: about a young guy talking about finishing the block is
Speaker 1: the most important element. Boom, I like to hear it.
Speaker 1: Coming up next, we joined by the Bear's head strength
Speaker 1: and conditioning coach, Jason Lescouzo, as we break down Bears
Speaker 1: football for twenty twenty on Bears Out Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy on Chicago's Sports Radio six seventy.
Speaker 1: The score coming up here on the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: The second of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by a CDW. People who get it learn more at
Speaker 1: CDW dot com. Jeff Joning, Act, Tom There, Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: two Chicago Bears along side now as we walk them in.
Speaker 1: Jason Lascalazo, the head strength and conditioning coach of the Bears,
Speaker 1: Good to talk to you. It's been a bit a minute,
Speaker 1: as they say, Jase, everything good. It's been a while, man,
Speaker 1: I hope all you guys are doing well. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: just we're trying to stay fit to hit even broadcasters,
Speaker 1: you know. Uh, you know, I wish you would maybe
Speaker 1: you did, I don't know. We just had um Lachevia
Speaker 1: simmons on and he's out out there in Alabama getting
Speaker 1: ready and doing his own meetings with you guys, and
Speaker 1: he was telling us what his workday was like, and
Speaker 1: it included all kind of of stuff that you would
Speaker 1: you would presume would be the case out in the
Speaker 1: country a little bit, flipping tires and using you know,
Speaker 1: dad's gym that he built for him whatever, um is that?
Speaker 1: Did you hear any of that? And if not, are
Speaker 1: these guys telling you what they're doing in addition to
Speaker 1: what you're giving them to do. Yeah, a lot of
Speaker 1: guys are a lot of guys are calling and texting. Man.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of the vets have their own
Speaker 1: routines as it is, so you know, and I know
Speaker 1: what a lot of these guys do when they aren't
Speaker 1: at Hollis. So yeah, we're we're staying informed with everybody.
Speaker 1: And it's just you know, everybody says it's a crazy time,
Speaker 1: so we're navigating our way through. Hey, Jason, this is
Speaker 1: Tom there. Thanks for joining us, Thanks for taking out
Speaker 1: the time. And you know, Jason, you've been around strength
Speaker 1: and conditioning nutrition for over twenty five years. So you know,
Speaker 1: when you look at workouts from free agents or rookies,
Speaker 1: how long does it take for you to dissect by
Speaker 1: watching them what they need going forward. That's a great question. Tom.
Speaker 1: I would say it's actually takes longer for the free
Speaker 1: agents because as guys are in this league, the longer
Speaker 1: they're in this league, there's little there's little things that
Speaker 1: you have to adjust as the body ages, as the
Speaker 1: body gets beat up, as you put that mileage on,
Speaker 1: so to speak. So the rookies, you know, they're coming
Speaker 1: in there. Most of them come in fresh. Some of
Speaker 1: them come in with some some ailments here and there,
Speaker 1: but most of them come in fresh, and we want
Speaker 1: to we want to get them right into what we
Speaker 1: do and we keep it pretty basic until they until
Speaker 1: they can they can catch on. But the vets, the
Speaker 1: guys that come in as free agents, those guys, a
Speaker 1: lot of those guys have routines that they've been successful
Speaker 1: with UH and we try and we try and find
Speaker 1: ways where we can fit what they like into what
Speaker 1: we do on top of introducing what we do and
Speaker 1: getting them solid in that area too. Coach Jim Miller here,
Speaker 1: pleasure to talk to you and when you look at
Speaker 1: it and helping guys set up their home gyms because
Speaker 1: as we know, I mean, football has evolved where it's
Speaker 1: a position specific and has a lot of specialty tool
Speaker 1: but the core things you're looking to help players with
Speaker 1: the have that base that is necessary. Maybe just touch
Speaker 1: on that with helping these plays out with their gyms
Speaker 1: of Keith areas that you really want to focus on
Speaker 1: with certain groups. The big thing for us is a
Speaker 1: barbell to squat with ways to put on that barbell
Speaker 1: that that's the major thing that the biggest concern that
Speaker 1: we have when it got when you come into the
Speaker 1: times like this is guys having enough weight to lift. Um.
Speaker 1: You know you come to Hollis all they you know,
Speaker 1: we got we got plates on top of plates on
Speaker 1: top of plates. So um. The thing that this is
Speaker 1: a big time of years where you want these guys
Speaker 1: to this is the time of year to lift that
Speaker 1: heavyweight this is the time of year to get the
Speaker 1: body used to that heavyweight and develop from that standpoint.
Speaker 1: And that really doesn't matter what age they're at. You know,
Speaker 1: the weight is all relative. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: they've got to have the weight to be able to
Speaker 1: uh put the stress on the body that they need
Speaker 1: to adapt so that they can stay healthy and they
Speaker 1: can be at their at their max potential. UM. So
Speaker 1: the big thing for us is we try and get
Speaker 1: these guys hooked up with a way to get to
Speaker 1: get a squat rack of barbells, weights. They can do
Speaker 1: some they can do some lift, they can do some polls,
Speaker 1: maybe bump a place, they can do some Olympic lifting,
Speaker 1: but we really really like to stress the squad and um,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's it's it's a matter of finding
Speaker 1: ways for them. Some guys don't have the ability to
Speaker 1: have that stuff, so we got to find ways around that.
Speaker 1: And that's that's the biggest challenge when it comes to
Speaker 1: helping these guys. Bears had strength and conditioning coach Jason
Speaker 1: Loscalzo with us on Bears All Access brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy, Jeff, Tim and Jim with you. Yes,
Speaker 1: you're asking them to and they want to, they want
Speaker 1: to put that armor on. I've known guys over the
Speaker 1: course of my time cover in the NFL that, you know,
Speaker 1: if the off season didn't go well, there was family
Speaker 1: issues or an injury, rehab or whatever. Yeah, they start
Speaker 1: the season and second month of the season they never
Speaker 1: felt they had the armor on, um and then it
Speaker 1: was a mental thing, like they didn't feel strong enough
Speaker 1: to beat their man. How about the mechanics of doing it, though,
Speaker 1: because when they're in the weight room, you and your
Speaker 1: staff are watching technique being done properly and so forth.
Speaker 1: There's that a significant aspect of this too that you're
Speaker 1: hoping that everything's being done the right way in terms
Speaker 1: of mechanics. Yeah, I mean absolutely, there's just there's obviously
Speaker 1: there's no way we can watch every set. There's no
Speaker 1: way we can we can coach them up while they're
Speaker 1: doing the lift or why they're working out. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to put trust in these guys. But as
Speaker 1: you guys know, these guys are pros. These guys are professionals.
Speaker 1: This is what they do. And um, you know, if
Speaker 1: these guys are really wanting to win a Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and if we really want to get and and win
Speaker 1: that Super Bowl trophy, and we want to go do
Speaker 1: those things. And you know, we have to find ways
Speaker 1: to get every everybody from the GM to the head
Speaker 1: coach down to me, to all the players to everybody
Speaker 1: has to do their job and we have to motifying
Speaker 1: ways to motivate ourselves to do our job and do
Speaker 1: it better than the next guy. Um, So there really
Speaker 1: are no excuses. I mean, you know that. That's you
Speaker 1: know that, that's that's the big thing that we try
Speaker 1: to hammer with these guys. There's there's no excuse. History history,
Speaker 1: History never accepts the excuse of well it was really hard.
Speaker 1: You know, all thirty all the other thirty one teams
Speaker 1: are going to the same thing we are. So we
Speaker 1: have to figure out ways to make sure that we
Speaker 1: stay focused, we stay dialed in, and we get our
Speaker 1: job done. You know, Jason, twenty years ago, when you
Speaker 1: got involved in the strength business, it might have been
Speaker 1: a phone call from a landline of a kid needing
Speaker 1: some advice from you. Has video gotten so good to
Speaker 1: this point, or even talking to like high school strength
Speaker 1: coaches and college strength coaches and maybe some advice can
Speaker 1: that you could give them. Has the video advanced so
Speaker 1: much that you can adjust the techniques of a specific lifter,
Speaker 1: because no two lifters are exactly the like the way
Speaker 1: they bend up and down, the way they bring weights
Speaker 1: to their chests, and a power clean, whatever the movement is,
Speaker 1: no one is exactly the same. So can you give
Speaker 1: specific technique adjustments if you see a guy through Facebook
Speaker 1: or maybe some type of video lifting. Yes, as a
Speaker 1: matter of fact, we've done some of that already. Guys
Speaker 1: will guys will film a set that they've done, or
Speaker 1: they'll film one of their exercise. They'll send it to
Speaker 1: me and they'll say, hey, where can I get better?
Speaker 1: And you know, you just text them back or it's
Speaker 1: a phone call. And it's a little bit different from
Speaker 1: a standpoint where you have to explain it over a
Speaker 1: telephone call or a text, but um, you know it's
Speaker 1: it's the video advancements of cell phone videos and you
Speaker 1: know everybody's everybody can have find a way to get
Speaker 1: to get seen with something, so to speak. So, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it has advanced quite a bit and it does help. Yeah, well, coach,
Speaker 1: as from the listeners out there, every player is like
Speaker 1: gauged coaches obviously getting the feedback of where these guys are,
Speaker 1: but coach is kind of the unknown when these guys
Speaker 1: do get back and you finally get your hands on them,
Speaker 1: and how to ease these players back into football. And
Speaker 1: certainly some guys are going to be in better shape
Speaker 1: than others. And I've talked to a lot of coaches
Speaker 1: around the NFL of that that is probably one of
Speaker 1: their biggest challenges of what they're how they're thinking that
Speaker 1: these guys come back. But without giving anything away, just
Speaker 1: the plan to ease guys back in football, because it's
Speaker 1: a lot of different than say the anaerobic uh shape
Speaker 1: that players are going to be getting out there in
Speaker 1: terms of getting into football shape. Yeah, it's it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's delicate. You know, you got to be careful, but
Speaker 1: at the same time, you know you also have to
Speaker 1: get ready to go, and you got to get ready
Speaker 1: to go quick because when when we get called up
Speaker 1: to go, it's go time. It's not uh, We're not
Speaker 1: gonna have very much of a grace period or a
Speaker 1: honeymoon to get going. So we gotta be smart. Um,
Speaker 1: it's a matter of how we you know, tempo things,
Speaker 1: how we how we schedule things, how we figured things
Speaker 1: out with guys, and we got to keep a close
Speaker 1: eye on a lot of different guys, and you know,
Speaker 1: just just keep our eye out and that there's there's
Speaker 1: key factors I look for when I see guys move,
Speaker 1: when I when they'll come in, they'll we'll, we'll, we'll ron,
Speaker 1: we'll live, we'll do those things, and I'll be able
Speaker 1: to see little things that are guys that I've picked
Speaker 1: up um over the year, especially with the guys I
Speaker 1: know again with the free agents will be a little
Speaker 1: bit harder, but a lot of it's communication, you know,
Speaker 1: staying in communication with players, making sure they're getting what
Speaker 1: they need and how they feel. And it's just it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a feeling out process. Everybody's in the same boat.
Speaker 1: Not anything we've ever had to do before, I know,
Speaker 1: the lockout years kind of what we try to compare
Speaker 1: it to. So it's just it's uncharted territory for a
Speaker 1: lot of people. So we just got to work our
Speaker 1: way through it. Hey, Jason, is yours off season program
Speaker 1: one hundred percent in place or is it dependent upon
Speaker 1: the equipment that each player has access to? Very good question.
Speaker 1: It's half and half. We have an off season program.
Speaker 1: So you know, we have the off season program we
Speaker 1: would have done if we were here, and then we
Speaker 1: also make sure that we can tailor it to help
Speaker 1: guys with what they have specifically. So it becomes a
Speaker 1: little bit of a challenge. But you know, that's again,
Speaker 1: that's that's just the challenge we're presented with right now.
Speaker 1: We have to we have to step up to it
Speaker 1: and made it. Jason the Scouzoe Bear strength and conditioning coach,
Speaker 1: the man in charge of that weight room for the
Speaker 1: Bears up at Hattis Hall. A slow trickle expected, hopefully,
Speaker 1: but not coaches and players just yet to get the
Speaker 1: old building open and so forth. And you mentioned the
Speaker 1: lockout so in twenty eleven, and I was reading about
Speaker 1: this from the perspective of a rookie back then. Today's
Speaker 1: rookies frankly, are way ahead of the game because back
Speaker 1: then they had no playbook. They were barred from the
Speaker 1: team facilities like now, but there were no contact with
Speaker 1: coaches at that time. So when the lockout ended in
Speaker 1: late July, boom they got their playbook camp started. It
Speaker 1: was go timers, you like to say, and nobody was
Speaker 1: slowing down. If you were new to the program or
Speaker 1: a rookie or an undrafted player. He was on you
Speaker 1: to really you know, so from a psychological point of view,
Speaker 1: that is a role you fill as well to get
Speaker 1: these guys mentally ready to go, in addition to expecting
Speaker 1: them to be that way as professional. Yeah, and that
Speaker 1: and that's that's kind of the advantage we have over
Speaker 1: the lockout years. I'm able to be in communication with
Speaker 1: these guys, and Soup is able to be in communication
Speaker 1: with these guys, and they're talking to their coaches and
Speaker 1: they're seeing all the other players, and our coaches are
Speaker 1: doing an outstanding job with this offseason and putting it
Speaker 1: together and and it's really been impressive the things that
Speaker 1: UH Coachneggie's done and put together with this offseason. So, um,
Speaker 1: they do have that advantage over that year. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously the disadvantages are still there, but obviously not as much. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, for me, when I when I sit and
Speaker 1: I'd look, it's it's I'm able to be in communication,
Speaker 1: able to contact. We actually use that twenty eleven year
Speaker 1: as a as an educational tool. Hey, look, when guys
Speaker 1: came back, we saw tons, we saw increase in achilles
Speaker 1: an increase in huts soft tissue, and increase in acls,
Speaker 1: and those are things we try and tell our guys
Speaker 1: and and and keep pounding into their heads like look,
Speaker 1: there's no there's going back. I mean, once this thing
Speaker 1: start again, you're not getting time. It's not all of
Speaker 1: a sudden we're rocking to reverse time and started over.
Speaker 1: So when we start, you gotta go. And if you
Speaker 1: didn't take care of your business, you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: suffer the consequences. And the rest of us, hopefully you know,
Speaker 1: we're not in the same boat. But you know, it's
Speaker 1: one of these things that this is the NFL, this
Speaker 1: is this is not you know, this isn't intermural sports.
Speaker 1: You come in, you play, and we're here to win.
Speaker 1: We're here to win a Super Bowl, period. Yeah, last
Speaker 1: one for meat coach. In just terms of obviously keeping
Speaker 1: up with guys weight levels and things like that, maybe
Speaker 1: some guys got a high metabolism where they gotta just
Speaker 1: need a lot more and just keeping track of the
Speaker 1: diet situation with players, you know, because normally at the facility, hey,
Speaker 1: you can just go whip up a protein shaker or
Speaker 1: something like that and keep those calories coming. You know,
Speaker 1: how is that going from that standpoint with players. But
Speaker 1: Jen's doing a great job with that. Jen Gibson, our
Speaker 1: sports scientist dietitians, She's been on top of it. She's
Speaker 1: been staying in communication with guys. And it's the same
Speaker 1: thing as working out, same thing as getting your playbooks,
Speaker 1: same thing is shown up to your meetings on time,
Speaker 1: same thing as everything else. I mean, you got to
Speaker 1: you gotta keep your weight up. And again it all
Speaker 1: comes back to these guys are pros. These guys are pros.
Speaker 1: We have a great locker room, we have good leadership,
Speaker 1: we have a great locker room. We have guys, we
Speaker 1: have good chemistry. We have guys that hold each other
Speaker 1: accountable and that hold themselves accountable. So as long as
Speaker 1: our nucleus of guys is doing that, and the and
Speaker 1: the new free agents that we've brought in have have
Speaker 1: really added to that. And so if we can keep
Speaker 1: improving on that and just keep guys accountable, you know,
Speaker 1: when they show up, we should be able to just
Speaker 1: hit the ground, run and go. Jason, last question for me, also,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of times we hear Matt and
Speaker 1: Maggie bring up how this office will go from one
Speaker 1: oh one to two oh one. So when you first
Speaker 1: introduced to these athletes and these weightlifters this season, are
Speaker 1: you going to expect them to be at two oh one?
Speaker 1: So I mean what I'm saying, you're going to ask
Speaker 1: them to be in a position that you can kind
Speaker 1: of get into the weight room, get the strength where
Speaker 1: we hope and you're already building your own foundation. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think we can do that in our room.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's the smartest way to do it. Um.
Speaker 1: I have the luxury of being able to build up. UM.
Speaker 1: I have the luxury of being able to start a
Speaker 1: little bit slower and then and then add on as
Speaker 1: we go. The worst thing you want to do in
Speaker 1: the weight room is you want to put the pedal
Speaker 1: all the way down and then have to hit the brakes.
Speaker 1: If you have to hit the brakes in the weight room,
Speaker 1: chances are you've gone way too far and it's it's
Speaker 1: it's bad news. UM. So, when when it comes to
Speaker 1: the weight room and it comes to strength training, we
Speaker 1: want to make sure that that we start at a
Speaker 1: level where we're, you know, where we can compete, But
Speaker 1: we don't want to start blazing right away. We want
Speaker 1: to make sure that we give our guys time, we
Speaker 1: kind of figure out where they're at, and then as
Speaker 1: camp goes along, we can start adding to it and
Speaker 1: really get going. Then I would hope to be at
Speaker 1: two oh one by you know, by that first second,
Speaker 1: uh preseason game. His head strength and conditioning coach Jason,
Speaker 1: the scouts will let you go, but before we do.
Speaker 1: It's the craziest creative way some player on this roster
Speaker 1: has come up with a plan to get strong. Could
Speaker 1: be anything. Oh man, I don't know. I would I
Speaker 1: would have to go with U. I would have to
Speaker 1: go with sober putting together building his own uh squat
Speaker 1: rack in his garage. Just went to home depot and
Speaker 1: bought a bunch of wood and just built his own
Speaker 1: built his own gym essentially out of out of out
Speaker 1: of screws and boards, and he sent me a picture
Speaker 1: of it and it was really good. He's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's really innovative with carjacks and he uses those as
Speaker 1: his blocks and things to go off of. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, guys are coming up with all kinds of
Speaker 1: things and find all kinds of ways to do things.
Speaker 1: But I thought that was I thought that was pretty interesting.
Speaker 1: When he was doing we do a snatch of a
Speaker 1: snatch Exerciseman kept them come off of blocks obviously then
Speaker 1: that blocks and was using carjacks, and uh, it was
Speaker 1: actually it was actually pretty neat. I was like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I gotta start trying that my driveway too, you know so,
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, they they've got all kinds of
Speaker 1: interesting stuff, so it's it'll it'll be neat to find
Speaker 1: some of the stuff. Once they come back and we
Speaker 1: start talking to them about a lot of the different
Speaker 1: stuff they do. That, I think that a lot of
Speaker 1: that stuff will start coming out. Then. All right, who
Speaker 1: was that? Because I couldn't catch it? Eric Aubert, Oh, okay,
Speaker 1: the tight end? Very good? Yeah, all right, very good.
Speaker 1: Hey Jason, we could talk to you for an hour.
Speaker 1: Good stuff. We'll talk to you. Jason, the Scouzo head
Speaker 1: strength and conditioning coach for the Bears, back with Jim
Speaker 1: and Tim after this on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. Tide is offering free laundry services to the
Speaker 1: families of Chicago land frontline responders until the end of May.
Speaker 1: Visit Hope dot Tide cleaners dot Com to find a
Speaker 1: location nearest you, Jeff, Tim and Jim As. We had
Speaker 1: a great time talking to Jason Lescauzo and Lachievious. U
Speaker 1: also had an interview You this Week with Chance Yesterday
Speaker 1: about thirty minutes on the phone with former Bears person
Speaker 1: executive Right Graves thirty seven years in the NFL, thirteen
Speaker 1: with the Bears, he was their player personnel director and
Speaker 1: now executive director of Fritz Pollard Alliance, talking about the
Speaker 1: adjustments to the Rooney Rule on coaching and management diversity
Speaker 1: approved by NFL owners this week, but Right wanted to
Speaker 1: open the conversation with his own condolences to the McCaskey
Speaker 1: family on the passing on Saturday of seventy six year
Speaker 1: old Michael McCaskey. You know, I just want to say
Speaker 1: that given the period that we're going through, there stopped
Speaker 1: certainly a lot of other issues out there for many
Speaker 1: people who are as far more important than what we're
Speaker 1: dealing with in the National Football League. But I just
Speaker 1: want them to know that I remembered them, and certainly
Speaker 1: my hearts go out to you during these tough times.
Speaker 1: What impression did he leave on you? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: Mike actually gave me my first opportunity as an executive
Speaker 1: in a leadership role. I joined the Chicago Bears in
Speaker 1: the back in nineteen eighty four and I was working
Speaker 1: as a road scout, as an area scout, and he
Speaker 1: gave me the opportunity to elevate into a director of
Speaker 1: scouting position and then to become directive player personnel. I
Speaker 1: was one of the few African Americans who held that
Speaker 1: position during that time. So Mike was, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: a very open minded man, as I've known the rest
Speaker 1: of his family to be. He was kind, he was honest,
Speaker 1: certainly fair, and he encouraged me during my period when
Speaker 1: I was there, and I'm ever grateful for him for
Speaker 1: doing that. You were a scout and then you rose
Speaker 1: to your level as director of college scouting and then
Speaker 1: player personnel and then general manager of the Cardinals. You
Speaker 1: did climb that ladder. A lot of guys don't get
Speaker 1: that opportunity. Will this be a critical juncture? Really? National
Speaker 1: Football League putting teeth behind what they're talking about, Jeff,
Speaker 1: This is a monumental step that we saw yesterday, and
Speaker 1: yes it is long overdue. Some people may say with
Speaker 1: skepticism that it may not last or and others will say, well,
Speaker 1: we should have been focused on other things. But I
Speaker 1: will tell you this, we're better off today than we
Speaker 1: were yesterday in the National Football League. And because of
Speaker 1: the comprehensive nature of this program meanings, it spans into
Speaker 1: a number of different areas on the business side, on
Speaker 1: the football side, it addresses development, It addresses education biased training.
Speaker 1: It talks about opportunities at both the ground level and
Speaker 1: the executive level for growing careers and addressing the hiring
Speaker 1: practices which is stimied growth in the National Football League
Speaker 1: for so long. So from that standpoint, I see it
Speaker 1: as a great first step. But I you know, there
Speaker 1: are many parts to this process. You know, my group,
Speaker 1: the Fritz polit Alliance Task Force, has been working with
Speaker 1: the National Football League, particularly with a commissioner, with Art
Speaker 1: Rooney and Troy Vincent and others, going through a process
Speaker 1: over these last several months, and that process has entailed ideation,
Speaker 1: the formation of proposals. Yesterday we saw the adoption of
Speaker 1: some of those proposals and initiatives, but they also has
Speaker 1: to be a period of implementation, a period of evaluation
Speaker 1: and compliance, and then most importantly a period of adjustments,
Speaker 1: so because some of the things that they initially beyond
Speaker 1: the table we may render ineffective, and that we need
Speaker 1: to come up with stronger programs that really propel diversity.
Speaker 1: So you know, I prefer to look at yesterday as
Speaker 1: a great first step, but it's like getting through the
Speaker 1: first quarter of four quarters of football. We still got
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of game to play. Let
Speaker 1: me also point out for those fans that don't know,
Speaker 1: George mccowsky is a member of the Workplace Diversity Committee,
Speaker 1: a group of owners who have worked very hard to
Speaker 1: create and give blessing to many of the initiatives that
Speaker 1: were voted on and embrace yesterday. And so I applaud
Speaker 1: George for his work, and I have been told by
Speaker 1: those who are very close to the inner circle of
Speaker 1: that group that he has been a very strong advocate
Speaker 1: for diversity and improving the landscape for opportunities, and so, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, his work and the work of others, I
Speaker 1: think it has been important. But to your point, this
Speaker 1: group and the Commissioner has told us that this system
Speaker 1: is not only broken, but the current hiring system should
Speaker 1: not survive. And the bears in general, how do you
Speaker 1: feel they've done over the years. But I have always
Speaker 1: viewed the Bears as one of those clubs. Number One,
Speaker 1: I was very blessed to work with because of their
Speaker 1: attitude towards you know, minorities and opportunities. And you know,
Speaker 1: I can just tell you through my experience there that
Speaker 1: the mc caskeys treat me very well. It was a
Speaker 1: culture of having an open door and fair approach. And
Speaker 1: you know, and I have never said anything less than
Speaker 1: that when I've talked about my experience in the NFL,
Speaker 1: when it comes to the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 1: where you know, it was fortunate to work with two
Speaker 1: families who embraced me wholehearted me and encouraged my growth.
Speaker 1: And as an employee that that that's really the most
Speaker 1: that you can hope for is just be given the opportunity. Hey,
Speaker 1: you're even interviewing Rod Graves at this point in his career.
Speaker 1: Is it because he's been so successful? I remember Rod
Speaker 1: as a young man working for the Bears and paying
Speaker 1: his dues Because you know, one of the things that
Speaker 1: we're talked about as players is the relentless work ethic
Speaker 1: of a lot of scouts in this industry, the amount
Speaker 1: of hours they have to put in both of their
Speaker 1: personal time, they're traveling time, and how they investigate talent.
Speaker 1: Rod Graves is a perfect spokesman for what they're trying
Speaker 1: to develop here in the NFL because he is so successful. Jim, Well,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, how would the expansion of the
Speaker 1: rule one? If you get more candidates in front of owners.
Speaker 1: And I believe a lot of psychologists have touched in
Speaker 1: on this too, you are more than likely to hire
Speaker 1: because one you can compare the two candidates, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, incentivizing the draft it would have been a
Speaker 1: bad road to go down. I think everybody agreed with that.
Speaker 1: Even African American coaches have come out and said about
Speaker 1: that like anybody else and all of us in general,
Speaker 1: everybody just wants a level playing field. That's all they
Speaker 1: want in order to compete, and they want to earn
Speaker 1: it every step of the way. All right, fellas, that's
Speaker 1: all the time. We have great show tonight, Thank you, Jim,
Speaker 1: thank you Tom, thank you for listening, everybody. Thanks to
Speaker 1: our guests, the JVS Simmons, also Jason Lescalzo and you
Speaker 1: for listening. Sean Anderson. Thanks as always, this is bearzow Access,
Speaker 1: brought to you by GS Energy in Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score. Thanks for sitting to this Chicago
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