Speaker 1: Okay, Swaggy, Naggy, did you hear that this is gonna
Speaker 1: be fun? Let me tell you right now. So in sports,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what it is. In business, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter what it is. You know, when the leaders are
Speaker 1: on the same page, great things happen and there is
Speaker 1: buy in, there is conviction. And we've seen that from
Speaker 1: this group up here over the years, and certainly with
Speaker 1: Matt's arrival in twenty eighteen, and we saw dramatic wins,
Speaker 1: we saw near missus, we saw three wins in twelve
Speaker 1: days in the division in twenty eighteen, clinching the NFC
Speaker 1: North A division title went over the Packers. Yes to
Speaker 1: the painful exit from the playoffs, to the dawning of
Speaker 1: a new day and the grind set to begin again
Speaker 1: here in twenty nineteen, with high expectations and a new
Speaker 1: battle cry of chasing great We present your leaders here today, everybody.
Speaker 1: So let's dig into the conversation. Big Tom. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let you lead off right out of the gate. Well,
Speaker 1: between Ted and Ryan, the both the process of Matt
Speaker 1: and Aggie being here, could you just you know, talk
Speaker 1: about the process of how that plan started and that
Speaker 1: Momentum moved on type of the hiring process. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it's Ryan. It seems like you're thinking never stops, whether
Speaker 1: it's scouting players, watching games. And then when the investigative
Speaker 1: process of what we as Bears fans have been through
Speaker 1: for generations, how does that process start for you? I
Speaker 1: think you know, just with anything we do, player acquisition,
Speaker 1: and definitely a head coach, it was very, very thorough process. Uh,
Speaker 1: there's a tremendous amount of research that goes into that.
Speaker 1: So it's obviously references talking to coaches, scouts, players, agents,
Speaker 1: equipment guys. It was pretty in depth. Um. I remember
Speaker 1: watching pretty much any interview Matt's ever done, just to
Speaker 1: get a feel first personality, um, as we want into
Speaker 1: those interviews. UM, I was pretty sure the type of
Speaker 1: person he was, and I think Ted Can attested this too.
Speaker 1: Probably a couple of minutes into our interview with Matt,
Speaker 1: we knew pretty quickly that he was the going to
Speaker 1: be the head coach of the Chicago Bears and and
Speaker 1: so so to be honest, like, I'm this guy's a
Speaker 1: rock star, and I'm and I'm I'm I'm not, I
Speaker 1: haven't been surprised it hasn't surprised me, just because that's
Speaker 1: just who he is and we're really lucky to have
Speaker 1: him as our head coach. Yeah, it's so it's easy
Speaker 1: for me. I get to sit here with the executive
Speaker 1: of the year and the head coach of the year.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what I mean. Ryan Pace, when
Speaker 1: he decided it was time to make a coaching change,
Speaker 1: his detailed review analysis was beyond beyond approach. It was unbelievable,
Speaker 1: and the whole process, It's what was really nice is
Speaker 1: that he kind of knew that Matt might be the guy.
Speaker 1: And we were lucky enough because we had interviews with
Speaker 1: several different coaching candidates that Matt was the last one.
Speaker 1: So we went through some crazy times, including hair raising
Speaker 1: flights to New England and back. And when we got
Speaker 1: to Kansas City and we started interviewing Matt, I remember
Speaker 1: telling George and Ryan, I'm still waiting for one person
Speaker 1: to come in here and say I want to be
Speaker 1: the coach of the Chicago Bears and really mean it.
Speaker 1: Sure enough, first thing out of Matt's mouth was that,
Speaker 1: and then I think we all kind of felt because,
Speaker 1: like Ryan said, he knew what Matt was about as
Speaker 1: a person that this is the guy and what can
Speaker 1: you say, first year, twelve and four Coach of the Year.
Speaker 1: We love having you, Matt. It's almost like a dream,
Speaker 1: isn't it? For you? Yeah? It is. It's this just
Speaker 1: right here speaks. You get to see who these men are,
Speaker 1: and for me, it's completely a dream. But it's not
Speaker 1: a dream because I know it's real and I'm having fun.
Speaker 1: And so getting back to the interview. The day of
Speaker 1: the interview, the way I was going to approach it
Speaker 1: was to just let everything happen to way it's supposed
Speaker 1: to happen. And within five minutes of being in that
Speaker 1: hotel room with George, Ted and Ryan, it felt like family.
Speaker 1: And and for me, I knew right away that, um,
Speaker 1: this was my new home and this was my new family.
Speaker 1: And so now the rest was going to be on
Speaker 1: me just being able to show them who I am
Speaker 1: and let them, you know, feel that from me. And uh,
Speaker 1: it's just when you know something and you feel good
Speaker 1: about it, it's just so easy to just let your
Speaker 1: own personality show. And that's where I talk about being you.
Speaker 1: And from day one, I can honestly say the relationship
Speaker 1: that we have from the top with Missus McCaskey, the
Speaker 1: whole way down to the very bottom of whoever that
Speaker 1: is being all of us. We never changed and we're
Speaker 1: all here, and we're here for the betterment of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears and for the city of Chicago, for you fans,
Speaker 1: and we know there's only one reason really why we're
Speaker 1: all here, and it's time to do it. Ted, you've
Speaker 1: been a part of the Bears family since eighty three,
Speaker 1: So Ryan and Matt, I want to ask you this.
Speaker 1: Did you get a better understanding of family when you
Speaker 1: sat back there and you saw the generations of players
Speaker 1: that have come through the doors? Because look, when we
Speaker 1: are kids, we watch highlights of Butt Kiss, we know
Speaker 1: what Walter Payton is all about. But now you're handshaking
Speaker 1: with generations of players and then you see and you
Speaker 1: hear the passion from their voices. Do you get a
Speaker 1: better sense of the family of the Bears from meeting
Speaker 1: the generations of players? Without a doubt? And I'm going
Speaker 1: to show my youth here, which is going to be
Speaker 1: crazy to a lot of people out here, but the
Speaker 1: very first NFL game I ever remember was that Super
Speaker 1: Bowl against the Patriots. As crazy as that sound, and
Speaker 1: so I you know, things, things in life happened for
Speaker 1: a reason, and so for me, I was just like
Speaker 1: a little kid back there in that room when we
Speaker 1: got here on Friday night, just to be able to
Speaker 1: see the legacy of what these players have done from
Speaker 1: years and years and years ago. To sit back and
Speaker 1: just take it all in. It's it's surreal. You can't
Speaker 1: make it up. It's a night that all of us
Speaker 1: will never forget. So fortunate to be a part of
Speaker 1: the stories that we're being told. Umm, I'm really excited
Speaker 1: to tell you the truth on Monday tomorrow, to get
Speaker 1: in there with our our players and our coaches. I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to hear the stories that they got and
Speaker 1: what they took in and how it's going to affect
Speaker 1: them for this coming year. You feel it and it's real,
Speaker 1: and that's what I'm so you know, happy for you know,
Speaker 1: get up. I don't know, did you see or hurt
Speaker 1: here about the defensive line roundtable we had yesterday with
Speaker 1: a keeam. He was sitting right here and and they're
Speaker 1: we're talking about their careers, but they're bringing it all
Speaker 1: back to nineteen and they're talking to a cheam and
Speaker 1: he brought the house down. He was ready to play,
Speaker 1: he was ready to go, and he said, I accept
Speaker 1: your challenge. Is that's all he said as a mic drop.
Speaker 1: Place went crazy. So that to the team tomorrow, and
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things that a lot of
Speaker 1: us saw back there, we kind of stood back. But
Speaker 1: Friday night, we were back in the room and in
Speaker 1: the back left corner with no one really paying attention
Speaker 1: to scept for everybody. We were all looking and Richard
Speaker 1: Dent and Khalil Mack and Richard Dent trying to help
Speaker 1: Khalil on some different techniques that he could do coming
Speaker 1: off the edge, and we were all watching it. And
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, Khalil is sitting there taking it all
Speaker 1: in and it was pretty cool because this is what
Speaker 1: it's all about. It's about learning from some of the
Speaker 1: greatest that I've ever come through here. And you know,
Speaker 1: the players that we have are such good, high character
Speaker 1: people that they don't ever think that they got all
Speaker 1: the answers we have. We have a really a lot
Speaker 1: of good players, good people, and now it's we're all
Speaker 1: trying to mix it put it together. I think Matt
Speaker 1: recommended a book that we're reading right now called Legacy,
Speaker 1: and it's about the New Zealand all blacks and they're
Speaker 1: rich history. And I think about us in Chicago and
Speaker 1: it's it's really a competitive advantage for us to have
Speaker 1: the history that we have, because not many sports franchises
Speaker 1: can say this. So when we're back there and you
Speaker 1: see our players and our coaches and our staff interacting
Speaker 1: with all these great people, um to me, it just
Speaker 1: puts this sense of responsibility on yourself. You know, you
Speaker 1: want to leave our players want to leave the jersey
Speaker 1: in a better place than they found it. You know,
Speaker 1: I think of you know, Matt's talking to coach Ditka,
Speaker 1: we talked about George Hallis. I think about Jim Finks.
Speaker 1: I mean, we can go on and on and on
Speaker 1: about the history of the Bears and it just makes
Speaker 1: you so proud to be part of this. But then
Speaker 1: this tremendous responsibility to carry it on for those guys.
Speaker 1: Did it did it hit you hard? Friday night? Did
Speaker 1: it really you personally? It really did? I think it
Speaker 1: sinks in and you know, I mean for us, for
Speaker 1: Matt and I had to sit back there and talk
Speaker 1: to Coach Ditka for forty five minutes. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that's a highlight. That's huge, and and just just to
Speaker 1: feel it and see our we have a young team
Speaker 1: right now, and to see them, look at these players
Speaker 1: and see what this city can be like with success.
Speaker 1: Is we get this thing rolling. I think that's a
Speaker 1: contagious energy that those guys feel, and it's awesome for
Speaker 1: all of us to experience. I have to say so,
Speaker 1: being with the Bears for thirty six years, Friday night
Speaker 1: was so special. In that back room, there were players
Speaker 1: there who haven't been back for twenty years. One of
Speaker 1: my favorite players, Neil Anderson. Okay for those who do that,
Speaker 1: don't know. He replaced at the He was the successor
Speaker 1: at running back to Walter Payton, huge huge shoes to fill.
Speaker 1: And to see him there, he had his family, one
Speaker 1: of the most genuine, smiling Bearer players who just loves
Speaker 1: the Bears. It was so special. Tell you a quick story.
Speaker 1: A couple of years ago, on Draft Day, before the
Speaker 1: draft got started, one of our scouts, Jeff Shiver, was
Speaker 1: emailing someone and I said, what are you doing. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm emailing Neil Anderson and I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I said, I haven't talked to him for fifteen years.
Speaker 1: I emailed him two weeks later at home, I get
Speaker 1: a box of peanuts because he owns peanut farms in Florida.
Speaker 1: And I mean, that's the kind of I tell you that,
Speaker 1: because that's the kind of players we have at the Bears.
Speaker 1: They never forget you. They love, they love coming back
Speaker 1: here talking to each other, talking to the staff, and
Speaker 1: it was just so special for me. So, you know,
Speaker 1: to amplify about Neil Anderson, He's a first round draft
Speaker 1: choice out of University of Florida running back to takeover
Speaker 1: for Walter, So his first year there, he's Walter still there.
Speaker 1: Neil Anderson came to the Bears nothing, he was against it.
Speaker 1: He was the greatest special teams player on punt team
Speaker 1: yes we've ever had. He was unblockable, unstoppable, and he
Speaker 1: would deliver punishing tackles. And it was more of his
Speaker 1: respect for the team that he was drafted by and
Speaker 1: what he was willing to do. And I think it's
Speaker 1: neat because we are up here talking to a couple
Speaker 1: of Bears players when they come to the new Hollis
Speaker 1: Hall and they start in their locker room down field
Speaker 1: in earning your way up those stairs, earning your locker.
Speaker 1: It's important. It was important back in the old Hollis Hall.
Speaker 1: We are all in one hallway together, all in these
Speaker 1: crappy metal lockers. But then you when you earn your opportunity.
Speaker 1: And that's a unique thing about guys like Neil and
Speaker 1: the other players, is they are concerned about earning their
Speaker 1: opportunity onto the field and ted in your position. I mean,
Speaker 1: as you said, you've been here for thirty six years.
Speaker 1: At beginning your thirty seventh year, you know who brought
Speaker 1: you into the organization. Why did you want to be
Speaker 1: in sports and having those relationships as a negotiator for
Speaker 1: the early part of your career. That wasn't always easy
Speaker 1: to have those relationships that you reknew here in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: So in nineteen eighty three, I was hired by Jerry Venissi,
Speaker 1: who had just become the general manager of the Bears
Speaker 1: after Jim Finks left. So he hired me as the
Speaker 1: financial person. There's I mean, I can take up the
Speaker 1: rest of the time with negotiations stories if you want,
Speaker 1: just give us your best of all time. So I'll
Speaker 1: give you a couple of snippets. So nineteen eighty seven
Speaker 1: I started negotiating player contracts for the Bears. Jim Harbaugh
Speaker 1: was our first number one pick, so I spent hours
Speaker 1: being really detailed preparing for that negotiation. His agent at
Speaker 1: the time was Lee Steinberg, at the time considered the
Speaker 1: number one quarterback agent in the business. They were in California.
Speaker 1: I was in Platteville, Wisconsin, so there was a three
Speaker 1: hour time. Friends and those guys, purposely they knew I
Speaker 1: was a rookie, would call me at eight at night
Speaker 1: their time to start negotiating, so I'd be on the
Speaker 1: phone from eleven pm till three am. One day they
Speaker 1: finally came to Platteville. They came in with squirt guns
Speaker 1: and squirted me with water to try to lessen the attention.
Speaker 1: So I still love Jim Harbaught of this day because
Speaker 1: he was my first number one pick. But there's one
Speaker 1: negotiation which stands out for me. I think it was
Speaker 1: about nineteen eighty nine, and it was with Steve McMichael.
Speaker 1: But understand it wasn't with his agent at the end.
Speaker 1: It was with him. So you know, you've probably saw
Speaker 1: Steve this weekend. He slimmed down. But back then he
Speaker 1: was about probably three hundred pounds. His biceps were bigger
Speaker 1: than my head. And we sat for a negotiation at
Speaker 1: one point and we were I wasn't any further away
Speaker 1: from him, probably closer than Tom is to me, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't going well. And he had that long, stringy
Speaker 1: hair and that Texas drawl, and he looked at me
Speaker 1: near the end and he said, ted, you know what
Speaker 1: I'd like to do to you when this negotiation is over.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm about thirty one years old, so I'm trying
Speaker 1: to maintain composure. And I took a deep breath. I
Speaker 1: was scared to death. Inside my heart was pounding, and
Speaker 1: I just said, matter of factly, now, Steve, what he said,
Speaker 1: I'd like to punch you right in the face. So
Speaker 1: I didn't end the negotiation there because he probably would
Speaker 1: have it ended a few days later, he stayed a
Speaker 1: bear and to this day, whenever I see him, gives
Speaker 1: me a big bear hug. Again. That's the kind of bit.
Speaker 1: And he hasn't hit me yet. Ryan, Hey's I got
Speaker 1: hit in the face with him at a lot of times. Ryan,
Speaker 1: how about your path to where you started? You set
Speaker 1: your sights and where you're at in this chair today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think. You know, It's what's interesting is when you
Speaker 1: talk about how really all three of us started. We
Speaker 1: all have our stories. And you know, Matt was doing
Speaker 1: a ninety mile drive from Mannheim to the Eagles Complex
Speaker 1: at four in the morning, and you know, I know
Speaker 1: talking to Ted. You know, he took the reins of
Speaker 1: contract negotiations with the Bears when the Bears needed it
Speaker 1: and he had never done it before. And then for me,
Speaker 1: it was two thousand and one driving down to New
Speaker 1: Orleans and standing in the the line of the job fair
Speaker 1: for a couple hours and walking in the door and
Speaker 1: telling them I'll work for free. That's you know, we
Speaker 1: all kind of have our story on how we started,
Speaker 1: but I think all those experiences have molded us into
Speaker 1: who we are now. And I just think you have
Speaker 1: an appreciation for every single person in the building. I
Speaker 1: think it keeps you humble and operating with humility and
Speaker 1: just really proud of where we're at now, because you know,
Speaker 1: it's a tough road up in many respects, and we
Speaker 1: all do it to a certain extent, but all three
Speaker 1: of you, you bet on yourselves, you bet on yourselves,
Speaker 1: that you would climb whatever ladders put in front of you.
Speaker 1: Obviously you had to have people helping you along the way,
Speaker 1: but in large respect, you had to dig deep and
Speaker 1: do it yourself. Would that characterize the three of you?
Speaker 1: Is that possibly why you guys get along so well,
Speaker 1: and why you picked him to be your general manager
Speaker 1: and why you guys chose Matt Neeggie to be your
Speaker 1: head coach. You have to believe in yourself. Like Ryan
Speaker 1: pointed out, I had never negotiated contracts in my life.
Speaker 1: I was thirty years old and I will always be
Speaker 1: thankful to a man and the Bears organization named Bill McGrain.
Speaker 1: He used to he used to run our headquarter operations,
Speaker 1: our travel and he was really eyes. He had come
Speaker 1: into the Bears from Minnesota with Jim Finks in the seventies.
Speaker 1: He's since passed away, and I'll never forget him encouraging
Speaker 1: me to go to Mike McCaskey in eighty seven after
Speaker 1: Jerry Venisi had been let go, and he said, ted,
Speaker 1: you can do this, and I was scared out of
Speaker 1: my mind, but I did it. I thought to myself,
Speaker 1: you know what if you don't take a chance on yourself,
Speaker 1: who's going to do it for you? And it worked
Speaker 1: out great. I am so thankful and blessed to be
Speaker 1: a bear every day, never had a bad day, never
Speaker 1: have a difficult day coming to work. I'm in the
Speaker 1: NFL with the best franchise in the business. When you
Speaker 1: decided you wanted to be a general manager and you
Speaker 1: were going to go for it, and you interviewed for
Speaker 1: this job, did you already have an idea of what
Speaker 1: type of player you wanted to bring into the building
Speaker 1: or did you tailor it to fit the mold of
Speaker 1: the history of this franchise, Because a lot of what
Speaker 1: you do reflects the history of this franchise. I think, Jeff,
Speaker 1: when you're fortunate enough to get a job like this,
Speaker 1: the first step is you know there's going to be
Speaker 1: a lot of heavy lifting. You know they don't they
Speaker 1: come available for a reason, so you know what you're
Speaker 1: going into. And for me, I just had confidence that
Speaker 1: as long as we had time, we could slowly turn
Speaker 1: this culture, starting with our staff and then the right
Speaker 1: kind of players. And it's an emphasis for us and
Speaker 1: Matt and I talked about it every single day, and
Speaker 1: I think now that we have our culture kind of
Speaker 1: dialed in. We're even more conscious on who we're bringing
Speaker 1: into our locker room. And it really starts there. But
Speaker 1: I think it's a combination of your past experiences, what
Speaker 1: you've seen succeed for me in New Orleans, going from
Speaker 1: Katrina to a Super Bowl in two thousand and nine
Speaker 1: and seeing how that transpired, and then coming to Chicago
Speaker 1: and knowing what this organization stands for, with this city
Speaker 1: stands for what will make our fans proud. And we're
Speaker 1: very conscious about his scouts in the draft room and
Speaker 1: free agency to make sure we're hitting on all those traits.
Speaker 1: And I think we get better and better each year
Speaker 1: as we refine that. Matt. I think it's admirable and
Speaker 1: cool what you did on the first snap against the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. The T formation. Papa Bear left a
Speaker 1: lot of coaches, Honestly, a lot of coaches, and you know,
Speaker 1: I've been covering sports for thirty three years. Some are
Speaker 1: real stubborn. They just want to do what they want
Speaker 1: to do. They don't they don't think about the bigger picture.
Speaker 1: You think about the bigger picture. You tethered to this
Speaker 1: franchise already deep deep into it from from day one.
Speaker 1: Is that a conscious decision or is it just the
Speaker 1: best way to relate. No, it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 1: I think you're crazy if you don't do that. Actually,
Speaker 1: that's the way I look at it. I mean, for us,
Speaker 1: we as coaches and our players, we kind of sprinkled
Speaker 1: in and let them know when we first got here
Speaker 1: last year, we explained how richest tradition is and what
Speaker 1: it's all about. And they're they're how fortunate you need
Speaker 1: to feel to be in this position, all of us,
Speaker 1: and so, um, that was a way to tell our fans,
Speaker 1: our city, our organization, thank you, We respect you, and
Speaker 1: we're looking to carry the torch. And and so there'll
Speaker 1: be a lot more of those coming. Don't worry. Those
Speaker 1: are fun. Those are fun. Um, They're they're fun when
Speaker 1: they work. Um coming up with names. You know, we're
Speaker 1: taking names from everybody right now, all over the place.
Speaker 1: But the guys remember it, and uh, but we we
Speaker 1: uh you know, we're we're trying to have fun with
Speaker 1: the players. And then you know, you go back and
Speaker 1: we have film from back into forties. We have the
Speaker 1: film and there's some there's some stuff that's pretty neat
Speaker 1: and uh, a matter of fact, we found a play
Speaker 1: that was dark near identical to the result going to
Speaker 1: the left and the popa bear left that we ran
Speaker 1: against Green Bay last year for the same amount for
Speaker 1: the same gain of seven yards on first down. So
Speaker 1: those those are they signify who we are as fun.
Speaker 1: I just have to add, if you guys could see
Speaker 1: how these two gentlemen worked together seamlessly in the office,
Speaker 1: you'd be so proud of him. And the results are showing.
Speaker 1: But every day they have such a great working relationship.
Speaker 1: And I have to add, when Ryan Pace interviewed, he
Speaker 1: knocked it out of the park. Okay, George and I
Speaker 1: wanted to hire him on the spot. However, we had
Speaker 1: one more interview to go and it was with an
Speaker 1: internal candidate who actually now is the general manager of
Speaker 1: the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Ballard. So he's a really fine man.
Speaker 1: But we forced ourselves to go through that interview and
Speaker 1: then when it ended, if I'm not mistaken, we called
Speaker 1: Ryan and said you got to come back here now.
Speaker 1: So that's that's it's a kind of person he is.
Speaker 1: He was so well prepared. You can feel when he
Speaker 1: talks about the team, the fire and the passion and
Speaker 1: the competitive the competitiveness that he has and Matt has
Speaker 1: all of it as well. They're authentic guys. Love them both.
Speaker 1: I want to second that with Uh. I want to
Speaker 1: second Ted. And you know, as the head coach, you
Speaker 1: get all the credit when you win. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody needs to understand what Ted just said. How fortunate
Speaker 1: we are to have Ryan Pace as our general manager.
Speaker 1: He's behind the scenes and you want to talk about
Speaker 1: a rock star, he's the rock star and and so
Speaker 1: Uh and he'll he'll never tell you that, He'll one.
Speaker 1: The one thing about Ryan is he'll he'll never ever
Speaker 1: ever tell you that because he's one of the most
Speaker 1: humble people I've ever met in my entire life. And
Speaker 1: it's just that's what it's all about. And when you
Speaker 1: have that, UM, good things normally happen. And we're in
Speaker 1: that right now. I'm lucky as heck to be his partner.
Speaker 1: And you know, we always say will either if there's
Speaker 1: times we'll agree to disagree, but there's not very many
Speaker 1: of those, and we're in this scene together and I
Speaker 1: just want to say thank you. I mean, because we're
Speaker 1: in a good spot right now. I gotta left the applause. So, Matt,
Speaker 1: I have a question for you. So I was raised
Speaker 1: by the Chicago Bears, that type of run the ball football.
Speaker 1: My last year in the NFL, I went to the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins purposely to play there for a year and
Speaker 1: sitting meetings with Don Shula and learn a different aspect
Speaker 1: of football. In your background, you have a great deal
Speaker 1: of experiencing the arena league, and I've seen you go
Speaker 1: out to practice and throw one on one's in steven practice.
Speaker 1: How does that type of education into football translate to
Speaker 1: the modern day game that seems to be not arena
Speaker 1: league ish, but getting the ball out of the quarterback's
Speaker 1: hands and the development of Mitchell Travisky, how does that
Speaker 1: translate to here? Ye, Tom, I think the number of
Speaker 1: the thing that it does the most for me with
Speaker 1: our players is probably the quarterback position. I played quarterback
Speaker 1: in it. Everything happens a lot quicker. Um, look at that.
Speaker 1: That's a that's a bad release. Bad break it down?
Speaker 1: Break down that release? Yeah, you know, just okay, I
Speaker 1: hope it's a completion. Yeah, there we go on, Kyle Fuller,
Speaker 1: I will let yeah fire there it is. Uh, there's
Speaker 1: more of that to come in Bourbon at this year. Um.
Speaker 1: But it's it's uh, it's good. It's all about it.
Speaker 1: We call them anticipatory throws, throwing the ball on time.
Speaker 1: And in the Arena League the fields half the size,
Speaker 1: so the ball's got to come out quick, and so
Speaker 1: our guys use that and our coaches use it. But
Speaker 1: the other part of it, too is just with some
Speaker 1: of the um the choices that you can give to
Speaker 1: the wide receivers with their adjustments within their routes in
Speaker 1: a play, and you have to do that a lot
Speaker 1: in Arena League. But other than that, there's no walls
Speaker 1: to be hit over or get you know, throwing footballs
Speaker 1: into the stands after a touchdown per se all the
Speaker 1: time in the end zone, falling over walls. But it
Speaker 1: was fun, it was good. Let's talk Mitch Trobiski. In
Speaker 1: the Centennial scrapbook, which we just discussed, there's scouting reports
Speaker 1: in there, the original scouting reports of Brian Urlacher and
Speaker 1: reading about Bill Tobin, Jim Finks and how I put
Speaker 1: together that nineteen eighty three draft. Amazing stuff. Take us
Speaker 1: behind the scenes a little bit when he first got
Speaker 1: on your radar, and how you how you started to
Speaker 1: begin the scouting of miss Trubisky and why he's a
Speaker 1: Bear today. I think Jeff, with any of the players
Speaker 1: that were drafting, it really starts for their area scouts. First,
Speaker 1: they're they're the first boots on the ground. They kind
Speaker 1: of get these guys on the radar, and then it
Speaker 1: trickles down to all of us. So for me, you know,
Speaker 1: it was probably mid season that year. I saw him
Speaker 1: live in the sun Bowl and you're trying to keep
Speaker 1: these things quiet, especially with the quarterback position. But you
Speaker 1: fast forward to as we get sort of the draft,
Speaker 1: and I think you know how we operate, and it's
Speaker 1: when you have conviction. It's there's a no regrets mindset
Speaker 1: we all live by. Matt lives by it. When you
Speaker 1: have conviction on somebody, you know, let's make this work,
Speaker 1: let's make this happen. We applied it to Mitchum, we
Speaker 1: applied it to Kleil Mack. We can go on and
Speaker 1: on on these decisions we made. I just don't want
Speaker 1: to ever look back when this is all said and done.
Speaker 1: And so man, we felt it, we had it in
Speaker 1: our gut, and we didn't act. We're gonna be responsible
Speaker 1: with how we do this, but there's a no regrets mindset.
Speaker 1: And I think Mitch is an example that Ryan you said,
Speaker 1: he you said, he came on your radar about mid season.
Speaker 1: Is that is that unique in the time of coming
Speaker 1: onto your radar or is your radar kind of shrink
Speaker 1: as time goes on? Yeah, Tom, it shrinks this time
Speaker 1: goes on. David Montgomery would be a good example this
Speaker 1: year too. Um. I always I always like to ask
Speaker 1: our scouts, tell me a player, tell me the player
Speaker 1: in your area that you had the most can addiction on.
Speaker 1: And it could be in the first round, all right,
Speaker 1: it might be in the seventh round. Tell me a
Speaker 1: guy you have the most conviction on. Because those guys
Speaker 1: have been going to that school for years and they
Speaker 1: have a really good feel for that and I really
Speaker 1: value our scout's opinions. And then it just goes from there,
Speaker 1: you know, and they narrowed down. For me, the ability
Speaker 1: to go see those guys alive helps a lot when
Speaker 1: I'm able to get out. Um. But I think that's
Speaker 1: how that's how it all happens. And then of course
Speaker 1: you go there's the combine and the we go visit
Speaker 1: him at his school and the thirty visits and there's
Speaker 1: a thorough, you know, hard working process. But that's that's
Speaker 1: how it kind of went down with Mitch Matt How
Speaker 1: proud are you are of him taking the reins like
Speaker 1: he has and a year ago he kind of set
Speaker 1: the tone we are going to win. I don't know when,
Speaker 1: but it's going to happen. It was like the stamp
Speaker 1: from your quarterback and they did. Yeah, it's a it's
Speaker 1: an amazing challenge that we put in front of him
Speaker 1: last year coming here. It's funny. I was just going
Speaker 1: through our our playbook, our training camp playbook from last
Speaker 1: year at this time, and I said to our to
Speaker 1: Helfrich and Ragone, I said, it's crazy how much we
Speaker 1: put in that last year at this time. We threw
Speaker 1: a lot at him and he handled it all. Our
Speaker 1: players handled it all offensively and didn't blink, and they
Speaker 1: understood that we were going to try to see how
Speaker 1: much they could digest and in somebody, like in the
Speaker 1: quarterback position, when you have all these different responsibilities that
Speaker 1: you have between calling to play, getting up to line scrimmage,
Speaker 1: seeing the defense, making a throw, leading your players, telling
Speaker 1: them how to you know how to play there's a
Speaker 1: lot on your plate. He never once ever fired back
Speaker 1: or got got so frustrated to the point to where
Speaker 1: he broke, And that was a testament to Mitch. And
Speaker 1: so he knows we have his back, he knows how
Speaker 1: much we believe in him. He knows we're gonna go
Speaker 1: as far as he goes and that and he wants that.
Speaker 1: And I'm just saying, right now, we are in such
Speaker 1: a great spot with this kid as a leader of
Speaker 1: our offense and the leader of our team. I'm so
Speaker 1: excited to see where he's about to take this thing
Speaker 1: here as we go in training camp, and I'm just
Speaker 1: I feel very fortunate. Ted. As we are sitting at
Speaker 1: a draft event that night, the commissioner comes to the
Speaker 1: podium and he says there's been a trade, And the
Speaker 1: anticipation seemed like it was an hour long, but it
Speaker 1: was only seconds. When was that information transferred to you
Speaker 1: and go? And Ryan saying, Hey, this is the guy
Speaker 1: we're looking at and we're jumping up to get him. Well,
Speaker 1: that's one of the special traits that Ryan has. And
Speaker 1: it makes me I'll answer that question this way. It
Speaker 1: makes me reflect a little. None of us have met
Speaker 1: George Hallis. I started four weeks before George Hallis died.
Speaker 1: But when I think about some of the stories that
Speaker 1: Ed in Virginia, McCaskey family and others have told me
Speaker 1: about George Hallis, I think he would appreciate the risk taking,
Speaker 1: the making tough decisions, doing things that are in the
Speaker 1: best interests of the club, and having passion for it
Speaker 1: and all of that. Ryan said, Ted, I just want
Speaker 1: you to know, Trubisky's our guy. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: action and if we need to trade up one spot,
Speaker 1: we're gonna do it. And I love that. If you
Speaker 1: don't take risks like that, when you know you found
Speaker 1: your leader for the future, you gotta go get him
Speaker 1: whatever it takes. And he did that. You know if
Speaker 1: it's interesting because when you read the scrapbook of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears and you looked at some of the people
Speaker 1: that they did miss or pass up on at the quarterback, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it made the Bears fans when you see
Speaker 1: the dedication of Mitchell Trubisky, it makes everybody more encouraged
Speaker 1: and excited about the decision made and what Mitchell Trubisky's
Speaker 1: future can be. Well, every team's chasing quarterback. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's the bottom line. It has to be. You
Speaker 1: gotta find one. Yeah. The other thing too, that sometimes
Speaker 1: I don't think many people other than the city here understands.
Speaker 1: I've been around a lot of quarterbacks in my life.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you right now. You want to talk
Speaker 1: about blue collar tough, This kid is tough, and he's
Speaker 1: in there trying to lift weights with the old lineman.
Speaker 1: He's in there trying and we got pulp, Mitch, you
Speaker 1: can't do that. We gotta we got a shoulder right here.
Speaker 1: We gotta protect. But this kid is he's dirty, tough,
Speaker 1: and we love that about him. They're every single player
Speaker 1: on our team will go to bat for him and
Speaker 1: understand how lucky we are. And when you have that
Speaker 1: toughness with the skill set that he has as a
Speaker 1: passer and as a leader and and everything else that
Speaker 1: he does, he's He's one hundred percent football, one hundred
Speaker 1: percent of the time. And I love that about him. Ryan.
Speaker 1: It just occurred to me, And don't you love these
Speaker 1: folks the best. I mean, they're jacked up. We love
Speaker 1: this passion, love it. So it occurs to me because
Speaker 1: it's so easy in sports, and certainly in today's world
Speaker 1: with every medium out there, in the in the social realm,
Speaker 1: everybody plays general manager, everybody plays fantasy football. In their mind,
Speaker 1: oh you know he should do this, they should do this.
Speaker 1: You make these decisions with in a billion dollar industry.
Speaker 1: You ever had any of these decisions over time, these
Speaker 1: quiet moments of reflection for yourself? Man, am I gonna
Speaker 1: do this? Like? Is this? Is this actually the right
Speaker 1: thing that? I mean, what are those moments like for you?
Speaker 1: And we can talk about kellil Mack also making that decision.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you're having just private Ryan pace time,
Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, I never want to just
Speaker 1: say me. You know, it's us and when we make
Speaker 1: these decisions, we're making these decisions together, and so you're
Speaker 1: only as good as the people around you. So it's
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a team effort when we make these decisions,
Speaker 1: and you know, ultimately we're pulling the sugar together. But again,
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of people that maybe can
Speaker 1: go through life and I discourage our scouts from doing this,
Speaker 1: of not wanting to make decisions riding the fence, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's easy to do that to really be successful,
Speaker 1: you got to be willing to make hard decisions. You know,
Speaker 1: are you Are you gonna be one hundred percent all
Speaker 1: the time? You know, maybe not, but hopefully you're going
Speaker 1: to learn from those moments when you aren't. And I
Speaker 1: feel like we've done that over the years. But we're
Speaker 1: not afraid to make decisions. We'll ignore the media narrative
Speaker 1: and do what's right for the Bears. And that's what
Speaker 1: it all comes down to, what's best for the Bears.
Speaker 1: So the Cleo Mac decision. I remember driving home that
Speaker 1: night we knew what was done, and going to bed
Speaker 1: that night and late and thinking, you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: wake up tomorrow morning and this thing is gonna be huge,
Speaker 1: and and really not knowing. Let me just cut in
Speaker 1: real quick. He was jamming the whole way home, the
Speaker 1: Return of the Mac. Did you sleep, Ryan, did you
Speaker 1: sleep at all that night? Yeah? It's it's funny. So
Speaker 1: I walk in. It was Stephanie, but my wife is
Speaker 1: still was still awake, and uh, she's sitting on the
Speaker 1: couch and I walk in and uh it's late, and
Speaker 1: she goes, how was work? And I said, you know,
Speaker 1: how was your day? I said it was good. We
Speaker 1: got clear mack and and she's and uh but but no,
Speaker 1: I didn't sleep. There's just so much in that was
Speaker 1: there was so much build up to that, and we
Speaker 1: can talk about how that whole thing unfolded, but there
Speaker 1: was so much build up and so much collaboration and
Speaker 1: so many hurdles we overcame along the way. Um. But
Speaker 1: still when it's about to happen, I mean, we're all human.
Speaker 1: You're you're you're a little nervous, you're you know, you're
Speaker 1: a little tense about it. Um. But it's been obviously
Speaker 1: it's been outstanding. But in terms ted checking all the
Speaker 1: boxes to finish it was in a very small time frame.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's no room for error. Really, yeah, it
Speaker 1: there wasn't. But you know, Ryan did a great job
Speaker 1: of being prepared, being transparent. We talked through like why
Speaker 1: this guy was a different maker. And that night when
Speaker 1: it was done, I had about one hundred and forty
Speaker 1: million dollars one hundred and forty million reasons in my
Speaker 1: head like oh my god, what are we doing this for?
Speaker 1: You know, what what a what a pick? What a
Speaker 1: what a what a decision? And could you have picked
Speaker 1: the best first game for him to have. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be better this year with a training camp with Matt. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The other part of that too, is is what we
Speaker 1: all need to understand is you have It's it's like
Speaker 1: you said about fantasy. You have we can make decisions,
Speaker 1: but then you also have to be able to have
Speaker 1: the okay from management right and from ownership to say,
Speaker 1: you know what, you got our backing, you have our support.
Speaker 1: And we had that and not every city and not
Speaker 1: every organization will give that to their head coach and
Speaker 1: general manager. We have that here, So I think we
Speaker 1: need to all understand that they had a good So
Speaker 1: and Ryan said it earlier, but when we we talk
Speaker 1: about big decisions internally, we always say no regrets. When
Speaker 1: you can say that to yourself, you can sleep well
Speaker 1: at night and go forward. The other part of it
Speaker 1: is and it's culture. So yes, this is Khalil Mack. Okay,
Speaker 1: do we really know what he is? His person out?
Speaker 1: Is he gonna fit chemistry wise? He's a great player,
Speaker 1: one of the premier pass rushers in football, So you
Speaker 1: have to dig that out too, But then you don't.
Speaker 1: He's got it's got to filter into the lockerable is
Speaker 1: he accepted. But he's your hardest worker or one of
Speaker 1: your hardest workers that fit. I would say this. We
Speaker 1: did obviously a tremendous amount of research on him. You
Speaker 1: know what the type of player is. He's young, he
Speaker 1: plays a premier position. But when you're talking about his
Speaker 1: makeup and his work ethic and all those things that
Speaker 1: he that he embodies, that's even exceeded expectations for us.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is the hardest worker on our team.
Speaker 1: You see it in the weight room, you see it
Speaker 1: every single day. So when our players are watching Khalil Mack,
Speaker 1: you arguably the best defensive player in the NFL work
Speaker 1: like that, it trickles down to our whole roster. So
Speaker 1: he's definitely been a multiplier and even exceeded expectations on
Speaker 1: that level, which has been awesome. You know. Within the
Speaker 1: new culture of the Bears, um Ted and I both
Speaker 1: started at two fifty North Washington, one hundred thousand square
Speaker 1: foot a pure football pleasure. Now it's now it's a
Speaker 1: Hallis Hall campus. And I think that and that a
Speaker 1: part that's an important part of the culture of the
Speaker 1: Bears and how the players accept it. Ted, how would
Speaker 1: did that venture start and how has it filtered through
Speaker 1: the team, the meetings and the players. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: we had been at Hallis Hall for the current Hollise
Speaker 1: Hall for twenty years and Ryan and I started talking
Speaker 1: and he's got such a he loves work, looking to
Speaker 1: the future. Um, you know, he's a he's a top
Speaker 1: athlete himself, and he's always looking for that edge. How
Speaker 1: do we get that extra one two percent edge over
Speaker 1: someone else? And all of a sudden, it kind of
Speaker 1: we looked and we decided, Wow, we can actually fit
Speaker 1: this facility on our campus, and we need to do
Speaker 1: it for the team. We had done it for offices
Speaker 1: and as the staff grew, but to expand and make
Speaker 1: it a first class experience, a work environment for the
Speaker 1: players and the coaches and the scouts, that's what drove it.
Speaker 1: And I think we have a headquarters now that's second
Speaker 1: to none and that'll lead us. You know, It's it's
Speaker 1: great today celebrating the first hundred years, but part of
Speaker 1: my job, Ryan's job, match job, is how do we
Speaker 1: start that next hundred years off the right way. We've
Speaker 1: got the team, we've got the GM and the coach,
Speaker 1: we've got the facilities, so we're ready to go. Ryan,
Speaker 1: when you that whole idea, the inception of that idea,
Speaker 1: and then you see the end result for US alumni,
Speaker 1: it's as impressive as a facility as you can see
Speaker 1: anywhere around the country, around the world in sports. Is
Speaker 1: it equally as impressive to you at this point? It's
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys know how much of a passion
Speaker 1: this is for us, And every single day pulling up
Speaker 1: right now, you have such a sense of pride when
Speaker 1: you pull up to the building because of our team
Speaker 1: and our staff and then now our facility, and for
Speaker 1: the Matt McCaskey family to allow us to do that,
Speaker 1: and really with George and Ted leading the charge and
Speaker 1: making this happens, it's been a dream come true. And
Speaker 1: I think one of the things advantages we have Scouts
Speaker 1: is we're on the road and you see all these
Speaker 1: top college facilities and you can see how high those
Speaker 1: are going. And the NFL is doing it now too.
Speaker 1: So we went out and we visited you know what, seven, eight, nine,
Speaker 1: ten places, and with the college facilities, you have to differentiate. Okay,
Speaker 1: this is for flash and recruiting for an eighteen year
Speaker 1: old kid, and they got fifteen different jerseys for us,
Speaker 1: it was okay, what can we take that from these
Speaker 1: facilities that functionally helps us win games? Like, how does
Speaker 1: this make our players better? And that's what we've done.
Speaker 1: And when our players walk in that building, there's such
Speaker 1: a sense of pride from them too, like our organization
Speaker 1: is reinvesting in us to make us better athletes. And
Speaker 1: you can see it throughout the building, our staff, our
Speaker 1: draft room, or the coaches offices. You can feel it
Speaker 1: and it just it just gives you such support to
Speaker 1: succeed for this franchise. Man, what is the feedback from
Speaker 1: players about this unbelievable facility? And folks, it's spectacular. The
Speaker 1: pictures don't do it justice now that they understand completely
Speaker 1: what they're dealing with. And we made it a message
Speaker 1: April thirteenth when they got here, it was completely fresh.
Speaker 1: Is by no means do you ever think you're getting
Speaker 1: spoiled with this thing? And you're not going to get soft.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so nice that you've got to work
Speaker 1: even harder now because you have this and we've invested
Speaker 1: a lot to help you feel exactly how you should feel.
Speaker 1: That's at being the best in the NFL and they've
Speaker 1: done an amazing job. You know, we've talked about the
Speaker 1: attendance in the voluntary camp. Everyone's showing up, everyone's working hard.
Speaker 1: It feels really good right now with where we're at
Speaker 1: coaches too, I mean the coaches that we have amazing
Speaker 1: offices that we're working from now, and there's just there's
Speaker 1: there's a there's an advantage for us right now that
Speaker 1: we need to take full advantage of of these facilities.
Speaker 1: And it's just a credit to everybody for being a
Speaker 1: part of it. All right, we have less than seven minutes.
Speaker 1: Time's flying by, that's for sure. I know we have
Speaker 1: some questions from the crowd. Will be getting those here
Speaker 1: in a moment. Matt. It's an obvious question. It's asked
Speaker 1: if every head coach when they debut, what'd you learn
Speaker 1: about yourself in twenty eighteen that you can apply twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen and moving forward. Well, the biggest thing is that
Speaker 1: you're only as good as the people around you. And
Speaker 1: it sounds kind of cliche ish, but that's really true.
Speaker 1: And for myself coming in as a for your head coach,
Speaker 1: the ultimate goal is to be able to earn the
Speaker 1: trust of your coaches and players. And that doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker 1: That doesn't happen in the first couple of weeks. You
Speaker 1: need to build it through relationships. That's at practice, in meetings,
Speaker 1: and then on game day, and then you also need
Speaker 1: to do it by winning. If you don't win, none
Speaker 1: of us are going to be here very long. And
Speaker 1: so once you win, they start listening to more and
Speaker 1: more of what you have to say, they start believing
Speaker 1: in what you have to say. The trust gets a
Speaker 1: lot stronger, and now you build this bully and we're
Speaker 1: right there at that point to where everyone really believes
Speaker 1: in each other. It's becoming such a such a great
Speaker 1: bond that we have and we just can't get We
Speaker 1: can't wait to get back to training camp and then
Speaker 1: be rolling in that week one when that schedule came out. Hey,
Speaker 1: it's hard for anybody deny week one. But the roller
Speaker 1: coaster schedule of starting times going to London does does
Speaker 1: that like, do you reinvent the thinking process or you
Speaker 1: have you had enough experience and seeing those roller coaster
Speaker 1: schedules where you know how to be able to set
Speaker 1: up your your schedule before this season ever starts. So Tom,
Speaker 1: for me personally, I was my greatest mentor that I
Speaker 1: have in the football world as coach read and he's
Speaker 1: always taught me a lesson when you're when you're a
Speaker 1: head coach, you better not be hoping for twelve o'clock games.
Speaker 1: You better be wanting those primetime games. And if you're
Speaker 1: getting primetime games, it means you're doing something right. So
Speaker 1: when when we uh, we we're there right now, we're
Speaker 1: not done. And and so six seven years ago when
Speaker 1: we got to Kansas City, UM, we had all twelve
Speaker 1: o'clock games, and by the end of it, the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, there was a bunch of primetime games.
Speaker 1: And now here we are last year, there was a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of twelve o'clock when we got here,
Speaker 1: we had a couple of flexed As a year went on,
Speaker 1: they wanted a part of it, and now here we
Speaker 1: are this year. But there's a responsibility and an accountability
Speaker 1: for all of us now. But if you don't crave
Speaker 1: that and you don't want that, you need to get out.
Speaker 1: And we want that. We want that. Are everybody here
Speaker 1: wants it, you know, So let's go right come on.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm getting like fired up right now. After after meeting. Um,
Speaker 1: there you go, talk about getting fired up, clubbed dub
Speaker 1: here's the deal, sweeping, here's the deal. I just had
Speaker 1: a goal this morning. I want missus mc caskey in
Speaker 1: the middle of that at the very end of the
Speaker 1: year in the big boy, I want her front and
Speaker 1: center right in our reality. That has had more impact,
Speaker 1: I believe than people might have suspected, not only here
Speaker 1: but throughout the league. Guys talk, agents talk, agents talk.
Speaker 1: Have you guys heard back on that or just how
Speaker 1: you guys play the game, just your personality and how
Speaker 1: the players view you. Ryan and Matt, what have you
Speaker 1: heard from agents? And when you started interviewing free agents
Speaker 1: and so fourth and the draft picked. That's one true, Jeff,
Speaker 1: Like this this free agency. We felt it right away.
Speaker 1: Players want to come here, Players want to be part
Speaker 1: of this. Players want to be part of that. And uh,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's because of Matt and the culture he started.
Speaker 1: I mean, we win, but we have fun doing it,
Speaker 1: you know, And there's a blend and players players since
Speaker 1: that around the league. It's a small fraternity. People talk
Speaker 1: and I think you know, in years past, we can
Speaker 1: go talk about previous free agencies when you're not winning,
Speaker 1: you're not doing players. It's hard to get guys to
Speaker 1: come here, you know, and at fair contract. Well this
Speaker 1: guys want to come here. Guys, Guys will take less
Speaker 1: to come here to just to be part of this
Speaker 1: um because look how fun it is. Matt. You've alluded
Speaker 1: to it several times in a heart to heart with
Speaker 1: your team. How did you frame the pain? Well? I
Speaker 1: was real with them number one. You gotta be real
Speaker 1: and um. But then you got to be a teacher.
Speaker 1: I do, and our coaches we need to teach our
Speaker 1: players of how are we going to use this thing
Speaker 1: and turn it into a positive. And we've done that now,
Speaker 1: we've we've shown other examples throughout recent history of how
Speaker 1: other teams have turned negatives into positives. I've said it
Speaker 1: from day one. We're not a team that is, We're
Speaker 1: not We're not full of pessimism, you know, we're we're
Speaker 1: glass half full. Let's use it to help us get better.
Speaker 1: And I promise you that's what we're gonna do. And
Speaker 1: for some people it's hard to talk about. It's not
Speaker 1: for me talk. We talk about it and understand it
Speaker 1: and use it. And I just want our players to
Speaker 1: understand that when you're real and you're honest with people
Speaker 1: and you treat people the right way and you try
Speaker 1: to let them learn from prior experiences, that in the end,
Speaker 1: it just makes it that much sweeter when you do
Speaker 1: finally get that that trophy. And you got to realize
Speaker 1: there's some highs and loads throughout that, but that was
Speaker 1: a low last year. At the end of the year,
Speaker 1: we acknowledge that, but we're not going to run away
Speaker 1: from it. I promise you that it's gonna make us stronger. Hey,
Speaker 1: all of you guys, the fan support at training camp,
Speaker 1: how important is that? Because there's not a lot of
Speaker 1: places that they'll get ten thousand wrapped around, and it's
Speaker 1: motivating to the players as they come through the gates
Speaker 1: in order to get prepared. How important is that fan? Yeah,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, it's it's absolutely amazing to see just
Speaker 1: the amount of people and the passion that you feel
Speaker 1: when you're out there. Those are some some difficult days
Speaker 1: for those players. Now that there can be some hot
Speaker 1: days and they're tired, and y'all pick them up and
Speaker 1: you're excited to hear your cheering for him, And so
Speaker 1: we want to be able to give back as much
Speaker 1: as we can and just extend to thank you for
Speaker 1: showing your support to us. So we love it. We
Speaker 1: think it's great. We appreciate it, and uh, it's it's
Speaker 1: about family, and that's a that's a great time to
Speaker 1: get all the family together and cheer everybody on. Honestly,
Speaker 1: we could spend a lot of time up here walking
Speaker 1: down memory lane with Ted and your journeys. But the
Speaker 1: journey that matters is underway now. Twenty nineteen is about
Speaker 1: to unfold, and I know I speak for time. We
Speaker 1: cannot wait. I know you guys can't wait. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be quite the right. We thank you all a four
Speaker 1: how open you have been about the process and how
Speaker 1: it's been built and the stories behind it all. And
Speaker 1: we use the term organic a lot to describe Matt
Speaker 1: and Ryan. Ted's the very much the same way, and
Speaker 1: I I think from my perspective, it's why you guys
Speaker 1: resonate with everybody, not only your locker room, but the fans, ownership,
Speaker 1: and the city that loves this football team more than
Speaker 1: any other. So I thank you for that. And Matt
Speaker 1: put it in perspective, what chasing great is to wrap
Speaker 1: us up, wrap up. One hundred years. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: really want to say something, but I'm excited, right, I'm
Speaker 1: peaking too soon, So I'm we're excited. This hundred year
Speaker 1: anniversary for us, chasing Great is being able to carry
Speaker 1: that jersey that represents so many amazing human beings and
Speaker 1: players that came through this great city and this great organization.
Speaker 1: So for us collectively, we understand that we take it on.
Speaker 1: We want the challenge. Thank you to the greatest city
Speaker 1: in the world, to the best fans in the world.
Speaker 1: Thank you for supporting us. We appreciate it. It means
Speaker 1: a lot. I know everybody here has come from a
Speaker 1: lot of different states and other countries and we just
Speaker 1: can't thank you enough. We feel the passion, we feel
Speaker 1: the love. We want to give it back and there's
Speaker 1: only one way to do it. That's by winning. It
Speaker 1: makes you all happy. So thank you, Thank you guys,
Speaker 1: Matt Neeggie, Ryan Pace, Ted Phillips. We've enjoyed it. I
Speaker 1: hope you have as well. Go Bears.