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Episode 1 : The Inaugural Episode
45 Plays1 year ago
Join Stein and Omar as they talk about their journeys as fans of the Chicago Bears and recap the last five years of Bears football!
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Transcript
Introduction to Da Bear Claw Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
All right. We're recording now. I'm going to do this intro here. Hey, guys. Welcome to the Da Bear Claw podcast. I am one of your hosts, Omar Delgado, with me, Stein, Zachary Stein. I don't think I've ever called you Zach or Zachary or near that in my life. I don't know. It's weird. It sounds weird.
00:00:24
Speaker
So I'm going to stick with calling you Stein for the podcast, if that's okay. Go for it. I mean, I'm going to call you all sorts of names, so just buckle up.
Bears Fandom and Episode Plans
00:00:33
Speaker
It's us two. We're just going to be talking bears. I wanted someone to talk about the bears with, because out here in New York, there's not a ton of bears fans, surprisingly. And yeah, the first person I thought of was Stein, because I'd like to think he's a bears fan, and he has pretty good knowledge of football. I try. I try. I pretend to.
00:00:53
Speaker
Yeah. So that's what we're going to be doing. We're going to be talking Bears. This first episode, what we're going to be doing is we're going to start off each talking about our own experience with the Bears, our fandom, how we got into football, our experience with football, and just kind of bring you along on our own, each separate journey to now with our Bears fandom. And then after that, we're going to go into recent Bears history. The past five years, we're going to go year by year.
00:01:20
Speaker
just kind of talking about what's important what happened changes who came who left that sort of thing and then might hit you with some little fun facts at the end and that'll be it so yeah let's get started Stein you want to take it off with the talking about your bears fandom
00:01:39
Speaker
My Bears fandom.
Stein's Bears Journey
00:01:41
Speaker
Oh, good lord. OK, well, first off, it might like show my age a little bit. Sure. But, you know, growing up in central Illinois, born and raised. So just a two and a half, three hours out from Soldier Field. It's hard not to be a Bears fan. And everything here is kind of split like it's the same. You have Bears fans and Packer fans and then
00:02:06
Speaker
Like we also have Cubs fans and Cardinal fans like that's like the hard split through most of Illinois really But I was born in 86 so the Bears had just won the Super Bowl they did it for
00:02:21
Speaker
And so I grew up with like my dad playing the Super Bowl shuffle all the time, or that that hope of, you know, especially into the 90s, early 90s, where you start like developing memories, the hope of the Bears being the monsters of the Midway and a contender. Obviously, we all know, unfortunately, that was not the case. Yeah. But.
00:02:48
Speaker
especially once Favre took over in Green Bay, that sort of shut the end of St. North down for a little bit. Just for a while. Just a little bit. But yeah, it's been a part of my life always, always. I mean, growing up playing football and wrestling and baseball.
00:03:12
Speaker
I loved wrestling for the mental challenge of it. That's what taught me mental strength. I wasn't amazing. I was above average, but it wasn't amazing. But football is where I felt like I excelled and having the brain for it, being able to just
00:03:30
Speaker
understand multiple positions, even if I couldn't play a position. I understood how it fit into the grand scheme of things. Everything just clicked for me. With that, it's like every year, can I get up to a game? The pandemic was terrible.
00:03:45
Speaker
Oh, that was that was rough. But when did you start? I started when I was eight. They didn't have flag football and stuff when I was growing up. That didn't happen until later in this area. So JFL, you know, Junior Football League was eight years old was the first year you could do it.
00:04:07
Speaker
And I played up through my junior year high school and then senior year was unable to due to breaking some bones and surgeries and such.
Super Bowl Memories
00:04:19
Speaker
So, uh, which kind of sucked. Um, but it's his life and how's it, how's the journey going now? I mean.
00:04:30
Speaker
You know, I've been here for all the ups and downs. Fun fact, I'm sure I'm one of many that when the Bears appeared in the Superbowl, uh, you know, the most recent one they appeared in, which is that we're coming up on like 20 years now, which is just ridiculous. That's weird to say too. Yeah. Um, I mean, at that time we were hitting 20, we had passed 20 years, you know, so it's like,
00:04:54
Speaker
Yeah, I've gone through like two bears lifetimes. It's ridiculous. But like that first play, we called that opening kickoff return, you know. Oh, yeah. And like I'm standing in the kitchen, like just playing food up. Yeah. And I dropped the plate and ran and jumped over the couch screaming like it was wild. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So but that was I mean, that's kind of my.
00:05:20
Speaker
My fandom, I will say there were a couple of years there where it was a little rough to follow as closely as I usually do. But that was always around like being a new dad, you know, like the year that my oldest was born. It was she was born in September. So I mean, beginning of the season. Right. Yeah. And time is perfect.
00:05:40
Speaker
Well, yeah, but I was also traveling for work, you know an hour and a half Both ways basically so it just got to the point where I was sleeping on the weekend if I could But for the most part being able to keep track of it and I really like to track a lot of like the moves as well in the offseason I want to see who were trading out who were picking up and
00:06:04
Speaker
drafting and then also coaching. I'm always very interested
Omar's Bears Story
00:06:08
Speaker
to see, okay, we get this coach. I don't just want to know what their last position was. I want to know how they got to that position because that's going to tell you more about the organizations they came up through. The coaching staff that they learned underneath tends to give you a pretty good insight of what their coaching style is going to end up being. So especially if it was under a head coach or like a very notable
00:06:31
Speaker
offensive, defensive coordinator who are like who have a clear understanding or where fans have a clear understanding of like what their expectation is. You know, it was like a big personality. It's easier to go. Again, the idea of why this guy was on this guy's screw crew for.
00:06:56
Speaker
two, three, four years, you know, successfully before moving up. Yeah. They were doing something right. They fit into that culture. What was the culture like of that team at the time? It gives a good feed into like, what are they really bringing at the table here? And what you might be in store for you and your team with this person at the helm or taking part. Exactly. What about you? Yeah. So it's kind of funny. I was, uh,
00:07:23
Speaker
I just seem the same with my Bears fandom. It's all I've known. I think that's part of growing up in Illinois, especially if you're family like mine. No one was really big on sports or football.
00:07:41
Speaker
So there was no one to be like, this is a team that you're going to go for, which I feel like if you're a Packers fan in Illinois, that's usually what happens. Growing up in Illinois, you are a Bears fan. You are a Cubs fan. Without even really knowing what that means, you just know that's the team that you go for. But yeah, and I was actually the inverse of you, where I started football, I think, fourth grade.
00:08:05
Speaker
And, um, I don't know. I just, I never really, I don't know if I didn't try to understand it or if I couldn't, but there was, there was so much, uh, so much to football that I didn't get, but I just, I did have fun doing with doing it and spending time with friends. You know, you get to know people through football and that was really cool. And, but wrestling just when I, as soon as I did wrestling, it just clicked, it just clicked and.
00:08:33
Speaker
Yeah, had some success with that. And yeah, so just always been a Bears fan, kind of the same as you. Actually, it's funny you were talking about you're making a plate in the kitchen for the Super Bowl. I remember when the Bears made a Super Bowl, I remember telling my mom, like, mom, we have to get home to catch the Bears on the Super Bowl. And I think I was pushing her like, speed, speed, speed, we got to get home fast. And actually, I don't know if you remember that long strip of road, right?
00:09:00
Speaker
Coming into kiwani. I think as like between an wanting funny Yeah, yeah She was gunning it down to try and get us home in time for the Super Bowl, you know, and she actually she loves you She loves you. Oh, she loves me so much. She we ended up getting pulled over and got a ticket So I think I we missed the first the cop was a let's be clear that we do we know that the cop was a frickin Yeah
00:09:25
Speaker
He was cheering for the Colts just so we wouldn't take it. Yeah. So yeah, but I unfortunately missed Devin Hester's opening kickoff, but I mean, I've watched it so many times. But yeah, so I just driving home so fast and finally got home. I just remember being so excited to see the Bears, you know.
00:09:45
Speaker
Cause yeah, that's all, even in football, you know, from fourth grade on or whatever, it's just, you talk to anyone and everybody was just like, yeah, we're just, you're a Bears fan. Anyone who wasn't, you know, it's like, you know, screw you. You shouldn't be a Bears. Yeah. Fuck the Packers, you know, whatever. Cause yeah, you always get the pack FTP. Yeah. Yeah. You always get the Packers fans sprinkled in and somewhere in Illinois.
00:10:10
Speaker
have had a hard time all season covering kicks it's Hester trying to work it back to the middle gets past the first wave and here he goes it's Hester inside the 30 Hester's gonna take it all the way for a touchdown and no flag 92 yards
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah. And then I just, after high school and stuff, you know, I kind of fell off from sports and my interest in sports. I was still a Bears fan, but I wasn't really keeping up closely and stuff. And then somewhere along I got back, I got back in, I think it was right after, uh, right in like John Fox's last year. I think it wasn't when I started getting back in and then yeah, these past few years, I just have really.
00:11:00
Speaker
when Matt Nagy started. And yeah, I really locked back in. OK, now I'm going to start learning. And it's been really cool, actually. I mean, there's still so much I think I have left to learn about football. But still, it's just great. I love watching it. I love watching the Bears. It's hard being the Bears fans, but it's fun.
00:11:18
Speaker
It is hard being a Bears fan. That is certainly one way to put it. Yeah, but I'd say it's going well now. I mean, I think it's so much easier to, I think, I think to keep up with, with football now and sports now with everything, you know, in your pocket and just being able to get alerts or like, just look it up real quick. Okay. Like, you know, how are they doing? You know, what's the most recent news? You know, I think it's a lot easier to keep track and be locked in now than it was before.
00:11:47
Speaker
I would agree, especially with, yeah, like you said, just like having that constant feed of information, but it's just so readily available. And I mean, it's hard, like.
00:12:01
Speaker
Growing up, you didn't have that. If you missed the game, then you had to try to stay up for night news to watch the highlights at least. Then you're like, all right, well, fucking, I'm picking up a paper tomorrow, I guess. Now people are like, what's a paper?
00:12:18
Speaker
Like, bro, just scream it on Twitter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Recent Bears History Overview
00:12:25
Speaker
All right. So that's our fandom. So I think now we're going to move into the Bears recent history. We're going to go with the past five years. We're going to start in 2018 and make our way up to 2022.
00:12:39
Speaker
So 2018, the beginning of the Matt Nagy era.
2018 Bears Success and Challenges
00:12:48
Speaker
So in 2018, what could have been in 2018, the bears fired John Fox.
00:12:57
Speaker
who they brought in. I think he was with the Broncos before, wasn't he, before he came to the Bears? I think he, I want to say he had just won the Super Bowl with the Broncos in you, and then he came to the Bears like a year or two after. So John Fox gets fired, and they bring in Super Bowl champion, not at the time, but eventual Super Bowl champion Matt Nagy. How do you feel about Matt Nagy after all being said and done?
00:13:26
Speaker
Um, I mean hindsight, 2020, right? Like looking back at it at the time, it was very promising. I mean, at the time Nagy coming in had.
00:13:42
Speaker
A lot of clout, I think, from other head football coaches that were well-known and well-established in their careers. Some that aren't always known for up-talking people, you read.
00:14:00
Speaker
Cool. I can't even at that point. All right. Yeah. Andy Reed said he's, and I quote, best coaching candidate I've ever had. End quote. That's from Andy Reed. And yeah, I remember too, I was thinking back and I do remember being excited for Matt Nagy and hearing that and seeing what he was going to bring him in, being really excited and being like, all right, this is going to be, this is going to be good. This is going to be fun.
00:14:24
Speaker
I remember Naki coming in because he had been with Kansas City and I was like, oh, this is going to fit a completely different play style than what the Chicago Bears offense is usually known for. We are known for ground and pound pro style type football. I mean, you are running that ball up the middle.
00:14:47
Speaker
Like you got workhorses were not necessarily known for quarterbacks. Yeah. And especially at this era of, you know, having like a lot of option routes and a lot of the play was completely transitioning. And it's different even today. But that was sort of like the beginning of that transition was that about that time frame. And he had that experience with it of.
00:15:14
Speaker
running more slant routes and leveraging more options and also being able to work with hopefully a mobile quarterback. That's kind of the idea. Someone that could keep a play extended and then execute on opportunity. Because he was an offensive mind style, I was kind of like, okay, the Bears are known for their defense and their special teams.
00:15:40
Speaker
awesome. If we're fairly settled in those, then yeah, why not? Let's go out and find more of an offensive-minded coach that suits our style a little better, but they can also introduce a little bit of new stuff for us. My biggest hesitation was, okay, but what's the roster change going to look like? What else are they bringing here because his style was not going to suit the roster that we had.
00:16:08
Speaker
I remember that. I mean, obviously, 2018. We got Cleo Mack like. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was that was, in my opinion, bigger than getting Maggie at the time. It was like, Oh, for sure. I don't know who the coach is like getting Cleo Mack was like. Yeah. It's like, Oh, hell yeah. That's fantastic. And he came in and just immediately made an impact, which is.
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So let's talk a little bit about Matt Nagy. So as we were saying he came over from Kansas City after being with Andy Reid which was everyone was very hype about.
00:16:46
Speaker
It's always exciting when, again, like you were saying, when a guy like Andy Reid is talking positive about someone, you can't help but get excited about him. But I was looking up a little bit about him before his early life and stuff. And so look, he played college quarterback, and then he tried going out for the NFL, but didn't make it into the NFL. And then he kind of bounced around. He was an AFL quarterback for a while. He was bouncing around before he got into coaching. But interesting little tidbit.
00:17:16
Speaker
You see that asterisk in the outline there? Yeah. So I put that there because I found the fact that I wanted to get your live reaction. So let me preface this by saying that 9-11 was a national tragedy, all right? Jesus fucking Christ. Not good. Yeah, no doubt. I think we can all agree that 9-11 was not good.
00:17:41
Speaker
If you can't get the fuck out. Do you want to know where Matt Nagy was on 9-11? Do I want to know where Matt Nagy was on 9-11? Give me an idea. I'll say I don't think you will ever guess. Do you want to take a guess?
00:18:03
Speaker
So at the time that was after he had tried for the pros, right? Wasn't that like, Oh, that was, uh, if I give you the clue, it kind of, you might get it, but it was, it was the time as at the time he was trying for out for the NFL. He was trying out for the NFL. He was still trying to be a quarterback in the NFL. Gotcha.
00:18:26
Speaker
Was he on a practice squad ever? Was he like a practice squad for the Giants or something like at the time? Nope. No. Nope. All right. What? Matt Nagy on nine 11 was trying out to be the quarterback for the green Bay Packers.
00:18:46
Speaker
And I looked, I found this out, I saw it and I was like, there's no fucking way. There's no way on the 911 that he was, there's no way. I couldn't believe it. And I looked it up and I even double checked. I was like, I know what your 911 was, but let me make sure that the year 911 was and the year he was trying out are the same year. Cause I could not believe it.
00:19:10
Speaker
What's that called? You believe something that doesn't exist, but you firmly believe it. Oh, the Mandela effects. Yes. Yeah. You're like, was it 2001? It was 2001. Maybe it wasn't 2001.
00:19:23
Speaker
Exactly. That's exactly what was going on. All hinged on the idea of Matt Nagy trying out trying out to be the quarterback for the Green Bay pack. We should have known someone should have known that and we should have known like that. That was the red flag right there. Yeah. Yeah. I can definitely see that. So. Yeah. So in Matt Nagy's first year, his first season with the Chicago Bears
00:19:52
Speaker
We went 12 and four. 12 and four, baby. Which was, I mean, pretty good. That's a really good record. This was more of a 17 game season. There were still 16 games in a season only. Yeah. So yeah, some of the guys you mentioned Kaleel Mack earlier that we got that same year, which was, again, just unreal, dude. That's such an unreal get to get Kaleel Mack, especially with the history that the Bears have of great linebackers. Oh, for sure. So some of the other people that we
00:20:23
Speaker
got that year was we got Allen Robinson. We got everyone's favorite kicker Cody Parkey. Get that. We drafted. We got it. We didn't drop it. We got him in 2018. We got Kyle Fuller. Mm hmm. Cornerback. Fuller had a standout season. He didn't get all pro that year.
00:20:49
Speaker
I think he, I think he even went to the pro. I think he went to the pro. Yes. Yes. He, he did get, uh, I know. Anyway. Yeah. Um, yeah. I mean, yeah. I remember, I remember feeling like he had a great season. Yeah. Locked in. This is great. Yeah. Yeah. And then, so those are the people that those were the kind of notable, notable players that we got that year.
00:21:16
Speaker
That's pretty good. We had, we had a lot of people stand out that season. I mean, I'm going to throw them for it. You know, we were a lot of yeah.
00:21:25
Speaker
We haven't talked about Shubisky and Shubisky threw for over 3,200 yards, 24 touchdowns, 12 interceptions. He also added over 400 rushing yards with three rushing touchdowns. So he accumulated a total of 27 touchdowns for us and close over 3,600 yards total offense just on like for him. That's a huge sophomore year. I mean, that is huge.
00:21:53
Speaker
Most people have the sophomore slump. He led the Bears a struggling offense to a division championship. You know what I mean? So at the time, he's like, yes, there were some things that he could work on that he could get better at. I think having like, again, bringing in
00:22:14
Speaker
when Nagy brought in his coaching staff too. I think more development went into the coaching of quarterbacks. I've always been very hesitant about the Bears drafting quarterbacks high up, early up, and then starting them like their rookie year or maybe
00:22:33
Speaker
like midway through the rookie season. The Bears are not known and have never been known for quarterback development. And so for me, I'm like, we can't have, we need it. Like think before all this, Jay Cutler, someone like that sort of made sense as to why we brought him in. It's because he was more veteran at the time, right? He's not a first, second, third year quarterback. Like he's been established. He's ranking in like the, you know, the like,
00:23:02
Speaker
five to 12 range when you're ranking quarterbacks through his like his early years. So it made sense he had already had that quarterback development and then bring him in so that we don't have to specialize because we specialize defense special teams.
00:23:19
Speaker
Like that's so it always makes me so nervous when we draft a quarterback. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember you saying that a few years ago. My issue will get into that later in the episode, I think. That was my issue with Rex Grossman, too. I mean, I feel I feel bad for sometimes. So you would know more about Rex Grossman than I do. What was that like? What was.
00:23:46
Speaker
Cuz all I remember playing in the Super Bowl and even as a kid, I was like what the fuck is this guy doing? That's just it though. I mean he he was He was good in college above good in college. Was that his what year was he in when when the Bears went to the Super Bowl? Do you know I? Want to say it was his second I could fact-check that but yeah, I Let's find out
00:24:14
Speaker
It was his, it was oh six. We went right. He came in in 2003. So he played or three or four or four or five or five or six. It was his third year. Third year. OK. And but.
00:24:29
Speaker
So you've done me for a long time. My favorite college team since I was a kid was the Florida Gators. That was like early 90s, even mid 90s, like watching my first college football game, just watching the Gator Chomp. Like, yeah, I just fell in love with that for some reason as a kid. And I thought that was really cool. So always been a Gator fan. And so I liked Rex Grossman. It also helped that he was a Midwest boy. I mean, he's from Bloomington, Indiana.
00:24:57
Speaker
But I remember the Bears getting him and I was excited at first, but then I was also like, ah, but why in the first round? This was in 03. It was my spring of my sophomore year of high school at the time. I was actively watching the draft and stuff and being like,
00:25:19
Speaker
That just I don't know I was very nervous about that and for a good reason I mean he ended up just the development like halted after his third year basically and he was also put in bad positions a lot where he was trying to like
00:25:33
Speaker
force plays to happen. And I'm like, dude, you're not far far as good at that shit, especially at that time. Oh, three away like that. Like, sorry, man. Like, that's just not your thing. Yeah. So I just feel like you never truly got the opportunity to develop those early pieces.
00:25:52
Speaker
I liked Grossman initially, and I just felt bad for him later. Apart from some people that came to the Bears, I also wanted to bring up some of the people who left the Bears in 2018. A couple names you might recognize. We got rid of Chiro Santos in 2018.
00:26:16
Speaker
Mm hmm. I remember that. And then we also got rid of Mark Sanchez.
00:26:26
Speaker
He was playing. I think he was. I forgot he was a backup. Yeah. Yeah. He was a backup. I totally forgot he was with us for a minute. I had like I had no idea. I completely forgotten that he was there. He was a bear. It was very short term, wasn't it? Yeah, I think even a full season. I think it was a full season. I'm not sure. But man, holy shit. Yeah, I don't know about that.
00:26:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's the name. I remember when he was going to be the savior of the New York Jets, man. I remember that. Yeah. And I was like bullshit. And then, yeah, so some of the draft picks we took that year to 2018, we drafted Roquan Smith. And we also did Anthony Miller.
00:27:18
Speaker
Oh, okay. I didn't realize that was the same year. Yeah. Decent move. Decent move. Not a bad move at all. Um, so yeah. Do you remember much of the 2018 season? Um, I remember that we had Vic Fangio and the defensive, the defense was fucking stacked. It was so good. Um, but then didn't he leave the next year, the year after? Yeah. It was like, yeah, he gave us like one real fucking good season. Like what the hell? Yeah. And did he, I think he went to Broncos next.
00:27:49
Speaker
If I remember right, I thought it was a cold and stacked their defense or maybe it was vice versa. We got him from the Broncos. We might have gotten from the Broncos after he had stacked their defense. But man, yeah, I remember just being like, it was so exciting. I mean, if we were we had to be at the top for like takeaways or like, you know, whether it was interceptions, force fumbles.
00:28:14
Speaker
We had so many takeaways that year. I was watching the highlights of that year. Every year that we're going to cover, I went through and watched the highlights and some of the recaps and stuff of those years. Unreal of that year. There's so many takeaways. I'm not kidding. Almost every other highlight was like,
00:28:34
Speaker
interception bumble sack it was it was awesome it was so cool watching the punch outs of the ball yes they were it was like watching a master class of defense yeah across the board whether it was the front line stuffing the block whether or or even like locking down the ends whether it was
00:28:54
Speaker
that mid-range, if you happen to make it past the first side, you got the fucking middle ground to try to get through. That was such a good linebacker squad, but then really the fun one was watching those cornerbacks and just
00:29:12
Speaker
The pudge. Dude, the soul. Yes. In the interceptions and like truly like I was watching and I was like, why fucking interceptions did we get this year? It was awesome. It was. Yeah. Dude, dude, the way it ends it, you know, like that's how. Yeah, it really did feel like that again. And, you know, for how it shook out and everything, like you were saying earlier, 2020, you know, hindsight. I do remember it being so much fun, especially that first year when Nagi came. It was so much fun watching the Bears.
00:29:43
Speaker
It was, I will say, as a Bears fan, historically speaking, probably one of the most roller coaster seasons I've ever had. Yeah. No, a piece of that comes from where it was in life and being able to be more available to be invested in it.
00:30:02
Speaker
I mean, holy shit, like completely different offensive style, a league leading defense. It was exciting to be a Bears fan again. Yeah. And you know, you just so many ups and downs. You had hope like we had hope. Yeah, you were excited for the truly believed in what the future held regardless of.
00:30:23
Speaker
how fucking miserably it failed and that's what I mean by like a roller coaster because you hit the very peak and then you're just like- Just dropped. Yeah. I mean, true heartbreak. I literally felt heartbreak at the time. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Even when we lost in the Super Bowl in 06, it was like,
00:30:45
Speaker
But we made the Superbowl. There was, there was a time that we had where I like through that game where I was like, okay, we're still in it. We're still in it. And then it hit a certain point where we're like, fuck fucking Peyton. It's Peyton Manning. God damn it. And.
00:31:03
Speaker
This was like, so even with that, it just, it wasn't as much heartbreak. It was at that time, it was more like, all right, Hey, let's get back there. You know, we did it. We showed we can do it. Let's try to keep that momentum. Clearly it didn't happen, but 18 was like, Oh, yeah. Something's coming, you know, something. Yeah. It felt so good.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, so Vic, Vic Fangio came to us from the 49ers and then he left us for the Broncos. Left for the Broncos. Right. Gotcha. Yeah. Um, so for each season too, I did, uh, I did bright spots and not so bright spots. Um, so some of the highlights of, of 2018, we ended at the top of the NFC North to read Cohen, watching tree Cohen and his time with the bears. It was so much fun watching him. Um, magical.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah. He made it look so smooth. He's so smooth. His cuts were amazing. It was magic on the field, truly. Matt and Aggie that year won coach of the year. Vic Fangio, assistant coach of the year. Rightfully so.
00:32:07
Speaker
especially with the leap from the prior season, it made sense. Touchdown celebrations. And that's something I don't know if it sticks out to your memory, but from watching the highlights, some of the touchdown celebrations were so much fun. They were just so cool. And I read that, I guess, in 2017, going into 2018, they loosened the rules on team celebrations.
00:32:40
Speaker
I remember that year when they loosened it up, I was like, ooh, this is going to be awesome. You can literally find just videos of like 45 minutes of touchdown celebrations the entire NFL. It's like like you could rate them like 50 to one and all of them are fucking good. Yeah, dude. Yeah. And especially I think when they celebrated the team too, because they always do something goofy, you know, like
00:32:58
Speaker
So they made it looser so that the teams could celebrate more together.
00:33:05
Speaker
The one that I'm remembering. Yeah, they were doing the canoe. That one's so much fun. One of my favorites is the cannonball, where you throw the ball up in the air or a grenade. You throw the ball up in the air. And everyone explodes. Yeah. The bowling pins. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they roll the football down. Yeah, that's a good one, too. Highlights. I also had the home alt jersey.
00:33:35
Speaker
Do you remember what that looked like? Oh, they did have sick jerseys that year. The Ironball jersey was so cool, dude. It's so sick. Tariq Cohen ended up- We'll have to throw a picture of that up at some point. Yeah, 100%. Those are so cool. I've been thinking, because I want to get a Bears jersey, but I want to wait to see how this year's jerseys come out. I don't know if they're going to do... Yeah, because I don't know. The ones that they have in the shop right now, I wasn't really vibing with.
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah. Tariq Cohen ended with the most punt return yards that year in the NFL. He was leveraged everywhere. Yeah. Kyle Fuller had seven interceptions that year. You know what's crazier? There was a team that didn't even have seven interceptions, right? No, that might be wrong. Well, I mean, I don't know if that's wrong. But what was crazy to me, I was looking up the stat, is that he tied for first with two other people.
00:34:32
Speaker
So the top three, most interceptions, the top three was all seven. And then fourth was Eddie Jackson. And he only had six. So he only had one less. But he still had the fourth most in the league. Those are just great stats. Isn't that nuts, dude? Two of your defensive players are in the top five for interceptions. Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:55
Speaker
Um, so yeah, and then all pros that you're yet three Cohen as a return specialist, Kaleel Mac, linebacker, Eddie Jackson, safety, Kyle Fuller, cornerback, Alan Robinson, wide receiver and Mitch Trubisky. Mitch Trubisky. It again at the time, I had a great year, rightfully so. It was a great fucking you put that year on anybody's resume. Like, holy shit. Yeah, that was a really good year. Yeah. Not so bright spots.
00:35:27
Speaker
got the doinks. And that's all I put because I feel like that was the only thing that really sticks out really the worst part. That was that was the only like dark spot. Yeah, he had he had four doinks in one game against the Lions. Just
00:35:50
Speaker
Isn't that crazy? So many. Yeah. And then you get the double against the Eagles and you're just like, yeah, let's talk about that because that's, uh, I mean, you don't want to get into it.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, dude, it hurts even thinking back to it. So that year we made the playoffs first in the NFC North, and we got the Eagles in the wild card round. They were the defending champs at that point. They'd won the Super Bowl the year before. And so first round, Eagles versus Bears. I went back and watched it. I was watching the highlights of the whole game, not just Bears highlights, but the whole thing. There were no touchdowns in that game until the second half.
00:36:34
Speaker
It was all rough game. It was all rough. Yeah. It's a rough game to have all kicks, like from fucking perky. Like, I mean, that's.
00:36:46
Speaker
Who? I mean, we saw that we could not score. He was making early on. He was making his making the field goals. Well, yeah, I mean, he he made enough to keep us in the game. Yeah. But the one ultimately matters. Yeah. The one that counts. Yeah. You know. And so, yeah. And then I was looking to give it up by a point. Oh, dude. And that point that point I was looking at one point, I think it was the first or second touchdown that we scored. Matt Nagy went for two.
00:37:15
Speaker
And if he had not gone for two, if he had gone for one, we would have been at 16 points. And it would have at least gone into OT. A lot of drop also have the I think at the time he was having a little more. Faith. Sure. And fuck it, let's run it in because there's a higher probability that we miss a goddamn kick. Yeah.
00:37:41
Speaker
So, um, yeah, no, I, I get it. I've, I remember that too. And I remember, but at the time I also remember thinking how successful that we had been that year with odd plays and two point attempts instead, you know, and like, I was like, fuck it. We're going big, man. Let's do this. And you're facing.
00:38:05
Speaker
the defending champs, like put these bitches in their place. Yeah. That was kind of the message. Yeah. A hundred percent. And now hindsight, hindsight, it's easy to look back and be like, oh, we should have gone for the cake, blah, blah. But I think you make a good point with all, you know.
00:38:19
Speaker
I saw how we were on a roll that year, you know, I'll own Cody Parker. It wasn't the right call. Yeah, exactly. He had already had a history. Yeah, he was a he was a well-known known doinger. He was a well-known doinger. Like once once a doinger, he's a serial doinger.
00:38:38
Speaker
See, there's a lot of job passes in that game, too. He has to register for that, right? Being a serial doinker. Yeah, he's got to go around the neighborhood and let them know. So yeah, I was looking at the final drive. And again, this is all hindsight. It's easy to look back and be like, oh, he should have made this decision. He should have made that decision. But I still think it was worth criticizing watching the final drive. So we got a minute left. Tariq Cohen had a great kickoff return.
00:39:05
Speaker
Great field position. Yeah great field position after that great quick-off return Trubisky had a great pass to Robinson that again put us in really good Field position and then a few plays later Mr. Biscay passes to Robinson and Robinson is like four or five yards away from the out of bounds And he can't get out. He just he
00:39:29
Speaker
I think he realized where he was and then tried sprinting, but by the time he tries to get to the to the sidelines, someone's already got him wrapped up. Yeah. So I remember the clock burning and just being like.
00:39:41
Speaker
yeah which which that I maybe you can you know talk more you maybe you'd know more about it but I was watching that I was thinking why is he there because he was on a comeback he goes he's lined up where he ended up and he goes and he good there's a comeback and then that's where the pass is why
00:40:00
Speaker
I was just like, why is he there? Why wouldn't you have had him, you know, running towards towards the sideline, you know, route more like that as opposed to like, honestly, I don't. Looking at it, I think at the time it was more like you said, he realized where he was. Yeah, I don't think he realized where he was when he ran the route. I really think it was just a mistake.
00:40:24
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So then obviously after that, you can't get out of bounds. We have to spike it. And then that takes us to the third down. They send Robinson deep on the third down.
00:40:36
Speaker
And it ends up an incomplete pass. So fourth down, it's field goal. They bring out the field goal unit for Cody Parkey to kick it. And he double doinks it. For those who don't know what we're talking about, when we say a double doink, he hit the post. Twice. Yeah, twice in one kick. In one kick. It hit one post and then bounced on the other. I mean, never happens.
00:41:01
Speaker
No, twice to the bears. Yeah, it happens to the bears. I will say in his defense, I do. I do remember seeing an Eagles player. That recently, I think like in the past couple of years, was talking about how he in that play, he was able to get a hand on it. Oh, so he thinks he nicked it a little. He thinks he nicked it. And that was why. It double point.
00:41:30
Speaker
So yeah, he was, you know, he said, I said, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Tough position to be in. As a fan, I was pissed. Oh, I was dude. I was, I was a football player. I was so mad. I was, I was also.
00:41:51
Speaker
After time passed I felt bad for the guy again. It's kind of like one of those like you can't show your face in Chicago Yeah, I remember a scene that's where like there's a guy on Twitter. It's distinctly remember a guy on Twitter just I mean cursing and screaming at his phone in the video just being like Cody fucking Parkey How much are we paying this guy to double down? Oh, yeah, I don't do you ever see that I forgot about that dude that use I mean he is screaming that guy is pissed and I mean everyone Oh for sure everyone was so mad because that's the thing like, you know
00:42:21
Speaker
Whether it was tipped or not, he had a history of hitting the ropes. Hey guys, we're going to share with you that clip of the Bears fan who's pretty unhappy after the Cody Parkie miss in the Bears Eagles playoff game. Just wanted to give you a warning because there's some pretty choice language and it seems like few can rival the cursing of an upset Bears fan. So just wanted to give you that warning.
00:42:48
Speaker
8 million, 10 million, 25 million. I don't know how much fucking Cody Park he's getting fucking paid, but that little fucking cocksucker from South Florida can make a goddamn fucking dick for his fucking life! I mean, how much fucking money we gotta pay this fucking cocksucker?
00:43:08
Speaker
How much fucking opportunity do you fucking need? How many fucking missed kicks is Cody Porky gonna fucking hit this year? 11! 11! That's how many! 11! Fuck you, Cody! Fuck you!
00:43:29
Speaker
to the point where I think I later on, too, they brought out some of the recruiting videos that he tried to made that he had made. And he uses that as a point of like, look at how accurate I am. And he's like hitting the post. He's like kicking and potentially hitting the post. Yeah, I remember. I remember seeing those that did not vote well for him in his future. Like in the long term. Yeah.
00:43:55
Speaker
If all he had that year was was the double dork. Yeah. It might have been a little more forgivable. Yeah, I would have been right. Yeah. But like you said, four drawings in a single game against the Lions and fucking was the point wasn't even all. There was another game, too, where he had he had dorked off the he hit the post. Mm hmm. Yeah, multiple times that season. It was so like you were saying before, that was I mean, it was really just a roller coaster. I really thought we had a legitimate chance that year.
00:44:23
Speaker
Oh, we absolutely did. We absolutely did that coming up and only needing a field goal to win it and to move on to the next round. I felt like if we could get past the Eagles, we could absolutely make it to the NFC Championship at the very least.
00:44:42
Speaker
whether we would make the Super Bowl or not, I was like, there's a chance we don't make it that far, only because it's the first year that this core group of people are really together under this coach. I was like, if we get to there, awesome. And then build on that for next year. So my hope was like, let's at least just make it through this wildcard. And that's not how I check out.
00:45:05
Speaker
Not how it shook out, but again, it did leave hope. It did like, yeah, you're still hoping for the next year. Next year, keep everybody get rid of the fucking punter. Let's do it. Yeah, get rid of the kicker. You cannot get rid of Cody Parkey fast enough if you are Matt Nagy that year. So we finished the 2018 season in heartbreak, but we continue on with hope still.
Bears' 2019 Struggles
00:45:24
Speaker
We were all still hopeful. And we start 2019 hopeful. That was the centennial season. That was it was around for 100 years.
00:45:34
Speaker
Vic Fangio left, as we mentioned before, he went to the Broncos and then we brought in Chuck Pagano. That was by choice, right? That wasn't us moving him. No, he left. I think he left. He was the one that left. So, some notable acquisitions that we got that season. We got Corduroy Patterson. And then we had Haha Clinton Dix. We got him that year too.
00:46:00
Speaker
Did he end he went to the Packers at one point or did we get him from the pack? I think it was he he came to us from the Packers and Then left and then I think the Packers did that thing where they signed up for a day and then he retired So they retired a packer
00:46:16
Speaker
And then we got rid of Kevin White that year. We got rid of Cody Parkey. And we got rid of Jordan Howard, who was with- I forgot about that. Yeah. I don't have no memory of that guy. But it seemed like he was a pretty big part of our running game that year, just from the highlights and stuff.
00:46:38
Speaker
He was. Absolutely. He was he was. I think I just was so obsessed out guy. I just loved three Cohen so much that if he wasn't on the field, I was like, I'm not paying attention. Yeah. Jordan Howard was was pretty good. I remember. Oh, but we did. OK, I see the draft pick that you got on there. David Montgomery. Yep. That year we drafted David Montgomery.
00:47:00
Speaker
Yeah. Who? Who had some success? Yeah. I really like David Montgomery. Yeah. Our defense was pretty good that year. Tariq Cohen and Cordial Patterson were our returners, and they both were doing really good. Oh, some of the returns that year were fun to watch. Yeah. Well, because they were trying to ramp up the usage of Cohen, and you could tell that
00:47:28
Speaker
after a full year of how they had managed him, two years in a row was going to be tough. Yeah. So by bringing Patterson in, it just kind of made sense. The number of plays that Cohen was on the field, the different types of style like running he had to do between standard running or whether or running a route like it was just it was a lot, you know, so.
00:47:50
Speaker
Cleo Mac. I just haven't as a brand because it was just any time he was on the field. It was just so much fun to watch him. We had no sex that year.
00:48:00
Speaker
Oh, no, it was a, it was a, it was a jointless year, jointless year. And, uh, I had, uh, Piñera was named the Snickers hungriest player of the week. One of the weeks. I felt like that was a price. Fuck. I want to Snickers now. Um, so yeah, our, our pros were Cordell Patterson, Cleo Mack and Eddie Jackson. And then, uh, Kyler, Kyle Fuller and Terry Cohen made it as alternates. And then I think how Fuller actually got to play. Cause the guy that was ahead of him got injured.
00:48:29
Speaker
Oh, he got injured. Oh, okay. I thought he didn't come, but yeah, folder was fun to watch. Um, yeah, that was just an eight. I remember that. And it was just kinda, I mean, there was nothing really crazy about boy eight and eight. That was rough. That was rough. No playoffs that year. I remember. And I mean, the Packers were rough that year.
00:48:56
Speaker
Yeah, could not pull off a win to save our lives. But, you know, winning against Detroit on Thanksgiving Day was nice. Yeah. I mean, I remember that being kind of like a Thanksgiving thing also because those are always fun. They are. Absolutely. That's like the day to watch football. Yeah. Yeah. It's an American tradition. You eat too much turkey and stuffing and then you just sit around and watch watch the football. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, there's nothing too crazy that year. So then we go into 2020.
00:49:27
Speaker
Do you want to say anything else for 2019? Troopiski's inconsistent play. Okay. Yeah. That was the biggest drop off. I mean, I mean, and that's where compare it to what I say it was a 3,200 yard season 400 rushing 27 total touchdowns between the two, like the next season it was like
00:49:52
Speaker
he i feel like he just never ever ever found a rhythm yeah you know normally when that hits you you're like all right i'm gonna hit a tight end i'm gonna hit a quick slant i'm gonna hit like these little short quick pass plays like to build up some confidence which is what did he what do you excel that consistency yeah he excelled at those short passes the second it went out past 10 yards it was
00:50:12
Speaker
Like it was exponentially lower. And then if it ever went past 20, it was like almost impossible. And then if it was like 50, it was like you might as well just give them the ball. Like that was rough. I remember just being like, what the fuck is going on? What is happening? But if I remember right, I think the O line had a good number of injuries that year. Again, when you have a fantastic,
00:50:41
Speaker
season leading up, it's hard to maintain that for a second year because so many guys can, you can only push your body to a certain limit. Right. Yeah. And to be one of the best consistently all the time. Yeah. And then not take care of yourself well enough. I hear the stat all the time. And with, I think it's worth saying that, uh, I think it's like, uh, 50% of all teams that make the playoffs don't make the playoffs the following year.
00:51:06
Speaker
It is, it is drastically. Yeah. Yeah. And the number of teams that will make it one year, not the next is all that to be said is, Hey, just cause you didn't make it this year. Doesn't mean you can't make sure. Yeah, exactly.
Offensive Changes and Playoff Run
00:51:20
Speaker
Uh, so going into 20, 22, 20, 20, 20. Yeah. Sorry. I was looking at, uh, yeah. So 2020.
00:51:30
Speaker
That year, there's a really big offensive shake up that year. So they got rid of the offensive coordinator. They got rid of the O-line coach. They got rid of the tight end coach and the special teams assistant. They fired them all.
00:51:42
Speaker
that the online coach, I think, is a mistake. Really? Who? Again, I don't remember who it was at the time, but I remember, like, part of the reason that Trubisky had a downturn that 2019 season was if I remember right, it was from injuries to the.
00:52:01
Speaker
to the O-line. So you come out 8-8, Trubisky looks so much shittier than he did the year before. I mean, shittier. People really underestimate. I mean, not underestimate, but I think, I don't know, there's a lot of casual football fans that I think really don't take into account enough how much an O-line will affect the quarterback's play.
00:52:19
Speaker
Oh yeah. Hogs never get the respect they truly deserve. They just don't like, but, and so to me, I'm like, that's not an online coach issue. Like that, that comes down to like training, some of the injuries that they were getting.
00:52:33
Speaker
I don't know who your certified strength and conditioning specialist is because I have some questions about that instead. It is hard to argue when it drops to eight and eight. I think a lot of Trubisky's issues were because of he didn't have as much time in the pocket regularly. He didn't have consistency on the online of who was starting. If I remember right, I think that was that season.
00:52:59
Speaker
Yeah. So some of the people we got that year, we got Sam Mustafur, our center. That year we got Jimmy Graham. I was excited when Jimmy Graham came to the bears. We also got Nick Foles that year. And we got Robert Quinn that year in the off season. And then some of the draft picks we got was one of the ones was Cole Comatt. Yeah. We got Jaylen Johnson. We got Travis Gibson. Comatt is finally turning into what he needs to do.
00:53:28
Speaker
People early on, I remember being online a lot and the people did not like Colcomat and everyone was just, get rid of them, get rid of them, get rid of them. And I was like, I mean, this was his first year. We'll get into his second year, but I just, I've always liked Colcomat basically is what I did too. I have a soft offer. I really like him. He was also in his first year overshadowed by Jimmy Graham. He was an established, I mean, like, I mean, top 15 tight end of all time. Like you can't.
00:53:59
Speaker
What are you gonna do? Yeah. Yeah, we dropped to Travis Gibson, and then we also drafted Darnell Mooney that year. Oh, yeah. So yeah, it was another eight and eight season. Some of the bright spots I had for that season was, dude, that was a year.
00:54:17
Speaker
I really loved that year because I was here that we had the tandem of David Montgomery and Tariq Cohen. Oh yeah, that was fun. And it just felt like something was going to happen. Montgomery sparked. Yeah. It was so much fun watching that. Watching the highlights, it looked like Darnell Mooney had a really good season that year too. And that was pretty fun to watch. I remember that. It was kind of a show out season for him. Nick, watching the highlights, Nick Foles was actually kind of a bright spot that year.
00:54:44
Speaker
He absolutely was a bright. He played some really good games that year. I am in the camp that he should have been. He should have started damn near the whole season. Yeah, he just should have. So that year there was no pro bowl game. There's no actual pro bowl game, but Cleo Mack and Cordell Patterson did get nominated to the pro bowl. And I found out that the way they did the pro bowl that year was they did they had people, not people, but they brought in like celebrities to play Madden.
00:55:14
Speaker
And they played bad against each other. And so they just had different celebrities switching off and controlling the game every quarter. And so they just made the rosters with all the Pro Bowl players, all people that got voters the Pro Bowl that year. Yeah. Um, another bright spot. Mr. Biski won the MVP. Do you know what the MVP is? No, I want to say like the,
00:55:42
Speaker
But that never valuable player? No, it was the Nickelodeon valuable player. Oh, Jesus Christ. Because even with an eight and eight season that year, we made the playoffs. And so we went against the scenes. I remember that. In the playoffs. That was one of those years where you had to like.
00:56:03
Speaker
do the math and like pray someone else lost and someone else won or something. Yeah, it was one of those years you were counting on other teams to get you in. Oh, so yeah, so the MVP, because that playoff game, Nickelodeon was also casting that playoff game. And it was really, it was actually kind of fun. They had like little, they had all sorts of overlays and stuff and they would have like slime popping up in the middle of the field and Patrick Starr at one point was like announcing to and like color commentating.
00:56:34
Speaker
So yeah, maybe I remember thinking they gave them the NVP. I remember while the NFL was really reaching for fans, right? Yeah. Really reaching because viewership had declined so much by that point. Yeah. And NVP. NVP. Yeah.
00:56:53
Speaker
Dude, I felt so bad too because they got this little kid, you know, this cute little kid to come up and give Mitch Trubisky the award, but they gave it to him at the end of the game. So obviously, I mean, we lost that game, that playoff game. And so Mitch Trubisky is fucking, he's just pissed, dude. And he didn't like, I just remember feeling so bad for the little kid, you know, like, I'm sure he was so excited to be on TV and like give out this award and he has to give it to a pissed off Mitch Trubisky.
00:57:19
Speaker
Like that's not that's not bashing on mr. Bisky, you know, but it's just it's just so unfortunate I thought I'm gonna throw this out there like I want you to think Nickelodeon like How many what other games could they have gotten and like what other quarterbacks could they have? Presented this too instead. Yeah, it's kind of like I felt bad for the kid because I was like damn like you don't get to meet the other people, you know Yeah, someone that's gonna be a different team next year, you know
00:57:45
Speaker
To this day, Mitch Chubisky remains the only player in NFL history to win the MVP. So that's worth something, I think. I'm sure he has that up on the mantle. Oh, he's got it. So we can just talk a little bit about that game. I mean, obviously, it wasn't such a, it wasn't, I mean, it's still disappointing, but I don't think it was as disappointing as the last playoff loss that we had. I'm reading your notes here.
00:58:12
Speaker
Yeah, so it's important to note that that Darnell Mooney was Darnell Mooney wasn't really good that season and he got injured and then Roquan Smith who's been good really since he got drafted. He was very consistent and like a great opposite to Mac. So I mean it was Yeah, and so I was watching and kind of seeing you know
00:58:35
Speaker
there's this guy I don't even remember this fucking guy but he this guy was like in the yeah whims he was in the end zone a couple times and like also had some really good passes from Mitch to him that he just drops
00:58:49
Speaker
And I think this was because Mooney was out, so they had to put someone in there. But this guy just sucked. He just dropped an easy touchdown and just was not good and did not help us in that playoff game at all. And then there was a few penalties that ended up that gave the Saints a good drive. I kept the drive for them alive and then got them a touchdown. And then, yeah, at the end of the game, literally as the clock is winding down,
00:59:17
Speaker
Jimmy Graham gets this crazy one-handed snag into the end zone to score our only touchdown that game. And it's so funny because if you watch it, he snags the ball, gets the touchdown, and just books it straight for the locker room. Because the clock was already pretty much run out at that point. So he just walks up the field. I don't even think they did the kick. Well, he wasn't even on the kicking team anyways. It didn't fucking matter for him. Yeah, so he just was like, I'm out of here. Yeah.
00:59:47
Speaker
All right. We're in the home stretch here, I think.
Drafting Justin Fields
00:59:50
Speaker
So the main thing about 2021 was that was I think we can just start like that was a year we drafted Justin Fields six and eleven season, got rid of Mr. Biski. We brought in Andy Dalton. We thought we were going to go. We were. It seemed like that's who was going to be our main quarterback for a little bit because we hadn't drafted Justin Fields yet. Well, it was also known that initially, I think the plan was to have him
01:00:17
Speaker
just in case whoever we drafted wasn't ready because I don't think we wanted to make the same mistake we do with Chubisque. I don't know. Did we also want Justin Fields? I remember the feeling being that he was kind of on his way out and they wanted to do something
01:00:38
Speaker
They were like, throw Hail Mary. They were like, fuck it. Yeah, I think it was kind of like a Hail Mary. And they think it was Paces Hail Mary, too, because I think he knew he was on his way out as well. And they were trying to do something. All right, let's do something big and just try and make something happen here. We also drafted Tevin Jenkins that year and Khalil Herbert. Yep. I mean, it was a 6 and 11 season, so there wasn't a lot of bright spots. Obviously, watching some of Justin Fields' games,
01:01:06
Speaker
When he, uh, when he finally got in, that was really cool. That was so much fun to watch. I will say though, Oh my gosh, watching him play stressed me out. Cause it was cool. Yeah. His first year, it was cool to see in all the stuff that he was doing, but he was, I mean, he was playing like a running back. And I just remember every time I fucking slide, please for the love of God slide. Yeah.
01:01:39
Speaker
I was worried he was going to get hurt. Yeah, I mean, and because that's the thing. And it's not even like he was. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. It could have been a to a situation. He was he was looking for the hits even. That was what was getting me is that he it's like you can take the slide. You're not even you're just hitting someone for not even an extra yard. Like what are you doing?
01:01:59
Speaker
several times i just remember slide you fuck like just fucking slide please you're supposed you if you're going to be any sort of our future like you can't you can't be taking as many hits you know and i mean that caught up with him that year he ended up getting hurt he cracked he got hurt two separate times um the first time he got he ended up with cracked ribs and then the second time he hurt his ankle
01:02:22
Speaker
um yeah six and eleven that's how we ended obviously no playoffs and then we went into 2022 and that was a year that I mean we
Rebuilding Under New Leadership
01:02:33
Speaker
just really didn't know didn't overall we just cleaned house that year the big ones that we got rid of
01:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it was just very, very necessary. I agree. The funny thing was that, and so Matt and Ryan, Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace were fired and Matt and Ryan got brought in. Matt Ibifluis and Ryan Paul. A little background on Ryan Poles. He was an Olineman at Boston College. And then he actually tried, he tried out for the Bears and he was,
01:03:06
Speaker
looking like he was going to be on the Bears, but then they cut him. So he ultimately didn't make the 53-man roster during his time. He also spent some time at Kansas City and Boston College before Kansas City. And that whole time, a big part of his job was scouting and recruiting for both those organizations. And then he came here. And it seems like his big thing when he was coming here was that he really wanted to change
01:03:30
Speaker
the culture and The culture of the Bears team and really wanted to build a new foundation and start, you know start something new here absolutely There's all these cool little tidbits about him, you know, and he talks about sleeping
01:03:45
Speaker
at house hall during the draft, you know, and just just reading about this guy and and seeing his interviews and stuff like that. It just he just seems like I really like him. I like him. I like Matt Eberflux, too, who we brought in that same year. And he was the former defensive coordinator for the Colts.
01:04:02
Speaker
He was linebacker for Toledo College and was apparently pretty good. And then coached at Toledo after he graduated for a while. And then, yeah, part of his job at Toledo too was also recruiting, which I thought that was really interesting that both of them had backgrounds in recruiting and scouting. Because I think that's just really important. I mean, when you have the GM and the head coach who both have experience and know how to have some experience doing that.
01:04:28
Speaker
And I think that because of that, they would also know how to have that conversation and like plan things out a little better. Yeah. Yeah. We also brought in Luke Getsey that year.
01:04:41
Speaker
I should say Eberflu Sprout and Luke Ketsi as our offensive coordinator. He was a former college quarterback. He was with the 49ers in 2007. And then he was coaching around for a bit, former Packer. So I don't know, I don't know how you feel about that, but it makes me, makes me wary. Wasn't he a quarterback coach for the Packers? So that's one where I'm like, he's got some,
01:05:08
Speaker
I mean, say what you will with the Packers, but. They've had good quarterbacks. I think that's an understatement. Yeah. Yep. So yeah, that year, Ryan polls came in and I mean, some people weren't happy about it, but that was he really just started. I mean, he really cleaned house player wise. He made some really big trades for really big players that I think that a lot of Bears Bears fans liked and weren't necessarily happy as he go.
01:05:38
Speaker
And I saw a mixed bag, you know, there's always the people on the internet that are like, Oh, what an idiot. Why would he do that? And there's other people that I'm sad, but you know, it's what's got to be done. Um, some of the people that we got rid of, we got rid of Kaleo Mac, I mean, real quick on Smith, like you get rid of, which was huge. I mean, those are big blows. Yeah. I remember those hurting. And I remember like, fuck, but at the same point, who did we have available worth? You know what I mean? Like.
01:06:08
Speaker
It makes sense that they would be on the chopping block just because. Yeah, I mean, he's older. I mean, you're not going to build around Cleo Mack and you can't really. I mean, he's still going to be perform above most people, like even being not in his prime necessarily. Right. I just I don't think he.
01:06:29
Speaker
Ryan Pauls very much wanted to start fresh and was looking towards the future, you know. Right. And that's what it means. Those guys just weren't going to be long term. Who you had and being able to be like, all right, well, you're not going to be long term, but you are still a value like you can still get.
01:06:44
Speaker
things. Yeah. For you. You can get something. I did want to real quick, looking back at like Ibeth and get see one of my big things is like with Matt is the defensive background mindset. I think we're moving away from the offensive mind, head coach, you know, like and which hopefully would bring a little more structure back to the players defense. We need to be the monsters of the Midway again. Like that's what we were missing.
01:07:13
Speaker
But he was also notorious at the time for player development and adaptability, which I think I've said we are not known for quarterback development. I mean, that's positional, but you could also say like player development as a whole. Generally.
01:07:30
Speaker
I think that that would absolutely help because that was one of the things we were missing on defense was the younger guys that were coming in for the injuries that we were having and the trades that we made. It's like they never truly got up there. We finished with six wins that year. It's like, well, our defense was falling apart all over the place.
01:07:54
Speaker
Obviously, his lack of head coaching was questionable. It's like, all right, well, let's see how he does here. Also, he's not an offensive mind. It's like, okay, so then that's fine, but we need to see who his offensive coordinator is going to be. Right? Because that was going against the grain there. Making that call is of bringing in the defensive coordinator's head coach. Because like you were saying, it seems like mostly it's just offensive coordinators or offensive minded people coming in.
01:08:24
Speaker
But I think because positions because polls wanted to focus on culture redefinition and like looking at okay well who has player development and who has adaptability who's known like in the locker rooms around the league as
01:08:39
Speaker
as a player's coach, you know. And then when he brought in get see, I mean, quarterback coach passing game coordinator for the Green Bay Packers. So obviously experience with quarterbacks, which is where we lack. So you can tell it was a good move for Ebs to bring him in because that literally they counterbalance each other. Right. So clearly you call you go with Ebs or Futh?
01:09:09
Speaker
Or Iber Flus? Both. It just depends on the day and who I'm talking to. Yeah. I tend to like I like Flus. I like Flus, I guess, because it is like Flus. Obviously, some hesitation with him was he was a first time offensive coordinator. We'll see how he does in that role. In a way, it was a leap. But I think it's working out or worked out, you know, while he did have success with Aaron Rodgers again.
01:09:37
Speaker
Aaron Rodgers at that point in his career, it's like he's a unique talent. He's a generation talent. He's going to be successful basically under almost any offensive coordinator. Because if he doesn't agree with you, he's going to say, fuck you, I'm going to call this play. What are you going to do about it? Yeah, and it'll work out.
01:09:55
Speaker
Yeah, for him. Yeah, for him. So. But I did like the quarterback coach that they brought on, which was Andrew Janako, because at the time he had been a wide receiver coach for the Vikings and also served like other capacities with the team, like offensive assistant, assistant quarterbacks coach. So this is sort of his natural progression up the line of what position he could be in.
01:10:24
Speaker
He was very familiar with the division. He had a wide receiver background.
01:10:34
Speaker
I think that his experience as an assistant quarterback coach in the past, while limited, was great value. And he's seeing it from both sides, a wide receiver and a quarterback, right? And so being able to come in and hopefully develop someone that can give a quarterback a quarterback mindset, not just strictly quarterback, but also going like, think about it from your receiver's point of view as well. So it was kind of exciting.
01:11:02
Speaker
Yeah, those are my big notes from here. I was like, what was the coaching? I knew there were tonic coaching changes. And I'm like, yeah. Yeah. And also, I think that having that quarterback coach who this is his first time doing that under the tutelage of someone who's been a quarterback coach, you know, like that's yeah. I feel like they just did a really good job at sort of balancing out things. And so I'm excited to see. Obviously, we'll go through the 2022 season real quick, but like how this 2023 season is going to look.
01:11:31
Speaker
Yeah. So players we got that year. We got Nikhil Harry. We got Chase Claypool. We got Jack Sanborn, who I really like Jack Sanborn. We got Dante Pettis. We got Byron Pringle, Equinamus St. Brown. We drafted Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, Bayless Jones, and Braxton Jones. Is there anyone I'm missing that you remember? No. No, that seems about right.
01:11:59
Speaker
And then, yeah, like we mentioned earlier, we got rid of, we traded with Kaleo Mack and Roquan Smith. So for the actual season, we went three and 14. Three and 14 last year. It was rough. It was rough. But I would say as rough as it was, I was still having fun. And it's crazy. There were a lot more close games.
01:12:25
Speaker
I think people did not feel. Yeah, I don't think enough by three and 16 really realize how many close games and against playoff teams. And how well Justin Fields did against playoff teams, playoff defenses specifically. I mean, correct me if I'm from remembering wrong here, but he did really good against the Eagles defense.
01:12:45
Speaker
Yep. And it was a solid defense. I mean, like you can't. They had a hard time with him. I remember every like you had the people you knew were going to be playoff contenders, like not even playoff contenders. There was like at least division championship contenders. Right. Right. And like who had full bone game plans just around fields and a completely different one. Should he not play like. Yeah.
01:13:12
Speaker
They were almost like, we'd be fucked if you didn't play, you know, like, because we didn't practice any of the other stuff. Yeah, so I mean, hopefully this one's a lot more fresh than memory, so I have a little more. I mean, it was just fun watching Justin Fields again, just so many crazy magic plays like just next level.
01:13:35
Speaker
Some lots of good stats from him a lot to go to like records that he either broke or set, you know Yeah, I mean season for him. Yeah, some of the records he broke here He broke the single game regular season record for quarterback rushing yards And he beat Michael Vicks that record heat that was Michael Vicks record before and it stood for 20 years before he broke it He was the first NFL player to have three touchdown passes and rush for at least 150 yards
01:14:04
Speaker
And then he now has the record for the Bears franchise for the longest quarterback run and longest quarterback touchdown run. He broke the Bears single season quarterback rushing yards record. He was the first NFL quarterback to have consecutive 140-yard rushing games, first to have multiple 60-yard rushing TDs in the Super Bowl era, first quarterback to rush for a touchdown in six consecutive games, third NFL quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards joining Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson.
01:14:36
Speaker
Which, I mean, those are some pretty big names and that's a lot of records to break in one season. Granted, some of those, you know, the bears aren't really known for having a Russian quarterback, but I mean, not at all. There's, there's still, there's still records that he's breaking though. So I mean, that's something.
01:14:57
Speaker
And they're not, they're not all barriers franchise records. Some of them are in the photo. And I mean, for Christ's sake, because these cleats are in the fucking Hall of Fame right now. Like, you know, that's, that's pretty cool. And I think that says something. Um,
01:15:11
Speaker
I mean, come on, we got to tip the hat, right? Oh, we got, we got to come on now.
Securing the Number One Draft Pick
01:15:16
Speaker
So at the end of the season, it basically came down to if we, if we, for us to have the first pick, the Texans had to win their last game. Lovey Smith was the, was the head coach at the time for the Texans. Um, for those of you don't know, Lovey Smith was a coach.
01:15:33
Speaker
head coach of the bears for a long time and i i think is beloved by chicago i think a lot of people i think most people 100 i can't think of anyone honestly who who has any ill will i will never talk shit about it lovie smith yeah i i love lovie smith
01:15:48
Speaker
So, people were making jokes that he helped secure the number one draft pick for the Chicago Bears by winning that last Texan. If they had lost it, they would have had the number one pick, but they won it and so the Bears ended up with it.
01:16:04
Speaker
And I just remember seeing everyone was so happy and you can't help but feel like you did it on, you know, and I think he knew he was he was out at that point too. So I do think it was also just one final, like, fuck you to the Texas. Oh, absolutely.
Justin Fields' Tenacity and Team Concerns
01:16:17
Speaker
It was just so funny because I mean, it's funny to read the like to read some of the headlines from that, like Texans Fire, Loewy Smith after win versus Cole. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
01:16:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, dude, that that number one pick has been huge for us. If he had looked dead into camera when that happened and just nodded or winked. Yeah. Yeah. Just give us give us something like right down the lens. Give me give me that. Just.
01:16:49
Speaker
When he when he made that call to go for two, I remember being like, what? I was like, OK, kind of. I really hope this works. That would be dope. And it was just it was it was a great call for us for the bears. Yeah. Once a bear, always a bear.
01:17:07
Speaker
Gotta love him. Um, I hope that they do like whenever he retires. I hope they do one of those one day contracts for me No, like oh, that'd be great. That'd be great. I would love that. That would be so awesome and great I wonder if that's ever been done for a coach. I've never thought about that before. Yeah, I don't know how I mean I could it would work the same. Well, I don't know what to look that up. Yeah So last year was Montgomery's last year I just really like Montgomery and I was really sad that um
01:17:38
Speaker
that he didn't stay with us. Justin Fields got hurt twice last year. And that, that was so, I mean, it was great. It's always great watching him play and stuff, but I do remember being frustrated. I think with the coaching staff too, cause it seemed like just kept putting him in when he was very obviously like either injured or like his legs were dead from running so much.
01:18:01
Speaker
from carrying the fucking team. He didn't just carry the team. He carried the city of Chicago. He carried the weight of every fucking fan that was there, that was watching.
01:18:17
Speaker
Yeah, there were a couple of moments where I was like, why are you still doing this? Yeah. And I think that's 16. Like, what the fuck? Why are you still doing this? Yeah, which I think shows his tenacity and just like how much he wants to win and how much he wants to do well for the Bears. But I just remember being really frustrated in the season and being like, guys, like stop letting him do this. Like this guy is, you know,
01:18:43
Speaker
I mean, we still have hope for him. It remains to be seen that he's not our guy. And so until then, why are we risking him getting a long-term injury? Our O-line was so bad. And I'll say, I think it was so bad because I don't think we had more than three games or even two games in a row with the same O-line.
01:19:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, it was rough.
Monsoon Game and Team Spirit
01:19:10
Speaker
It was very rough. Lots of lots of injuries. It is so hard. The offensive of the unit is like the offensive line is so important to be able to have consistency. Like you are a brotherhood. You have to think like like the Spartans, right? They trained spear and shield and your shield was there not just for you, but for the man on your left, like
01:19:37
Speaker
like that's how I just got a clip today. I just got a clip today on TikTok of that scene. Um, where he's talking to, uh, to the guy, the deformed guy, what's he, he's talking to FEL T's and he's explaining that he's like, if you can't, he's like the shield is to protect the man. Pick up your shield. Yeah, exactly. Pick up your shield from neck neck. Yeah.
01:20:07
Speaker
Raise your shield as high as you can. Your father should have told you how our failings work. If we fight as a single impenetrable unit, that is the source of our strength. Each Spartan protects the mountain who is left thigh to neck with a shield.
01:20:37
Speaker
a single weak spot and the phalanx shatters from thigh to neck ephialtes i am sorry my friend but not all of us were made to be soldiers here to hear ephialtes i'm sorry my friend yeah we'll have to talk about that another time because i don't want to go too deep into a tangent on that because i have some thoughts about that
01:21:07
Speaker
Oh, the monsoon game. Do you remember that? When we beat the 49ers? Oh, yeah, dude. I wanted I wanted to talk about the monsoon game because watching that game really just it felt. I felt like a new era was being. You know, how would you say that, like, rushed in, I guess, being brought in. Yeah, it felt like that game brought in a new era because it was ushered. It was ushered in a new. Thank you. Yeah.
01:21:32
Speaker
It felt like that monsoon game really ushered in a new era. Just at the end, you know, the, the field is just totally flooded, you know, up to their ankles and water. And you just see, uh, you just see Justin Fields and like four or five other bears and they just all like hydroplane and slide like penguins just into the, into the end zone and look on his face. And they're just also
Optimism for the Bears' Future
01:21:54
Speaker
ha dude. I felt so happy. Yeah, dude.
01:21:57
Speaker
It took me back to it when I was eight years old and it was raining at practice and we did fumble drills. Like that's what you do when it fucking pours during practice. No lightning, obviously, like you're safe. But like, you're like, guys, this is what it's about. Let's get money. Yeah. Your white practice pants are like totally brown and black from all the mud and you're just totally like just drenched. Dude, those are just parents of practice. We're just like, fuck.
01:22:20
Speaker
because they didn't bring a towel for us to sit on in the car. Yeah. Yeah, that was so much fun. And that's why I equated that to the 2016 Cubs team. They were in loving the game. Yeah, that's what last year Bears team looked like to me. Yeah, the record doesn't look great. No, it definitely leaves things up to be wanted.
01:22:49
Speaker
It did not feel like a three and 14 season because of how many close games there were because of how many amazing highlights there were. But the one big thing I took was like, man, if these guys came in talking about changing culture, changing culture, changing team culture. Yeah.
01:23:07
Speaker
they're executing absolutely. I'm like fuck dude, keep building that, keep building that, all of these are buying into it, all the players, all the guys are buying into it. Keep pushing that. I just think it's worth saying that, I don't know, I'm even more excited now I think in the three and 14 season for the future than I was when we
01:23:29
Speaker
When we made the playoffs and lost to the, that's exactly, that's exactly what I was just about to say. Yeah. I was like, because with that one, it was more like I was excited, but I also knew how difficult it was going to be to keep everybody healthy for the next year, as well as to like even try to replicate that. Yeah. Whereas this year it's like, there's nowhere to go, but maybe we're going through a 14 boat, like.
01:23:51
Speaker
I don't fucking care. I don't give a shit. But the fact that I wasn't like, nah, fuck them, this is a waste of time. And more like, I'm actually excited. I absolutely put more weight to
Leadership Praise and Critiques
01:24:03
Speaker
that than I did. I was tuning in every week with excitement, even knowing that we might not win.
01:24:07
Speaker
Also because it could go any way. Not just that, we were one of the teams that could end someone else's opportunity to get into the playoffs because there was like, well, is field starting or not? It's not even, can you contain him? It got to a point of, okay,
01:24:31
Speaker
Let's be honest, you probably won't be able to contain him. Can you outscore him? Sure. That's what you got to do. Yeah, that's what you can't stop. So, yeah, I just this little section I wanted to just some interesting little tidbits that I found when I was doing research for this episode that I thought just were interesting to recall and never rushed for more than 500 yards a season.
01:24:57
Speaker
I thought that was crazy. But then you look and it was because he was all he was being utilized in so many different areas. He wasn't just the ball. He was getting passes. He was, you know, he wasn't generally if I OK, it's like you say, Cohen, I don't even think.
01:25:18
Speaker
That's not because he wasn't the primary rusher. He was second. He was always second. But what he was was the flex guy, right? He was the one that could rush if he needed to, but could also catch and turn. And that's really where you you're like. So to me, I'm always like, oh, no, he's like my second and situation. He's my third and short type guy, like third, third and mid type guy. Right.
01:25:47
Speaker
to me of like, hey, all right. Well, you're going to have to run this little quicksand. You're going to have to bump out here. You're going to have to take a screen pass, you know, that kind of shit. So you're my check down. Like, extend the play. Cody Parkey hit seven doinks for misses in his NFL career and one doing for completion for a total of eight doinks in his whole NFL career.
01:26:15
Speaker
So many. Another thing I thought was interesting, Alshon Jeffrey. He was on the Bears for a while. But then he went to the Eagles, won a Super Bowl, and then he was on the Eagles when they knocked us out of the playoffs in 2018.
01:26:31
Speaker
And then I found out there's all time list. He's number 80 on the beers all time list. He is. And rightfully so. The time that he was with us, he was good. I mean, that's what got him to the Eagles. The problem was that when he was with us, he also was underutilized heavily because we were not a passing team. Not like what the Eagles turned into.
01:26:52
Speaker
Kyle Long really fucking hates Matt Nagy, apparently. And I love Kyle Long. I love Kyle Long, too. That was when when that started coming out. The one thing about Kyle Long that I respected was his leadership and like the fact that he held off so long on expressing that. Yeah. Because I think he knew that with with with Nagy coming in and like, you know, like everything going on, he
01:27:20
Speaker
a true leader and doesn't always put everything out for the public like just talking shit to people. That's not why you're shit. Because you're literally just causing fires and burning bridges as the second those words are coming out of your mouth. The Kansas... Oh, sorry about that. No, go ahead.
01:27:37
Speaker
I was just going to say that earlier this year or actually a couple weeks ago, the 49ers, not the 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs put out a video because Matt Nagy is back with the Kansas City Chiefs as quarterback coach. Not even the OC, huh?
01:27:53
Speaker
You would have thought, you know? But they posted a video of him and he's hitting the post. He's throwing the ball and he's hitting the post. They captioned it, can your quarterback coach do this? And then Kyle Long quote tweeted it and I think all he said was like double doink or something like that.
01:28:15
Speaker
Yeah, he's doing his best parking impression But yeah, I don't know looking back those times are fun I think for a while I looking especially looking back for this episode. I think I've been too harsh on that Nagi I really have had a disdain for Matt Nagy the past couple years just every time I think about I'm just like you fucking idiot You know not a disdain it evolved into a dislike yeah, especially once like
01:28:43
Speaker
players that are established that I respect that like I think I have a high like level threshold for characters. That's the one thing that I think I was great at was leadership was like setting an example. I may not have always been the best person on the field or the best person on the wrestling matter or anything. But one thing I was good at was leading others and making sure to like
01:29:07
Speaker
bring those behind up and doing my best and looking at it as a team thing. So when Kyle Wong comes out and basically is like, I don't care for it. Fuck this guy. All of a sudden immediately, I'm like, ah, that's a huge, huge, huge.
01:29:25
Speaker
Um, yeah, we talked about this earlier. I just I just was blown away by it just uh, because I totally That mark sanchez was the third string quarterback for the bears. I forgot he wasn't even the this like the backup. He was the backup I forgot about I saw it that he that the bears that he was in the trades because they were like, you know I was looking through and it was like mark sanchez was traded or was released and I was like
01:29:48
Speaker
I don't remember him starting for the Bears. And I looked and I was like, he was fucking third string for the Chicago Bears. And then like the year after he got popped for PDs. But then he made a whole long post about like, oh, like, you know, it was a one time exposure and the test that I took before was clean. And the one that I took 30 days after was clean. I've never taken it. I've never cheated, everything. And
01:30:10
Speaker
Which I don't think he did, but you know, you always kind of like, Oh yeah, sure.
Podcast Promotion
01:30:13
Speaker
Mark. Yeah. One time. Can I just throw this out there? What's that? It didn't help him. So I don't give a shit. At that point I'm like, maybe we took the wrong ones. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's wrap it up here. We'll do our, uh, anything you want to promote.
01:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, sure. I'm the host of another podcast called Chick Flicks with Dicks. That's Chick Flicks with an X where myself and two of my co-hosts are assigned a chick flick that my wife picks out and then we drink and
01:30:50
Speaker
watch it and then discuss it. Over the last five years, we've become somewhat connoisseurs of the chick lick genre. It's always a good time. It is definitely not safe for work. Definitely check us out on that. That's probably the one thing that I'll push on what I do. Stay tuned for more. I've always got projects in the works.
01:31:17
Speaker
For sure. Where can they follow you? Really, the big one would be like on Instagram. We do have a Facebook page. We don't really keep that one up so much. The easiest one is Instagram. And we'll see how long that one even lasts. I'll have to update you with that. That is also chick flicks with dicks, all one word. The flicks is spelled with an X. So yeah, but we'll post updates and shit there.
01:31:45
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, if you guys want to know what I'm doing or what I'm up to or follow me, um, you can just follow me on Instagram at O O H Omar Delgado or no, Omar Daniel. Sorry. Uh, O H M A R Daniel. Um, I do a lot of music projects, just kind of whatever I'm feeling like working on just creatively, you know, whether that's art or music or some mixture of the two. Um, where can they find your music?
01:32:11
Speaker
You can find my music on Spotify. I go buy Omar Daniel on that one, but there's no OH, it's just my name, Omar Daniel on Spotify or Apple, or pretty much wherever you get your music. Oh shit, I should have said that for the podcast too. Yeah, you can find us on Apple Music or Apple Podcasts, I guess it is, Apple Podcasts. Yeah, basically wherever you get your podcasts.
01:32:31
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, that was, we're closing out here. That was the Da Bear Claw podcast, our first episode. Our next episode, we're going to be going over the offense, kind of what happened, what moves were made this year, things that we're excited about, things that we're worried about. We're probably going to be talking a lot about Justin Fields because he is a huge part of the offense and the franchise as a whole right now.
01:33:01
Speaker
But yeah, thank you for listening. Have a good rest of your day, and we'll see you next time on the Bearclaw podcast.
01:33:10
Speaker
Hey guys, just wanted to mention that if you want to follow the podcast on social media, we're on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as Da Bear Claw Pod. That's D-A-B-E-A-R-C-L-A-W-P-O-D. And if you feel like shooting us an email telling us how good or bad a job you think we're doing, or if you have any comments or anything you think we missed that's worth mentioning, or if you just want to say hi, you can shoot us an email at bearclawpodcontact at gmail.com. Thanks for listening.