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Welcome in TOUM Bears Weekly, a

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Chicago Bears Network production

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download the Chicago Bears Official Act,

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To you by Verizon to follow the team

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on the go.

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Bears Weekly is brought to you by African

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By Gens Energy and Miller Life.

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Pierre Your hosts Jeff Joniak

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aka the Mayor of Bearsville and

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his sidekicked Tom the surffask

0:27

there.

0:29

Pleasant get even everybody.

0:31

Later this evening we find out if the thirty

0:33

Bears, already in Trina, Canton and the Pro Football

0:35

Hall of Fame will become uh

0:37

well more Company Veterans

0:40

Committee finalists and legendary defensive tackle

0:42

Steve McMichael return star

0:44

Devin Hester, a Hall of Fame finalist for

0:46

three years in a row. We'll fight out surely if they'll get

0:48

the gold jackets officially and their

0:50

bronze bus displayed for perpetuity.

0:52

Exciting that ahead.

0:53

Indeed, I'm Jeff Joniack with Super Bowl Bear Tom

0:56

Thayer and thanks to producers Jordan Trudup,

0:58

Dan Brilli. Also to Kevin z Pet of

1:00

the Spen One thousand Studios, Executive

1:02

producer of the Bears Ready Network as Eric Ostrowski

1:04

also joining us from Vegas after

1:06

Super Bowl. He's been working all week from

1:08

Serious x MNFL Radio is moving to change.

1:11

Jim Miller time we start with you.

1:14

Great anticipatory night. A lot

1:16

of rumors out there, obviously, but

1:18

until we hear it for official, I know, as

1:20

an ex teammate of Steve McMichael, for

1:23

one, and a broadcaster for Devin

1:25

and Julius Peppers for that matter, is.

1:27

A big night.

1:28

Yeah, you know, Jeff, I just wish that we could react

1:30

to the stories because with anticipation

1:33

of it all happening, I'd like to be

1:35

able to talk honestly about a guy that deserves

1:38

a Hall of Fame. I'm talking about

1:40

a teammate first of all, and Steve McMichael,

1:42

he deserves it on what he was able to accomplish,

1:45

the impression that he left on the league,

1:48

the improvement that he helped his football

1:50

team when he came aboard the Bears,

1:52

but his commitment of him, his

1:55

self and his life to professional

1:58

football, and then obviously Devin

2:00

is a game changer. He's left

2:02

more good memories in our mind and

2:04

your broadcasting voice, and

2:07

a lot of other guys they have along the way,

2:09

And we all have tons of respect for

2:11

Julius Peppers, what the type of

2:13

player he was, who he was compared to,

2:16

and his accomplishments and results.

2:19

And Jimmy, you wore the uniform of a bear as well,

2:21

so a lot of pride as well for the charter

2:23

franchise of the National Football League. And

2:25

I'm certain that you long felt

2:27

that McMichael hester included

2:30

should have been in the Hall of Fame even before

2:32

this.

2:33

Yes, And you know, I think it is

2:35

safe to say that Mago's getting

2:38

in. You know, I can pretty much say

2:40

that I know Misty, his wife.

2:42

I was texting back and forth with back

2:44

and forth with her. She's out here in

2:47

Las Vegas for a reason. Because

2:49

Mango's getting in, and he's well deserved.

2:51

And Tom can talk about him as a

2:53

teammate more than I can. I can only talk

2:56

as me as a lover

2:58

of football, you know, watching the tenacity

3:00

that he played with and in the fierceness

3:03

and the competitiveness that he played and

3:05

what he's what he stood for from afar, No

3:07

time can go a lot deeper than that. As

3:10

for Devin Hester. You know, with the

3:12

current rules in the NFL with the kick

3:14

returns, you know, it's pretty much been eliminated

3:17

with the new rule. We'll have to see what the NFL does

3:19

down with the NFL and the owners meaning supposedly

3:21

they want to implement what is the

3:23

old XFL kick return

3:25

and how the XFL ran it. But no one

3:28

has done what Devin Hester has

3:30

done, and I think that's what swayed the voters.

3:32

You know, as for right now, he's the number

3:35

one guy all time. You know, you could make an

3:37

argument why wasn't he a first ballot

3:39

Hall of Famer because he's done more than any

3:41

kick returner has ever done. So

3:44

that one sounds like it's in the books

3:46

as well. Well.

3:47

I'll say this about calling all those except

3:50

for one with the Atlanta Falcons that put him over

3:52

the top pass Diane Sanders, I

3:54

haven't seen anything like it to have it.

3:57

Repetitively done, and you're you're still

3:59

kicking too.

4:00

And then for periods of time they weren't kicking

4:02

to him, they were afraid of them, and he

4:04

was getting frustrated. It affected his play

4:07

in anything else, including a wide receiver

4:09

and the pressure and I just

4:11

was on with the Cap and Waddle

4:14

on ESPN one thousand and we talked

4:17

about this because I believe that

4:19

Devin, from the time he started playing youth football

4:22

knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer and he charted

4:24

that path long, long time ago

4:27

because he always knew he could do it. And

4:29

just how he returned the ball, the arrogance

4:32

of which he returned that ball, and

4:34

the confidence and the

4:37

competitiveness of the opposition, the coaches,

4:40

the special teams, coordinators, the

4:42

punters, the kickers, Eh.

4:44

Let's give it a shot.

4:45

Maybe you know, maybe we'll make a story

4:47

out of him by not letting him get

4:50

in the end zone. And he proved everybody wrong

4:52

every step of the way, Tommy, every step

4:54

of the way.

4:55

See, let me ask you something about confidence

4:57

and arrogance. Are you glad that he

4:59

read turned the one in Atlanta? Or

5:02

else you would have called everyone no,

5:05

I listen, listen

5:08

me. And Devin wasn't a bear at the

5:10

time, so we never cheered against him.

5:13

However, if throughout the course

5:15

of your broadcasting career, you could say

5:17

I called every single one of Devon's

5:19

returns throughout a Hall of Fame

5:21

career. That would be something amazing

5:24

to say.

5:25

Yeah, no question, you know. Yeah.

5:27

But West Durham, the Atlanta Falcons radio

5:29

guy, Jimmy he he, he

5:31

did give me a little shout out,

5:34

like my good friend Jeff Joniek would say, Devin

5:36

Hester, you are ridiculous.

5:38

He said it, so thank you, West

5:40

Durham. It means a lot.

5:41

I you know, you never know who you're gonna

5:43

call in this in this league, right and and

5:46

he was just he just resonated with everybody.

5:48

And I get more questions about

5:50

where did ridiculous come from even today.

5:53

Well, that's the genesis of that. It was the it

5:55

was the second return against Saint

5:57

Louis. The Bears were blowing out the Rams. They

5:59

were on side kick and I saw the

6:02

distance between Devin and the nearest

6:04

approaching defender.

6:05

He blew by him like nothing. I

6:08

just I just lost it. And you

6:10

can't believe this stuff. I just

6:12

can't believe it.

6:13

Jimmy, Well, it's perfectly

6:15

framed, and that's what you do as a radio guy, and

6:17

he's framed it perfectly. It's ridiculous.

6:19

What he was doing was it

6:21

was ridiculous at the time of how he

6:24

was making special teams play

6:26

to another level. I'll never

6:28

forget the game where Mike Shanahan is

6:30

the head coach of the Washington Redskins

6:33

at that time time formerly the

6:35

Redskins, i should say, and Keith

6:37

Burns who or not Keith Burns, Keith

6:40

Butler who was their special teams coach, and we had

6:42

we had played together at

6:45

some at one point, and he became

6:47

their special teams coach and Mike Shanahan

6:50

challenged him or Keith Burns

6:52

excused me, and there was Mike

6:54

Shanahan challenged him. They kicked to him twice

6:56

and he had two returns in that game, and it

6:58

basically destroyed the game. White

7:01

coaches would even kick to this guy or

7:03

challenge him is beyond me. And

7:05

that goes back to the Super Bowl against Tony Dundee.

7:08

If you remember, Peyton Manning was screaming

7:10

on the sideline, who the heck made that

7:13

call to kick to this guy? And it goes back

7:15

to the head coach and Peyton was upset

7:17

from the first snap, yep.

7:19

And you know what happened after that? Tom Tom

7:22

smacked Jimmy smacked me so hard on the rear

7:24

end, which he used to do before every broadcast

7:27

early in my career, anyway, to make sure I'm

7:29

ready to go. And it hurt, it's

7:31

stung. You got your mind off the nerves. And

7:34

he turned to me with a finger and my faces in

7:36

the game hasn't even started yet.

7:38

And he was so right.

7:40

And if they just would have continued to run the football,

7:42

we would have been talking about a second Super Bowl champion

7:45

in Chicago. I really believe that. Anyway, we

7:47

got to take a break, boys, sit back.

7:49

We got some time in between. Earlier

7:51

today we visited with Jim,

7:54

your old teammate, Jerry Azuma for

7:56

some twenty minutes talking about all things.

7:59

Very lovely man, great player

8:01

for the Bears. We talk with him coming up next

8:03

here out of espon Chicago and the Bears Radio

8:05

Network.

8:06

This is Bears Weekly with a voice

8:08

of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff

8:10

jony Aik on the Bears Radio

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Network.

8:16

Unfortunate Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW.

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People to get it.

8:19

Welcome back to Bears Weekly, Jeff Joni Aak

8:21

and Tom Thayer. Jim Miller to rejoin

8:23

the program from the Super Bowl in Vegas in just

8:25

a moment and joining us now our good

8:27

friend, the president of Bears Care,

8:30

the charitable arm of the Chicago Bears. One of the most

8:32

exciting Bears players

8:34

for a seven year stretch from nineteen

8:36

ninety nine to two thousand and five, the

8:38

New Hampshire running back turned cornerback

8:40

and Pro Bowl kick return to the one and only Jerry

8:43

Azuma, who still every time I see

8:45

him, is fit to hit, looks

8:47

like he should still be playing. I don't know how

8:49

you do it. What are you thirty five?

8:51

Yeah, something like that.

8:52

Yeah, we'll just stick with that.

8:53

But no, you you have kept yourself in tip

8:56

top, rock solid shape.

8:59

And is this something of significance

9:01

in your life that you pay attention to every

9:03

single day?

9:04

Well, I have to you know, you

9:06

know your body starts talking to you, you have to start

9:08

listening to it, especially when you get older. I

9:11

have a six year old and an eight year old, so they

9:13

basically keep me active as

9:15

much as possible. So it's all about

9:17

them right now, so I have to make sure that I'm

9:20

able to move around for them.

9:21

By the way, I love the names

9:23

of your children, Santiago and Valentino,

9:27

those guys that either they're movie stars,

9:29

starting quarterbacks, I

9:31

don't know, but they're gonna be a really

9:33

big right, Like, tell me the genesis

9:36

of those names.

9:38

So Bianca my wife, she is a

9:40

Mexican, and we wanted to go

9:42

with a name that just kind of was

9:45

like Spanish influenced because

9:47

they have a whole bunch of African names right behind them.

9:49

So we went with Santiago.

9:52

He was born on Christmas Eve, so a

9:55

couple hours later he would have been Jesus

9:58

who knows, but we went with

10:00

the saint instead for Santiago. So that's

10:02

how that turned out. And then Valentino was just a name

10:04

that we've always loved and admired, and

10:07

we went with that with our youngest.

10:09

Jerry.

10:10

So you figure where your body's at at

10:12

this point, What is the state of

10:14

the game in your mind of

10:16

a father for young kids? And I'm going to

10:19

follow up with the question after that, but let's

10:21

talk about that first.

10:23

Yeah, I mean, I get that question asked a lot.

10:26

You know, my kids in the fall,

10:28

it was the first time playing flag football and they absolutely

10:31

loved it.

10:31

And it was the first time that I.

10:32

Was able to actually throw the ball at

10:35

them and have them catch it in you know,

10:37

just kind of learned the foundation and fundamentals of the

10:39

game, so.

10:40

They really liked it. I think I

10:42

grew up in Oklahoma.

10:43

So I grew up in Oklahoma in the

10:46

late seventies early eighties, So football

10:48

was life and it was all about hitting people as hard

10:50

as you could. It was always about

10:53

being aggressive, you know, the Oklahoma drills

10:55

and things like that. So I learned to hit

10:57

and be aggressive at a very early age.

10:59

And then now looking back at it, and

11:01

now that I have kids, I'm thinking to myself, well,

11:04

maybe that isn't the direction that I necessarily

11:06

need to go, because you can build a strong foundation

11:09

and really learn the game of football and

11:11

love the game of football without having

11:14

that physical contact, you know. I think

11:16

flag football builds a strong foundations.

11:18

You can learn the ex's and o's and things like that. So

11:20

I'm more of the standpoint of, you

11:23

know, learning the game and having a lot of fun

11:25

and running around what you can do with flag football

11:27

without the physicality.

11:28

And then later on, once your.

11:30

Body starts to mature and you feel

11:32

like you know what, you can lace up the

11:34

cleats and see if you're really about that life

11:36

to take some hits, then we can find out.

11:38

So I would say, like you know, junior high

11:40

high school.

11:41

Is is when you can start put on pads and see

11:43

if you really want that contact.

11:46

Well, you know, you are also a guy that brought people

11:48

out of their seats or made them stay in their seats

11:50

for a part of the return game, and I

11:52

think you kind of forge an opportunity

11:55

for yourself in the NFL through your ability

11:57

and the return game.

11:58

Yeah, give me.

12:00

Your feelings about the state of the return

12:02

game in today's NFL. Do

12:05

you want to see it changed

12:07

and stay in as significantly as

12:09

has been throughout the one hundred years of

12:11

the NFL? Or are you okay

12:13

with the changes that you're seeing.

12:15

Yeah, Well, the return game and special

12:18

teams has always been a dynamic thing in

12:20

the NFL for a long period of time,

12:23

and I understand.

12:24

The changes that they've made. They've they've made these.

12:25

Changes due to safety and

12:28

safety concerns and things like that, So I understand

12:30

it. And they made drastic, sweeping changes,

12:33

you know, to kind of push the game

12:35

forward as we now know it and

12:37

try to get away from, you know, the big

12:40

time collisions with you know, running

12:42

down on kickoff. You know, we have guys like

12:44

Israel, Aadneje who's running down

12:46

at you know, three hundred pounds, running as hass as

12:48

he can to like knock somebody's block off.

12:50

So I understand getting that

12:52

part out of the game, but they.

12:55

Can't swing it too far because these

12:57

days, these.

12:57

Games and these plays are extremely

13:00

dynamic. You're talking about a person

13:02

like Devin Hester, who's hopefully

13:04

we'll get into the Hall of Fame tonight. He

13:07

basically flipped you know, the field

13:10

position. He changed the whole dynamic of a game.

13:12

He changed game plans, He changed

13:14

so many different elements that the

13:16

game presented, and I think

13:18

that I don't want to see

13:21

that go away, and it's it's definitely

13:23

have gone.

13:23

It's gone away.

13:25

And you know, return is the

13:27

most one of the most exciting things to start

13:29

off a football game. Returns

13:31

are extremely exciting because if you have a person

13:34

like a Devin Hester or a Johnny Knox, or Glenn

13:36

Milburn or Daniel Manning, you know, the list

13:38

goes on and on and on. These guys can

13:40

really do incredible things just off

13:42

of one play.

13:44

So I think

13:46

the NFL is they

13:48

have their.

13:49

Concerns, and I understand their concerns,

13:51

but I just don't want to see them eliminate,

13:53

you know, special teams return

13:55

plays.

13:56

Former Bears cornerback kick return star Pro

13:58

bowler Jerry Azuma with ushign Bears Weekly,

14:00

Jeff and Tom with you here on the ESPN one thousand

14:02

of the Bears Radio Network. So to that point,

14:05

a couple of things. One back to the flag

14:07

football and then we'll get back into the kick return thing.

14:10

I heard a quote from Brock Perty, the starting

14:12

quarterback for Sunday Super Bowl for the forty

14:14

nine ers, and my.

14:15

Fellow Iowa State alum loved

14:17

that guy.

14:18

He started playing flag football at

14:20

twelve, and he said,

14:23

hey, it was a quicker game my decision

14:25

making process I had to think

14:27

quickly, and that's kind of transferred

14:29

over to him as a quick thinking quarterback. I thought that

14:31

was an interesting statement about you know, because

14:34

flag football is going.

14:34

To be an Olympic sport.

14:35

It is.

14:36

It's mushrooming, no question

14:38

about it, and it's including girls

14:41

and women. So I think it's fantastic for the sport

14:43

of football in general because the game's always under

14:45

attack.

14:45

So that's just my statement about that.

14:48

Okay, So looking back at your career

14:50

as a kick returner, a couple of seasons you

14:52

had over forty returns.

14:54

The average number of returns this year

14:56

for an NFL team was eighteen.

14:58

That's it.

15:00

The Rams had nine returns. So

15:02

you've eliminated the third phase of the game. Because

15:04

on top of that, the punt return game, Zoom

15:06

and Tom.

15:08

The kickers have become.

15:09

So so good athletic,

15:12

big legs. They're either kicking

15:14

it out of bounds or really a lot of hang time

15:16

for fair catches. And so to

15:18

me, the more dangerous of the two. And

15:20

I didn't play the game, so maybe I'm speaking

15:23

too much here would be the punt return. You

15:25

look what happened at Tarik Cohen shortly after

15:27

he signed his long term contract,

15:29

gets jumbled up there and suffers

15:31

a serious injury that he's.

15:32

Still coming back from.

15:34

But they have to they have to

15:36

find a way to keep that excite, inciting

15:39

element in the game.

15:40

It's a football play.

15:41

And you know, you suffered some injuries though,

15:43

and I don't know, I can't recall

15:46

you had a pair of neck injuries, you had a

15:48

hip problem. Was it more from playing

15:50

corner or was it more from the return game.

15:53

I just think it was just from playing football. You

15:55

know, you know, I

15:58

spent a lifetime playing football, and people are like, you

16:00

played seven years in the NFL, you

16:03

know, relatively short career, and

16:05

you know, why did you retire so early?

16:07

And I was like, well, actually, you know, I started

16:09

playing football at the age of six, you know,

16:11

and I played till you know, twenty eight, twenty nine

16:13

years old.

16:14

So that's a lot of.

16:15

Time of you know, pounding

16:18

my body and really playing football

16:20

and really getting after it, mixing up, mixing

16:23

up myself with football. So it

16:25

was a lot of a lot of time between

16:28

starting and loving football at the age

16:30

of six or early age, going all the way

16:32

through, you know, my professional football

16:34

career.

16:35

So injuries do happen.

16:37

This is the game of football, you know.

16:39

And I understand what the NFL is trying to

16:41

do with slow down injuries and prevent them as

16:43

much as possible. But at the same time,

16:46

I'm about the integrity of the football game as well,

16:48

and I feel like the integrity of the game

16:50

is really taking a hit at this point.

16:54

I feel like, you know, the.

16:55

League is leaning towards protecting

16:58

certain some people and not necessarily protecting

17:00

all people. And that's a bigger conversation

17:02

that we can get into. But I

17:05

just think just looking at it, I just think that you

17:07

know, it's still football, and there should

17:09

still be some type of integrity that's still in

17:11

place. And at the same

17:13

time, you do have to be mindful of

17:15

like the egregious you know, for example,

17:18

head shots or next shots. I mean,

17:20

I think that we all know what those egregious

17:23

headshots look like. But you know, sliding

17:26

last minute and then getting hit, you know what I'm

17:28

saying, It doesn't really feel like the

17:30

egregious headshot or the unnecessary

17:33

roughness, or taking a quarterback down even

17:35

if he's off balance and then trying to race

17:37

yourself so that you don't land fully on him.

17:39

You know, like there's

17:41

a lot of little situations that happen

17:44

that.

17:44

We have to be mindful of.

17:45

And I think that the NFL is doing all

17:48

that they can to protect people, but at

17:50

the same time, they're losing a lot of the integrity of

17:52

the football game.

17:53

Jerry, you look at the two way player that Dion

17:55

Sanders has in Colorado, then

17:58

you have to think of some of the untapped potential

18:00

of a guy like Devin Hester. But

18:02

I remember during your career, I used

18:04

to sit with Jay Hilgenberg, and

18:06

he would sit there and say, week in

18:08

a week out, one of the best running backs

18:11

on the Chicago Bears is Jerry Azuma.

18:14

When you think about.

18:15

The game and where it's at now and the potential

18:17

you had back then, could we have

18:20

seen Jerry Azuma and the

18:22

backfield as a running back on an

18:24

NFL level?

18:25

Well, absolutely, Tom, Absolutely,

18:30

you know I'm going to say yes to that.

18:33

Growing up, I've always.

18:34

Been a running back, and I've always been on the offensive

18:36

side.

18:36

Of the football.

18:38

I've watched Walter Payton in

18:40

my days in Oklahoma, and that's who I try

18:42

to be. I try to be a running back and I try to beat

18:44

Walter Payton. So conceded

18:47

on being a running back through high school, through

18:49

college, and then when I got to the pros, you

18:51

know, I started running backwards, which was completely

18:54

different and very different than what I was used

18:56

to. So the challenges were

18:58

definitely there. But in the NFL,

19:01

I think that there is some room right now

19:03

for you know, two way players. I mean, there

19:06

are guys out there that can that are very dynamic

19:08

on the offensive side of the football and defensive side

19:10

of the ball, So why not give them an opportunity

19:13

to go out there and show their

19:15

greatness on both sides of the football field.

19:17

You know.

19:17

So I think that we might see

19:19

a lot more of that because

19:22

things change in the NFL. As we know, the

19:25

running back position has changed a lot. It's

19:28

no longer like really ground

19:30

and pound. Now they're they're looking more for

19:32

like scap backs and guys that

19:34

can you know, step in the slot or

19:36

guys that can catch the ball out of the backfield.

19:38

So the traditional

19:41

running.

19:41

Back sort of speak, or like even the quarterback,

19:44

you know, pocket quarterback, you

19:46

have to be able to run these days, and now they have design

19:48

runs with these big time quarterbacks that

19:51

the overall like positions, the

19:54

foundation is there, but like, I think that

19:56

they're morphing into something different

19:59

and I think that you'll see a little bit more.

20:02

I would like to see a little bit more two way players,

20:04

you know, because there are a lot of dynamic players in

20:06

the football league.

20:08

You know, you think of the play specifically like

20:10

the Jets sweep and how much that has infiltrated

20:13

the offense, whether it's the distraction

20:16

of the motion that tries to get a

20:18

defense off balance or the actual

20:20

handoff at that place specifically, it

20:23

seems there's been some plays that have been

20:25

developed since even your time from

20:27

the NFL that have could

20:29

have been a part of you

20:32

being on the offensive side of the ball more

20:34

often. And Jeff and I were talking about it even

20:36

with the guy like Devon, because Devon's never

20:38

going to be on a field like Terry Hill,

20:41

and you're not going to be announcing

20:43

defensively where he's at in what

20:46

he could possibly be doing. But like

20:48

those plays specifically have changed

20:50

the course of some of the athletes

20:52

in the NFL today.

20:54

Yeah, and I think that you'll see more of that

20:56

moving forward, Like you know, the evolution

20:59

of the football player bigger,

21:01

stronger, faster, more dynamic,

21:03

can do different things. You know, you look

21:05

at like I think his name is Taysom

21:08

for the Saints, Taysom

21:10

Hill. Yeah, Taysom Hill. They use

21:12

him, and he's very dynamic. He can throw

21:14

the ball, he can run the ball, you know,

21:17

he can pass the ball. He can do a

21:19

magnitude of a lot of different things.

21:21

So I think that you'll find a lot

21:23

of players coming up and trying to

21:25

find, like the offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators

21:27

to try to figure out the best usage

21:30

of these dynamic players.

21:31

I think that you'll start to see more of that.

21:33

There's one at Utah.

21:34

I just did the Senior Bowl for Sirius XM

21:36

NFL Radio, and sionovaki

21:39

is gets a really good running

21:41

back, can catch the football, but he's a bad

21:43

man at safety. So you know, And I'm

21:45

looking back at your statistics, and you had three

21:48

hundred and fifty two tackles in your career

21:50

according to Pro Football Reference. Anyway,

21:53

you may got more from Lovey Smith,

21:55

excuse me, from your coaching staff, but

21:59

did you think when you started in the NFL,

22:01

when you get drafted in the fifth round, that you would

22:03

have had three hundred and fifty two rushes

22:05

as opposed three hundred and fifty two tackles at least

22:07

in your direct and that

22:10

you know, we've talked about this the four just to convince

22:12

you that it's gonna Hey, Jerry, we need

22:15

you to run backwards and play corner.

22:17

Yeah, it was. It was very weird.

22:19

I don't know if a lot of people understand that story,

22:21

but I started getting in

22:23

college. I started getting, you know, some calls

22:26

and some scouts coming up saying that I could possibly

22:28

be a defensive back, and then I was

22:30

I just really didn't understand that because I went

22:32

forward so well, and

22:34

I wonder Walter Payton Award in Rushford, you know,

22:36

sixty two hundred yards and so on and so forth.

22:39

So I felt really confident in my in my

22:41

ability to run the football. And then I

22:44

went to BC's pro Dade, which was the biggest

22:46

college that was in the area, and

22:48

I did running back drills and then afterwards

22:50

this scout comes by and he says, hey, there's

22:52

a little buzz going on that you could possibly

22:54

be a defensive back.

22:55

I'd like to take you through some dB drills.

22:57

And I said, you know, I've never done this in my life,

23:00

but if you think that it's worth it, then

23:02

I'll give it a shot.

23:03

So he took me through the drills. Later

23:05

on he shook my hand.

23:06

It was actually Phil Emery, who was an

23:09

area scout for the Chicago Bears back then

23:11

turned GM, you know, so

23:13

he was the one that was probably very instrumental in drafted

23:16

me. But he was the first one to say, hey,

23:18

I think that you could be a defensive back at the next

23:20

level, Like, let's send you through some dB

23:23

drills and see what you can do and then after that I went

23:25

to the combine and did running back drills and

23:27

you know, the whole dB thing just never really

23:30

took off. So I was like, okay, well that

23:32

was that was quick lived and I'm just going to be a running

23:34

back. And so I got drafted by the Chicago Bears and

23:36

on the phone they told me that they wanted to see me as

23:39

a defensive back.

23:41

Unreal.

23:42

You're also a teammate of Ryan Dave of Ohio

23:44

state head football coach from

23:46

New Hampshire, as well some other

23:49

NFL players.

23:49

But so you know, the.

23:51

Debate is raging on Justin

23:53

Fields number one pick in the

23:55

draft, and from our perspective,

23:58

it's been a fifty to fifty split.

24:00

Were you standing at this point.

24:02

Well, looking at the team, I think

24:04

that Polls basically stripped everything

24:07

down and he's building this team up in

24:09

the right way.

24:10

Obviously, the draft capital is.

24:12

Very important, as we know, and getting

24:14

you know, key free agents, you know, to plug

24:16

and play will really make this thing go. So,

24:20

you know, looking at this whole thing with Justin

24:22

Fields, I think that he can. I

24:24

think that he has a lot of potential. I think that his ceiling

24:26

is definitely high. He has a lot of potential. I think that

24:29

he has to get the right system around him. He

24:31

has to get more help around him, and

24:34

things will start to naturally happen.

24:35

I think last year he started to take off.

24:38

Obviously, you know, he had his dips

24:40

and he had his moments, but at

24:42

the same time, he he had a lot of flashes

24:45

of really good things. And then you put

24:47

a person like DJ Moore around him, who arguably

24:50

had his best, you know season of his career,

24:52

you know, thirteen hundred yards, eight touchdowns, almost

24:54

one hundred yards you.

24:55

Know, receiving.

24:56

I feel like if you add and add more

24:58

pieces to Justin and then a strong running

25:00

game as well, a strong offensive line

25:03

that's that's really good at the point of attack

25:05

and creating you know, creases for him, and

25:08

then just the system of utilizing

25:10

his strengths and his talents. He's good on

25:12

the run, he's good and sprint out

25:14

and rollouts to misdirection and things like that three

25:17

step drop.

25:18

He can get the ball out.

25:19

So I think that he has some things that

25:22

that can be very beneficial moving

25:24

forward. I don't know if I really want to hit the

25:26

hard reset button with a brand new

25:28

quarterback, you know, and it's a rookie

25:30

quarterback too, so there's no real guarantees.

25:34

I like the soft resets, and I

25:36

also like putting more pieces around

25:38

Justin Fields. So that's where I stand with this whole thing. Put

25:41

pieces around Justin fields. And

25:43

last year, if you look at at a lot of the games,

25:45

we were.

25:46

Really really close. We were really

25:48

really close. And

25:51

I think that if they keep on.

25:52

Building the pieces and putting things around Justin

25:54

fields, I think that will be in a really good

25:57

situation because the offense is you

25:59

know, they're coming, and the defense is

26:02

playing extremely solid special teams obviously,

26:04

and then coaching, the coaching really here's

26:07

the thing. The offensive coordinator is

26:09

extremely important, just as important as

26:11

the quarterback, and you have to get

26:14

a person that can put people in the right place

26:16

at the right time and really utilize their

26:19

their their their talent

26:21

and their skill set. So hopefully this

26:23

coaching staff can get together and they

26:25

can work with Justin Fields to bring out

26:27

the best in him and build pieces around

26:29

him.

26:29

And that's where I stand on that.

26:31

You know, Jerry, one thing you can't deny about

26:33

the decision that you're going to make future is

26:36

how the finances figure

26:38

in on the deal.

26:39

So when you.

26:40

Talk about college players with NIL

26:43

and then you think about what the quarterbacks are

26:45

making, especially in their second contract,

26:47

that's you know, that's not a subject

26:50

that you can't bring into the conversation.

26:52

My question to you, though, is

26:55

we never had the luxury and the opportunity.

26:57

What is your feeling about.

26:58

The NIL money because

27:00

I think it changes everything

27:03

from college all star games to the amount

27:06

of money some of these kids are making and not playing

27:08

very much. But what's your feeling

27:11

on an IL money.

27:12

I'll tell you what, Tom, You and I were just too early.

27:15

You were just too early. The

27:18

NIL has really changed the game and really changed

27:20

the dynamic of you know, college sports

27:22

in general. These guys are you

27:24

know, pretty much professionals. Now they're they're

27:27

making money and with that.

27:29

Comes business decisions.

27:30

So the fact that these guys are like holding

27:33

out of you know, bowl games and things like that,

27:36

the spirit of you know,

27:38

college football has really taken a hit. I

27:40

think that, you know, college football

27:43

was all about the guys, the kids, I should

27:45

say, that want to go out there and give it their all and

27:47

win a championship for their team, for their university.

27:50

I felt like that spirit and that desire

27:52

was in them, but now it's

27:54

all like.

27:55

The business decisions. Everyone

27:57

is making a business decision.

27:59

On whether they want to play, whether

28:01

they want to leave this team and go to another

28:03

team and play for this coach and that coach. So

28:06

I think the spirit of the

28:08

NIL and like the portal for example.

28:11

Was good.

28:11

You know, I think that they wanted it to be

28:14

a good option for kids to exercise

28:16

and things like that. But now I feel like it's spiralless

28:19

out of control and they're trying to get

28:21

it back somehow, and I feel like they

28:24

might not be able to get it back at this point because

28:26

it's just gone. But you know, I

28:28

understand why they were trying to do it, but you know, it's

28:31

it's very unfortunate because guys are

28:33

jumping into the portal also, and then you hear horror

28:35

stories too that you know, guys

28:37

are feeling that they are more than what they really

28:39

are. They get into the portal and then they just get stuck

28:42

in that portal and then they might have to come back

28:44

to that team. And then now you know,

28:46

the administration and the team and the coaches are looking

28:48

at you like, well, wait a minute, why should I even

28:50

you know, invest in you, you know, when

28:52

you decided to go into the portal. Or another

28:55

situation too WITHOL with the college

28:57

coaches, is, you know, instead

28:59

of the developing younger players, why don't

29:01

I just go into the portal and just get a rough

29:04

diamond that I can develop, you know, and

29:07

an upperclassman that's had some

29:09

success, you know, playing at their respect

29:11

to school and I could plug him into this type

29:13

of system and get the best out of them.

29:16

Why should I even develop? So there are some

29:18

issues that need to be worked out. Hopefully they get

29:20

worked out soon.

29:21

All right, Jerry, one more to let you go, and

29:23

we really appreciated here on Bears Weekly with

29:25

Jeff and Tom Jerry Azuma. The trivia

29:28

question of all trivia questions, who scored

29:30

the last touchdown at Old Soldier Field before

29:32

it was torn down and rebuilt into the current stadium.

29:36

The answer would be Jerry Azuma.

29:38

And it's picked six of Donovan McNabb

29:40

the thirty nine yard touchdown return and

29:42

that one divisional playoff against

29:44

the Eagles quarterback by our own Jim Miller

29:47

before he was injured by Hugh Douglas. Sadley

29:50

and Wow, That's something

29:53

that I bet a lot of folks would not have

29:55

that answer, but you remember it vividly

29:57

long ago, and you were on the five team,

30:00

you got hurt in that game, and then you know the six

30:02

they go to the super Bowl. So there's a lot there

30:05

in our final question here as

30:07

you got a taste of the Super Bowl

30:09

run one five and then they go on

30:11

O six, how much regret

30:14

did you have that you were not able

30:16

to continue or forced to retire because of your

30:18

injuries? And uh and then

30:20

the final cap for who you who you're picking on Sunday.

30:24

You know what, looking back at my career,

30:26

I have nothing bad to say about it. I

30:28

mean, it was an incredible time to be alive.

30:30

It was a fantastic ride. When

30:33

I got into the league, I thought I'd be a running back and

30:36

they were like, nope, You're going to be a defensive back. So

30:39

I got into a situation that I had. I

30:41

had no clue what was going

30:43

on, and everything was just happening one hundred miles

30:45

an hour. But the good thing is that

30:47

I played with some incredible

30:50

guys on defense.

30:51

I mean some.

30:51

Incredible guys on defense, so that they

30:54

made the transition easier

30:56

for me. So I don't

30:58

regret any period of time that I played with the Chicago

31:01

Bears.

31:01

So it was a fantastic time.

31:02

I played with some incredible guys and really

31:05

loved the fan base. I'm still in Chicago,

31:07

so Chicago is home. So it has

31:09

brought me an an incredible life. But

31:12

when we're talking about the Super Bowl this time the

31:14

forty nine Ers versus the Chiefs, man,

31:18

you know, I didn't think that the

31:20

Chiefs were going to be able to go to the Buffalo

31:22

Bills and beat them, but they did.

31:24

And then they went into Baltimore

31:27

and then beat them decisively. And

31:30

I bet against them basically, I said, you know, they're

31:32

not going to be able to do this. I just think that it's too much

31:34

for them. But they went in there, Mahomes

31:36

was able to do his thing. The defense

31:39

of the Chiefs has really stepped up tremendously,

31:41

and I think that that's going to be the tipping point

31:43

of this game.

31:45

And then you know their head coach, Andy

31:47

Reid.

31:48

He's really done a great job of putting

31:50

guys in the positions to make plays

31:52

and win football games. And then you have you know San

31:54

fran who is just loaded on offense

31:56

and defense with talent, and Brock

31:58

Perdy is doing a fantastic jobs

32:00

just feeding his playmakers and letting them make play. So

32:03

this is going to be an incredible Super Bowl. I

32:05

am looking forward to it. I can't wait. In

32:08

terms of like a prediction, I'm leaning

32:10

towards the Chiefs. Definitely

32:15

leaning because I don't want to get burned again. I think

32:17

that's what it is. I just don't want to get burned

32:19

again. Travis Kelcey, I mean,

32:21

eleven targets, eleven receptions.

32:24

I just don't understand how he gets open all

32:26

the damn time, Like, come on, guys, like somebody.

32:29

Get him, get him. And

32:31

I don't know.

32:32

If they're going to be able

32:34

to cover him the

32:36

way that they need to for this game. But you

32:39

know, two defensive, really

32:41

good, defensive, talented teams.

32:44

We'll see what happens. But I'm leaning towards

32:46

the Chiefs on this one. All right, that's

32:48

all good? Thank you, guys, love being.

32:50

On coming back.

32:51

Jim Miller rejoins the program here AESPN

32:53

one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.

32:55

Excus Bears Weekly with a fort

32:57

of the Bears for twenty three years on

33:01

the Bears Radio Network.

33:04

The segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletico

33:07

Physical. There be visit Athletical dot com to

33:09

request it in clinic or virtual deployment and start

33:11

feeling better tomorrow. Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller

33:13

from Vegas at the Super Bowl. How's it been

33:15

out there?

33:15

Jim?

33:17

Crazy as you can imagine. Jeff,

33:19

Today's probably the busiest day.

33:21

Obviously, more the you know, the stars

33:23

guys that are in town to enjoy. If

33:26

that's the reason, why is can I Tonight is

33:28

the honors party, but it's picking

33:30

up steam brother, And I'll tell you what Vegas

33:33

from all the acts that are here, Like you two

33:36

played at the Stratosphere last night. That

33:38

was a big show in town. But pretty

33:40

much every place is got a show and everybody's

33:43

having a great time.

33:45

What's the takeaway overall about

33:48

having a Super Bowl there? I mean,

33:50

you got entertainment built in as it is.

33:52

What's your takeaway of that place

33:55

having a Super Bowl?

33:56

Yeah? I think they're going to pull it off. Basically,

33:58

both teams are staying about forty five miles

34:01

outside of the city. You know, both the San

34:04

Francisco forty nine ers in Kansas

34:06

City. They didn't even want the players around

34:08

it because, like you said, it's basically one big party

34:10

of that's going on. Everybody's enjoying

34:12

it. There's a ton of events that are

34:14

that are scheduled downtown,

34:16

and you know, as the NFL always does,

34:19

they kind of go in the city, they take it over.

34:21

There's banners everywhere, everything's about

34:23

the game and all the promotional aspects

34:26

of it. But I think overall it's gone

34:28

off without a hitch. You know, they really have

34:30

done a nice job. And even through

34:32

NFL employees like imagine

34:34

me here. You know, I'm here because

34:36

we're part of the NFL, and you

34:39

know, basically I'm a part of the league employee

34:41

with serious being a partner with the NFL. We're

34:43

not even allowed to gamble in the in

34:46

the casinos. So the NFL is serious

34:48

about it. There is an integrity aspect

34:50

to it and that you have been forewarned,

34:53

and from what I understand, everybody that

34:55

I've seen has been abiding by it.

34:57

Hey, Jim, who's the early fan base support,

35:00

who's the dominating colors that you're seeing

35:03

in the facilities or on the streets.

35:06

I think it's pretty even although San Francisco

35:08

travels well too. They've got a very

35:10

big contingent because they've got rich history.

35:13

They're going for their sixth Super Bowl victory

35:15

as well. They've got a great presence in forty

35:18

nine er fans have a lot of pride. But I'll

35:20

tell you what Chiefs fans, with the role

35:22

they're on, they you know, they want

35:24

to be a part of history and what they're trying

35:26

to accomplish. And here Patrick Mahomes

35:28

is trying to play it down. You know

35:30

that, hey, I'm not even halfway to reaching Tom

35:33

Brady. But make no mistake about this,

35:35

Chiefs fans know that they're part

35:37

of something great here. This is kind of a mini dynasty

35:40

that's going on, and they're kind of the villain. You

35:43

know. When you look at NFL fans, they

35:45

always want to see something new, new

35:47

teams and things like that. You know, you

35:49

look at the run the Patriots went on, and

35:51

I think the when you look at the

35:53

Chiefs right now, they're kind of the villain because they've

35:55

been a part of, you know, thinking the Super

35:58

Bowls that they've been in. This is their third one.

36:00

Patrick Mahomes knows anything,

36:02

doesn't know anything. Else other than playing in

36:05

championship games for a six year

36:07

career. That's pretty crazy when you think

36:09

about it.

36:09

Yeah, it is, and so is this eleven

36:11

and zero playing in domes with thirty

36:14

three hundred passing yards, twenty six touchdowns

36:16

and two interceptions. Yes, they will be

36:18

playing inside on Sunday. Let's take a break.

36:21

We'll break it down more x's and o's and get Jim

36:23

and Tom's thoughts here on Bears Weekly on

36:25

the ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.

36:27

This is Bears Weekly with a voice

36:29

of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff

36:31

Jonik on the Bears Radio

36:33

Network.

36:36

This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by IGS

36:39

Entergy. Jeff jonniec top there. Jim Miller camped

36:41

out in Vegas for the Super Bowl. Jim,

36:43

give us a couple of keys to victory for

36:45

whomever. Let's go Chiefs first

36:48

and then go for the forty nine Ers. We'll give you and then

36:50

no, we'll get Tom's keys as well.

36:52

Yeah, I think for the Chiefs. I agree with

36:54

Jerry A. Zuma. The Chiefs have been playing awesome

36:57

offensively from Week one all

36:59

the way to the championship game in their victory

37:02

over Baltimore. Think about Baltimore.

37:04

They were averaging thirty four points

37:06

a game at home in their building.

37:08

Dude, they have held them to ten ten

37:11

points, and see Spagnolo upped

37:13

his blitzes. He was really blitzing to

37:15

stop the run and it was so successful he

37:17

said, let's keep it going. And so I think

37:19

they're going to be very aggressive. They're a very

37:22

good group. They're very versatile. I think

37:24

they put Chris Jones more as a defensive

37:26

end at times. And then I look at

37:29

San Francisco's defense. They've been

37:31

gassed as of late. You know, you look at

37:33

the the you know, they beat the Detroit

37:35

Lions, but Detroit Lions had one hundred and forty

37:37

eight yards rushing at halftime. And

37:39

Andy Reid has been having an uptick in

37:42

terms of their carries to Pacheco Paticko's

37:44

been get about twenty four carries a

37:46

game, and then you'll factor in a couple

37:48

of a couple of pass receptions

37:51

as well. So they've been pretty solid

37:54

on both sides of the ball. Although they're still

37:56

not scoring a lot of points, they're averaging

37:58

in the mid twenties on so it's

38:00

gonna be key for them to ball control

38:03

time of possession, and Patrick Mahomes

38:05

was able to do that against Baltimore. You

38:07

know, that was a high blitz team that led

38:09

the league in sacks with sixty. He has

38:11

not been sacked yet in the postseason

38:14

and he has yet to have a turnover. He could

38:16

break Tom Brady's record of over two

38:18

hundred and twenty three passes without throwing

38:20

an interception. As for the keys for

38:23

the forty nine ers, I just think, you

38:25

know, young brock Perty he struggled

38:27

in half, you know, half the games, both

38:29

games that he started here in the postseason,

38:32

he basically, you know, the half didn't

38:34

go right. One of them was due to weather. I think we

38:36

understand that that where he didn't play

38:39

well. But at the key moments in the game

38:41

where they needed a game, when he drive, he

38:43

was able to put it together. So I think

38:45

a lot for that. You've got a veteran quarterback

38:47

who's been there, done that. I think for Purdy,

38:50

can he play a complete game because

38:52

he's going to have to, because I think we all

38:54

know four or five plays will cost you

38:56

the game, and Purdy can't make the mistakes

38:59

in their first two games, whether the division

39:01

round or the Championship round, if

39:03

he makes those type of mistakes, to me, San

39:06

Francisco would lose.

39:08

Tom Perdy against the Blitz. Cording next Gen

39:10

stats has been his most productive

39:12

led the NFL, with eleven touchdowns on passes

39:14

outside the tackle box. So if Spagnola's

39:17

gonna bring its pretty gonna answer

39:19

the call.

39:20

Yeah, But I don't care about the Blitz because

39:22

it's gonna be Chris Jones. He's gonna

39:24

get two sacks, He's gonna have two

39:27

passes deflected. One of them is

39:29

gonna result for an interception. It's

39:31

gonna change a possession and you

39:33

give the ball back to Patrick Mahomes.

39:36

It's dangerous, but I'm gonna keep it

39:38

on the line of scrimmage over there because

39:40

they have some of the poorest offensive tackle

39:42

play in playoff with the Kansas

39:44

City Chiefs, and with no crowd

39:47

noise, giving one team the advantage

39:49

to get off on the defensive ends is

39:51

gonna be immediate. So with Chase

39:53

Young and Bosa, I

39:56

think they could be a dangerous combo. So

39:58

rather than you think of all this super star

40:00

potential up and down the line

40:02

of scrimmage and in the offensive backfield,

40:04

I still think it's gonna be the defensive

40:07

line. They're gonna be the biggest factors

40:09

in the overall outcome of this game.

40:11

I close my eyes, I see all this and I see

40:13

Mahomes running for his life against Tampa Bay

40:16

and the Super Bowl a couple of year when they thought they

40:18

they had the cheak code to stop Patrick

40:20

Mahomes.

40:20

The constant pressure.

40:22

But I'll tell you, just like a Zuma

40:24

said, he keeps if he keeps finding Travis

40:26

Kelcey like that, you know that's trouble for

40:28

the forty nine ers. My two cents is there's

40:31

just something about this forty nine

40:33

er team. I know the Chiefs have played extremely

40:36

well, probably better than they have early or

40:38

mid portion of the season. They're coming together,

40:41

they've got the belief they've got the best quarterback.

40:44

But there's just something about this

40:46

Brock Prety led forty nine er team.

40:48

And I'm thinking Kyle Shanahan will have something

40:50

cooked up interesting for this

40:53

Kansas City chief outfit.

40:54

Our final thought, let me guess yeh. The

40:57

one thing is the Iowa cyclose. Is that

40:59

what Jeff Well, that would be.

41:00

The Iowa Hawk guys and the Iowa State

41:03

Cyclones. Don't get it mixed up,

41:05

buddy, don't get it confused.

41:07

Jim Miller, Tom, There, I'm Jeff Joniak

41:09

our final segment when we return here on Bears

41:11

Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears

41:13

Radio Network.

41:14

This is Bears Weekly with a Voice

41:16

of the Bears for twenty three years Jeff

41:19

on the Bears Radio Network.

41:24

Want VIP access to every Bears home game,

41:26

exclusive seating, sideline credentials, and more

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now available. Get the ultimate VIP fan package

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41:33

Com. Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller at

41:36

Vegas.

41:36

Did they give you a nice hotel?

41:39

Yeah, we're at the Mandalay Bay so they blocked

41:41

off basically Mandalay Bay and Dolano.

41:43

So yeah, it's been great.

41:45

I heard one of the hotels and I don't know which one.

41:48

I think it's a big media hotel. He say it's haunted.

41:53

This is the weird stuff. So the legend has

41:55

it, it's haunted. And then you got

41:57

the practice turf not up

41:59

to snuff for the forty nine

42:01

ers. The alarm went off early this

42:04

morning, right, welcome up, fire alarm

42:06

went off. I mean, weird things happen, and

42:08

you know, these Super Bowls, it used to be

42:10

okay, keeping an eye

42:12

out for the player that does something wrong

42:14

the night before the Super Bowl, but all these little

42:16

things are popping up, Jimmy.

42:19

Yeah, and typically it happens. I've been,

42:22

you know, at away games that I'm sure Tom has too,

42:24

where you know, if a phantom alarm does

42:26

happen, fire alarm and they didn't have

42:28

to exit the building. But maybe

42:30

maybe it's a little gamesmanship going

42:33

on. Maybe was you know, somebody

42:35

on the inside who's working for

42:37

the resort that the forty nine ers are staying

42:39

at that maybe is a cheaps fan, because

42:41

that was pretty odd that that happened at about six

42:43

in the morning out here, which I'm sure it didn't

42:45

please a lot of the players.

42:47

Tom would have been up at four, so he'd been fine.

42:50

Tom, Anything weird happened the night before the Super

42:52

Bowl to you.

42:54

Uh no, because our hotel was getting

42:56

picketed because of what was allegedly

42:59

said Jim McMahon. So you

43:02

had to find a safe entrance to go into

43:05

because they had, you know, the people

43:07

out there protesting. But

43:11

again, our hotel back in the day was

43:13

packed.

43:13

Like it was.

43:14

The Beatles were staying there, so you

43:16

know, we all took it in stride and we had a lot

43:19

of fun with it. So I don't

43:21

think any of us were trying to hide from

43:23

anybody or trying to, you

43:25

know, make sure our entourage

43:27

had all proper entrances.

43:30

Jim, we got less than three minutes. I know you

43:32

talked to a lot of folks this week and

43:34

interviews.

43:35

Did you talk to any Bears?

43:37

Yeah? Today I talked to Khalil Herbert. I talked

43:39

to TJ. Edwards, So they're

43:41

both out here. You know. Obviously

43:43

Khalil he's a big, big

43:46

user of the Q collar and he wanted to promote

43:48

the safety of the Q collar. He plays

43:50

with, not a lot of NFL players doing. TJ.

43:53

Edwards will just want to experience, you know.

43:55

Obviously he's been to a Super Bowl. He's

43:57

been there, done that, so he's just out here experience.

44:00

It's in the moment again. So

44:02

it was great to talk to them because they're excited.

44:04

They were fired up about next year. They're already

44:06

turned the page looking forward to twenty

44:08

twenty four.

44:09

All right.

44:09

I saw some other Nicole Comet out there, DJ

44:12

Moore out there. Of course they're all getting asked

44:14

about the quarterback position. But tonight

44:16

is as frankly, you know, your

44:18

awards cover all things,

44:21

but the Pro Football Hall of Fame. From

44:23

a Bear's perspective, it's going to be a Bears offseason,

44:25

and it sounds like it's going to be a Bears night. And

44:28

if in fact Steve Bigmichael Devin Hester,

44:31

and Julius Peppers, who played four years here

44:33

with the Bears, get inducted, it'd be awesome

44:35

to see Jimbo Covert, the eighty

44:37

five Bear starting left tackle and former defensive

44:40

lineman at Sprinkle. The most recent editions

44:42

class of twenty Erlacker in eighteen,

44:44

Richard Dent, Tommy and eleven and

44:47

Michael would join Peyton, Singletary Dent,

44:49

Hampton and Jimbo from your Super Bowl team,

44:51

Mike, Dick, Obvizy and Shrine as a player

44:53

in the class of ninety eight.

44:55

Hopefully Jay Hilgenberg's around the corner.

44:57

Just the pride of that in their final minute, having

45:00

all those Super Bowl Bears in the Hall of Fame.

45:02

Let's for not to forget about Dick Stanfeld

45:04

great offensive line coach who was inducted

45:06

in the.

45:07

Hall of Fame.

45:07

But listen, nobody deserves it more than

45:09

Steve McMichael, and I couldn't be

45:11

more proud if, in fact, they announced his name

45:14

tonight as being one of the newest

45:16

members in the Chicago Bear family, a

45:18

part of the Hall of Fame. And I'm not denying

45:20

that same feeling for Devin Hester.

45:23

But Steve was a really special teammate

45:25

of mine and it did a lot for

45:27

me throughout the course of my career like

45:30

he did a lot of other guys in the organization.

45:33

Yeah, it should be something else and Jim Real Quick,

45:36

Nick Alan Gretty could be the

45:38

starting left guard because Joe Toney apparently

45:40

not ready to go for Kansas City. Got to give a shout

45:42

out to the Lincoln Way East High School product.

45:45

I was a great wrestler, great offensive lineman

45:47

at Ubai drafted by the Chiefs,

45:49

and he did a really good job in the run game

45:51

last weekend my opinion, or two weeks ago in

45:53

the conference championship game.

45:55

But what a thrill He's been to a couple now.

45:57

But to start in the Super Bowl, you don't

45:59

give many opportunities but a big one

46:01

for him, Jim.

46:02

Yeah, he sold it nicely for the All

46:04

Pro Joe Toney and Hey, a lot of times

46:06

he was lined up against Michael Pierce, who's

46:08

about three point thirty for the Baltimore

46:10

Ravens. Didn't stop them. They ran the ball

46:13

very effectively against Baltimore.

46:15

He did a nice job.

46:16

Well, Jim survived the week. Enjoy

46:18

the postgame.

46:19

I know you're in the interviews with all those

46:21

guys after the game. It's going to be

46:23

fun for you. It always is. I don't know how many Super

46:25

Bowls you've been a part of, now, do you have that number?

46:28

Yeah, I've been a part of the eighteen in a row and

46:31

they played in two of them, so basically

46:33

twenty. So it's hard to believe. But

46:36

all I can say, Jeff before we end, go site

46:38

close, because that's where you're leading.

46:41

That's Jim Miller, That's Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff

46:43

Joniack. Good night everybody. Thanks to our producers

46:45

and for you for listening. Out of our guest Jerry Zuma,

46:48

good night, blecking up Dona our next, thank.

46:50

You for listening to the Chicago Bears Network

46:53

presentation The Bears Weekly coasted

46:55

by the Mara Bears, Bill, Jeff

46:57

Tuniac and Surfmaster Tom

46:59

Thayer.

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