All Access: Bye week re-set

got a great lineup of guests today. We got Tom Fair and Jay Hilgenberg. What could be better than end too offense? But I'm digging into your past in this show. We're not just talking about the Bears. We're going to talk a little bit about your journeys as well. Because I haven't had the opportunity to ever interview Tom there and I've never had the opportunity to ever interview Jay Hilgenberg on an in depth level. This will be interesting. Yeah,

you better take notes. But the task at hand though, is breaking down what's happened so far the first quarter of the season. Bears three and one sit in the top of the NFC North at the moments, and it's a feel good moment. Three game winning streak and a bright future ahead for this football team. Um, what they did against Tampa Bay obviously took a lot of folks by surpress. But do you think the Green Bay game still gives you a sense of reality? Because I'm talking

to you. Got a team, you burst out of the scene. Mitchell Trubisky had the biggest game by a Bears quarterback since the forties. But you think there's always that, you know, thing lingering in the back room. The lingering thing for me, Felons is that they were one play away. I don't care what aspect of that game. You're one play away from being unbeaten. But Matt Neggie's looking at that that

game will fuel something bigger down the road. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean I think the team grew definitely that that game at Green Bay. It was frustrating. Everybody's disappointed that week, but you know, being three in one right now, I mean that that game's long in the rear view mirror, and this team's thinking ahead. It's great bye week, get ready for Miami. It's to be like Green Bay going Oh my God, we got away with one. Because you think of where the Bears have become have come from

since that game. They go into that game, you don't know how many reps ro Quan or Calil Mack are gonna play. What is their offering going to be? What is Aaron Lynch going to provide for you for missing the entire training camp? So they had so many question marks going into that game. They're not all answered, but I think the questions have gotten smaller. That game was

so big. It reminded me it was Jake when Jay Cutler's first game of the year that he was up at Green Bay, and I just remember it was the anticipation that that game was huge, and his first snap was a fumble and just I mean they erased that regard. They lost the game, but they erased the whole era of that, that past and this team, and they continue to build each week. Four games in a row, four games opening drives have been very, very good for the Bears.

Some led to touchdown, suns, led to field goals. But that process is intriguing to me, and it tells me a lot about what they're capable of, what Mitch's cap How do you guys look at that moving forward. You know, Jay used to bring out up with a lot during the eighty five season. You don't care if you win or lose the coin toss because the defense is so good that they're going to go out there and take

a little starch out of your opponent immediately. But there's no better way than providing some starch in your team. If your offense goes out there, boom boom boom, goes down the field. And I think I feel that way going into the season. I don't care if they win or lose the coin toss, It doesn't matter. Right. They almost remind me of the Packers. You remember, it's just years passed how the Packers. I would if I was the Bears, I would never for a coin toss. I'd

taken the ball all year long. Well, if you get a lead with this defense, right, I mean, yeah, you're you're you're giving them some ammunition, right. But you know, also, you know the kickoffs go and the ends. When they get the ball at the twenty five yard line, if they could can create a three and out, then you're talking about the Bears. Their fuel position is better than if they get kicked off too, because of the whole process of it. Right, No, you're right, Tom, you gave

me a flashback then when we played. I liked our defense going out there because there was always we'd probably get pretty good field position. Right, and you already put some doubt in the opponent's mind if they're gonna have to deal with that defense being unleashed and be able to put their hand in the dirt and just picking their airs back. These are good options that we're talking about. This is stuff we haven't talked about getting. Hey, it's been you know, in a last decade. I believe there

hasn't been a just two defenses. I believe the Broncos are one of them that as after one quarter of the season, they're in a top ten of almost every single defensive category, top five in many and leading in some very significant ones, including sacks. And I think that pass rush has just scratched in the surface. How do

you guys feel about it? I agree? You know, I think back to last season, when you look at the conclusion of last season, the biggest profile defense out there was the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they went out there and two years ago they started gathering some pass rush, collecting first rounders, Yeah, collecting first rounders, getting a couple of free agents, making sure they make the right choices, and boom.

Their defense now is the marquee defense of the lead still, I think, And then you see where it brought it to the AFC Championship game, correct, So I think when you think about the defense, where they're ultimately going to go, the continuous process of this offense getting better, I don't I don't think that anything's out of reach when you think about the future. This defense reminds me of it.

Remember the I don't know if it was a Thursday night for you guys or a Monday night night out in San Francisco when Vic Fangio was a defensive coordinator and they came after the Bears quarterback five times. Yeah, Campbell, I think was the starting a quarterback. Was that the kaepernet games Chaperneck's career, But that defense that night was just ferocious. I remember that game and that's what this

Bears defense reminds me of right now. And that was the Super Bowl team as the Mac impact not surprised you, but made you stop and think a little bit about just how great he is. Uh, definitely, yeah, it has. I mean going in to this two thousand eighteen season, I was thinking, I mean, where what's really the hope at the bar? Everybody's thinking, you know, the win loss are they're gonna win more in eight games or not? But then all of a sudden they signed Mac and

boom that Green Bay game. It's just it's a different This is a legit Super Bowl contending team right now. The way they're playing. I know it's the first core um, but I think, right, no, But I want to say before he jumps too far ahead, Hey, Vic Fangio has been five and old before in his league as a linebacker coach in New Orleans Saints nineteen ninety three. That was my last year in the league. We started five and oh we didn't make the playoffs. So I mean

that's all given. But this is what I'm trying to say. This is a solid core team, right. You know for Clil Mack, Cli Jay, Khalil Mack, Lawrence Taylor, what are the comparisons between them and what are like? Because I see Khalil Mackie comes out of a three point stance a lot more than the LT did. He earns leverage against these tall offensive tackles. Lawrence Taylor's playing against the sixty three and a half Jimbo cover. They're more eye

to eye. Now you get these guys, Okay, we gotta have these offensive tackles that are nine feet tall, like DeMar N six nine. He got right underneath him. Right, he's relentless, right, I mean, that's that's what I see. I mean that he doesn't stop the other night, last week's game, when he when he knocked the force to fumble, and then the way he reacted after the ball when he rushed the quarterback tipped his hand ball sales in the air, Travathan intercepts, he gets it, gathers and starts running.

Guess who's down there blocking for him? Right? Godill Mac Right. I mean that was a pretty good distance to hustle. I mean, it's almost like to remember the day when Erlaker was leading the block going down on every summer. Those guys fine too, fifty number. They turned right into offensive linemant. Yeah, I mean I tell you that that's the guy apparently does it at practice too. He he runs non stop at practice. Yeah, and he's showing everybody

the way. It's amazing. He is an amazing athlete. He's his again. It's it's like relentless. It's um. He reminds me remember Pierce Hold. I mean he was an average athlete, but the guy was NonStop. Now you have Mac who's uh the probably the ultimate athlete out there in the field, who is not and you know the underray. I think he's outstanding and stop in the run too. Oh yeah, because you can't just run it. You can't just decide to run it. You know, this is the funny thing

about Khalil Mack. When you're playing at home and you can't hear the snap count, it slows the offensive tackle, and Clil gets an edge when he plays on the road. You can hear the snap count and he starts developing a familiarity with the rhythm of the count that he's playing against. So it's a double edged sword for him.

He got a slow tackle out of his stance in Soldier Field, and then you got you fall into the rhythm of the count when you're on the road, So it's it's a double bad All right, We're gonna take a quick break where Jay Hilgenberg, the seventh time consecutive Pro bowler and his former teammate and close friend. I don't know how these two don't, you know, kill each other sometimes, but they don't They still like each other Dogs. Yeah,

maybe that's Tom there. I'm Jeff Jonahac and you're the sending to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back to Bears all Access brought to you by IGS Energy, a front partner of the Chicago Bears for briding electricity, natural gas, and home warned. He products over one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at

igs dot com. Jeff jony Act, Tom Thair, and Jay Hilgenberg from wvbm's prem postgame coverage, which we will resume after the bye week in Miami against the Dolphins, we spent a lot of time talking about Khalil Mack. Let's spend a lot of time talking about Mitch Drobiski. Now seeing the growth over the course of the season is going to be as compelling as anything with the offense and Mitch at the center of it. Where did he

grow in Week four? Confidence? You know, I think the better understanding he against that allows him to develop the confidence because you look at some of those throws that he made this week. He was being criticized for him two weeks previous to this, and now he's being complimented for throwing the ball into these tight windows. Other Alan rob Since touchdown to play before that to Taylor Gabriel the one nice pass the tree calling down the sideline.

You know it is is that you see all these impressive fundamentals when you put a quarterback through drills at the combine and stuff, and he's capable of doing everything, But are you capable of doing everything? That why you're going through the process of thinking. And I think Mitch has kind of elevated himself to a level that he's being able to be a free He's more of a knower instead of a thinker, so he's able to be

a better athlete doing it. Remember when Coach and A he was talking about he doesn't care about the interceptions and practice down and that's really what it is. A practice. Mitch brought it from practice to the field Sunday, and that's what you want to continue to see happen. It's not gonna happen every Sunday. He's gonna have his ups and downs, and everybody's gonna have to live with that. That's just the way the NFL is. But the demeanor is key, and I thought they were going talked about

it this week. You know, his demeanor was different on Sunday. Neggie says it was different as well. He was very steady when they got the first couple of touchdown. He wanted more. He did not want to. He was riveted to being great that day, and he was. He took advantage of a secondary in turmoil, got a lot of open receivers. The offensive line was spectacular. You know, Matt

stayed aggressive too in his play. Colleague, I want to get to that too, because Matt, I guess he said this year a couple of days ago, the offense he went more to the meat and potatoes of the offense. And so if that's the meat and potatoes, I can't wait to see the same. I think the big play was just him running the ball on that early RPO down the right side for twenty some yards. Okay, I got one long RPO keeper and then one long scramble. But tay, so hey, I'll take those. I'll take those

two eyes. Yeah, it's nice to know he has that ability, and you can see in some of these quarterbacks out there, but it's more of you have a design run to him. That's when you start putting that fear in the defense. He is the ability I think. I think Mitchell's the most athletic quarterback the Bears have ever had. I don't think he's totally shown it at all, but he he

looks good on the hoof. He can run three hundred ninety seven total net yards, the most since Jim Miller four oh seven in Week ten and ninety nine against Minnesota. So yeah, the six touchdowns are sexy, obviously, but I thought it was interesting Sunday Night Football. They it was like one of the last games they highlighted when Pat Mahomes through his six and Week two man it was hey, headline city. You go look at any natch NAT national broadcasted h football game when they do the pre hype,

there's not one Bear included in any of them. And all the national markets are gonna have to change soon. Well they'll change next year. I don't know if they've ever started. You're gonna well, you're not Kalio Mac. He's gotta be Kali the Star is rising. He was in Oaklandland's kind of a hidden market in this league. As great as that franchises, it doesn't have the media eccentric tob of the game that this city does. And nationally

Chicago is huge if they're playing well. See, but you said the narrative the defense, it's mac It's not offense in Chicago, it's all about the defense. I would like to go back to see if they did any pre filming hype with Kleil Mack in a Raiders uniform and then all of a sudden they had a garbage it all up. I'd be an interesting question to ask Mack because again, go watch, you know, go look at these pre hypes. No better respect this segment of Bears. All

access is orchestrated. Buy CDW, CDW people who get it. Jeff Joniac tamp there and Jay Hilgenberg with Paus rank or engineer and Dan BURRELLI, our producer working the gum light did go over there with his hat and everything. Well, he looks, really, he looks. He's got that side muscle going right. He's also the Hollis Hall Employee of the Year and that doesn't come easily. He literally like, I'm not Joe. He just blushed. He's blushings closer better than

it to can, I guess. But yeah, so Bears defense, obviously we're talking about that. The offensive versatility will get into that, but I want to talk a little bit of a special team before we get to our next break, because Cody Parkey has proven to be a valuable asset nine out of ten of the field goal department on twelve of his extra points, and his kickoffs have been outstanding. We had Chris Tabron the Bears Coaches Show the other night.

He said, it's not kickoff season yet, meaning the weather has turned yet, So that's when it will become interesting and teams are going to do more. Right now, they're just kicking out of the end zone. I think the same thing. You know, the kickers as much of a weapon as the punter, and as that wind and that weather deteriorates, and you'll be you're more familiar with the circumstances in Soldier field and you bring some of these

teams that aren't or if you have to go. I think the Bears have two powerful legs that you know there are going to really gonna be able to help him go it on this say, I just think Chris Taver's an excellent special teams coach. So I mean, I'm all on board with what he does. What I like to Well, he's asked Patrick O'Donnell to change up his approach a little bit more into the hang time and also the direction as opposed to just banging it, and he does a great job. He's right now at that

magical forty gross forty net. Uh. That's what you want in a punter of these days. So he's doing his job, and you know, the Bear's get a lot of punt returns because the defense is forcing three and out. So three Cohen's leading the league chairing the league leading punt returns. That's great. I mean that's not average yet, but he's second. But punt returns the actual punt returns, which creates field position, right, I mean, hey, the kickers are important when you're in

close games. But I never wanted to be on a team where the punder and the kickers are the stars. Well they're not the stars, right, you think they have the stars? No, no, but I but I've been on it to my last year in the NFL with the Saints that that's Morton Anderson and uh, that's all ye that at one time snap more punts than one sees than that any other player in the history of the lay years. Why don't we have stats like that that should be in the NFL factor that I had multiple

solo tackles that I used to Patrick Manley all the time. Chael, Patrick, why don't you go down to make you know how many tackles you got? He goes, oh, four or five? I had like ten or eleven my rookie year. I never told him we had an NFL record one hundred nineteen punts. Do you know how many total tackles you had in your special team's career? No, Okay, you should

work on that stat that's for sure. All Right, we're gonna step away here segment number two in the books, we'll talk more with Jay Higgenberg and Tom there to the great offensive lineman in Bears history. As we break it down, Bears three and one on top of the division, awaiting Miami when they come out of the bye week. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score, the

Chicago Bears Network for cents. Inside the Bear, brought to you by Verizon Anthony Adams and Lauren Screetch over the world of Bears football on It Off the Field every Sunday night at eleven o five on Box thirty two Chicago. I'll watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot Com or on the official Bears app. Jeff jonny Ack, along with Tom There and Jay Hilgenberg, our special guest this week on the Bears bye week. With the players off getting some relaxation in now hopefully year, it up mentally to stay

in tune because of that big win. I don't know. Some people have said to me, I really wish they'd be playing. Others said, hey, this is probably a good thing. They're not too high because now they're gonna have to get refocused because they didn't play and they got this Dolphin team sitting down there with Adam Gase. Their offense has been struggling. But what do you guys sit on it? Does it matter to you on or off? I mean it is you can't have that answer all right, then

it's perfect. I mean, so it's the perfect time to have the break. You're it's you're through four games, so you're off to a really good start. This week is always a time where if you look at the coaching staff, I think I'm sure. I'm sure the offensive coaches are probably forming up some type of game playing against the Bears defense, and the Bears defensive coaches are having a game play against the Bears offense to self scout themselves somehow.

But as far as the players to arrest, um, I you know, it's it's a nice to three and one ahead of the division. How long does that have? Perfect? You know, this was announced and the players knew that this one was going to be the schedule of this week for us in our generation, Jay, it was dangled out in front of us like a carrot. In front of course, if we went and played a crappy game before the bye week and then we practice the next week in pads in a physical approach to our days off.

If we did anything good, we still had to practice. But maybe it was just in shorts and shoulder pads. So I mean it was. It wasn't like the consistency of saying, Okay, you guys, this is the way the schedule, this is our tinnerary. You can formulate a plan that you want. If you want to do something during the bye week, it's it's better for the players to understand that the coaches respect him enough, and then the coaches themselves, they don't have to be in the same room anymore

to be scouting. You know, we all have our tablets and I can we can be in a conversation doing all that stuffy no. But you know, I agree for the players right now, take a little break physically, you know, take a rest your bodies for a few days and get ready to go. Then it's a big push. I mean, it's really not that it's such a short period of time. Now, you know, after this the Bears start up to the end of the season. Twelve weeks, right, twelve weeks. Hey,

that's a that's a that's a little workout program. So let's commit to everybody. Everybody can think about it. It's for the next six are gonna be at home, so not the Miami game. But then after that you get a nice, nice chance to it really emphasize that home field and really thrive with it, and then you got

a tough road beyond that. But I tell you what, I would have a different stance on this if the Bears were oh and four oh, I would have a completely different thought about the bye week, because I think you right now you can be a little bit more gracious to the effort that they've been giving since you know, some of these guys have been here since July fifteenth. Yeah, um, you know, so that's a pretty long stretch without a

day on. So if they were an OW and for you want everybody out of here, you would have gone get out here a week. I mean, oh, I'd want them. I would want them. I would want him here at least a couple of days. And I would and they maybe it would be Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday Thursday, a really physical approach to practice. But you know, I think it's just uh. I think coach and Agi has done a great job with the attitude here. There's excitement here.

I mean, these guys want to come to work. I feel and say, if you know, oh you know, here's a we get a week off. These guys want to work. Hey, Jay, we were at the alumni dinner. You were one of the one of the players that showed and met some of your old buddies and met different guys from different eras and so forth. But I had many guys, many guys coming up to me asking me about what's it like here now? Love listening to the games, love watching the games. You know, they live all over the place,

right that That was fun for me. That was fun for me to just sit there and talk to these guys about Khalil Mack and about Traubisky and about you know, Alan Robinson, about Naggie. They're really engaged. Oh, there's no question. The Alumni weekend is always a special weekend. I've made it at the last like seven eight years in a row. So come you can't bring this guy well, you know, he's a busy guy. You know, say he needs his rest and preparation for the next day. But it's funny.

You see a lot of guys you haven't seen in a long time. So Donell Wolford there, hadn't seen him in a while, so it was good to seeing him. Had dinner with Patrick Manley and his wife. You know, it's really amazing. It's getting a chance to talk to some of the alumni on the sideline and the positive beaming faces that you saw in these guys. Three or four months ago, we're at the club at Strawberry Creek Jay's golf Course in Kenosha, where we have the alumni

golf outing. The narrative there was completely different than the conversations I was having Sunday because at the golf outing there's more apprehension and concern. There's more what is Trubisky really all about? Hey? Who is this naggy guy? And now you got a little bit of you unveiled a little bit of everything to these players, and man, in four months, you can kindly change the complete thinking process of the group of alumnis. And I see the whole thing.

You know, the alumni, what they've done. You really hit it to meet Tom. What's evolving here is the team to the bearer? Is is coaching Aggie really evolving? This is a team game. I mean it isn't about Trubisky, you know what. That was the concern, you know during the summer, what what what can Mitch do? Now it's evolving. We saw what Mitch can do this past Sunday. It's there. You know, it's not gonna be like that every Sunday,

but it's everybody around him. It's a team game. If everybody can raise their game to that level and just play team ball together, this team's unstoppable. It's the life of a young quarterback too. Yeah, it's gonna still be growing pains. You're gonna be up and down. It's the NFL, You're not. It's hey, you know, no one's ever played a perfect game. Tom got close a couple of times. But you know, you know it's funny. Is I think

we brag a lot about this. You know, Dave or Growling, you play golf with him in the summertime, you play golf on the day that Vic got the whole one. But I think the supporting cast for Mitchell Trubisky is really impressive. When you talk about Dave or Growling, you talk with Mark Halfred's talk about Chase Daniel, everything that has been supportive to me, even Tyler Bray every all these guys that have supported the better of this team

in the quarterback room, I think pay dividends. Mitch. That was funny the day up at Strawberry Creek we were playing golf with Vic Fangio. I was playing Vick and Dave ragone and he had his hole in one. It was the day of the draft. We went up there. Vic hits, yeah, he hits four, number four hits a hole in one, and um, Dave rack goes, oh, man, how are we gonna live with Vic? Now and so? And at the end of the day, I didn't ask Vic any football questions until we got to seventeen. I go, hey, Vick,

who do you like in the draft? He goes, uh, you know, George's linebacker is pretty good. That's only he said. And later that night when they drafted Michael Vick a hole in one and you get your guy in the draft, all on the same day. Pretty nice day. Oh and then, by the way, a couple of months down the road, we're gonna get you killed El Mac as well. So have fun with that, have fun coming up. You know, it hasn't changed Vic's disposition. He is still a salary

I made I made him laugh. I made him laugh on the coach to show a few weeks back, because you know, you get a guy, no, when you get a guy like Mac, you know, it makes even the coaches. You know, we haven't even talked about that part. Well. You know what's funny is more exciting is from the broadcast booth the other day there's a lady holding a woman holding up a signs. She turned around and showed

and said, thank you raiders. I think. I think it was funny because I mean, of all the different numbers in the great bare history, seeing all the jerseys, then that she's got to think. I'm still they doubted I got to touch. I heard a story from an insider in the NFL world, and it's a I really believe it because this guy's been in the NFL forever. He told me that Mark Davis did not have the cash to be able to pay for that deal because they

had people pull out of the stadium deal. That they do have a financial issue over right, And I'm surprised, you know, having Brutons getting all the heat for it. Someone call from the West Coast and telling you the reason behind it. But again it's Khalil Mack is the story. But lack of funding for the Raiders. I think he's really going to enjoy this place too. I think he's already having a great deal of fun. It is weird being plopped into a team as it gets ready for

the regular season. You don't know anybody. You've been in one place your whole career. You've lived it obviously too. But and Tom did too when he went down to Miami. How does it? How does that feel? When you parachuted into a team, good batter otherwise in a locked room that you know, you don't know anybody. You may know some acquaintances. Well, I mean he Max the man though, Yeah, he's kind of stay in Chicago loves him. So yeah,

he understood. But what's it like. It's it's different, It's different. I remember when I went to Cleveland, m I flew down, met the team down at Tampa, and on the way back, even getting on the airplane, it's like, everybody have those regular seats and it's like, oh, you know, where do you sit? You know what to take anybody's seats. So it's it's there's a little adjustment. It was different for

me in Miami. Senior already got the first choice of everything, and so I was the second player, a second oldest player on the team, next to Marino. And so Dan pointed out, he goes, look, he gets iriorady, and even you're a newbie from taping tables two seats. Yeah, so no one we were losers. Dan ran the show. He ran the show there so, but he also gave respect

to the guys that have already paid there too. You know, the only guy that ever similar to Clail Mack and our career has been Reggie White when he went to when he went to Green Bay, Because here's a guy that, no matter what they had on the team, he came in as the elder statesman, superstar, most productive guy, most important guy in your locker room. Day one. That's time there, Jay Hilgenberg, Jeff Joniac. We will continue after this break on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thank you

to Jay Hilgenbert for joining us today. Bears All Access. Ruth's Chris would like to have this. Have you have this one hundred dollars gift card to enjoy one of their Chicago That Area steakhouses, Ruth's Chris. This is how it's done. So Jay, here you go, and we expect you to take us to dinner. Has he taken us to dinner? No, I don't ever taken dinner. I've been I've been to the seafood place with you guys, But I don't think he picked up the tab. You know,

the night before the night before the Super Bowl. I think it was the night before, two nights before I was eating and Ruth Chris had started in New Orleans, and so I was there with my old college girlfriend and the waitress took her order and I said, Okay, I want a porterhouse for two, and then she left because she said I was ordered for both of us, and I go, that's just for me and all the other sides and everything. So haven't gone there and eating

the stuff. You know, Tom and I, uh, we're we've been on the silver screen. You have you know, you know about this story Nebraska, the Moving Nebraska. No, yeah, the Moving Nebraska came out. It did get nominated for an Academy Award, and everybody kept saying, hey, got Best Supporting Actress that year. You know, hey, you guys are on that Western sports movie. What is it you guys

about the old guy? You guys going It's about a guy that's kind of losing his mind and he thought that he won the ten million dollars sweep Steaks Steak, but but they send that to everybody. He was going to get his money somehow, someway. Anyway, the long story boring is that at one point in the movie and I almost fell over when I I didn't believe anybody, and all of a sudden, you hear our broadcast and

we're talking and they're not showing it. It's against the Lions and Devin Aroma Shadu caught a touchdown from Jay Cutler and I'm going bananas, and then he's got to read for Ruth Chris Steakhouse in there. Wait, so I'm waiting. I'm waiting. Now I'm looking for the I just I'm watching those credits come after the movie. Not a lick, nothing, no mention of us at all. And I forgot the lead actor in that movie. But he's from the Chicago are there are many Laura Dern's dad, Yeah, Bruce Dern. Yeah.

So then so the Super Bowls in New York that year, all of a sudden, I get a pr flat caused, man, hey, would you like the interview Bruce Dern. He's gonna, he's gonna you know, he's a New York Giants fan or I don't know what it was, but you know he's in New York. I go, yeah, I'd like to ask him a couple questions. I'd like to ask him. Where was the permission for Tom and I and the Bear WBBM to get the credits in the movie for Nebraska? Nope? Nothing,

never heard back. If that's not a George Costanza where he's gonna go out and seek out da exactly right. That that is a total who's this guy? Right? Right? Right right right? Okay, Well it was a good movie, though it made me laugh. Back to the matter at hand. Here on Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy, with Tom There and Jay Hikmer, this what happens when you're with close friends, you know you, you forget where

you are a little bit. We're just having a football conversation and this is what it's like being with you guys. And it's been that way for my twenty two years with you guys, and Jay when you came aboard in two thousand and one. Is that this is the stories. The stories are endless. When you guys talk about your football careers, it's just not the eighty five Bears, that's easy, but it goes deeper than that. You guys are always talking about your your days and from youth football on up.

So in the end, as I now turn this a little bit, what and who was the most significant impactful football person in your lives? I'm gonna start with you, because Jay, you got the Hilgenberg family is a great note, But out of that Hilgenberg family, you gotta pick one. You cannot say everyone. Who's the one that got you mentally and physically and spiritually ready to play the game of football at any level of your professional And it can't be any amateur. Oh, it can be a family.

Who is it? Who is it? There's got to be the one who is the one? Well and for you, I know that's difficult if you need to think about it, but you're about to pick one. No, Hey, my my dad was you know, first team All American center in nineteen UM fifty three. He's eighty seven years old now. My uncle played sixteen years in the NFL, started four Super Bowls. My older brother was All Big ten, two time captain of Iowa football team. My younger brother played

ten years in the NFL. So I mean it's tough. Well, I think the one story that I remember but is I was a sophomore in high school went down to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. It was the Vikings versus the Steelers and went to the hotel and Wally Wally Hilgenberg. My uncle was not in his room, and I went knocking on the door and his roommate was Alan Page. I was a sophomore in high school and I sat there and talked to Alan for about a half an hour waiting for Wally to show up, and

he never came up. And then my rookie year as an undrafted free agent coming here to the Chicago Bears was Alan Page last year and that's who I practiced against them every single day my rookie year, and he worked with me. He made me get my stance. He goes, I don't want to read if it's a run or a pass. And he told me, he goes here, I'm gonna do this to your hands so you can't get a hold of my inside of my chest. And so I mean he worked with me. Nuts. Okay, that's a

great story. Alan Page is the most respected man, one of the most respected men inside or outside of football. Who is it for you? It's gotta be just one Well, if you know, for me, it was when they I wasn't surrounded by sports and football like Jay was. And the more you hear the stories, the more unbelievable it is,

especially because we're surrounded by football. But there was a guy in Joliet that was starting the pop Warner Division in Joliet, and his name was Rocky Carnegie, and he came over to our house knowing that we had two sons in the family, my brother being the older brother. And when they started that Pop Warner that's what got us introduced to football. But then they my brother took a snapshot for the newspaper, him and a guy named

Teddy Mattchak. Teddy was the quarterback and Rick was the center, and they took a picture saying we're starting a Pop Warner football league over at Pershing Grade School. And it was his introduction. But then it's my mom, because my mom drove me to practice every day, and I always tell the story that my first two years of practice, I cried every day every day on the way to practice because that's such a baby. And she would say, you'll stop crying when you see her friends, You'll stop.

And that's the way. If it wasn't for her perseverance, I would have been, you know, sitting my mom and dad's basement. No. I started crying that because it finally paid off. But again, you know, it's different because you hear the stories from you. Jay was telling the story about once how um Howard Cosell was walking to the hotel to do an interview and Wally threw a garbage can of water on him. Same super Bowl Yeah, same, So yeah what Wally loved. He loved that story. Um yeah,

dumped that. He was like just to be a smart act. It was their distaste for Howard combination, all about all about. Yeah. Wally used to say, the two paced slip down over his head and and and Howard cose Hill has really pissed him, and it just goes, how do you expect to ever win a Super Bowl when you act like this? That's the thing about it is, you know, because we what we know a football is because from our time in football until now, when you hear Jay's history in football,

you hear names. He showed me an autograph book once of the players he met in his lifetime, and it's it's the most impressive display of professionals, yes, of autographs of the history of the game you'll ever see. Yeah. I mean as a kid, I used to write into like all the NFL teams and asks you know for like you, Oh yeah, you wrote to them autographs and pictures. Yeah, you're one of those kids. Interesting, So I still I have all the pictures and all the autographs and every Really,

what's the most significant one you ever got? Oh? I don't know what's the one We looked at the forgetting me. The defensive back coach that still coaching, the old coach that played for the line Tom More No, no, oh um um Dick, not his players picture but Tom Moore. Um. Actually Tom Moore story. They honored the nineteen fifty eight Iowa Rolls Bowl team last weekend in Iowa City and my dad was coach coach on that team and Tom

Moore was there also. And last year when we played Arizona, I went and sat on the bench with Tom Moore, introduced myself through the Hilgenbergs and he goes, sit down here. I mean those are in Valbue. And you get the opportunity. Obviously, you get to the stadium early, so you can run into a lot of folks. Your one degree of separation from just about everybody in the National Football League or USFL,

certainly among coaches. And how gratifying is it to this day to be able to just sit and talk football with the guys who coached and played the game. Well, you guys, you know it's neat for me is just real quick. This past weekend in Tampa Bay, they had a guy, Jack Sitchy. I played with his dad in Notre Dame. So I went and sought him out through Bobby, through the trainer in Tampa because I just wanted to meet him. I just wanted to do some and tell

him about the impact his dad had on me. His dad recruited me at Notre Dame and he's one of the reasons I went there. And I just said, to you know, congratulate your dad. Your dad was a heck of a football player, because I don't know how many people tell him that his dad was. That's great because Tom Moore came up to me and said that to me years ago. How my how my father helped him so much his freshman year at Iowa. So that's one of the legendary offensive line coaches in the NFL history.

No Tom Moore, the Joe Moore, Tom Moore more, the the white haired off Yeah yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, Yeah, he's iowahaw guy. Yeah what did he play? He was a quarterback I believe at Iowa. Very good. Athan's great history with all you guys, sobelieve it's a lot of years of conversation and experience, that's for certain. All Right, one more segment with Jay Hilgenberg and Tim There along with Paus Ranker engineering Dan Bally, our producer. This is

Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey, thanks for listening, everybody. That's our final segment tonight on Bears All Access presented by IGS Energy with Tom There and Jay Hugenberg. I'm Jeff Joniak Bears three and one of the bye week, and we can start looking now at some detail on where we'd like to see things go now from this point the season, As Jay said, it's a quick twelve games. It won't feel that way.

And to me, things don't really get going. And most coaches will tell you the season really begins after Thanksgiving. So let's get the Thanksgiving. Let's get the Thanksgiving. How do they get the Thanksgiving to be relevant? And how does this translate into wins here in this stretching games coming up? I mean, I think they got to be mentally prepared as soon as they get back, because as much as you kind of thought about this bye week

early in the regular season. Oh, let's just get there now, Jeff. You got no more bye week, you got no more open windows, you got noons starts up and down the line. You got a Thursday game on Thanksgiving. You could be there's a good chance that you're gonna be a good enough team at the end of the season. You possibly could get one flex. So now you got to say versatile in those terms. But this isn't something that you can say, Okay, we'll take a game to warm up.

You got you gotta be rock and roll ready when you go to Miami, right, Yeah, we're familiar with Adam Gais here in Chicago. He's gonna have a He's gonna try to run the ball and be physical, play it tight to the vest, and have it to keep it close to down to the fourth quarter. And I don't I know time you talked about last week at the end of the game about possibly the heat down in Miami. You played your last year down there, so that could

be something that that um could really hit this team. Yeah, at the noon start, one o'clock start in the East Coast, Well, you think of one are the most taxable positions out there, so it'll be the offensive line, It'll be the four defensive backs, five defensive backs because they play so many five, four and five wide receiver sets in the quarterback position. Those are the guys that are guaranteed to be in there every single play, right, and it can be it can have it a toll on those and and that

heat can be a factor. I know what I know what I know because you bring it up almost any time the schedule comes out. Okay, I'm worried about tamp I'm worried about Miami. You're about what you do. I think, what what's hot for you? Uh, what's what's hot for me? Is? I mean if you got blazing sun that's in the eighties, and you what colored jerseys do they wear that Miami?

And so if you're going down there and you're in blue jerseys, you got on a blue helmet and that that all that heat has started to absorb, and then the pads you're wearing. I remember Jay, I stood up once at halftime either tamper Miami, and Jay says, I've never seen a person's sweat as much as you. And then I stood up and there's actual puddle underneath me inside my check. I've never seen a guy, but that's him. I've never seen a guy sweat, right, I've never seen

a guy have to change their shoes at halftime. Shoes the shoes, the shoes were what and you could actually you could seem right coming on. So I do I think about the heat, and you know, Jay doesn't sweat, so it didn't know it's probably you know, maybe that's the reason they gave James Daniels a few reps this past weekend too, for the offensive line to get him in the game down at Miami. What'd you see? I like what I've seen out of James since he's got here.

You know, he kind of took that first week to get acclimated to the speed of interior offense and defensive line play, and then he started showing signs of versatility. I think he's a well schooled center and he's got

the ability and the body size to play guard. I think he's got an incredible upside in front of him, and I think you kind of give the luxury to the Bears that look, if anybody else is a can transfer to a different position and make us stronger and put James where he's the most comfortable and confident I think they have that luxury. I think you know Harry Heastad again, it's almost like Chris Tabor and this whole coaching staff. It's an excellent coaching staff. We're familiar with

Harry here. And James is a good player. He's gonna be needed this season. I mean, the five guys in there that are starting, I think you're doing a great job so far. And it's just the one thing I think they need to work on and to look at, and I'm sure they will somehow. Let's get Jordan Howard going a little bit better, and that's Tom's big thing too, and he will be needed. He will be needed on

the weather turns. He'll be needed period. I mean, if this team is going to continue to have the defense play like it's it has been in a dominant way and your offense is getting a job done, you're gonna you're gonna need different elements of the of the running game to at different stages of the game to become a factor. Right if It's gonna be interesting, because if Mitchell continues to have big games like this, it's gonna

be easy to get Jordan Howard going. But Jordan Howard, if they if he can get going like this early in the game. Jordan Howard's a type of guy they'll be at the end of or the middle of the third quarter to the fourth quarter. He could take over

the game. And then also, now you're creating fatigue against your opponent rather than being tired out yourself, which it seemed like that that was the kind of the game plan it looked like this past week because treat Colon had so many reps in that first half and so hey, it worked well. Yeah, big runs and big catches by Cohen and uh, you know you're looking back. Yeah, explosives explosives, spears had tens. What's explosive? Is it twenty? Some say

twenty five twenty. They keep stats down to twenty, you know at the staff book that they always put out at the end of the game. I always, man, those things were impressive at this path. Yeah, you know, I thought it was also impressive. We haven't talked about it enough, given no prince of Mukamara and having a rookie in there in Tolliver, and you got you know, packages with Sherrick and Bryce Callahan has been playing very well off the nickel. If we could just stay healthy he's really

elevating his game, sending the tone a little bit. Take two weeks in a row behind the line of scrimmage. If you go back and you look at the very first play of the game by Bryce Callahan. So they're gonna run a quick screen to the left hand side of the offense, so they got um Evans is supposed to go out and block him, and he gets a lazy stance and now Bryce beats him off field. Now they're sending the left tackle out who's blocked first force,

which would be Callahan. Callahan gets so fast so by him quickly that the offensive lineman can't block Mels is going to be illegal. Evans misses him and he makes a tackle for no gain. It's an incredible play of just being able to anticipate and follow through by Bryce Callahan. What I was impressed with was the tackling because you couldn't get beat deep, right. You know, it's very easy to get beat deep by Tampa because of the variety of weapons and so forth. But the pressure was good.

And then you marry that with yeah, okay, if they're gonna catch it in front of you, put him down, and everybody was put down The longest play was the DeShawn Jackson forty eight yard or on that crossing route down that. You know, it was a deep ball from Fits, but the tackling was superb. Right. No, I come in on the post game. How physical that those defensive backs are this year, I've been mentioning almost every coach on the staff ed Don Hotell is doing a great job

back there. Yes, he's an outstanding secondary coach. He doesn't mince words with the guys, right, he's very thorough. I mean we talk about it too. He has the teaching has been great. Yeah, he has a lot of questions on the golf course, so he's always asking me which way, which way the green breaks? You gonna go? Which thing of the Ryder Cup? You know, I'm not a big Ryder Cup guy. It's just because they're these guys attitude and everything that they change that. You know, they're jumping around,

cheering and raw raw raw. You know when they're out there playing professionally, why don't they if that works better, why don't they have the same attitude? That's interesting. Uh, it's us against the world, though, Jay, shouldn't that means something? Um, yeah, a little bit. No, no, it always is. All right. Well, we appreciate your time, Jake, coming out of this by a week. We enjoyed the storytelling, that's for sure, and U probed you a little bit, but we we love

having you. You can hear Jay Higgenberg on WBBM pregame and post game. He've been doing a long time now with Jim Schwantz and Ron Gleason. You guys are a good trio. And uh, we get out of the way for you guys for a little bit in the pre and post game, and you guys have a good time. Tom Hey, final thoughts, Well, go on to Miami. You know the Bears has got to keep this rolling. I know there's a big, you know, big open window here, but oh, I and Tom should pick out the restaurant

down Miami. Is an old team down there, seven minutes from the hotel. All right, that's gonna wrap us up four top there and Jay Hilgenberg, I'm Jeff Johnny Act. Thanks pause ranked Dan Burrelli and his staff at six seventy to score. Have a great night, Bears. Dulphin's coming up after next week. They'll get back to practice on Monday. Go Bears. Here in three and one and Bears All

Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app. Bears All Access has been brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by CDW, Athletico Physical Therapy, and Ford