All Access: Horsted's path to the NFL

I like it. No some books from Luke Capitol here at Nancy Studios at Hattisa And welcome into another edition of Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy with Tom Thare. I'm Jeff Joniac, the rookie Tight and Jasper Horse that will be kind enough to join us coming up in the program. And I like the feistiness

of this crowd. It's small but mighty right first time you ever interviewed at Jasper, I have to think so, I just I'll had a chance say hi to him out in the hall and I said, when you come in here, I want you to give a lot of long Princeton answers. Well, we might get that he's well

spoken man, that's for sure. And getting an opportunity of a lifetime as a rookie and being a prominent fixture right now in this final month of the season, and it's hard not to look at the whole picture and maintain your enthusiasm because you do, no matter what the cliches say, have to take it one day at a time. And it's not sexy. It doesn't mean a whole lot, but it does for this twenty nineteen Chicago Bears team that was very happy that the Vikings lost last night.

That certainly helps a little bit, you know, But a guy like Jasper, his enthusiasm is important because he's, you know, gain momentum throughout the season. He came here unexpectedly making the Bears and then got transferred from the practice squad to the active roster and then was able to come in and make a touchdown catch on a difficult, difficult catch a play design where he was the third receiver.

And I think when you get a chance to get a Keem Hicks back in the mix out there on the practice field, and you kind of see a little, you know, just a lighten the distance because when he gets inserted into the active lineup and stuff. So there are elements right now that are really exciting to the Bears going through these final four games. And you talk about two teams with an arrow pointed up and a arrow pointed down at both having the same record at

six and six. There's a lot of positive things to build on with the Bears right now, and you've got to capitalize the momentum because I think it's really important to take that element and keep building with it and from it. And you have to. And you know, Matt Nagie today said he definitely learned a lot about what he has during the four game losing streak because it could have done in any number of ways. He said

it wouldn't and he was right in the end. Again, a lot of things he says turn out to be true. It just takes some time to get there sometimes, and I think that's a message that locker room takes to heart a little bit. Kilil Mac was very very positive today, very excited about what this is. He goes, it's almost like, in a sense, you're trying to do the impossible and

that's where the competitive juices flow. And as long as you got one of the guys that lead the way saying that you're in a good place in terms of mentally going into that game against the Cowboys. Oh yeah, I mean, it's always great to have a depositive attitude to Klil Mac. But I think it's even a bigger example when those guys go into the meeting rooms and they see what he does on tape. And it's not only Klil Mack the pass rusher, it's Khalil Mack the

football player. And when you look at some of the dirty work that he's willing to do, it sets an example for some of these other guys that need that example set before him to see how hard you have to work in order to ultimately achieved the success that Khalil has. And he's going to going down the road. But I also think another important element of success in the locker room is the building blocks that Mitch has been displaying in the last three or four weeks. He's

shown the improvement that we've all wanted to see. He's getting other plays actively involved in the mix. While he's losing players and Trey Burton, Adam Sheheen, he's adding players like Anthony Miller, Javon Wimms, and Jessper Horstad who will hear from so I think all those elements and how they fit in with each other to keep that atmosphere in the positive direction. Matt Naggie has always seen it, even though they went through that little bit of a slide.

This is Bears All Access. It's brought to you by Igs Energy, Jeff Jonik and Tom there with you. We got a four o'clock pregame and a seven twenty two kickoff between the Bears and Cowboys on Thursday night. So that Cowboys team has been going in the opposite direction, not just three of the last four, but six of the last nine games that they've lost. Despite that fact, they have the number one yardage offense in the league. I don't care as much about that. I care about points,

but they can score points when they're humming. They're getting over thirty points a game. They've got the number one third down offense in football, they've got the number three third down defense in football, and they've got weapons on both sides of the ball that you got to account for. But for some reason, the mystery isn't working right. They've struggled, and now you get the almost on que response from the locker room that we're angry, and the whole week talking.

Now Michael Bennett, one of their new additions, he's speaking up. You've got players saying, you know enough of the talk and everything that is predictable for a team that frankly is still in first place in the NFC East. Well, you know what, I don't need to hear anything out of Michael Bennett. I'm not going to have a guy that's been around the team for two and a half week and start giving speeches of inspiration to guys like Jason Witton who have been there for fifteen or seventeen years.

The most destructive message that's filtering in the locker room of the Dallas Cowboys is coming from Jerry Jones, because I think when you are the general manager, you're the tone setter for that team. You're the guy that's out in front of all these radio and TV interviews, and you're not giving your coach a vote of confidence. That's super destructive to the locker room because who is evaluating me to tell me that I'm going to have my

job here next year? If you're a position coach and you're gonna be gone with the head coach, and it's not guarantee that he's going to be gone. But they're setting that message, they're setting that tone that the possibility of him being gone now it really changes. It backfires in a sense, Yeah, backfires because, Okay, if this head coach is going to be gone, I want to make sure by the time the season's over, I'm healthy and

ready to compete in front of my new coach. You know, now, do you sit out there and you give you put your say, you put yourself in the same position during the course of the game that you need to. But you're in first place, I know, But you're a You're in a crappy division right now. You know. You look at Washington, you look at Philly getting beat by the

you know, the Dolphins last week. So yeah, but in the in the big picture, if they win the division with an eight and eight record, it doesn't matter, You're going to the playoffs. But when I'm saying here, though it doesn't, it doesn't feel like that. But at the same time, there there are things and elements about that game that the Bears better be ready for. One, they do have a very aggressive front seven and Jalen Smith

is playing some really good football middle linebacker. Yeah, they have one of the most aggressive front fronts in all of defense. They can confuse you. They can overwhelm you with speed. They can put more bodies in one area that you have the capabilities of blocking. But on the same point, sometimes they can use that to their detriment.

They can be pass rushers and not run stoppers. They can run by the running back while he has the ball in his hands and he's up to the second the last four quarterbacks they played Daniel Jones, Jeff Driscoll, who the who. The Bears have played both of these guys, and then last week Josh Allen all ran for some pretty good yards up against that rush. So Mitch could have opportunities to do that, and he's got to take

advantage of them. I agree. You know, you watch the tape and a lot of these guys they pass rush with their head down and if they're you know, you know, one body out of position, they're not falling through with their assignments. They have man to man coverage and all the defensive backs are following wide receivers down the field.

That would be a great opportunity for Mitchell. Trip Whisky, you know, probably getting health of her himself, and you know, probably feeling another bright spot with him along the way. Is that your phone fifty push ups? That's a findable offense, don't you think, folks, Because if it were me, I tell you what he'd be calling me out. Was that your phone? Well, it's a message and that said, Hey, this is coach Naggy just listening to you guys, and Jeff is doing a great jobs. That's down there. I'm

Jeff Joni ac End. This is Bears All Access coming up. Rookie tight End jessper Horsted will join the program. You're on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Street and welcome back to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy, at proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty products to over one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at igs dot com.

Jeff Joni k Tomp There hear it before live studio audience at PNC Studios at Hollis Hall from Loop Capitol, A fiery bunch and ready to go. Is we welcome in Rookie ten End Jesper Horse did the rookie had a Inston and now a converted receiver playing tight end with a catch that is still being talked about. Congratulations on your success and the first couple of games active on the roster and making this roster. But with that catch,

there's been I've seen pictures all over the internet. You know, it's got to be I don't know if you're looking at him, but it's it's heavy stuff for a rookie to have that kind of play in just your second or third NFL game. Yeah, thank you very much, and thank you for having me. Guys. It is it's kind of surreal, and the pictures are everywhere, and my friends are sending me them and parents are tagging him and

Facebook and whatnot. But uh, you know, at the same time, like that's kind of stuff that I've been doing my career, and you know, it's just something I hope that I can do. If the ball is as close and as good of a pass as that one was right in front of my face, I should hope I'd be able to come down with that. The interesting thing is one rookie beat another Will Harris from Boston College. Right, Yeah, here's just you know, a little little tight end from

Princeton making the big play. I'm sure that didn't go unnoticed by you as well. No, um, yeah it did not. Yeah, I mean he was a highly drafted player, and you know, you had to work your way to get onto a roster and undrafted and made this football team. So it's interesting Roseville, Minnesota. Were you a Vikings fan growing up? It's okay, I knew the answer, well either, you know, so, did you gravitate towards the wide receivers of the Vikings

as a kid, or did you gravitate towards other position players? No, certainly the wide receivers. And I was a little bit before the Randy Moss era, but there was like, you know, the clips are always there, and I grew up watching those. And then I as I was getting older and really coming into like being a receiver, Delon was developing as well, and that was so cool because he was a hometown guy. They grew up pretty close to me, and I was able to watch him in that first preseason actually when

he was fighting for US or spots. So I always followed his journey very closely and looked up exact of a story. Yeah, za, guys, I mean, did you get to know him at all? I never did know. Okay, so your touchdown catch, Just to revisit that a second, first step off the line scrimmage, did you know you won the route because you had perfect position already in the safety was kind of taking as he's going, I'm not going to respect this guy at all. I'm stepping

away from him. So from the first step, did you know you won the route? I had a good feeling about it. I wouldn't say I knew I won the route, but I had a head start in the race, right. And then when you go back and you look at it on film, you see that one outside defender to your right. He did a really nice job of both taking Cordell Patterson out of his route in being able

to laterally float out there with tere Cohen. And so when you get a better chance to look at it on tape after the fact, man, you Mitch did a great job of going one two back to back to you. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I'm not the first read on that play. It just really worked out the coverage that I had, the good leverage and the open window. Are you aware of that safety moving out of the place that where

your route's going to take you? I was I mean, in the moment, vaguely aware of it, but for the most part I was focused on the guy that was just inside me and beating him to the spot. But I later, as I watched the film, I was like, oh, wow, that really worked out even better than I could have asked for. So your route to the tight end position. I noticed that when you were being you were going to go to the East West Shrine game, they had a wide receiver. When did you morph into that the

body of a tight end? When I showed up here, I actually came here thinking I was going to be a wide receiver. And the first scout I talked to you said, you know, actually like we're going to try you at tight end. And I was like, I've never put my hand in the ground before it like, are you sure? Like am I wasting my time here? And then you kind of explained that there, you know, it's not your classic tight end that you're thinking of, and

you know, think more of like Trey Burton. He's about your size, and we think that we can put some weight on you and you know, teach you how to do that stuff and you'd be a good fit. And you know, I was very open to it. Kind of a similar story to Zach Miller because he was a quarterback and then they brought him to a workout and they said, getting a stance, We're going to look at your tight end. He's never been in a stance before. So when you did start getting into it, you know,

you've seen a three point stance your whole football life. Like, did you just get into it and go, oh, this is the way it's supposed to feel, or because you know, as long as I played football, it seemed like it took about three days before you really felt comfortable getting in an out of your stance. Yeah, it was not something that clicked right away. I definitely took practice and some help from the older guys. And even today I don't always get in the exact same stance, so they'll

have to correct me here and there. But I'm way more comfortable now than I was with it before. And yeah, it is something you see often and you just kind of pick up on it. So you were undrafted, so you had choices, You had other teams no doubt interested. So did you start the question after the fact that you know initially because obviously you've played one position your whole career, but they thought enough of you that you

have skill set to fit into a different role. Not that unusual in terms of the U tight end position, which is a move tight end because of your pass catching seals, But did you have to catalog it a little bit and think about it. So it wasn't quite all went down actually. So I kind of came out of college just playing four years of receiver and I was on the larger side and I knew that, but I still was going for receiver in the NFL. When I went to the Shrine game, I was a receiver.

And I got hurt training for my pro day, and got hurt again on my pro day, and so I did not get drafted, which you know I was hoping for but not expecting, and then I also didn't get signed. So I got no calls after the draft, no nothing. And so my agent, you know, called up a lot of teams and said, well, we have this guy at your tryout, and some teams said no, and a couple

said yes. And so we worked out two teams that we thought might be a good fit for me, this team in the Saints, and this happened to be the first weekend, so I was planning to flight in New Orleans the next weekend, and yeah, I mean I kind of showed up and they said that, and I was like, you know what, I've been marketing myself as a receiver, but obviously that didn't work too well. Let's try this. Maybe this is a better fit for me at this level.

And so I went through that, went through the rookie minicamp, and actually I think that they hadn't made up their mind on me yet, and so I they're like, all right, I'm sorry, Like we don't have a spot for you right now. So I packed up my lock here and flew home. But then when the plane landed and I had a call waiting from coaching Aggie and my agent saying they changed their mind. They made a spot for you. So it's kind of where the last men in canceled

that trip to New Orleans and been here since. It makes your story even more remarkable. Yeah, a lot of us. I mean, honestly, when you look at it that way, this will be a story that we hope we can tell ten years from now after a great career. Jesper Horsted our guest year on Bears All Access with Tom There I'm Jeff Joniak, and we're brought to you by

IGS Energy. So in your conference that you played in a college, your junior year fourteen touchdowns, ninety two catches, twelve hundred and twenty six yards, seventy two catches, your senior year thirteen touchdowns, a thousand plus yards. Were you a big wide receiver or were you that much better than the defensive back talent you were playing against, because those are impressive numbers for anybody at any college anytime.

I definitely was a bigger receiver. I had a size advantage against most of the cornerbacks I was going up against. I was probably, you know, about the same height six three six four two twenty to two twenty five most

of the time. And so I think that when people think of IVY League football, they actually think of it as a lot worse than it is, because as I've gone up the levels of competition, each time I elevate, so that East West game was the first experience of that, and then here too, it's all the jump is always smaller than I expected, and I think that's a tribute to the quality of football it's being played in the

IVY League. But I mean, yeah, I think I had really good quarterbacks, both of which are in the NFL right now, and really good, you know, surrounding teammates as well, whether it's the receivers an alignment. So going back one more time to do a high school playoff game, he had nineteen catches for two hundred and ninety three yards. Now that number one was anybody covering you? And number two, did you have an offense that exposed great receivers to

this style football? Because when I think of Minnesota, I think of more of you know, the time, the weather conditions and everything you're playing up there. Just back to your high school roots. Was at us? You know, did you throw it more often than run it? We did because I had a very talented quarterback in high school too, And I mean we had been throwing it a lot that year, but that game was actually in like twenty five degree weather outside and like at the University of

Minnesota college field, so it wasn't really passing conditions. But that was our strength that year, and the quarterback was looking my way about that game. Yeah, he was the coldest game we've ever done at University of Minnesota. When the metrodome went belly up and we had to play that game. I'll never forget remember we did that TV show outside that place. That was the coldest I've ever been, so God bless you. That's for sure. Welcome to Chicago. It's a little a little bit nicer on a January

day or a December day. This is Bears All Access. We're gonna take a break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score shredded cheese beans, however you make them. Share your Bears game day natural recipe at Tostitos Bears dot com for a chance to win a Bears VIP tailgating experience and tickets at that number twenty second game against Kansas City. Maybe the best Nacho's win. You got a particular nacho persuasion. You're you're a guy who likes to fire things up in the kitchen, as long as

it doesn't include tomatoes. Yeah, you don't like tomatoes. I thought you were going to start talking about your abs when you read Dad, I'm gonna started with shredded. I was going, all right, here we go. That's tom there. I'm Jeff Joniak and jessper Horstead. The Bears tight end here joining us on Bears and all access from panc Studio here at Hattis Hall along with our friends from

Loop Capitol. You are all around athlete a man. You not only played in Metro Minnesota Metro Minneapolis football, but apparently that was your third choice behind baseball and basketball is at the order because you also played baseball Princeton and tore the cover off the ball too. Is a left handed hitting outfielder. Ye all right, yep, so wife football third on the list now number one in your heart. Um,

I think it probably has to do with success. I always loved winning, and I was probably on better basketball and baseball teams growing up than I ever was football. We had a pretty poor historic high school record and it still kind of continues, unfortunately, and so we just lost a lot of games. That football can be really brutal if you're just like losing and that it's not

clicking for you. And this is not to say I ever disliked football or that was ever a runaway between any sport, but I had truly loved all three, and if I had to rank them in high school, I probably would have put football third. But I never went looked at pursuing basketball at the next level. So when you were a kid, were you thinking big? Were you thinking you were going to be, you know, some six three shooting guard in the NBA? Were you going to

be a left handed, power hitting outfielder. What were you? What were you thinking? What was your life plan as a little kid. To be honest, I dreamed of that stuff, especially when I was younger, but I never really it was never the plan and I never expected it to happen. I kind of just enjoyed each season of sports, and my goal was always to continue playing them as long as possible. But it was never like I was working towards,

you know, starting in the NFL one day. It was always just, Hey, I really love what I'm doing right now. You know, how long can I keep this coming? Are you surprised right now? Yeah? I think I'm continuously surprised by how far that approach has taken me. But I think, but I think it's a really important message for parents to hear, because you know, there comes a point in time where you're going to make a decision when you dedicate yourself to a sport, and I think a lot

of kids do it too young. You're probably a better football player now because of the hand eye coordination that you got from baseball, the footwork you get from basketball and stuff. So was there someone in your life that said, hey, you need to keep playing all three sports. Don't kind of dedicate or decided as a ten year old that I'm gonna be pro whatever. I would totally agree with you.

I think the cross training has helped me so much, not only from a physical standpoint, from mental standpoint too. I would just be so excited to approach each new season. And yes, I would say my parents were so supportive of constantly playing different sports and continuing them all year round. And then I also was very fortunate to have coaches that understood that and also supported that because I know a lot of youth coaches don't like it. They don't

like it at all. They want you year round and they want kind of that control that comes with that. And my coaches were always very understanding, even if that meant like I'm absolutely practice a little bit early to go to an AAU basketball game that I have, they were always like more than willing to let that happen. So, you know, I remember reading a comment about you by Ryan Pace during training camp. He says, Jasper has a

really high ceiling. What is that? Is your high ceiling going to come because you're going to become a better blocker out of a stance as you're ceiling going to be exposed, because they're going to find out that you are a tight end that has the receivers the hands of a wide receiver. Where it is your ceiling when you know where you're at now and where you think about where you could be in years to come, I

think you can find my ceiling. I think what's most exciting to me is that I have never had an off season of football in my life. This is the first time I've played football outside of the fall, and so with that you get great I think hand eye coordination in my opinion from baseball and you know, other

stuff from basketball. But I think that I'm a little bit behind in the strength training and a little behind on some of the football techniques that you really get when you get to focus on that stuff in the off season rather than you know, when you're just playing games and it's hard to gain strength during the season you're just trying to maintain really, So I think for me, like you said, the blocking and kind of catching the other stuff that I maybe didn't focus as much on,

with the stuff that I was able to develop by playing other sports, and so then I'll be able to be a more better rounded tight end. Essentially, you're a piece of clay for Kevin Gilbride. Yeah, pretty much the tight ends coach with guys that you're leaning on in that room as well. What have those conversations been like with those guys. I mean you got a gamut of players, guys with experience like Trey Burton, Bradley saw making a conversion himself, then young guys. I don't know if he

talks much. He didn't seem like it as but he's sure is the type of player you want on your football team. And JP Holts that real seriousness to him, ruggedness to him. So collecting all this information and stocking it away it's almost like going back to school a little bit, getting your doctorate in football. It absolutely is. I have many notebooks that have been filled up already, and I think I'm able to get something from each

of the players in that room. They all have unique skill sets and different expertises and parts of their game, and so I think that you know, if you were to trace back what I've become. Since I've become a tight end, a few things that might be seeing ture to me. I think you would look back and find a lot that came from those guys. Are the routes completely different at the tight end position than the wide

receiver position? And can you take things from your experience as a wide receiver and incorporate them in tight end routes? I think they're really similar, which is very helpful and so that I can definitely take stuff that I've learned. I've run a lot of routes in my career and call a lot of passes, and I can apply that stuff in game. Have you always had size advantage? Because it seems like as a wide receiver in high school

and a princeton, you'd have size advantage. And now when you think about the different people that are responsible for covering a tight end, whether it's a linebacker or a safety, you still have an advantage of size, height, range, and stuff. You know? Can you transfer that to the Do you feel like you're being covered by less of an athlete now than you were throughout the early portions of your career?

Not at all? And I think that the size difference is probably smaller as well, So that's when it becomes more important to focus on the art of route running and releases and like the finer things going to get you open rather than just being larger or faster than a guy. So certainly it's something I've been struggling with. Like I do think IV League corners and people that regarding me were good, but the people that are covering me, even if they're a linebacker at this level, are better.

And so there's there's stuff that I need to work. Do you have spring ball on the IVY League? They do, But I played baseball right lucky dog. I would have hated you every day. Walk by the field with bat with the bat, ya hit three or four and Princeton that's pretty dug on good. We'll talk about his baseball career a little bit more and find out a little bit of us background. Jesper Horstad one of the newer Bears. You're gonna see you here moving forward to the final

four games of this season and to the future. Our guest here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score. The Bears All Access is brought to you by CDW. People who get it learn more at CDW dot com. Jeff Joni, Actim there, Jesper Horse, did us our guest the Bears tight end our producers in the Score Studios, Sean Anderson and Brendan Orlanski, Dan Billy and Paul's Range here at hallis Haw at PNC Studios.

Before the break, we kind of teased your baseball career, and it sounds like you were a heck of a player in baseball too. And I could throw a bunch of math out there. But your your junior season, you get three twenty four Princeton with fourteen RBI. I think it was in thirty six games. We have three three twelve For your career. You're a lefty bat and a highly successful high school player. So was there a possibility you're gonna get drafted? Did you get drafted? I don't

know that. I looked it up, but I couldn't see it. I did not, and there was certainly a possibility. Yeah. After my junior year is usually when the baseball stuff happens. And like I said, my goal was always to continue playing sports as long as possible, and so it looked like that was gonna be my best option. I was getting interest from teams and it looked like it was

gonna happen. So I did a lot of workouts for a lot of teams in the spring after I finished up school and they went very well, and I thought I was going to get drafted. And the way it works is not so much. I mean, there's so many rounds, so it's not really about when you get drafted, but it's more so about the signing bonus because you can have guys that go in the first round to get you know, less money than someone who went in the fortieth round. It's a very like weird system that I

kind of had to figure out. But I said a number ultimately for what it would take to get me to give up my football career because the IVY League has some interesting rules where if you get drafted and go professional in one sport, you're done with your collegiate career. So I would never get to come back to play football my senior year. I wouldn't be able to graduate

that year because you kind of just go um. So it had to wait a while for that, and to me, you know that that that made me raise my price a little bit um and I got offers that were just below that, but ultimately, you know, I was kind of set on this number, UM, and I didn't really want to give up football or graduating, you know, a whole everything that comes with that senior year. So it

didn't work out. The draft came and went, and I had offers throughout that summer even afterwards, UM to play professional baseball, but UM, then I kind of just focused on football after that, UM and that kind of bring me, brang me all the way, yeah, all the way through um the spring the next spring, and I chose not to do baseball in hopes of you know, training for football and getting ready for the pro day. And then I kind of explained earlier how that didn't go as planned.

But on draft day, no calls from football teams, three calls from baseball teams. Oh that's interesting. So they were like, look, we didn't hear your name called. Are you still interested in playing? And I'm like, I haven't picked up a bat in a year, Like, am I really going to go down this road? Like let me see if I

have any football interest. And there wasn't very much out there, so I was like, you know what, I've did so much training, I guess I might as well, like see, Like those two tryouts were kind of it like basically, if it didn't work out either one of those, I kind of would have said, Gosh, maybe I picked the wrong sport again, maybe I should try baseball. What teams

were they? The Angels were most interested, but a lot of the East Coast teams that were been able to go out to my games were also in communication, the Reds, Yankees, Phillies, you know. Interesting, So there was something that separated you from getting drafted after your senior year at Princeton to the point that you made you made a practice squad, you're on the active roster. What was the separation between

you and baseball? What was the one element that your game was maybe couldn't survive through had to get used to. What was that element? I had? No power? Was the real issue? Yeah? I had zero home runs in my four years, very few doubles and triples. I was a great contact hitter. I got on base, I was the leadoff hitter. But people don't really understand that. When you have a six three like two twenty five frame, They're like, well, where's the power? Like this isn't our prototype for a

leadoff hitter. This doesn't really add up. So I think that threw a lot of people for a loop, which is fine. I didn't really fit the mold. Was that frustrating for you not to have power? And did you truck? I mean, what did you try to create that power? It was very frustrating, and I tried to put on more strength and work on my swing. But ultimately I stand by the fact that baseball is the hardest sport

and it's not about that. It's about like mobility and timing and pitch recognition, and I was okay at that stuff. But my swing really just wasn't catered to be a power power hitter. It was meant to put balls in play, and then I was able to run stuff out with my feet. So you imagine, though, the power element that you're talking about that is involved in football is something that's as needed as it is in baseball. It's a

kind of a different use of the word power. But you know, how did you gain that confidence within yourself that you knew that if you had limitations and the power that you needed in baseball, you had the ability to develop those powers to play football. I think I think, actually in football is just a little bit more straightforward

because it is more strength based. I mean, when you look at the MLB, you have guys that have like wiry thin arms that are hitting thirty home runs a year, and you have guys that are very large in thirty home runs a year, whereas like for the most part, in football, the guys that are creating power are strong and they have good fundamentals and they're low and so to me, I believe that really good coaching can get

me there. And I believe the same with baseball. But you know, teams didn't necessarily believe that at the combine? Did you do like fifteen reps at two twenty five? I didn't go to the Combine? But your pro day? Yeah, those are the numbers. So are are you stronger now than you were at your pro day? And then as you were introduced to the NFL facilities, you have the ability to make great strides and you know, in great

increases for yourself. So is the nutrition, is the technology, is the weight room and all those instruments to help you are you are they benefiting you throughout the season and you know even going into your first off season? Yeah? Absolutely, The facility here is incredible. And not only that, but the people that are in the facility are so helpful. That's the strength coaches, all of them. I've found great

help from all of them. And the nutritionists. They help me put on weight and not feel slower, you know. And the strength guys are helping me get power and mobility, which is something I really neglected in college. And so I think I'm not only stronger, but more agile and haven't lost speed. Jesper Horse died our guest here on Paris. All access brought to you by IGS Energy here at PANC Studios at Hollis saw Jeff Joni Actom there here

with the rookie tight end out of Princeton. As we are cataloging your life right before your eyes in front of a live audience here, I bet you haven't talked about this much of your life before, although your hometown paper did a story on you this week and they did a nice job kind of going through your history in Minnesota, which, by the way, Tommy was the twenty fifteen high school Athlete of the Year in Minneapolis. And some of the names are all baseball players. You've got Mauer,

You've got Paul Mollitter. You've got Dave Winfield, who was a two sports star obviously too, So that's some pretty impressive company to share that that headline with, don't you think. Yeah, that was one of the most exciting days in high school.

I think that was when I was a freshman, someone I knew had won that award, and you know, since that day it was circled on my account because I always valued being a well rounded athlete and there's also like an academic and you know, a community service side of it as well. And to me, that was the award that I was always shooting for, not so much like All Conference, all state, but to get it in you know, a general recognition for being an athlete was

the top. You know, you're playing football now. You chose Princeton to play football, and had you know, had the coach said, hey, you know, I'm not going to let you play baseball, don't maybe not would maybe wouldn't have gone to Princeton. But how important was it to you that an Ivy League school was interested in you beyond just football. It's academics to go to Princeton, to have it on your resume that I am at Princeton grad

or was that secondary to football? No, that was certainly primary because the goal was to play sports as long as possible. But I knew that eventually that day was going to come to an end, and academics were very value to my household, So you know, I was looking at the top academic schools I could possibly get into and potentially play sports in. But that was the prior as I was looking. Were you looking at anything close

or was everything certain distances away? Was there any schools in Minnesota or the surrounding areas that maybe would have been, you know, closer for you that to allow your support to stay part of it. Yeah, there were a couple. I really wanted to go to Northwestern. They didn't really have much interest in me, neither the University of Minnesota. And you know, I also was interested in seeing other part of the United States as well, So it just

worked out. The IVY League. I mean, I think that the two sport thing played a big partner too, because it checked the box for academics, but then they also would allow me to play both, which really very few schools that I talked to you did. It's it seems like you know, I've had the good fortune to be recruited because I, you know, we had good success in high school. I had an older brother that was a

great football player. And it seems like the IVY League is always a magical land that's almost unattainable because you know, it's smarter than everybody else in the world. So you mean they weren't coming to your house, No, No, but I did get letters. But I think about the guys that go there, because I did have a high school classmate, two high school classmates that went on to play at Yale.

So you know, you think about that, you know that far distance land of the IVY League, and wasn't intimidating going there. Um, you know, you come from Minnesota. Now you're you're you're amongst the brightest of the brightest in all of college. Yeah. It was on the football field and in the classroom as well. Um I got there and like I said, I think I kind of I thought I would be able to contribute as a freshman in the IVY League setting. I think it always just

gets talked down. And I get there and I was like, oh wow, like these guys are really really good. And then I get in the classroom and I'm like, Wow, these people are really really smart. And I actually like had the misfortune of doing well on like my first test to be like Okay, I got this, and then I took the mid term for that class later on and did horribly, and I was like, oh, I don't have this, Like I need to completely change how I approached school and study and kind of the same with

football too. So hard to do both IVY League and play two sports. That's quite an accomplishment that I definitely would not be able to do heads for sure. Many of us. What was your major? Sociology? Very good, Jesper Horsted, our guest one more segment to go here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score years from our producer Dan Ver really chewing the audience. He does a great job. Nice work along with Pause rang Or engineer Sean Anderson and Brandon Orlowski. I think

that's how we say your name. I was reading Dan's handwriting and I don't know if I nailed it, but don't be offended if I got it wrong. Tom, I'm Jeff Joniac. That's Tom there. I'm battling the cold. I know some people my friends say, hey, you need some honey and lemon. We'll work through it. That's what you do in Chicago, Garling, I get sick every November in the early December. I don't know why. We're brought to

you by Igs Energy. Here on Bears All Access with Rookie Type and Jasper Horstead Thursday Night's game against the Cowboys, brought to you by Doctor Pepper, the official soft drink of the Chicago Bears. YouTube. Guys have something in common, but I bet he doesn't know it. So according to my research, you've been on a surfboard a time or two, so you like surfing. This man lived for it in Maui, So you guys can talk shop a little bit. What's

what's the draw with the surfboard? It looks like you've done a lot of traveling in your in your life, I have done some traveling yep, um, both in high school and in college. I was able to do some as well. Um. Yeah, I got to try surfing for a summer. Uh and it was extremely hard and I did every single day and I still wouldn't say I'm good at it. So where was it? Argentina, Nicarago? Okay, what brought you there. You guys could talk waves. I'm

getting out of the conversation. Although I was on a board once with he invited me, I got on, I got Did I not get on that board? Yes? I did catch a wave? Yes, But he also no, I almost fractured. Is fine too. I have a picture of Jeff being slammed so hard by a wave on the beach. That is actually his feet were kicking him in the back of the head while his chest was hitting the ground. And there's a there's photographic evidence of it. I know you laugh if you will, but there is photographic proof.

But the draw of that is it in your soul? Now to surf? Um? I loved it? U, I would say yes. And also it was so frustrating. Um Like, I devoted so much time to it and it just was not easy. So I love it. I'm excited to go back. I haven't really done it since that summer, but I definitely will at some point, probably post career. It gets easier each time you do it, you know.

I think the hardest thing that anybody can ever do is the first time they get on a surfboard and paddle out into an ocean and you're facing the waves because fatigue sets in immediately, and then you think, oh my god, I don't know if I could ever be

able to do this again. Then the second time you do it, it's just a little bit easier and your balance is a little bit more efficient, and so each and then the first time you surf a wave, the first time you surf it, all you want to do is surf a bigger wave, and then the bigger wave you surf, you want to It just kind of all goes hand in hand. I know we're telling football here, but it just sparked the thought I never asked you this. When was the first time you did it? And why?

What drew you to it? I mean, what was the connection to I knew I wanted to retire from the NFL, and I had one more year on my contract and I had it with the Dolphins, and I told coach true I go, I think I'm going to retire, and he goes, well, I never listened to old players. At the end of the season, I'll call you in a

couple of months. And so I packed up everything, I went to Hawaii and I stayed there for five months, surf every single day of my life went from like two ninety to two forty two thirty five or something. And when they called me from any camp, I'd tell him I don't think he wanted two hundred and twenty five pound guard. So that was I mean, I needed something that it kind of it puts the same feeling in the pit of your stomach that when you're driving

a soldier field on Thursday night. You got that certain amount of nervousness, but it's it's a healthy nervousness that it puts in your stomach. I would agree outdoorsman as well, being up there for Minnesota, yep, yep. Certainly spend my fair share of time outside as a kid. What do you love? I love fishing. I grew up on a lake and so a lot of times the summer, I guess in the winter as well. We had an ice house. I would just sit out there and catch fish in

front of the place. Swim had friends all around the lake, kayak to their house. It's beautiful. Yeah, best fish ever caught. I caught a huge one this summer actually after OTAs, I was up on Lake Superior fishing from shore and we caught this like massive northern pike don't have inches or weights, but it was massive. It's always those accidental catches that you know, you I don't have my camera with me or you know, just things aren't in place to brag of out right. Yeah, crazy how that happens.

So what do you what do you talk about this as being your first offseason and you can't even be thinking about it now because you have the most difficult stretch of regular season games left to go here. But you know you said that you took a lot of notes. Do you ever take notes about what you want to accomplish in the future, because you know, you think about going to college playing baseball. You just don't have the off seasons to do anything, and it's got to be

quite quite the reward for you. Do you mean on the field or no, I mean just any you know anything? You know, Okay, this is what I want to do in terms of weight and body structure. This is what my goal is. This is what I need to watch in terms of tape evaluation throughout the offseason, because I think it's your the personal investment that you make in yourself is that's when you're going to get the biggest results.

It's not going to be when you're trying to encourage to work hard or do something extra, it's what you're going to do to yourself. Yeah, I would agree, and that kind of stuff is what I'm looking forward to this offseason. I mean, I'm guessing the team gives us a weight plan to follow, so there's not much need on that end. I'm going to just follow that to a t and I believe that will take me where

I need to be for the most part physically. But on top of that, I am just seeing so much more in terms of like what I can do to be a better route runner, and I think that's stuff that I can really put to work on in the offseason. And that's releases speed, agility. Like I said, mobility and flexibility is something I really didn't focus on in college, and now I am every single day and I am noticing differences in terms of my cuts and stuff as well.

So that's something I'm going to continue. The thrill that you're going to bring back to your hometown when you go back, then you start working out in local weight rooms and stuff. Do you have that type of infrastructure already built in at home where you have a group of guys or a group of people that you like working out with. It are going to encourage you to be a stronger player as much as you're going to encourage them. You know, maybe I did in high school

and everyone is keeping up with that. But I always love to work out alone. And so I had like a little wait thing in our like garage, and I spent most of my time there and i'd say gained most of my strength And they're just kind of following my own plans, and I do have people that will certainly push me, and I think I'm gonna spend some time with teammates this summer as well, because there's just

kind of no better way to train than that. But I'm also looking forward to just, you know, really getting in a gym, and you know, when you were playing multiple sports where you reluctant to get too strong in an offseason because you knew you had a transfer your you know, just you know, your limberness and everything to baseball. No, I wouldn't say so. I think that I was always trying to gain as much strength as possible without being dumb about it and overtraining because I was in season

year round. I was always trying to make sure I wasn't even maintaining but improving, but also not getting injured. Jesper Horse did our guest here on Bears All Access. A couple of minutes to go before we get you set for Bears Cowboys coming up on Thursday night, the first of a four pack of interesting games down the schedule, as they start with a Cowboy team coming in with three losses in four games. We'll have it for you.

News Radio seven eighty and one h five point nine f WBBM starting at four o'clock with a pregame show and seven twenty two the kickoff. Ron, Jim and Jay will join you on the pregame show as well, and of course all the great programming here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. I had a conversation this week at some length with David Montgomery, who played in the Big twelve and played at a very high level, and that whole speed of the game thing for a rookie.

You know, I've been doing this a long time. Tom's Bennett. You hear it every year. It's almost like the day of the first snow. Every TV station sends out their crew to check it out. You can guarantee a rookie's gonna say speed of the game, You're in a different situation. You saw the speed of the game for the greater part of the year as a practice player, trying to get the defense ready, playing scout team, working off cards

of another team's offense. How did that help you adjust to the speed of the game on Sundays here in the brief time you've been on the roster. The speeds are different, but the caliber of players are the same. And the defense that I'm going up against every day when I was in the practice squad was in my opinion, second to none. And so to deal with the strength of Khalil Mack, even if he's not necessarily one hundred percent at practice, is still a massive adjustment from what

I had to do in the IVY League. So that certainly prepared me and was kind of a baptism by fire at first. But then you start to learn techniques and how to apply him, and you watch the film and you know, you start chipping away at that gap

that was between me and our best tight ends. But you know, like I said, when I was out there in that first game a couple of weeks ago, it was so fast, so fast, faster than we practiced, And I think that I tried to speed things up a little bit that game, and that's not really how you combat that. Instead, you kind of got to slow yourself down or remind yourself what your assignment is and what your techniques are. And I think I was able to do a better job of that last game, and it's

something I hope to keep building on. Have you ever broke the huddle yet and drew a blink? Because you're an intelligent guy, I don't really see that happening to you, But I think there's a part of everybody's career that it'll happen. It won't happen often else you're not gonna play, But I mean, you know, maybe you have a chance where you're going, oh my gosh, what am I doing on this? Yeah, I say no, because you are. I think all the bands would feel better. But well, I

haven't really played that many plays yet. I only really played in two preseason games that I've only really played what maybe like twenty twenty five offensive snaps and those plays, like I had an idea of what plays I was gonna be in on, and I could draw them in my sleep, so no, but that's not to say I didn't. In college and face with the bigger workload than I wouldn't, but I wasn't going to mess up the few that

I had. Well, it's it's been fun watching you in the short time you've been here, so keep it going. Thank you very much, Thank you for joining us. Jessper Horsted our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. That's gonna wrap up Bears All Access. Thanks again to our producers Dan Barilli, Sean Anderson, Brendan Ar last get our engineer paulsi Rang Jess per Ntent. There, I'm Jeff Johnny Aco talking on the radio Thursday night.

Bears gonna beat those cowboys a soldier field. I'm how about it. Thanks for the folks from Luke Capitol. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to Score. Have a great night, everybody. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bear coom and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app. Bears All Access has been brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Miller Lite