August 12, 2025 • 39 mins
Former Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long joins Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer on Bears, etc. to reflect on his career and share his thoughts on where the team is headed. Plus, get a breakdown of the Bears’ preseason opener against the Dolphins.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cut open that DJ Moore nisode Touchdown Touchdown Bears. I
am Jeff Jonia blitzes on Donnie go upcur.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche goodgo.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
coming is a big trouble. Donnie Goos Motest Sweat.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of
the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Some key players are The highly competitive preseason for the
Bears emerged with some very good tape After a twenty
four to twenty four tie and the preseason opener with
the Miami Dolphins Sunday at Soldier Field, we break it
down right here an episode one nine out of the
Bears et cetera podcast, and we're brought to you by
Miller Light with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer.
I'm Jeff Joniac. In this week's podcast, we visit with Bears.
(00:53):
Former offensive lineman for the Bears, Kyle Long. Stopped by
a training camp for the shared practice with the Dolphins
last Friday. With his work with CBS. Tom so much
to get into I thought it interesting I read something
that Mike McDaniel actually played his starters more so because
he wanted redemption for how they practiced against the Bears
(01:15):
on Friday and he felt it didn't match up to
his expectations. And so that goal line stuff to really
start the proceedings by the Bears and Noah suwe will
stop with the help from the big guys up front,
really was an exclamation point for me for the for
the whole game. That that determination after a really long
drive against the first team offense and Tula end company
(01:38):
and they slammed the door shut. I love that part
of the game.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
He too.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I think everybody had a hand in that play and
that performance because you have to gain the attention of
the other blockers for a guy like Noah Swell to
be able to come and make a play like that.
So it's not only the effort of the one guy
that makes the play, you know. Austin Booker also did
a great job on that that play as well, So
I think you have a good team effort. And I
(02:05):
will say it's one of the most coachable tapes I've
ever watched after a preseason game because it's not a
bunch of criticism and yelling. It's some emphasis on how
to do things more efficiently. That is going to help
you as a player, and it's going to help the scheme.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
As a whole.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Is that cover three phases?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
No, yeah, of course That's what I think. When you talk,
you know, initially about the coaching and stuff, they're going
to have a great opportunity to bring these guys into
a room. Watch the tape and even though you may
be coaching a tight end, you you're coaching all the
tight ends. You could be coaching a defensive end and
(02:47):
you're coaching all the defensive ends. So I just think
there's this is a super beneficial tape to make corrections.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
On before we get into that tape. One roster move,
A Mere Speed waved injured, one of the fastest defensive
backs on the team. A mere Speed is a proper
name for him, but running back added Britton Brown, a
big guy six point two five, had some special teams
work former seventh round pick of the Raiders from UCLA
UH and that doing part probably to the question mark
(03:17):
of where they're at with Roshawn Johnson, he has a
foot injury and Travis Homer came down with a calf
in that game. So another big body to do what
you know Ben Johnson is interested in, that is to
be play some smash mount football in addition to his
creativity designing big, big explosive plays. So more hands on
deck in the running back department.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, and you got to have him and Eric the
enemy is a really good offense or running backs coach
that is going to have a high regard and court
requirements for all of these guys. And I like the
showing that they all brought up into the game yesterday
this past Sunday, and you know, excited to see how
it goes moving forward because it's not only up to
(04:00):
the running backs, but it's about every player on the field,
every play called to see how they all end up
working together in the big picture and improvement.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Did you learn anything about the roster that maybe you
didn't know or you had a question mark? Albeit just
one game, but they did a lot go from the
practice field to the game day field.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
In your opinion, Yeah, I think segment coaches.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I think the offensive line coach has really got these
guys well organized and how to help each other and
not hurt each other.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And so that could be.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
A something as simple as having a combination. Block from
a defensive lineman to a second level. Make sure all
your emphasis is focused on not hitting each other, hitting
that defensive lineman, getting him started, getting him moved, and
know that lineman that has to go to that second level,
know the perfect time to get up to that second level,
(04:53):
keep him out of the running runner's path, and allow
that run to go from two yards to six yards
or beyond. And then I thought the running backs did
a really nice job of being familiar with exactly where.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
The hole was going to open up.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And then if they had to make an instinctful decision,
and in a decision by a running back, they knew
exactly how to cut into a larger crease to turn
that into more yards. I think the tight ends did
a nice job, but tight ends, one thing they will
learn as time goes on is you have to anticipate
(05:28):
where the player is going to be during the course
and the motion and the momentum of a play, not
necessarily where they are. So that's when I talk about
coaching details. I think you're going to improve the performances
out of these positions just by showing them where to
anticipate to be, not instead of being behind by a
(05:49):
half a shoulder a half a foot.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You mentioned the running backs comment on Guy continues to
get a lot of praise from coaches, from head coach
Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and Monday saying
his downfield blocking was evident the effort. He's tough, he's hard. No,
he's willing to stick his face in the fan.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
That was the coach, right, Dude, he got run over
by a defensive lineman, but I don't care. It's because
his willingness to stand in front of a defensive lineman
that has escaped his block at the line of scrimmage.
Now he's pressuring the quarterback and Kyle mc nunguy got
up there, gave everything he possibly could. He bounced backwards,
(06:28):
but he slowed the defensive lineman enough where he didn't
affect the outcome of the play. So it's some of
these things that cannot be pretty, but they are effective.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
He came with that reputation and he's backing it up
for sure. All right, let's talk about the defense. What
did you see anything stick out to you in your
defensive notes on Bears Weekly This week, we're gonna have
a sit down with Austin Booker had himself a day
first time in his playing football life at any level.
He had three sacks in a game. Is a former
(06:58):
tight end, former wide receive ever, former athlete that's becoming
a pass rusher for the Chicago Bears. Yeah, I know
it's one game.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
But man, I know you announcers and you pseudo football fans,
you don't appreciate stopping the run, Jeff, because that's where
you really earn your opportunity, you earn your playing time.
Because Austin Booker went out there and performed against the
run as well as he did on getting those sacks.
(07:27):
And whether it's on the goal line. So there's a
play and it's play number twenty on the defensive side
of the ball. So he gets a pass rush, gets blocked,
was able to put some pressure. It's an outlet pass
to the left. He disengages in runs probably thirty five
yards and has an impactful hit on the sideline. So
(07:51):
it's you know, and I joke with you about the
sacks because look, man, they are a premier play for
any defense. But when you look at what Austin and
Booker is required to do outside of only rushing the passer.
There's evidence of it, and he's doing it at a
high level. So right there, you start thinking about increased reps,
(08:11):
increased opportunities and practice. And so not only was his
pass rushing skills on display against tight ends, tackles and guards,
so was his run stopping, willingness and ability.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I like the fact too. You know he's up in
the two fifties now, so that's important right the man.
I wonder if you could even hang on to that
speed and quickness with another five to ten pounds down
the road in his career as he matures. He's only
a young man at twenty two, so a lot of
room for growth yet for him kick off your game
day with Blue Moon. Every sip of Blue Moon's Belgian
(08:46):
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that backside pursuit and that never ending burst to try
and get things done. Javon de Extra does that too.
On the defensive line. These long guys that can use
some of that length to track down a back or receiver,
(09:06):
whatever the case may be, downfield, So that extra effort
is significant. How about the linebacker Noah sul What did
your notes revealed about Noah Suell number forty four. We
talked about what he did on that tackle that he
shared on the goal line stop, but there were other
things he did. At some point in that game. He
was the leading tackler and tell Austin Booker passed him
up with six tackles on the day.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Noah Suole sends OTA's read, react, and attack.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
That's what I like about him.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
He is you can see that his instincts and his
understanding of what he's seeing across the line of scrimmage,
not only through his study habits, but from the coaches
being in his ear. And Noah Sewell is playing a high,
fast pace brand of football. And whether it's instinctful decisions
on the interior of a play development or if it's
(09:53):
the ability to athletically flow to the outside. I'm super
encouraged on Game one what I've seen in practices, but
I want to be continued to be encouraged in Game
two and so on and so forth, because I think
he could play an important role in this defense.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Back to Booker for a moment. In the twenty four preseason,
he had two and a half sex and four quarterback hits.
So you know this is building on what was a
rookie year at the age of twenty one as a
third year sophomore there at Kansas after that transfer from
Minnesota and Sewell, if he would have been healthy at Oregon,
he might have been a second or first round pick
(10:30):
if you talked to scouts about that. He in his
junior season was just tearing it up over there, and
I think he's battled some injuries, but man, if he
can stay healthy, that's the leading candidate to be your
strong side linebacker in a defense that won't use a
lot of that. But he could also fill great, great
(10:51):
role on special teams, which I know Richard Harty likes
him on there too.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
You know you know its too is how do you
compliment other guys on the team, Because Noah, Sewell and
Hippo played a nice job of tandem linebackers and they
were really able to compliment each other's strengths and awareness
and flow to the play, just like you know, the
combination of these two guys when they work together. Booker
has a really good rush against the left tackle, the
quarterback has nowhere to escape Dominique Robinson wins his battle
(11:19):
in Boom.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
There he finishes it with the sack.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
So, whether we're talking about linebackers, defensive ends, or even
the interior defensive linemen and the defensive backs, complimentary football
is really important when they all learn the big picture
of the scheme.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
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Let's go back to the offensive minute Bears passing twenty
six to thirty nine, sixty seven percent for Tyson Bagent
for case Keenum and Austin Reid in the fourth quarter
on that final drive, ninety six point five quarterback rating,
(12:19):
three touchdowns, they took three sacks, they had an interception,
eleven first downs bypass. They hit fourteen different receivers on
those twenty six completions. Declan Doyle talking about the quarterbacks
in general, lot of good things on tape, a lot
of good things to clean up. No different than what
you just said so offensively speaking about that. But he's
(12:40):
excited about the many things that were done. Were you
as well?
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I was?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
But you know, when I look at the completions, I
you know, you kind of get a feel of the
excitement of what this offense can be using misdirection, using
boot legs, using really effective play action. But then you
get about maybe four or five passes that are on
the tips of the finger, either on the fingertips of
the player, or they are an eighth of a second behind,
(13:05):
or you know, just in a catchable uncatchable position, and
then they either fall to the ground in complete or
tipped in the air. It's those plays that kind of
drive a coach or a fan of the game a
little crazy because you think of, when you talk about
their statistics, how much better they would be if they
could just have those four or five completions back Hey Bears.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
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shopping storing online at steinhoffls dot com. And I'm glad
you mentioned Reuben Hippolyte as well. He is the Bear's
fastest linebacker. That speed shows up. He also he's not
(13:50):
shy about popping you either. So he was somebody that
stuck out to me that I appreciated. Love what Luther
Burden did right before the awareness, right before half you
got to give credit to and I know it's been
written about, but the game man, the clock management, in
the mind of Ben Johnson, time out on a first down,
they get him off the field, Bears go three and
(14:11):
out and then boom, they get the ball back with
just enough time to leave less than a second on
the clock to get points before the break. Those are
things that are highlighted. Those are things they've been working on.
Those are things that Ben Johnson has in his creative
mind as well.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
He yeah, you know, he thinks about the entirety of
the game, because as we talk about the offense and defense,
I you know, you got to talk about the special
teams because when you talk about either the punt or
the kickoff returns, and you know, those elements of the game,
they're going to play an enormous role in this season
when you consider how many games outdoors the Bears play
(14:50):
and how the weather affects that portion of the game.
And I would think that coach High Tower, you know,
is going to make it a point of ephesis this week,
especially in the Buffalo practice leading up to the game,
the improvement that he needs to see out of those segments.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
All right, anybody I missed on your cheek sheet of
notes a player wise that may be stuck out that
only Tom Thayer's eyes could see, you know, how about it?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
What do you know?
Speaker 4 (15:17):
I I gotta say, because I didn't know what to
think at the beginning. I'm super impressed with the progression
of Ozzie uh Ozzi Ozzio. I'm super encouraged the development
I see out of Ozzie Trapillo because I really didn't
know if his traits were transferable from the right side
(15:41):
to the left side, especially in the NFL. Ozzi Trapillo
is a big, powerful man, and the better he gets
to know the offense and he gets to know where
his help is coming from, the more conversations he can
have with a guy like Joe Tune, It's going to
speed up the whole learning curve for that young man.
And I'm not saying anything to get against Braxton because
Braxton is His recovery from his ankle injury is super
(16:04):
impressive to me. It kind of gives you an indication
how important this life is to him. But for the
difficulty of playing that left tackle position and knowing where
Ozzie has come from, I'm super impressed what he's left
on the field so far.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Time now to switch gears. You're old, buddy, and I'm
sorry you missed him. Kyle Long was up at Hallis
Hall last week. Had a chance to visit with him.
He talked about you a lot. He went in the
many things. I had to actually, for time reasons, had
to take some of it out because if he went
through your whole history of playing forty four games in
one year, gave you credit. I told him I stand
in the booth you sit and Tom earned the right
(16:41):
to sit by those forty four games in one calendar year.
So he threw a lot of flowers at his boy here.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
You know, it's weird because the first time I ever
saw Kyle Long, his dad and his brothers, he was
about four or five years old, walking across the street
in Maui, Hawaii, and I go, oh my god, that's
how we Long. And I remember pulling over and getting
out of the car and introducing myself and just saying
to God, I'm a huge fan of yours. And they
were going on a sailboat. And then you think of
(17:07):
the times that I had a chance to play against
Howie Long, and then Kyle Long comes aboard and I
have a chance to meet him and become friends with him.
You know, it's just been a kind of a lifelong
association with the Long family, from meetingum early in life,
to playing against Howie into getting to know, you know,
Kyle as well as I have, and admiring his brother
(17:29):
Chris and everything he's done after football as much as
what he did in football.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Good years here with the Chicago Bearers, there isn't a
conversation with Kyle Long, you know, looking fit to hit.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I feel like it feels like coming home. Yeah, you know,
for a guy that's not from Chicago, no family in
the Midwest, I show up in Lake Forest, Illinois, and
it just feels like the Promised Land to me. There's
something about it. And the great thing about Hallas Hall
is and as you know, there are so many staff
(17:59):
members from the stay that I showed up that are
still working here. And then there's still so many people
that have changed. Yeah, coordinators, quarterbacks, you name it. They've
all changed. But there's some people that maintain the fabric
of what it once was at Allas Hall. And now
we have a new building, new coach, everything's brand new.
But at the end of the day, that love is
(18:19):
still real and I felt it today at practice. It
was really cool.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, you were on the sidelines doing some work for CBS.
Tell us what it felt like down there Miami Dolphins
practicing with us so little intense as we might expect
and shared practices. But what was your observations of But
I keep telling people, listen to practice, it sounds different.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Tell you what the thudding that I heard, the hitting
that I heard, I haven't heard it in a long time.
And as a dad, now if I hear a noise
like that in the other room, I go sprinting in
to make sure that my older daughter is not pummeling
my younger daughter. But these are the noises you want
to hear, it, Camp, Jeff, these are the things you
want to hear. And for all the talk about the offense,
and everybody wants to talk about the offense, me too
until I'm blue in the face, it's the defense that
(19:02):
will be the catalyst for success this year. I mean,
obviously the offense will get better, Caleb will make progressions,
Ben Johnson will leave his fingerprints on this offense. But
I'm excited about Dennis Allen. I know we had Matt
Abraflus and the defense was aces at certain points in
the season. I think under Dennis Allen, this defense is
(19:23):
really going to be on fire, and they're going to
understand that they are the straw that serves the drink
for this football team.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Kevin Bayer, the veteran safety who has been around a
bunch so he has some good perspective, said that Dennis
treats every meeting as if he's a drill sergeant. So
you take your mind into what that sounds like again,
it's a little bit different than what they become accustomed
to and maybe their whole careers.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It sounds like this is the first time these guys
have hit like this in their careers, most of them tackling,
not even sure what is a live period and that
so the go all in. Anyway, I think that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, it's special. And the word callous gets thrown around
a lot all the time the training game. We're gonna
get callous. Oh yeah, buddy, you're gonna get callous. You're
gonna be that's cool. Well, you know what, just show
it to me. And what I loved seeing today was
the physic physicality at the line of scrimmage. And again,
(20:24):
I can talk about the receivers and I can talk
about all these skill players and the guys we have
on the back end defensively, but you and I watched
that Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
What matters most scrimmagemmagemage, and that's what was the final story.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Cards are getting paid twenty five million dollars a year
right now?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Because that matters? It really does matter.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Think about this time time. We spoke to some people
last week and that we brought it up and he goes,
you know, I never made a million dollars in my career.
I'm sure your father, uh feels the same way in
some regards. Uh. He's a Hall of Fame though, so
he did. Okay. But the money, I mean, it's there obviously,
(21:06):
otherwise they wouldn't be paying it. But can you I mean,
look at the paydays. Wait, wait, you're grinned, I said, Tom,
do we need to start a GoFundMe fit? You know?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
For you?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
It was funny at the time.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I'm glad my head didn't get beat up too bad
because I can sit up here and talk football. Yeah,
and that's great, and I love the game. And I
was I was talking to Carmen and yr Col earlier
and I was looking at your co and I said,
you and I both can relate on this. When you're
done playing football, there is a creater size hole in
your chest and you try to fill it with something.
(21:38):
And for me, it is staying involved in the game
of football.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I don't wear a helmet, I don't hit people. The
quarterback doesn't pat me on the ass and say thanks,
big guy. But at the end of the day, I
get to talk football. It makes me feel like I'm
still involved and if there are people that value anything
that I have to say, awesome, and I'm appreciated for
that opportunity. And if it weren't for my I'm in Chicago,
the fan base we have, I don't know if I'd
(22:03):
have a gig after football. So I'm glad. Why do
you say that, because there's so many damn good people
that get into the media. I mean, you and I
both know every year they're they're making new guys for
the media. It's retirement from the NFL. You know, I work.
I work on a pregame show. I work on a
(22:24):
pregame show. And the difference between working in television and
working in the NFL is in the NFL, that guy
who just got drafted is gonna have to come earn
it and somebody's gonna have to beat me. These guys
they retire from the NFL and they're already on a
Hall of Fame track. They may have Super Bowl rings.
They're getting the job, buddy, Okay, particularly quarterbacks, and we've
(22:46):
seen so many of these guys get media savvy through
training that the league offers to that you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Do any of that, I didn't you didn't need to.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
The training I had was when Cutler was like, nah,
I don't want to do the podium. You can go
to the podium. And those were my reps and growing
up around my dad and Terry Bradshaw. And now looking back,
I'm like, I don't know if I should have listened
to my dad Terry Bradshaw. But my point is this,
guys are getting better at understanding that football is a
(23:18):
tiny little speck in life. Right, what are you going
to do after that? Right? And and the best thing
for guys like me is to stay in it in
the media.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Well, look at Tom nine or ten years as a player,
thirty years as an announcer. I mean that's a that's
a lifetime attached to one organization.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I don't know my.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Dad as a football player. I know my dad as
the guy with glasses in this head on Fox. And
you know what I'm saying. Yeah, people always say, what
was it like growing up with your dad being a
hall of Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Oh? That guy the guy that I knew was my
high school code and he talked about football or.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Chris Yeah, yeah, your brother also a media guy.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Another guy I gotta keep my eyes on. I got
to look over my shoulder. He may come take my job, right,
podcast host, he's you know, world renown super Bowl champion twice,
he's saving the world. Like, these are the people you
have to worry about, Jeff.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So, the funny thing is in our business, uh, the
one that I started, and now it's forty years in
the business this year, forty years doing sports broadcasting. You
always you always are looking over your shoulder, right, but
you always are saying yes to everything because you feel
you could never say no because you don't know what
door opens. I did say no a couple times, and
(24:35):
I regretted it, but in the end I still made
the right decision. I could have been working in Odessa,
Texas for a TV station right aft Now I didn't
know what Friday Night Lights was in nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
He me and Panthers, right.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
But I regretted it, right, But in the end it
allowed me to stay in Chicago my whole career, and
so things fell right. Do you feel now, as a
retired NFL player and bursioning broadcaster for some very good entities,
big time entities, do you feel you have to say
(25:08):
yes to everything? Do you feel that need or do
you feel like I guess to a lot.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I say yes to a lot because I'm the kind
of guy that I'm I think that I'm confident enough
to know that I'm good enough to do most things,
and I'm stupid enough not to be afraid to do it.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah, And I'm like, I'll
give it a try. And there have been dozens of
(25:35):
times in my short media career that I have felt
like the size of a piece of rice because you
just get so embarrassed by a flub that you had,
or you said the guy went to the wrong school,
or you didn't study enough. That's the worst one where.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
It's like, yeah, I can't do that in our business.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I'm right covering the Bears anyone. I'm covering thirty two,
And I'll promise you this. If I'm talking about the
Seattle Seahawks and I try to skim over something, there's
a lot of diehard Seahawks fans that I cannot wait
to fact check me.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Is it harder to hear that or harder to be
in a meeting with your teammates and a coach is
pointing you out that you you made a mental error
in a game where you you did something that you
know wasn't wasn't right, and you're going to get the
criticism from the coach in front of your teammates.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
The fear of being the reason for one of your
teammates being injured is what drove me. And interesting, Yep,
you don't want to be that guy in the meeting room, right.
The fear of not wanting to be that guy. You
want to be the guy that really doesn't get talked
(26:44):
too much in meetings, right. And when I think about
a guy like Joe Toney, who the Bears obviously invested
a lot in, those are the guys you want. Okay, boring,
it's like Tim Duncan.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Bears fan. By the way, I know what I'm saying,
Tim Brown, Tim Dunk, Tim Duncan, excuse me, Tim Duncan, Yep,
one of the.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Best players ever. Do it the big fundamental, That's how
Tony gets the job done. You don't. I mean, look,
it gets bad quickly when you become the guy that's
called out in the meeting and doesn't fix it. That's
a huge chance.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
How about behind the mic though, do you get you
get critiqued, do you get. I don't know what the
process is at that network level.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I have the benefit of the fact that most of
my employers, and I think they're starting to figure out
that I'm not. I have thought that I'm a caveman.
So if I'm not just drooling on a mic, They're like, hey,
he's doing great.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Come on, you see that you are a gifted speaker.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Listen to him a nunciate.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
No, you do a great chat. You did it as
a player.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
My heart beats when they say we're going live coast
to coast in thirty seconds on Sunday morning when I'm
working in that big studio in New York City every Sunday,
and I know that we're the first boots on the
ground for the NFL Sunday, Like, my heart beats fast
manber how calm I would get before a football game
because the hay was in the barn. There's nothing I
could do. I just accepted it. When you're in television,
(28:08):
when you're in radio, when you're calling games, you are
looking at your notes until the last second, aren't you.
Oh yeah, and then they're like five four three, and
then you slide them to.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Tell everybody what what are you involved in every everybody's
calendar changes in terms of duties every football season. What
what are you doing right now? What's what's the plan
for twenty five?
Speaker 2 (28:29):
So right now I am employed by CBS. I work.
I do stuff for CBS Sports, CBS HQ, and the
network CBS On Sunday. Uh, sometimes you'll see me on
NFL Today on Sundays it's the pregame show. Sometimes every
Sunday morning you will see me on I guess it's paramount.
(28:50):
We're going digital, so it's hard for me to explain.
You know, remember when it was like, yeah, I'll be
on channel thirty second. Now it's like, I guess google it.
I'm working. I work Monday through Thursday. I've got a
podcast called Pushing the Pile Podcast where I team up with,
you know, a scouting general manager type in Mike Renner,
(29:11):
who is a draft analyst. He's brilliant and we attack
conversations from different perspectives.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I would say, yeah, would you call it lively?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's lively, It's definitely. You know. Sometimes the producer gets
in my ear and say, hey, you say that you
can't do that, buddy.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Going back to the NFL Today, it's a legendary program
growing up here. Even you know there are Chicago influences.
The late Bruce Roberts was one of the first hosts.
Of course Brent Musburger made it, made it what it
is with that crew, And does it feel like you're
a little bit of part of history when you when
(29:51):
you sit there, you don't probably think about it, but
you are. It's it's it's it's one of the most
important pregame shows in sports history.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
One thousand percent. And obviously I grew up in a
house that put on a West Coast pregame show and
Fox and I grew up in that studio and that
cast of characters we don't even have to name. You know,
they're like all my uncles now. Working at CBS, you
get to work with Bill Kauer, and you get to
(30:19):
work with fantastic talents like Nate Burlison, and you know,
former MVPs like Matt Ryan, and you get to see
kind of the East Coast is so much different than
the West Coast and everything, and like particularly these studio shows,
it feels like it's clean, buttoned up. I really like that.
I think it's classic. It gives me a real classic
(30:40):
feel put it, And there's something about going into the
city in New York on Sunday morning and having a
suit on before the sun comes up and you're getting
ready to tee off for the NFL slate. It's there's
nothing better than that. And when I hear that CBS theme,
I just get goosebumps.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
All right, so you touch down the Bears touchdown, Caleb,
He's one of the talk of the league, seemingly every week.
Ben Johnson, you've gotten to observe him, break down his tape.
I'm sure from Detroit, what are we getting here?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
A physical team? Everybody thinks creativity scheme, but what they
fail to realize is that the Detroit Lions bludgeon people
at the line of scrimmage, both lines of scrimmage. Then
you take a look at some of the moves that
they made to bring some of these hosses in on
the defensive front. Guys like Grady Jarrett are going to
get the most out of Odengbo and a number of
(31:40):
other players. Sweat's going to be healthy. I think about
the back end and the health issues we had there.
We're going to have these guys this year. If the
offense can just continue to move along and play physical.
We're going to have an opportunity two division opponents and
the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions in week one
and two. Correct, yep, correct? Introduce yourself.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah right, say hello.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
You know how you say hello? You put the screws
of your helmet right right up under his chin. Then
you do it for sixty five plays in a row.
And I promise you, at the end of the day,
they're not gonna want to play with you. And the
great thing is you get to play those guys again.
It's a division opponents exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
I mean, the division is something I still feel it's
the best I know. There's going to be AFC West enthusiasts.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
They've got four tremendous head coaches over there. They got quarterbacks.
AFC North is also a bloodbath, but you know, the
the angles that I'm looking at as well. The Bears defense.
Like you said, some people say the offense is going
to have to carry the defense early. Some analysts have
said that. I say, it's just the opposite.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I remember when I moved to offensive tackle out of necessity.
We had an injury in camp. I had to move
to right tackle. I had looked ahead to our schedule
to find out who I'm going to be blocking against,
because I thought I was gonna be playing guard, and
quite frankly, I don't care who you roll out in
front of me a guard. When I moved to tackle,
I looked at the list of players. Week one was
(33:05):
Julius Peppers. I gave up two secs, you know. And
then it was Cliff Averel in Seattle and Michael Bennett.
It was Von Miller at home. It was Khalil Mack
coming to home. When we go to Kansas City, we
beat justin Houston and we breat Uh, what's the other
defensive ends name? Gosh, I'm getting old man.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Well, I can't remember either, so I don't remember what
year player.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
But all I'm saying is the way you're looking ahead
right right. I remember I called my dad and I
said I looked at this murderer's row, and I said, like,
what am I going to do? And my dad was like,
what more could you want than an operation slay a
freaking dragon? Right?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Look at him? His eyes are he's looking at me
right now, like he could get down the field right
with this team.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
To understand that this is an opportunity. And you know,
I got to talk to Joe Tuney upstairs. So I
played within Kansas City. He won a Super Bowl with
Chris in New England as well.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Great guy, very nice man.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
And there's not many times where I can tell him
something that I don't think he knows because he's extremely intelligent,
and I just you know, we change our pleasantries, you know,
blah blah blah blah. And on the way, I said,
do not take it for granted, because it goes so fast.
It goes so fast, and you can't go backwards. And
(34:28):
when I'm sitting there on the sideline today and I'm
three hundred and ten pounds, so I'm I'm a big
old son of a buck, but I can't go backwards.
I can't play football. Make the most of it because
these dragons are here. Now, imagine the stories they'll tell
if their heads are on the floor.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Painting pictures and telling stories. That's your job now, yep,
thank you so much. Thanks Jeff Tommy. He's a ball
to energy and he's a wordsmith man. The guy can talk,
can he No, he can he can turn a phrase.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Now, he's he is very good and I will remember
listening to him one night when I was driving somewhere
and I just happened to hear him, and he's on
for about fifteen twenty minutes, And as soon as he
got off, I called him and I said, Kyle, I said,
I want to tell you, that is some of the
most intelligent football talk I've ever heard. And I said,
(35:17):
that is just And it's not just because your dad
has that in his background. It's because of what you've
learned about football, what you've taken from learning about football,
and your dad and his background. But I just you
are such a well spoken guy. And I really admired
him because listen, as a player, he was a hothead.
He was throwing helmets, he was fighting, he was wanting
(35:39):
to beat everybody up. But for making that whole pile
along the guy that we got to know to the
Kyle Along that we know now, I really admire him
for it.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I always enjoy the conversation. He's got a good perspective
on a lot of things. Nothing came simple for him.
Started out as a baseball player, turned into a football player.
He has the size and the feet you have football
players or something. Yeah, he says he's three ten. Oh, no,
he looks good. No, he looks good. He looks That's
why I said fit to hit. He looks he looks good.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
But he said, there's no standing out there talking to Jimball,
and I'm thinking, Wow, in the history of the NFL,
these two guys, you know, a Hall of Fame are
talking to you know, a guy that's a multiple multiple
pro ball Impressive for me.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
He says, there's no way he could play in the
league right now. And I don't know three ten obviously,
you know so many injuries and all that. How do
you tell a cashier you're a Bears fan without telling
them you're a Bears fan with the Chicago Bears PNC
Bank visa debit card, which got you exclusive discounts on
Bears merchandise. Find out more at PNC dot com slash
Bears cod Last thought, not related to the Bears, but
(36:42):
certainly the division until further notice, The Detroit Lions are
the hunted. Correct, they are the division winners. They've had
two great years, but they have lost key personnel and
now you learn they've already had five season ending injuries,
two on defense. Levi Juza Rique. They were open to
get back from his acl from twenty twenty four. Not
(37:03):
able to do it. He's already been put shelf, put
on the shelf. And cornerback Nis Rakestraw junior from Missouri,
a highly toided player, second round pick for them, Boom,
he's on the shelf. So you notate these things because
over the course of preseason there and they've got a
bunch of other injuries too that they're going to have
to overcome. But they still got their big guns. But
(37:27):
you keep an eye on these things within the division
of which is going to be a very challenging division
for all four teams.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Well, you know, they with the injuries they had last year,
they already proved that they're not going to just you know,
fold because of that. It's gonna the next man up mentality,
and I think Detroit put it on display last year.
And you know, believe me, you never want to think
less of a team because they have some injuries, because
that's right, when you get bit in the backside.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, when you choose a blue moon, everything becomes brighter,
just like the scoreboard half I're a Bear's touchdown blue
Moon made brighter and a proud partner of the Chicago Bears.
All right, that's gonna wrap us up. Later in the week,
we'll be back with you to preview the next visitor
to the Chicago Bears facility, Sean McDermott and the Buffalo
Bills title contenders again here in twenty twenty five. They've
(38:17):
been not able to get over the hump of the
Kansas City Chief so the Baltimore Ravens at times, but
they bring that all star MVP last year quarterback Josh
Allen and company, and a little bit of a different
defense and with the Bears faced against Miami, but still
very talented.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And they bring hard knocks.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Don't forget, it's gonna be cameras, so watch your p's
and q's.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I forgot about that. Tom Gosh, you'll be just like
a moth. You'll be tied right to those cameras, won't
you throughout the course of that day.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Bacup, bow tie the whole deal.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Please join us. Then we'll preview the entire matchup, and
that will be a seven o'clock kickoff airing nationally on Fox,
so it'll be a big spotlight day. We certainly effect
to have some more starters on the field for that
one against the Buffalo Bills. Thanks to our guest Kyle
Long for Tom There, I'm Jeff Jonahak. Thanks for listening. Everybody.
Please subscribe now on your Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
(39:12):
or wherever you get your podcasts. Bear down, everybody,
Cut open that DJ Moore nisode Touchdown Touchdown Bears. I
am Jeff Jonia blitzes on Donnie go upcur.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche goodgo.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
coming is a big trouble. Donnie Goos Motest Sweat.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of
the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Some key players are The highly competitive preseason for the
Bears emerged with some very good tape After a twenty
four to twenty four tie and the preseason opener with
the Miami Dolphins Sunday at Soldier Field, we break it
down right here an episode one nine out of the
Bears et cetera podcast, and we're brought to you by
Miller Light with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer.
I'm Jeff Joniac. In this week's podcast, we visit with Bears.
(00:53):
Former offensive lineman for the Bears, Kyle Long. Stopped by
a training camp for the shared practice with the Dolphins
last Friday. With his work with CBS. Tom so much
to get into I thought it interesting I read something
that Mike McDaniel actually played his starters more so because
he wanted redemption for how they practiced against the Bears
(01:15):
on Friday and he felt it didn't match up to
his expectations. And so that goal line stuff to really
start the proceedings by the Bears and Noah suwe will
stop with the help from the big guys up front,
really was an exclamation point for me for the for
the whole game. That that determination after a really long
drive against the first team offense and Tula end company
(01:38):
and they slammed the door shut. I love that part
of the game.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
He too.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I think everybody had a hand in that play and
that performance because you have to gain the attention of
the other blockers for a guy like Noah Swell to
be able to come and make a play like that.
So it's not only the effort of the one guy
that makes the play, you know. Austin Booker also did
a great job on that that play as well, So
I think you have a good team effort. And I
(02:05):
will say it's one of the most coachable tapes I've
ever watched after a preseason game because it's not a
bunch of criticism and yelling. It's some emphasis on how
to do things more efficiently. That is going to help
you as a player, and it's going to help the scheme.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
As a whole.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Is that cover three phases?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
No, yeah, of course That's what I think. When you talk,
you know, initially about the coaching and stuff, they're going
to have a great opportunity to bring these guys into
a room. Watch the tape and even though you may
be coaching a tight end, you you're coaching all the
tight ends. You could be coaching a defensive end and
(02:47):
you're coaching all the defensive ends. So I just think
there's this is a super beneficial tape to make corrections.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
On before we get into that tape. One roster move,
A Mere Speed waved injured, one of the fastest defensive
backs on the team. A mere Speed is a proper
name for him, but running back added Britton Brown, a
big guy six point two five, had some special teams
work former seventh round pick of the Raiders from UCLA
UH and that doing part probably to the question mark
(03:17):
of where they're at with Roshawn Johnson, he has a
foot injury and Travis Homer came down with a calf
in that game. So another big body to do what
you know Ben Johnson is interested in, that is to
be play some smash mount football in addition to his
creativity designing big, big explosive plays. So more hands on
deck in the running back department.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, and you got to have him and Eric the
enemy is a really good offense or running backs coach
that is going to have a high regard and court
requirements for all of these guys. And I like the
showing that they all brought up into the game yesterday
this past Sunday, and you know, excited to see how
it goes moving forward because it's not only up to
(04:00):
the running backs, but it's about every player on the field,
every play called to see how they all end up
working together in the big picture and improvement.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Did you learn anything about the roster that maybe you
didn't know or you had a question mark? Albeit just
one game, but they did a lot go from the
practice field to the game day field.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
In your opinion, Yeah, I think segment coaches.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I think the offensive line coach has really got these
guys well organized and how to help each other and
not hurt each other.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And so that could be.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
A something as simple as having a combination. Block from
a defensive lineman to a second level. Make sure all
your emphasis is focused on not hitting each other, hitting
that defensive lineman, getting him started, getting him moved, and
know that lineman that has to go to that second level,
know the perfect time to get up to that second level,
(04:53):
keep him out of the running runner's path, and allow
that run to go from two yards to six yards
or beyond. And then I thought the running backs did
a really nice job of being familiar with exactly where.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
The hole was going to open up.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And then if they had to make an instinctful decision,
and in a decision by a running back, they knew
exactly how to cut into a larger crease to turn
that into more yards. I think the tight ends did
a nice job, but tight ends, one thing they will
learn as time goes on is you have to anticipate
(05:28):
where the player is going to be during the course
and the motion and the momentum of a play, not
necessarily where they are. So that's when I talk about
coaching details. I think you're going to improve the performances
out of these positions just by showing them where to
anticipate to be, not instead of being behind by a
(05:49):
half a shoulder a half a foot.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You mentioned the running backs comment on Guy continues to
get a lot of praise from coaches, from head coach
Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and Monday saying
his downfield blocking was evident the effort. He's tough, he's hard. No,
he's willing to stick his face in the fan.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
That was the coach, right, Dude, he got run over
by a defensive lineman, but I don't care. It's because
his willingness to stand in front of a defensive lineman
that has escaped his block at the line of scrimmage.
Now he's pressuring the quarterback and Kyle mc nunguy got
up there, gave everything he possibly could. He bounced backwards,
(06:28):
but he slowed the defensive lineman enough where he didn't
affect the outcome of the play. So it's some of
these things that cannot be pretty, but they are effective.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
He came with that reputation and he's backing it up
for sure. All right, let's talk about the defense. What
did you see anything stick out to you in your
defensive notes on Bears Weekly This week, we're gonna have
a sit down with Austin Booker had himself a day
first time in his playing football life at any level.
He had three sacks in a game. Is a former
(06:58):
tight end, former wide receive ever, former athlete that's becoming
a pass rusher for the Chicago Bears. Yeah, I know
it's one game.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
But man, I know you announcers and you pseudo football fans,
you don't appreciate stopping the run, Jeff, because that's where
you really earn your opportunity, you earn your playing time.
Because Austin Booker went out there and performed against the
run as well as he did on getting those sacks.
(07:27):
And whether it's on the goal line. So there's a
play and it's play number twenty on the defensive side
of the ball. So he gets a pass rush, gets blocked,
was able to put some pressure. It's an outlet pass
to the left. He disengages in runs probably thirty five
yards and has an impactful hit on the sideline. So
(07:51):
it's you know, and I joke with you about the
sacks because look, man, they are a premier play for
any defense. But when you look at what Austin and
Booker is required to do outside of only rushing the passer.
There's evidence of it, and he's doing it at a
high level. So right there, you start thinking about increased reps,
(08:11):
increased opportunities and practice. And so not only was his
pass rushing skills on display against tight ends, tackles and guards,
so was his run stopping, willingness and ability.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I like the fact too. You know he's up in
the two fifties now, so that's important right the man.
I wonder if you could even hang on to that
speed and quickness with another five to ten pounds down
the road in his career as he matures. He's only
a young man at twenty two, so a lot of
room for growth yet for him kick off your game
day with Blue Moon. Every sip of Blue Moon's Belgian
(08:46):
style wheat ale crafted with Valencia, orange, peel and coriander
as a winning drive for your taste buds. I appreciate
that backside pursuit and that never ending burst to try
and get things done. Javon de Extra does that too.
On the defensive line. These long guys that can use
some of that length to track down a back or receiver,
(09:06):
whatever the case may be, downfield, So that extra effort
is significant. How about the linebacker Noah sul What did
your notes revealed about Noah Suell number forty four. We
talked about what he did on that tackle that he
shared on the goal line stop, but there were other
things he did. At some point in that game. He
was the leading tackler and tell Austin Booker passed him
up with six tackles on the day.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Noah Suole sends OTA's read, react, and attack.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
That's what I like about him.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
He is you can see that his instincts and his
understanding of what he's seeing across the line of scrimmage,
not only through his study habits, but from the coaches
being in his ear. And Noah Sewell is playing a high,
fast pace brand of football. And whether it's instinctful decisions
on the interior of a play development or if it's
(09:53):
the ability to athletically flow to the outside. I'm super
encouraged on Game one what I've seen in practices, but
I want to be continued to be encouraged in Game
two and so on and so forth, because I think
he could play an important role in this defense.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Back to Booker for a moment. In the twenty four preseason,
he had two and a half sex and four quarterback hits.
So you know this is building on what was a
rookie year at the age of twenty one as a
third year sophomore there at Kansas after that transfer from
Minnesota and Sewell, if he would have been healthy at Oregon,
he might have been a second or first round pick
(10:30):
if you talked to scouts about that. He in his
junior season was just tearing it up over there, and
I think he's battled some injuries, but man, if he
can stay healthy, that's the leading candidate to be your
strong side linebacker in a defense that won't use a
lot of that. But he could also fill great, great
(10:51):
role on special teams, which I know Richard Harty likes
him on there too.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
You know you know its too is how do you
compliment other guys on the team, Because Noah, Sewell and
Hippo played a nice job of tandem linebackers and they
were really able to compliment each other's strengths and awareness
and flow to the play, just like you know, the
combination of these two guys when they work together. Booker
has a really good rush against the left tackle, the
quarterback has nowhere to escape Dominique Robinson wins his battle
(11:19):
in Boom.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
There he finishes it with the sack.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
So, whether we're talking about linebackers, defensive ends, or even
the interior defensive linemen and the defensive backs, complimentary football
is really important when they all learn the big picture
of the scheme.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
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Let's go back to the offensive minute Bears passing twenty
six to thirty nine, sixty seven percent for Tyson Bagent
for case Keenum and Austin Reid in the fourth quarter
on that final drive, ninety six point five quarterback rating,
(12:19):
three touchdowns, they took three sacks, they had an interception,
eleven first downs bypass. They hit fourteen different receivers on
those twenty six completions. Declan Doyle talking about the quarterbacks
in general, lot of good things on tape, a lot
of good things to clean up. No different than what
you just said so offensively speaking about that. But he's
(12:40):
excited about the many things that were done. Were you
as well?
Speaker 3 (12:45):
I was?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
But you know, when I look at the completions, I
you know, you kind of get a feel of the
excitement of what this offense can be using misdirection, using
boot legs, using really effective play action. But then you
get about maybe four or five passes that are on
the tips of the finger, either on the fingertips of
the player, or they are an eighth of a second behind,
(13:05):
or you know, just in a catchable uncatchable position, and
then they either fall to the ground in complete or
tipped in the air. It's those plays that kind of
drive a coach or a fan of the game a
little crazy because you think of, when you talk about
their statistics, how much better they would be if they
could just have those four or five completions back Hey Bears.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Fan Steinhoffels is a proud partner of the Chicago Bears
and now open in Orland Park. Steinhoffls the Chicago Dan's
furniture and mattress leader with the largest selection to fit
every style and budget as one hundred percent employee owned
shopping storing online at steinhoffls dot com. And I'm glad
you mentioned Reuben Hippolyte as well. He is the Bear's
fastest linebacker. That speed shows up. He also he's not
(13:50):
shy about popping you either. So he was somebody that
stuck out to me that I appreciated. Love what Luther
Burden did right before the awareness, right before half you
got to give credit to and I know it's been
written about, but the game man, the clock management, in
the mind of Ben Johnson, time out on a first down,
they get him off the field, Bears go three and
(14:11):
out and then boom, they get the ball back with
just enough time to leave less than a second on
the clock to get points before the break. Those are
things that are highlighted. Those are things they've been working on.
Those are things that Ben Johnson has in his creative
mind as well.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
He yeah, you know, he thinks about the entirety of
the game, because as we talk about the offense and defense,
I you know, you got to talk about the special
teams because when you talk about either the punt or
the kickoff returns, and you know, those elements of the game,
they're going to play an enormous role in this season
when you consider how many games outdoors the Bears play
(14:50):
and how the weather affects that portion of the game.
And I would think that coach High Tower, you know,
is going to make it a point of ephesis this week,
especially in the Buffalo practice leading up to the game,
the improvement that he needs to see out of those segments.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
All right, anybody I missed on your cheek sheet of
notes a player wise that may be stuck out that
only Tom Thayer's eyes could see, you know, how about it?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
What do you know?
Speaker 4 (15:17):
I I gotta say, because I didn't know what to
think at the beginning. I'm super impressed with the progression
of Ozzie uh Ozzi Ozzio. I'm super encouraged the development
I see out of Ozzie Trapillo because I really didn't
know if his traits were transferable from the right side
(15:41):
to the left side, especially in the NFL. Ozzi Trapillo
is a big, powerful man, and the better he gets
to know the offense and he gets to know where
his help is coming from, the more conversations he can
have with a guy like Joe Tune, It's going to
speed up the whole learning curve for that young man.
And I'm not saying anything to get against Braxton because
Braxton is His recovery from his ankle injury is super
(16:04):
impressive to me. It kind of gives you an indication
how important this life is to him. But for the
difficulty of playing that left tackle position and knowing where
Ozzie has come from, I'm super impressed what he's left
on the field so far.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Time now to switch gears. You're old, buddy, and I'm
sorry you missed him. Kyle Long was up at Hallis
Hall last week. Had a chance to visit with him.
He talked about you a lot. He went in the
many things. I had to actually, for time reasons, had
to take some of it out because if he went
through your whole history of playing forty four games in
one year, gave you credit. I told him I stand
in the booth you sit and Tom earned the right
(16:41):
to sit by those forty four games in one calendar year.
So he threw a lot of flowers at his boy here.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
You know, it's weird because the first time I ever
saw Kyle Long, his dad and his brothers, he was
about four or five years old, walking across the street
in Maui, Hawaii, and I go, oh my god, that's
how we Long. And I remember pulling over and getting
out of the car and introducing myself and just saying
to God, I'm a huge fan of yours. And they
were going on a sailboat. And then you think of
(17:07):
the times that I had a chance to play against
Howie Long, and then Kyle Long comes aboard and I
have a chance to meet him and become friends with him.
You know, it's just been a kind of a lifelong
association with the Long family, from meetingum early in life,
to playing against Howie into getting to know, you know,
Kyle as well as I have, and admiring his brother
(17:29):
Chris and everything he's done after football as much as
what he did in football.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Good years here with the Chicago Bearers, there isn't a
conversation with Kyle Long, you know, looking fit to hit.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I feel like it feels like coming home. Yeah, you know,
for a guy that's not from Chicago, no family in
the Midwest, I show up in Lake Forest, Illinois, and
it just feels like the Promised Land to me. There's
something about it. And the great thing about Hallas Hall
is and as you know, there are so many staff
(17:59):
members from the stay that I showed up that are
still working here. And then there's still so many people
that have changed. Yeah, coordinators, quarterbacks, you name it. They've
all changed. But there's some people that maintain the fabric
of what it once was at Allas Hall. And now
we have a new building, new coach, everything's brand new.
But at the end of the day, that love is
(18:19):
still real and I felt it today at practice. It
was really cool.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, you were on the sidelines doing some work for CBS.
Tell us what it felt like down there Miami Dolphins
practicing with us so little intense as we might expect
and shared practices. But what was your observations of But
I keep telling people, listen to practice, it sounds different.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Tell you what the thudding that I heard, the hitting
that I heard, I haven't heard it in a long time.
And as a dad, now if I hear a noise
like that in the other room, I go sprinting in
to make sure that my older daughter is not pummeling
my younger daughter. But these are the noises you want
to hear, it, Camp, Jeff, these are the things you
want to hear. And for all the talk about the offense,
and everybody wants to talk about the offense, me too
until I'm blue in the face, it's the defense that
(19:02):
will be the catalyst for success this year. I mean,
obviously the offense will get better, Caleb will make progressions,
Ben Johnson will leave his fingerprints on this offense. But
I'm excited about Dennis Allen. I know we had Matt
Abraflus and the defense was aces at certain points in
the season. I think under Dennis Allen, this defense is
(19:23):
really going to be on fire, and they're going to
understand that they are the straw that serves the drink
for this football team.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Kevin Bayer, the veteran safety who has been around a
bunch so he has some good perspective, said that Dennis
treats every meeting as if he's a drill sergeant. So
you take your mind into what that sounds like again,
it's a little bit different than what they become accustomed
to and maybe their whole careers.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It sounds like this is the first time these guys
have hit like this in their careers, most of them tackling,
not even sure what is a live period and that
so the go all in. Anyway, I think that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, it's special. And the word callous gets thrown around
a lot all the time the training game. We're gonna
get callous. Oh yeah, buddy, you're gonna get callous. You're
gonna be that's cool. Well, you know what, just show
it to me. And what I loved seeing today was
the physic physicality at the line of scrimmage. And again,
(20:24):
I can talk about the receivers and I can talk
about all these skill players and the guys we have
on the back end defensively, but you and I watched
that Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
What matters most scrimmagemmagemage, and that's what was the final story.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Cards are getting paid twenty five million dollars a year
right now?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Because that matters? It really does matter.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Think about this time time. We spoke to some people
last week and that we brought it up and he goes,
you know, I never made a million dollars in my career.
I'm sure your father, uh feels the same way in
some regards. Uh. He's a Hall of Fame though, so
he did. Okay. But the money, I mean, it's there obviously,
(21:06):
otherwise they wouldn't be paying it. But can you I mean,
look at the paydays. Wait, wait, you're grinned, I said, Tom,
do we need to start a GoFundMe fit? You know?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
For you?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
It was funny at the time.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I'm glad my head didn't get beat up too bad
because I can sit up here and talk football. Yeah,
and that's great, and I love the game. And I
was I was talking to Carmen and yr Col earlier
and I was looking at your co and I said,
you and I both can relate on this. When you're
done playing football, there is a creater size hole in
your chest and you try to fill it with something.
(21:38):
And for me, it is staying involved in the game
of football.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
I don't wear a helmet, I don't hit people. The
quarterback doesn't pat me on the ass and say thanks,
big guy. But at the end of the day, I
get to talk football. It makes me feel like I'm
still involved and if there are people that value anything
that I have to say, awesome, and I'm appreciated for
that opportunity. And if it weren't for my I'm in Chicago,
the fan base we have, I don't know if I'd
(22:03):
have a gig after football. So I'm glad. Why do
you say that, because there's so many damn good people
that get into the media. I mean, you and I
both know every year they're they're making new guys for
the media. It's retirement from the NFL. You know, I work.
I work on a pregame show. I work on a
(22:24):
pregame show. And the difference between working in television and
working in the NFL is in the NFL, that guy
who just got drafted is gonna have to come earn
it and somebody's gonna have to beat me. These guys
they retire from the NFL and they're already on a
Hall of Fame track. They may have Super Bowl rings.
They're getting the job, buddy, Okay, particularly quarterbacks, and we've
(22:46):
seen so many of these guys get media savvy through
training that the league offers to that you.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Do any of that, I didn't you didn't need to.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
The training I had was when Cutler was like, nah,
I don't want to do the podium. You can go
to the podium. And those were my reps and growing
up around my dad and Terry Bradshaw. And now looking back,
I'm like, I don't know if I should have listened
to my dad Terry Bradshaw. But my point is this,
guys are getting better at understanding that football is a
(23:18):
tiny little speck in life. Right, what are you going
to do after that? Right? And and the best thing
for guys like me is to stay in it in
the media.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Well, look at Tom nine or ten years as a player,
thirty years as an announcer. I mean that's a that's
a lifetime attached to one organization.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I don't know my.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Dad as a football player. I know my dad as
the guy with glasses in this head on Fox. And
you know what I'm saying. Yeah, people always say, what
was it like growing up with your dad being a
hall of Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Oh? That guy the guy that I knew was my
high school code and he talked about football or.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Chris Yeah, yeah, your brother also a media guy.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Another guy I gotta keep my eyes on. I got
to look over my shoulder. He may come take my job, right,
podcast host, he's you know, world renown super Bowl champion twice,
he's saving the world. Like, these are the people you
have to worry about, Jeff.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So, the funny thing is in our business, uh, the
one that I started, and now it's forty years in
the business this year, forty years doing sports broadcasting. You
always you always are looking over your shoulder, right, but
you always are saying yes to everything because you feel
you could never say no because you don't know what
door opens. I did say no a couple times, and
(24:35):
I regretted it, but in the end I still made
the right decision. I could have been working in Odessa,
Texas for a TV station right aft Now I didn't
know what Friday Night Lights was in nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
He me and Panthers, right.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
But I regretted it, right, But in the end it
allowed me to stay in Chicago my whole career, and
so things fell right. Do you feel now, as a
retired NFL player and bursioning broadcaster for some very good entities,
big time entities, do you feel you have to say
(25:08):
yes to everything? Do you feel that need or do
you feel like I guess to a lot.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I say yes to a lot because I'm the kind
of guy that I'm I think that I'm confident enough
to know that I'm good enough to do most things,
and I'm stupid enough not to be afraid to do it.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah, And I'm like, I'll
give it a try. And there have been dozens of
(25:35):
times in my short media career that I have felt
like the size of a piece of rice because you
just get so embarrassed by a flub that you had,
or you said the guy went to the wrong school,
or you didn't study enough. That's the worst one where.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
It's like, yeah, I can't do that in our business.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I'm right covering the Bears anyone. I'm covering thirty two,
And I'll promise you this. If I'm talking about the
Seattle Seahawks and I try to skim over something, there's
a lot of diehard Seahawks fans that I cannot wait
to fact check me.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Is it harder to hear that or harder to be
in a meeting with your teammates and a coach is
pointing you out that you you made a mental error
in a game where you you did something that you
know wasn't wasn't right, and you're going to get the
criticism from the coach in front of your teammates.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
The fear of being the reason for one of your
teammates being injured is what drove me. And interesting, Yep,
you don't want to be that guy in the meeting room, right.
The fear of not wanting to be that guy. You
want to be the guy that really doesn't get talked
(26:44):
too much in meetings, right. And when I think about
a guy like Joe Toney, who the Bears obviously invested
a lot in, those are the guys you want. Okay, boring,
it's like Tim Duncan.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Bears fan. By the way, I know what I'm saying,
Tim Brown, Tim Dunk, Tim Duncan, excuse me, Tim Duncan, Yep,
one of the.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Best players ever. Do it the big fundamental, That's how
Tony gets the job done. You don't. I mean, look,
it gets bad quickly when you become the guy that's
called out in the meeting and doesn't fix it. That's
a huge chance.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
How about behind the mic though, do you get you
get critiqued, do you get. I don't know what the
process is at that network level.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I have the benefit of the fact that most of
my employers, and I think they're starting to figure out
that I'm not. I have thought that I'm a caveman.
So if I'm not just drooling on a mic, They're like, hey,
he's doing great.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Come on, you see that you are a gifted speaker.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Listen to him a nunciate.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
No, you do a great chat. You did it as
a player.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
My heart beats when they say we're going live coast
to coast in thirty seconds on Sunday morning when I'm
working in that big studio in New York City every Sunday,
and I know that we're the first boots on the
ground for the NFL Sunday, Like, my heart beats fast
manber how calm I would get before a football game
because the hay was in the barn. There's nothing I
could do. I just accepted it. When you're in television,
(28:08):
when you're in radio, when you're calling games, you are
looking at your notes until the last second, aren't you.
Oh yeah, and then they're like five four three, and
then you slide them to.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Tell everybody what what are you involved in every everybody's
calendar changes in terms of duties every football season. What
what are you doing right now? What's what's the plan
for twenty five?
Speaker 2 (28:29):
So right now I am employed by CBS. I work.
I do stuff for CBS Sports, CBS HQ, and the
network CBS On Sunday. Uh, sometimes you'll see me on
NFL Today on Sundays it's the pregame show. Sometimes every
Sunday morning you will see me on I guess it's paramount.
(28:50):
We're going digital, so it's hard for me to explain.
You know, remember when it was like, yeah, I'll be
on channel thirty second. Now it's like, I guess google it.
I'm working. I work Monday through Thursday. I've got a
podcast called Pushing the Pile Podcast where I team up with,
you know, a scouting general manager type in Mike Renner,
(29:11):
who is a draft analyst. He's brilliant and we attack
conversations from different perspectives.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I would say, yeah, would you call it lively?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's lively, It's definitely. You know. Sometimes the producer gets
in my ear and say, hey, you say that you
can't do that, buddy.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Going back to the NFL Today, it's a legendary program
growing up here. Even you know there are Chicago influences.
The late Bruce Roberts was one of the first hosts.
Of course Brent Musburger made it, made it what it
is with that crew, And does it feel like you're
a little bit of part of history when you when
(29:51):
you sit there, you don't probably think about it, but
you are. It's it's it's it's one of the most
important pregame shows in sports history.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
One thousand percent. And obviously I grew up in a
house that put on a West Coast pregame show and
Fox and I grew up in that studio and that
cast of characters we don't even have to name. You know,
they're like all my uncles now. Working at CBS, you
get to work with Bill Kauer, and you get to
(30:19):
work with fantastic talents like Nate Burlison, and you know,
former MVPs like Matt Ryan, and you get to see
kind of the East Coast is so much different than
the West Coast and everything, and like particularly these studio shows,
it feels like it's clean, buttoned up. I really like that.
I think it's classic. It gives me a real classic
(30:40):
feel put it, And there's something about going into the
city in New York on Sunday morning and having a
suit on before the sun comes up and you're getting
ready to tee off for the NFL slate. It's there's
nothing better than that. And when I hear that CBS theme,
I just get goosebumps.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
All right, so you touch down the Bears touchdown, Caleb,
He's one of the talk of the league, seemingly every week.
Ben Johnson, you've gotten to observe him, break down his tape.
I'm sure from Detroit, what are we getting here?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
A physical team? Everybody thinks creativity scheme, but what they
fail to realize is that the Detroit Lions bludgeon people
at the line of scrimmage, both lines of scrimmage. Then
you take a look at some of the moves that
they made to bring some of these hosses in on
the defensive front. Guys like Grady Jarrett are going to
get the most out of Odengbo and a number of
(31:40):
other players. Sweat's going to be healthy. I think about
the back end and the health issues we had there.
We're going to have these guys this year. If the
offense can just continue to move along and play physical.
We're going to have an opportunity two division opponents and
the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions in week one
and two. Correct, yep, correct? Introduce yourself.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah right, say hello.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
You know how you say hello? You put the screws
of your helmet right right up under his chin. Then
you do it for sixty five plays in a row.
And I promise you, at the end of the day,
they're not gonna want to play with you. And the
great thing is you get to play those guys again.
It's a division opponents exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
I mean, the division is something I still feel it's
the best I know. There's going to be AFC West enthusiasts.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
They've got four tremendous head coaches over there. They got quarterbacks.
AFC North is also a bloodbath, but you know, the
the angles that I'm looking at as well. The Bears defense.
Like you said, some people say the offense is going
to have to carry the defense early. Some analysts have
said that. I say, it's just the opposite.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I remember when I moved to offensive tackle out of necessity.
We had an injury in camp. I had to move
to right tackle. I had looked ahead to our schedule
to find out who I'm going to be blocking against,
because I thought I was gonna be playing guard, and
quite frankly, I don't care who you roll out in
front of me a guard. When I moved to tackle,
I looked at the list of players. Week one was
(33:05):
Julius Peppers. I gave up two secs, you know. And
then it was Cliff Averel in Seattle and Michael Bennett.
It was Von Miller at home. It was Khalil Mack
coming to home. When we go to Kansas City, we
beat justin Houston and we breat Uh, what's the other
defensive ends name? Gosh, I'm getting old man.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Well, I can't remember either, so I don't remember what
year player.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
But all I'm saying is the way you're looking ahead
right right. I remember I called my dad and I
said I looked at this murderer's row, and I said, like,
what am I going to do? And my dad was like,
what more could you want than an operation slay a
freaking dragon? Right?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Look at him? His eyes are he's looking at me
right now, like he could get down the field right
with this team.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
To understand that this is an opportunity. And you know,
I got to talk to Joe Tuney upstairs. So I
played within Kansas City. He won a Super Bowl with
Chris in New England as well.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Great guy, very nice man.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
And there's not many times where I can tell him
something that I don't think he knows because he's extremely intelligent,
and I just you know, we change our pleasantries, you know,
blah blah blah blah. And on the way, I said,
do not take it for granted, because it goes so fast.
It goes so fast, and you can't go backwards. And
(34:28):
when I'm sitting there on the sideline today and I'm
three hundred and ten pounds, so I'm I'm a big
old son of a buck, but I can't go backwards.
I can't play football. Make the most of it because
these dragons are here. Now, imagine the stories they'll tell
if their heads are on the floor.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Painting pictures and telling stories. That's your job now, yep,
thank you so much. Thanks Jeff Tommy. He's a ball
to energy and he's a wordsmith man. The guy can talk,
can he No, he can he can turn a phrase.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Now, he's he is very good and I will remember
listening to him one night when I was driving somewhere
and I just happened to hear him, and he's on
for about fifteen twenty minutes, And as soon as he
got off, I called him and I said, Kyle, I said,
I want to tell you, that is some of the
most intelligent football talk I've ever heard. And I said,
(35:17):
that is just And it's not just because your dad
has that in his background. It's because of what you've
learned about football, what you've taken from learning about football,
and your dad and his background. But I just you
are such a well spoken guy. And I really admired
him because listen, as a player, he was a hothead.
He was throwing helmets, he was fighting, he was wanting
(35:39):
to beat everybody up. But for making that whole pile
along the guy that we got to know to the
Kyle Along that we know now, I really admire him
for it.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I always enjoy the conversation. He's got a good perspective
on a lot of things. Nothing came simple for him.
Started out as a baseball player, turned into a football player.
He has the size and the feet you have football
players or something. Yeah, he says he's three ten. Oh, no,
he looks good. No, he looks good. He looks That's
why I said fit to hit. He looks he looks good.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
But he said, there's no standing out there talking to Jimball,
and I'm thinking, Wow, in the history of the NFL,
these two guys, you know, a Hall of Fame are
talking to you know, a guy that's a multiple multiple
pro ball Impressive for me.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
He says, there's no way he could play in the
league right now. And I don't know three ten obviously,
you know so many injuries and all that. How do
you tell a cashier you're a Bears fan without telling
them you're a Bears fan with the Chicago Bears PNC
Bank visa debit card, which got you exclusive discounts on
Bears merchandise. Find out more at PNC dot com slash
Bears cod Last thought, not related to the Bears, but
(36:42):
certainly the division until further notice, The Detroit Lions are
the hunted. Correct, they are the division winners. They've had
two great years, but they have lost key personnel and
now you learn they've already had five season ending injuries,
two on defense. Levi Juza Rique. They were open to
get back from his acl from twenty twenty four. Not
(37:03):
able to do it. He's already been put shelf, put
on the shelf. And cornerback Nis Rakestraw junior from Missouri,
a highly toided player, second round pick for them, Boom,
he's on the shelf. So you notate these things because
over the course of preseason there and they've got a
bunch of other injuries too that they're going to have
to overcome. But they still got their big guns. But
(37:27):
you keep an eye on these things within the division
of which is going to be a very challenging division
for all four teams.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Well, you know, they with the injuries they had last year,
they already proved that they're not going to just you know,
fold because of that. It's gonna the next man up mentality,
and I think Detroit put it on display last year.
And you know, believe me, you never want to think
less of a team because they have some injuries, because
that's right, when you get bit in the backside.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, when you choose a blue moon, everything becomes brighter,
just like the scoreboard half I're a Bear's touchdown blue
Moon made brighter and a proud partner of the Chicago Bears.
All right, that's gonna wrap us up. Later in the week,
we'll be back with you to preview the next visitor
to the Chicago Bears facility, Sean McDermott and the Buffalo
Bills title contenders again here in twenty twenty five. They've
(38:17):
been not able to get over the hump of the
Kansas City Chief so the Baltimore Ravens at times, but
they bring that all star MVP last year quarterback Josh
Allen and company, and a little bit of a different
defense and with the Bears faced against Miami, but still
very talented.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And they bring hard knocks.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Don't forget, it's gonna be cameras, so watch your p's
and q's.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I forgot about that. Tom Gosh, you'll be just like
a moth. You'll be tied right to those cameras, won't
you throughout the course of that day.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Bacup, bow tie the whole deal.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Please join us. Then we'll preview the entire matchup, and
that will be a seven o'clock kickoff airing nationally on Fox,
so it'll be a big spotlight day. We certainly effect
to have some more starters on the field for that
one against the Buffalo Bills. Thanks to our guest Kyle
Long for Tom There, I'm Jeff Jonahak. Thanks for listening. Everybody.
Please subscribe now on your Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
(39:12):
or wherever you get your podcasts. Bear down, everybody,
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