Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Dave Wannstedt doesn’t think Kyler Gordon will play for Bears again

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote listened and reacted to Score analyst Dave Wannstedt share his belief that Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon could be done with this football career.

Layla Rahimi, Mark Grody, midday, 10 a.m. to 2 on the school. Kyler, are you convinced he's going to play for you? I don't know. I would hope so. I still have hope there. He's going to have to continue to work harder and get back to playing football. Yes. You and I just both looked at each other.

Nothing has changed, really. Other than optimism, right? Optimism here. as Ian Rappaport, as Kyler Gordon works out with a personal trainer, hoping to get back with the bears. Yeah, but Dr. Mo, which I do think you can do good stuff with personal trainers. The training assignments do help. Physical therapy and rehab does help.

Even if you're not injured, it helps prevent injury, by the way. So all of that is good. But as far as how we feel about this, I don't know that I've changed much. He's estranged from the family. I want to have optimism so badly that I have probably more. optimism than most people, but that might be taken away from me based on what you were about to hear. And you are listening to Rahimi and Grody. You're also listening to a four-seasoning, air conditioning, plumbing, sewer, and electric football Friday presented by your local Ford

dealers and Advent as we get ready for the Bears and Carolina Panthers. All right, here it is. the latest round or the latest opinion on the Kyler Gordon Sitch from Dave Wonstead, of all people. Dave Wonstead was, and Patrick Manley, with Lawrence Holmes and Carmen Vitale yesterday, gave their thoughts on the Kyler Gordon situation. I think he's done, Pat. I think he's done. I think, and, you know, if I'm predicting he's going to come back and say, I'm okay to play, and he lasts a week or two, either the injury flares up or something. But I don't think this guy's going to play anymore.

I really don't. I mean, and that's the case, fine. I mean, look at our center last year, Dalman. He came out and just said, I've had enough. You know, that happens all the time in the league. But, you know, I don't see it happening. It's just my opinion. I don't know less than anybody.

And I can see that as well because I would see Ben Johnson saying, hey, don't break up my locker room. Yeah. I think he's done a heck of a job of building that locker room, and forhesiveness, they all have the same message, all that kind of stuff. And if you have an outsider that, you know, is breaking that up, he's going to say goodbye. I'm in a year or two.

I'm building this thing. Yeah, you're a great player when you're healthy, but you're not good for the team when you're here. So I can see that as well. And, you know, another point, and Pat just brought up something that started me thinking, when I was at the Dolphins and Ricky Williams decided to take a sabbatical and go smoke dope in India, he uh it wasn't it was bad enough that he was 65% of my offense but you know what was the real

kind of the the the breaker for the team or the was the distraction yeah the media all they want to do was who talked to ricky anything new on ricky rickie rickie and that and that was crazy uh they didn't care about talking about the team how the quarterback was doing or how's that rookie receiver doing or whoever. They wanted to just, what's going on with Ricky? And it was a distraction for our football team. And that's kind of what Pat's alluding to here a little bit. You think about it.

Every day on the score and TV, Kyler Gordon, conversation comes up. It's part of it. Who wouldn't want to go smoke dope with Ricky? I love the conviction, the conviction with which Dave Wonstead said that. I actually kind of prefer the point that Patrick Manley is making, and I buy into it a little bit. Oh, not one.

He's triggered from previous experience. Well, no, no, that is all salient as well. But the idea that he's right, like the way Ben Johnson has comported himself of what he has said every time he has been asked about it, says that he is disgusted. He wants nothing to do with Kyler Gordon. And as Patrick Manley just said, quoting him, don't break up my locker room. That makes sense. the part that Dave Wonstead was saying, I don't know if I agree with. Like, is it a Drew Dalman situation where Kyler Gordon wants to retire?

And the only reason I push back on that is because of the way Kyler Gordon plays football. And maybe that's part of it because he is kind of a reckless player out there, a physical player, a guy who plays with exuberance, a guy who plays like he likes football. So I don't know if I buy into that part of it. I know what I'm talking about here. Yeah, you do. You do, Dave Wonstead. The low key part of that that's really funny that I didn't hear on the first listen and laugh about was where Wani goes. It was bad enough.

He was 65% of my offense. Back on running backs were 65% of offenses. That is fantastic. Oh, so good. Well, you can tell, like, that's just the vein of his existence. And, you know, I actually had a conversation with Ricky Williams' mom. What? I want to say it was around 2010, maybe, or 2000.

eight or nine, somewhere in that area, about Ricky kind of being ahead of his time. When it came to him talking about the discourse surrounding marijuana and the use of it, Ricky was a, I mean, he was a different thinker. And maybe mental health, too, for that matter. Absolutely mental health. Now, does that change how Dave Wanstead has to view a player's attitude or the communication that happens during a time like this? I don't know.

But just as a sidebar, I did have a conversation with Ricky's. mom about it one time just talking to her about he he was he was even then he was ahead of his time well what did she say like she was she was just receptive to it no she was like he's on he was saying he was saying he was honest and you don't get honesty like that that's true corporate NFL yeah but isn't there a responsibility of the employee to be more communicative and to like as a number wasn't rickie number one overall pick i think he was at least top three i would say man when he was in there there was nobody like him. Yeah, I mean, as an employee, though, isn't there a responsibility to work, especially when you're that important and not be a distract? Okay, fifth overall pick is

what we're confirming about Ricky Williams. So, I mean, I get it. Like, if there was a, if there was mental health issues, but I do think that there should be some responsibility from the player. I wasn't really thinking about it from that perspective. Yeah. Because I was in Austin at the time, and I just thought, you know, here's a guy who's talking about stuff in a way that you just don't hear from professional athletes. That was my observation. I wasn't really thinking. about the responsibilities. I was at work that day, so I was doing my part. Well, exactly. I was playing my side.

Well, you post up. That's what I'm saying. I was a $30,000 a year with no overtime employee. I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. I needed the monies to, you know, live my life. I love those hilarious conversations about us and the business, talking about how little money we made. Yeah, I started at 18 and worked 60 hours a week.

When I, uh, when I actually, it was lower than minimum wage with no OT, but that's another story for another day. You grinded it out. I did. I did. I did, when I heard this initially, I was shocked that coach said that the way he did. Yeah. That's, Wani doesn't usually go off the cuff like that when it comes to a thought about a player. No gray area.

No, he wasn't like wishy-washy about it. He did use the disclaimer that he doesn't know anything. He hasn't talked to anybody, but. But he picks up on the way people talk about people in a way that's different to us. Yeah. And again, we're not getting anything that shows us a different side of why it could be different. We're not getting the alternate opinion about this. We just keep getting more and more evidence that isn't solid on the part of his future.

I know Ian Rappaport posted that, but it still means he's away from the facility. Yeah, no, and you're right. Ultimately, that's not good. I, you know, stand by it. I did see that as a sign of life, at least, because I had been imploring on the microphone for Kyla Gordon to do something, to defend himself in some way, shape, or form to give the, the, at least the idea that he's interested in coming back. Like, it seemed like such a simple thing. I know people have been like, oh, Ian Rappaport is a shill for him.

No, I mean, you go to these reporters to get your message across, and that's all I was asking Kyler Gordon to do. So I did get some satisfaction from that. I think it's kind of like when you talk to Montes sweat, by the way. Montez knows his stats better than anybody. But the fact that you guys had a conversation where there was an acknowledgement there. Yeah. What do you mean about the media when I talked to him?

Is that what you're talking about? And just the perception of his production based on his contract. It just brought us a really honest look at somebody where I now give them more of the benefit of the doubt. Interesting. Yeah. It's just and it's not the problem is, you know, the numbers dictate a lot of the numbers and then salary goes in hand with production and all of that. But it was nice to see. And I think Kyler should know that that's the same idea.

People want to hear from him because right now the only people talking are not helping or cause. Right. Right. And that's why I, again, gave him the opportunity when I saw him in the locker room that day. Do you have a side to this? Please? Like, please, can you give your side? Because it's a one way, like, way to text you're saying, like he's just getting beat up on.

He is. He is. It's completely one-sided. And that is the bizariness of the whole situation where, to me, it's unprecedented where bears management, bears coaches have all said, we don't know. Do you guys know? ask all the questions you want. Say what you want on your microphones because we don't know what's going on with this guy

and I've never seen anything like that before. And so to have a sign of life from Ian Rappaport is something I wish he would talk to one of the local reporters. I wish he had talked to me. Politely declined. I don't want to paint the picture that he was demonstrative. He just said he would talk eventually but he didn't want to

talk when I put the microphone in front of his face the other day or last week. Additionally, we're doing this because we want to hear your side of the story. Yes. And that's, this isn't a gotcha. We're giving you the opportunity to speak for yourself. So there's that. I have some breaking news.

Would you like it? Yeah, please. For favor. Breaking news on the score is brought to you by IDOT. At some point, everyone is a pedestrian in the day. Slow down and give them space. Share the road. It's not a game.

This is from Patrick Mooney. We have baseball news. Oh, Mooney. The Cubs are planning to activate Danesby Swanson for next weekend series in Cincinnati. Oh, wow. Cubs manager, Craig Counsel said today at Wrigley. field after the Gold Glove shortstop completes a short rehab assignment with AAA Iowa. So he had initially the estimate wasn't for him to come back for the Braves?

I thought it was sooner, yes. Yeah, so who cares? I mean, the fact that he is coming back, that's a crucial part as good as Nico Horner has looked at shortstop. It doesn't look the same in the infield without Dansby Swanson playing the position, and Nico Horner in his more comfortable spot at second. Period. Yeah, absolutely. Yep.

Caller 6 to our score contest line 312 540 0670. We'll win a pair of tickets to see Weezer win the Gathering Tour makes its stop in Chicago on September 22nd at United Center, featuring special guests, the shins and Silver Sun pickups, tickets provided by Live Nation. Go to Ticketmaster.com to buy tickets. Boy, do I have a story for us, the collective, on halftime. These are stats that affect us all. I think I didn't even realize that I wanted to have competitive stats for this until they were measured. Okay.

It's, it's, we're going to like it. Chicago stats. Chicago stats. That's all we'll say. That we all can use. And really the real contest, the real competition. I've found it. And something that might actually affect our world if the Cubs and Sox are to play in the

World Series against each other. Stop giving it away. I won't. Half time is next. Honohiemy and Grotie on 104. the score.