Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - DJ Moore tells his side of story on Bears' fateful interception in loss to Rams (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote opened their show by reacting to Bears receiver DJ Moore's comments about his role in quarterback Caleb Williams' fateful, game-changing interception in overtime of Chicago's loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round. After that, Rahimi and Grote reacted to awards being handed out at the NFL Honors ceremony Thursday evening.

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10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Kevin Harlan, the man doesn't sleep. How do you focus tonight on this when you know you've got the biggest game of the year, bar none, coming up. up just a couple of days away. Between our things that the coach is here and a couple things I've had to do with people in San Francisco and getting ready for our game tonight, three different times I've tried to go to the bathroom. And I can't now because I've got to come back to my desk and do stuff that I wasn't planning to do. I have to go to the bathroom. I hang up with you. I'm making a beeline to that bathroom and going to enjoy myself for about I don't know how long it's going to take. And then I'll get back to work. What are you doing? I'm trying to decide if I have time to pay. How do you take the pee?

The pee? It's fast. Oscar, it's getting my tie back on. Kevin, I'm so glad you brought up the fact that we all have to time our bathroom breaks in this business because we do. You need quick and easy, and those all seem to be quick and easy. Kevin Harlan. Which, by the way, were my nicknames in high school. Oh. So that has paid off in a great way.

Wow, that is really hard. You really think you can go all day long? Well, you always. always left me satisfied and smiling. That's what she said. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score.

I love a good office open from Tyler Beuterbaugh. I feel like that's fair. It is right. It is just. And yes, 312. OMG, how the heck did I miss Kevin Harlan yesterday dying? Kevin wanted to hang with us. prolonged his bathroom break to make more jokes with us.

And I don't know what we did to deserve this. And I say that in a wonderfully good way. Like, I am not worthy of receiving the Kevin Harlan jokes, but I am here for them. Mark, you hadn't heard any of it yesterday. None of it. Unfortunately, that was a part of the program that I did miss with you guys yesterday, apparently. That, as I listened to Kevin Harlan, he is reached the sweet spot.

of his life, the sweet spot of his career. He is self-actualized. He is self-confident. He is successful enough to feel comfortable doing and saying whatever he wants to within reason. So good for Kevin Harlan to be just in he is doing what we all should do. And that is not only perform our jobs, but do it with passion and do it with love and do it with humor. Now, as I always say, Ray, body parts funny, body functions, not as funny. So I was a little bit, I was a little worried there for a while, but there was enough funny in there to quell some of the body functions that I had to think about during that.

Because Kevin Arlen said he's going to enjoy himself. Yes, for a long time. That's body function, folks. Body function foul on Kevin Harlan, but I love him. Me quick and easy, and those all seem to be quick and easy. Kevin Harlan. Which, by the way, were my nicknames in high school. How you doing, everybody?

buddy. Yeah, he was on one with us. We had a really good time. I just love also his play-by-play of life, as you know, so he can narrate anything with the greatest of ease and make it entertaining. That's where it started when he did the play, which is thought of by many broadcasters as taboo, to acknowledge at all the crazy person having security chased him down on the field. But that's what I mean. He leaned into it. He's like, bleep you. I'm Kevin Harlan. I'm Kevin Harlan. I'm, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my career and I'm going to do it my way. And I love that about him. Ray, what were you about to say, buddy?

But that was like, you were wanting to say something. I was. It's just a small thing. But Lalo, you read the text from 312. It's a great text. OMG, how the heck did I miss Kevin Harlan yesterday? Dying. But the way it sounded was like, how did I miss Kevin Harlan dying?

No, it's like, how did I miss Kevin Harlan? I'm dying. I didn't even think about that. I just wanted to make sure for anybody who may have thought. Like, how did I miss Kevin Harland dying? He's alive and well and funny as ever. I definitely wouldn't be like, yeah, man, go check it out yesterday on our rewind feature. Jerry Reinsdorf, rest in peace.

Yeah, yeah, Colin Cowherd, party fell on Colin Cowherd. You can't be doing that. I was like, did I forget to put Jerry Reinsdorf in the year-in review on WBBM? I got all up in arms on the fact that Virginia McCasky wasn't in the montage, forgetting that we had. no reason to watch the NFL honors last year outside of Jared Payton and the May of the Year award because the Bears weren't up for anything. And the NFL was quick enough last year to put her in.

I think Virginia deserved to be in there twice. DJ Moore shouted her out. DJ Moore dedicated their award to Virginia McCasker. I thought that was really nice of him. Pretty smart move. Look, there's nothing, nothing the Bears love more than mentioning their history in any way, shape or form. So it's a good sign that DJ Moore certainly doesn't want to go anywhere, but here. Well, and DJ Moore was at the NFL honors last night. He was representing the Bears.

He did accept the award for moment of the year, which I thought was great. It was the touchdown to win in overtime. He was a part of plays of consequence, as we've discussed. And one of them, of course, was the Bears' final offensive play of the 2025 season, the divisional playoff in overtime. second 8-8 at the Rams 48. We know what happened. Caleb Williams was looking for DJ. There was a discussion about the route concepts being different. That would make it make sense because of whether or not you flatten a route,

meaning you go closer to the quarterback underneath the safety or you go up and over safety. So we had heard from DJ. He didn't talk the day when the bears clean out their lockers. Mark, you thought that was strange. That's not something that he normally does, right? That was something where you felt like he's. usually there. Yeah. I mean, I presented it in the question directed towards, I remember it was Ben or Ryan, but saying that it's very rare when DJ Moore doesn't speak to us.

And he did not speak to us on Locker Clean Out Day. We did not talk to him after that game. Yes. Either he was not available. That's incredibly rare. And he left after his meeting with the team. And so I wondered out loud, was there something going. on? Was he dissatisfied? Was he upset? Was he not happy with what was going on publicly? And the more quiet it was from at least DJ's side, I think Caleb Williams did a good job explaining what he saw, which is what we discussed, route miscommunication. And while it made sense, we tend to want to hear from everybody involved. Ryan Poles was a little more cryptic about talking

about DJ and I think that fueled the fire a little bit. But we finally got some answers. As we mentioned DJ Moore in the Bay Area representing the Bears also for the NFL honors and our friends at CHGO. Adam Hogan, Adam Johns asked him about what happened on that final play that resulted in the camcourle interception and ultimately the Bears exiting the playoffs. That last play has come up in conversation a lot. Take us through it. Your side of the story, please. My side of the story is just like everybody else is. It's just miscommunication. We've got to attack it. You. the next time we got something like that and just go from there.

So is that a sufficient enough answer for you? I appreciate the question being asked. I appreciate the answer that he gave, but it doesn't answer the question as to really miscommunication is just very easy to say from both sides. Neither has said what the miscommunication was. Well, Caleb did say,

He talked about like he thought he was going to go more vertical. He thought he was going to go underneath with the route. He thought Caleb said DJ went more vertical, which is what happened there. So do you think that he is, that's his, when he just says generally speaking, it's a miscommunication, I agree, that he's agreeing with what Caleb said? I think it can be true that there's a miscommunication. Here's where I think the rub is. Whose play was it supposed to be? Like, who's correct on the play that was assigned?

was receiving correct on the route he ran or was quarterback correct on the ball he threw? That's the part of it where you're still wondering what happened. But as far as having plays like that day in and day out in the NFL and making them work regardless, that's the hard part. You know how I feel about this. Game isn't one or lost on one play, but that's the lasting impression in our minds. It's amplified because DJ makes the money he makes. He has the responsibility.

He has. It's amplified because Caleb Williams has a responsibility he has. So then everything gets turned up to 10. But the question of what was the play supposed to be, period? I think Caleb, Ben Johnson, and DJ Morneau. Maybe the rest of the offense. Yeah, and that is the part that we don't have yet. And could Caleb have, of course, he could have checked down.

We know that part of. part of what the opportunity cost is when we're talking about Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams is that they are going to big game hunt. Both in their respective ways are going to take big time chances, and that's what Caleb did. And this thing, too, got magnified because you're that play away. If DJ does haul it in or if they make a catch in that spot, you're ready to advance. You're ready to advance on to the NFC title game at that. point. So I don't know how much more detective work is actually necessary because I don't know

if we need it at this point and I don't know if we're going to get it. But I am glad that DJ Moore is finally talking about it and listening to the various entities that did interview him that had the opportunity on Radio Row and Video Row and all of that. He sounded good. He looked good. I felt good for DJ Moore because I didn't feel good. Like honestly, And what prompted me to ask the question on the final day and any chance I got to ask the powers that be, I did not feel good for or about DJ Moore. I now feel better about him now and his future, not just at large, but with the Chicago Bears. Right, because he showed up. Yeah, yes.

He showed up ready to answer those questions, Layla. If he was really that mad about what happened or if there was a bigger issue, then I don't know that he would have been there. But here's the other piece of this. everybody knows he spent five minutes or so in the medical tent before that drive and we didn't know if like maybe there was a concussion concern he comes back out seasons on the line i'm not saying he broke protocol but i do know NFL players will push themselves to the absolute limit to do things athletes in general see lindsay von wanting to downhill ski with a torn ACL right now that's just the nature of how they're wired so he

comes back out and there's been a lot of questions as to his health and I would see why if there was an actual health concern why he maybe wasn't facing the media the day after for locker clean out right? But

the only but there Layla is and this goes for post game too usually they would just tell us they would just say he's injured they would tell you if he stayed injured what if he came back out they don't want that heat? Because that would be breaking protocol

would it, not? You're talking about if it was a hit, if it was a concussion? Correct. Okay, specifically concussion. Yes. Yes. But it's odd when after a game we don't get an explanation as to why the player is, and if he's injured that we all accept that. We have no choice but to accept.

We're like, okay, that's good. We'll respect what's going on with him, but that's not what we heard. And what we're doing is letting you into the process. And it's not like, oh, we're entitled to this information. But the fact of the matter is it's not just us who's curious about what happened here. Don't lie to yourselves. You are too.

Of course. So DJ did talk to CHGO about the injuries he was dealing with at that time. Physically, like, how do you feel? Like, how many things were you battling by the end of the season? Let's just say a lot. A lot more than the normal person should. That's typical DJ more too. Not necessarily the quantity of injuries that he's dealing with. I have never. Oh, I don't know, man. That guy got beat up this season. I believe he's got five different injuries.

In my time covering the Bears close up since 2018, and this includes having the closest view, having done sidelines for years and seeing and hearing injuries, including the yelling of grown men in pain. I'll never forget, Akeem Hicks, when he got hurt in London and the yelling, and I'm like, oh, my God, feeling this, and then having to report something like that.

So I know what an NFL injury looks like. I'm pretty good from my time on the sideline being able to tell him when a player is going to have to come out of a game and not return to a game. I can't call it with DJ Moore, though. He has undergone so many hits since he's come to the Bears a few years ago where I'm like, because he's not a big dude and he's fast. And when he gets hit moving fast, it's a hard fall for DJ Moore. And that dude goes, that's it.

He's out and he'll come back pop in. the next play. I've seen him get hurt in preseason during games, and I've never seen a guy come back more that I didn't expect to return to a game. So he's tough as it gets. Wow, yeah. And I agree with you. I think there are times where I sure, because also how he is, you know, when he's in the slot, that's dangerous because of that body type. Yes. Typically for me, I think if your primary job is the slot, Luther Burton is a body type that I think works there. DJ's more lean. Like he ran track. You know, that's something, he ran the 400.

Like that, you know what kind of body type that is. You're a little more lean. You're not necessarily like the wide, wide shoulders. You don't have a bigger upper torso. Like, DJ's in shape. That's not what we're saying. He's a strong guy. He's ridiculously in shape.

But when you say that, I think you kind of know the body type that lends itself to going over the middle a little easier. Like there were times where Cole Komet by being 6'5, by virtue of his size, avoided injuries that I think a lot of other people would. DJ, I think, is somebody who I am afraid when the hits come across like that. He can go down not easily, but it just looks worse, you know? It just does. So I agree with you.

Like, I think he was dealing with a lot of injuries. But the bottom line is you may not get the answer you want, but an answer is what we're looking for. So in that case, I'm glad that we're giving him his due, number one, in speaking out now, because it's fair. and then number two, nothing's inconsistent with what we've already heard. So in my opinion, when Caleb Williams' story lines up enough with DJ's story to make it make sense and everybody else's stories are also kind of on the same page here, then I'm copacetic

about it all now. Is it necessarily the answer you need, you know, to move on? I don't know. But for me, speaking about it and not being inconsistent, with the others is enough for me. Amen, what I'm more interested. And I mostly agree with that. I think at this point it's not something that you have to have like a, you know,

3,000-word article on the he said, she said, and everything. Like if it's there, I'd read it. It would be entertaining. I would probably try to get some stuff if I could off the record. I'm still interested as a reporter and a sports fan, like the specifics. But for the most part, the fact that he, again, that he spoke, that he was happy to do it, that he was in line with the miscommunication. I think that, yeah, I think that that is acceptable.

I'm more interested in Layla is indeed seeing, hopefully DJ Moore will still be here, unless it's a better deal for the Bears for him to not be here, to continue to grow that chemistry with Caleb Williams and not have the games where he's not part of it, because, of course, he made some of the biggest catches of the year, but he had also been missing in games where, where is he? and how come he's not getting the ball more? Well, and that's it, right? It's why wasn't he getting the ball more?

You can't target yourself as a receiver. Ben Johnson said, one of the objectives is they have to get better as a team at catching the ball. Yes, please. And that goes for everybody. That goes for you too. I'll say it again. We're not talking about this as much if Roma Dunesay catches the touchdown.

It was the first question I wanted to ask when I got in the locker. locker room to, you know, I gave Rome a couple warm-ups, but I asked him straight up after that. And he took no excuses. He said, I got to make that catch, period. Period. But that was huge. He knows, yeah. He knows. And thank God, he knows. Yeah, I don't think anybody's shying away from the questions that we have. And, you know, to your credit, Mark, you told me that DJ doesn't think the media in Chicago is very harsh to him. He's from Philly, though, so there's that benchmark. Well, I guess so. Yeah, I wasn't sure how to take that because I just remember saying to him sort of off the cuff,

like something like people think we're too hard on you guys. You know how like when the hard Bears fans come at you. Oh, you mean the same 50 dudes on Twitter who just make it up even if. May or may not be real. Suddenly you want to marry Justin Fields, you know, it's to that extent. But he overheard me say that. And he's like, what are talking about? He's like, you guys are too hard on us?

I go, that's what people say. And he goes, I don't think you guys are. So I was happy to hear that from DJ. Yeah, it's not our job to be a certain way. Our job is to ask questions and get them answered. Except for that one time I asked DJ, was it after the Cleveland game when he started to break out? And I was like, I was like, you know, did you need this game?

That's right. What? Yeah, basically he gave me that. So it's something to effective, are you all going to get off my back now? Yeah, he did say that. Remember that? But he also said it with a smile. Oh, of course it was.

And of course people didn't know that. took it a different way, but DJ says a lot with a wink in a smile. I'm not doing my job for Twitter. Like, period, paragraph. But it was right to ask him the question and he answered. So for those of you actually listening, we'll reiterate it here. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score. That's right.

We're in FM. Are you still not used to hearing that? No, I am just like you have come a long way, Leiluf, since the first day of the confidence with which you say 104-3 FM has just gone up. like notches. No, yesterday I yelled at myself several times. I tried to give you credit and you wouldn't accept it. Because it's not true.

I'm going to say 670 the score. We still don't know what the appropriate punishment is yet for that, but we'll figure it out. The beautiful part about it is it's still accurate. It's not like you're saying something incorrect if you say 670 the score. There I said it. No, and you can get 670 in a lot of places better than 104.3. The problem is you couldn't get anything. and the places where you couldn't get 670s,

so now we fill in the gaps that way. That's how that works. We call it a continuous body. I do feel really quickly. I do feel bad for the people that, because I think I might have been part of the misleading of my friends in central Illinois. I have lots of friends in all the central Illinois towns

because we were building it up, and I mentioned them. Of course, you're not going to get 104-3 the score as clearly. You'll always have 670 AM, though. Yeah, C-LIC A-1-5 says LR, 670 versus 104-3 update, because everybody's doing their own science experiments. Accidentally got, is religion the word? Accidentally got religion this morning. That might be a typo.

Grocery shopping and Dixon. Checked it on the score on 1043 and I found the radio station of I-39-51. Oh no, life point. Okay, sorry, the text come out of order. Decided to accept Jesus for as long as it lasted. Ironically, Mully and Hoff found their voices on the county road I live on about 1.5 miles west of I-39-51.

This concludes my experimenting. You know, that's what happens. You learn things along the way. Please continue your science experiments and let us know. Peace be with you. And also with you. Thank you. I don't like the new answer.

I just don't. Ray Diaz is our producer, along with Tyler Beaterbaugh, Brandon Fryer, helps us out as well. You can text us and call us at 312-4-64-67-67, because we also want to get your opinion on one of the NFL honors that was given out last night. Do you think that the moment of the year was the touchdown to beat the Packers in overtime? do you to clinch the north? Do you? So we'll discuss that along with everything else we have going on today, which is a lot of bears talk from the NFL honors show next. Our producers, we mentioned earlier. Our video team is Tyler, uh, video team is Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis. They help us out on Twitch, Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago, where our Twitch

mob is up and chatting. That is our address on YouTube as well. The score Chicago. See, I'm still having trouble. Do you want me to take it from here? I think we should go to break. More NFL honors talk next. Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids' legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them. Should something happen to us?

Are you my dad now? No, sorry. I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30. years. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Presented by Team Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join Team Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch today. Hi, I'm PJ Vote, and I want to tell you about my podcast search engine. We try to make sense of the world, one question at a time. No question too big,

no question too small. We will even answer your questions if you send you. the men. Stuff like, what happens when a cemetery goes out of business? What should we do about teens using AI to do their homework? Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store? Follow and listen to search engine in partnership with Odyssey wherever you get your podcasts. Lila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. That right there. The overtime touchdown Catch, Caleb Williams, DJ Moore. It was awarded at the NFL honors last night. Number one, we had a reason to watch the NFL honors.

That's new. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. Yeah, how about needing to watch that just because it's of consequence now? I had spent a couple hours at my favorite Starbucks, Lou Leila, yesterday. Palmer House. Starbucks, just having a great time, love the people over there. Thanks to everybody who's made it great and accommodating for me. I wish I could live at the Palmer House.

I got to check this out. I mean, I've been, but I just didn't have the same experience. I had a really rude lobby bartender there who kept telling me that IDing me was good for me. And I was like, I'm over 40. Like, I gave you my card. What's with the speech? Give me the name. I'll take care of it.

Yeah, yeah, please do. Because all I wanted was like a five ounce glass of Sauvignon Blanc one day. And that was too much for this dude. He had to be a jerk about it. I'm going to co-sign with Grotty there. That Starbucks, though, is spacious and nice. It's a nice big one.

Don't be rude to people. I agree. No, the lobby's bomb over there. It's so good. Oh, yeah. I just want lots of outlets is really the draw because there's plenty of places you go that you don't get the outlet. So I'm doing all my work over there yesterday. And you're right.

I'm thinking about, okay, what do I need to watch tonight? Obviously, there's the Bulls game. We all watched Bulls and Raptors for no reason. I mean, there was. For no reason. No, I disagree. I thought it was fascinating to see the Bulls and. Bulls and who they would start and who would play.

And who is this? What does this Jaden Ivy look like? Oh, Anthony Simons? He's pretty good, actually. Oh, Anthony Simons looked like he belonged there. Yeah. I enjoyed some of watching just because of the... Now, will I watch going forward? Mac McClug's like, I'm going downhill here and get stopped by a seven-footer in the lane. And then there was another point where, like, Yuki was in the post.

And I'm like, what are we doing, guys? How about Matt? I thought that modest boozell is Ellis. I don't know if you saw it. I'm sorry. Did I say Mac Miller or not Mac McLung? McClung. RIP MacMiller. RIP MacMiller, very important. It's a Wayne Larry of your name.

Matt McClung! Oh my God! Isn't it? McClung! The arrogance of McClong! A McClung, Doug! More arrogance by Matt Nagy. It just doesn't sound the same with Matt McClung.

And frankly, he was just doing what he thought was a good idea from a basketball standpoint, playing downhill, thought he had some space in the lane. Sir, this is the NBA, not the G-R-Aic. I'm really sorry how that lane closed up so quickly. and with a seven-footer to meet your fate. Turnover, Raptors' ball. Modus Bezellis at one point in time had a sick one-hand jam that he put all of his world into. And I couldn't help but thinking that he feels a little threat with old Matt McClung on the roster.

He's like, okay, you and I have both been in slam dunk cons. McClug! Get away! At 1125, we need to delve into your, is Mac Mac McClung pressuring my mind? Modest for competition. I'm saying you got two like slam dunk guys out there. We know, hey, McClung, we all know what you're trying to do. Modest would have none of it. MacLung!

You know what this sounds like to me? Bulls need their own slam dunk contest. And it's two people. It's Mack McClung and Modest. And we'll figure it out. What if they do that during timeouts at the United Center instead of the bucket boys or all their various excellent acts that they have out there? Let's just get McClung out here.

bucket boys and all of the dances. Oh, I support the bucket boys always. They always, always will get contributions from me. Grotty's a man of the people. He supports the bucket boys. He's out at the Palmer House. He's doing things. But the Palmer House, that's right, bringing it back full circle.

Actually, I think the segment was supposed to be about something else technically. Let's go. I'll get it to you right now. So there I was, doing all my work, go home. I'm like, not only do I feel obligated to watch the Bulls game, I feel, as you said, for the first time in a while, I feel obligated to watch all of the NFL awards from last night. Yeah, the NFL awards were actually important for us to watch. So after I watched the Raptors beat the Bulls on the Amazon broadcast

with the dashing British accent sideline reporter who I thought did an excellent job. Yeah. Yeah, everything just sounds cooler with a British accent. Of course. He was great. So after that broadcast, I did tune it over to the NFL honors, which had bears being part of. the discussion. Let's start with the obvious one. I would have also been the first place vote for Ben Johnson for Coach of the Year.

I'm sorry. He only got one and Adam Rake joked it was him. Sam Munson was the guy who voted for Justin Herbert who got the first place vote for MVP. It went to Matthew Stafford. Matt or Mike Vrable gets Coach of the Year honors, 19 first place

votes, 302 points. Next was Liam Cohen. That was Marshall's guy. Then it was Mike McDonald. then it was Ben Johnson, and then it was Kyle Shanahan, who you think deserves it because he's good every year. Right. I was like sort of in that camp of, can we just finally give it to the actual best coaches in the league every year?

And not the biggest turnaround guy. But I think they should do what the NBA does and just have more awards that kind of encompasses that concept. Joe Tune gets protector of the year for the inaugural award that Dionne Dawkins helped create. Way to go, old Joe. Yeah, our guy Marshall would be very happy with that too. Wasn't that his MVP or was it yours as well?

Caleb Williams was my MVP because the quarterback is the most important. In my algorithm, quarterback waits the most. But best offensive edition for me was Joe Tuny. And I think it is really cool. We talked to Olin a little bit about it yesterday and the importance of how offensive line talk is one of the good things that's happened with the advent of all this film watching and social media is understanding how crucial they are to successful quarterback play.

So I thought it was fantastic that Joe Tuny got his due. Yeah, and he gets it over and just getting all the Detroit fans all stirred up, gets it over Penny Sewell. Names like Creed Humphrey, the Chiefs find, get over one of his ex-teammates. Yeah, I mean, one of the best in the league. That collection of names was the best in the league. Yeah, now I'm glad they're doing that. And congrats, man.

That's awesome to see To see Tooney in the success that he had with the Bears. Now, keep in mind, Ben Johnson's advice to Caleb Williams was get away from football. So I'm not mad that he wasn't at the end. NFL honors. Caleb Williams and DJ Moore and the touchdown to beat the Packers in overtime for that was win number one over the Packers to even the series at Soldier Field won the moment of the year award. And you know, I think that Kevin Burckhard and Tom Brady had a little something to do with that. I don't really know how it works. There's votes and all of that stuff, but they wanted to come back to Chicago because they had such a good time, you know, being here and being a part of the broadcast,

and then they talked about it a lot in that divisional game, too. So I don't know. I think announcer bias maybe kind of like inching over toward the bears a bit with stuff like this. I guess I would accept that if that's what it is. But I mean, that was pretty spectacular, the 46-yard walk-off TD against Green Bay over the dreadful Kishon Nixon, who. who, of course, stopped that party in Green Bay. I voted him as Bears Public Enemy Number One, as you know, and he really was part of the discussion surrounding it. So I also laughed because I checked out Packers Wire, you know, via USA Today.

And it was like, the Packers on the wrong end of NFL moment of the year in 2025. And then somebody's going to say, oh, the Packers live rent free in your head. They beat the Packers, okay? Like, that's how it works. You beat another team and it's the Packers. I think about your team. I'm not apologizing for it. That's good.

I'm glad you noticed that. The bears beat you guys. Okay, you've beaten the bears. That's how this goes. Beat you twice. Let's get that right, Layla. Twice. Well, we live rent-free.

You're on the schedule. We talk about the Bengals win a lot. Do you think the Bengals are living writ-free in anybody's head? It does suck when your team is being used in a highlight at the expense of the other team. It's about the time. It's about the other side of this. I know. Like there's so many times where like NFL films where it's the bears that are in the picture at the expense of them.

So it was nice to see that. But that was that was one of the great plays for the Bears and in the NFL. And the Bears had a bunch of doozies this year. Like they could have there could have been what three, four, five maybe other plays? Well, even the ridiculously insane touchdown pass against the Rams to Colquemette where he swung the bat right in. it's Stacey Dales's phone, I think, or her camera or whatever, to get that angle. That was incredible. Like, that was the one that

wowed the entire NFL. I watched the highlight of that the other day, or yesterday at my Starbucks for some reason, because I just needed a little break from... Palmer House, you better be paying Mark Grady some reverse rent here or something. I don't know if they're telling you. I just want them to feel encouraged to keep everything the way it is over there.

We need third places. Yes, we do. We all need a third place. Stop it with the just working home thing. It's just amazing to watch the arm strength that Caleb Williams on that particular play where, of course, it goes down in the records as a 14-yard pass but it actually was over 51

yards by the time he goes back and just the way he flings it, he's off balance, makes the play and the throw is perfect. Yeah, old 24, Caleb Williams can be doing that, 24-year-old. Like, if we're talking about 34-year-old, I don't know that it's going to go the same way, but I'm living in the moment.

The point is, yeah, it was for the Bears beating the Packers. So I don't know, are you guys all going to text the NFL and be like, oh, the Packers are living rent-free in your heads. Anyway. Who is saying that? Who is hurting you right now, Leila? No, it's hilarious.

It's all like anytime we post a video talking about the Bears beating the Packers, all of a sudden, all these Packers fans come out of nowhere. Good, good. No, embrace it. We're living Red-free. What are you talking about? This is the result of the game. Yeah, we're certainly not going to pay rent.

I mean, it's three. The only reverse rent is going to Mark Grody for being at the Palmer House. So the point is Caleb Williams was. not at the NFL honors awards. I think that's fine. Ben told him to get away from football. DJ Moore was there. He showed up. He talked to CHGO, as we mentioned. You can check out much more of their interview, by the way, on their coverage with Adam Hogan, Adam Johns. And DJ Moore showed up to accept this award. Listen to what happened. Ooh, there's a lot of people in this mug. But I want to say thank you to God, you know,

for our season. Joe Noda ups and downs. Everybody knows this season was special for the 2025 bears because RIP Virginia but we went out there and made some moments this year and it was special moments and we can't look forward to causing havoc to the league next year. Thank you guys. Yeah, he was

great. The smile on his face was ear to ear and he showed up and it was really nice of him I think to honor Virginia McCasky who I wanted to see in the in Memorial montage forgetting that she was in last year. You were enraged on the text line. I was mad, yeah. It's hard to remember sometimes.

Like what happened? Oh, it's like, because I did like the year in review thing over on WBBM, and you really have to think about what happened in the calendar year 25. Like, did this person die in that year? Right. So it is like I could understand how you got mixed up. But good to see DJ like looking happy, looking healthy, looking confident, looking eager, looking like he anticipated.

I don't know if these guys know that they won the award before they won the award, but he just looked so happy and confident. confident to be there. He did. And it really, part of the fun of watching that show was seeing all the people in the crowd. Like, he's right. You know, Ed McCaffrey's up there looking like he hadn't aged a day talking about the work of his son, Christian. I did not expect Ed McCaffrey to look like he's still playing shape and like all his brown hair. Like there were, like, how about the moment from Roger Craig as well when they announced the Hall of Fame class and he looks like he's about to cry? You know, that was incredible. You could tell how much he really wanted to be there. And his stats bear out that he should

be in the Hall of Fame, by the way. Not Emperor Palpatine Roger Craig, though, right? No, no, just not baseball, Roger Craig, but football Roger Craig. Both were San Francisco, though. Yeah, no, Roger Craig was like one of the great early, like, that I saw, dual threat running backs where he could be just, like, think Matt Forte. Yeah. Could be just as good receiving as running. And they talked about that, you know, a thousand yard rushing and a thousand yard receiving, which is outrageous. Like we forget, I think, how outrageous the West Coast offense was in disrupting what we knew about the NFL at the time.

And, yeah, it predated my football cognizance a bit. But I mean, I don't know, you're up early Saturday morning watching NFL films and stuff like that. You get the history. Oh, yeah, man. Yeah, no, it was good to see all those guys up there. No, Bill Belichick. No, Bill Belichick. Punishment levied via people because the league didn't.

Yes, Ray? Just a quick note, since we did, mentioned Virginia and DJ's acknowledgement of Virginia McCasky. This is a year ago today that she passed away. So, you know, shout out to Virginia. And that's why it was tough because you're trying to figure out the timing of it. And I think it may have been that day on the NFL honors where they included her in last year's montage. But Virginia does deserve more acknowledgement than just being in one memoriam montage. She does. I agree. Yeah, she deserves her. her own special. Absolutely.

Virginia McCasky. And frankly, you know, as a woman who appreciates women in roles where there usually aren't, she was one of the groundbreaking women in football when you consider that she became ownership long before a lot of women were in that

role. Think about Carly Ursaie Gordon now and how much we accept her and her presence and Virginia was doing that at a time when nobody was. Right. Prematurely. Well, relatively nobody. Earlier than she thought she was ever going to have to. Yeah. So I always think about that and you know

if the bears really wanted to do a bobblehead and I said this before I actually think Virginia McCaskey bobblehead would be awesome and really well received and women in sports day was actually, women in sports day happened earlier this week and she truly is a woman

in sports who deserves all of the recognition for that. I laugh because there's just no way they would do a Virginia McCasky bobblehead just because she's like that would not be her style. That would not like to put Virginia, the classy Virginia McCaskey in bobblehead form.

I don't think that would happen. But not like a bad bobblehead. I know. Just a figurine that encompasses. But that's a caricature of somebody. She's not a caricature person. The one they did for the 100 year wasn't that, that was the Gail Sayers' Bobblehead, right?

I have it. Oh, the Gail se. Okay. So like they've done some that are like, they're honoring people, not like, oh, I understand. I understand, but it's just like, It just made me laugh the idea of Virginia McCasky and bobblehead.

That's just not her personality. No, but I don't know. I just, I'm trying to think of ways to like honor her that would have been like something involving fans in a way that not to not to take advantage of, but just to do something else to just give credit. You know, like we have a less bubblehead doll right now in our studio. Yes, we do. Yes, he keeps moving. He's in front of you now. Oh, no.

Actually, there's the less Grabstein. name placard right there in the co-pilot chair and less is in front of you so I hope you feel protected okay exactly so we have a couple of different ways we can go with our next segment I want you to pick because you're here and it's a Friday and it's a Friday before the superb owl wow yes it is should we talk about the other moments that you think should have been bears moment of the year at least or or should we get into the Chicago pop skit that happened with the NFL honors wow I mean I not hear the Chicago Pope skit? Because for half time, we have something completely different, which is also a different discussion.

Sounds to me like you want to do the Pope. Can we? I'd, come on. Yeah. Ray says yes. All right. Chicago Pope appeared at the NFL Otters last night. Bob.

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And a lot of people have asked us about this. We're going to talk about the Matt Ryan interview that leads us all to believe the Bears are owed a compensatory pick for hiring away Ian Cunningham going to the Falcons. We're going to talk about that at 125, just so you guys are aware. That is very much on the priority list, so that's later. At the meantime, we're talking about the NFL honors.

DJ Moore showed up. He talked to CHGO about that play that resulted in the camcourl interception in overtime of the Rams game. He was there. And not only did he show up, then we talked about that was the moment of the year to the NFL fans, but was it the moment of the year to you? And then there's also the other part of this. There were some skits going on at NFL honors last night.

Roger Goodell dressing up like a DJ because Bijon Robinson was DJ. I'm not necessarily sure that that was my favorite of them. We know I was really worried about the Roger Goodell one. And they pulled it off perfectly. When they said, what kind of music do you listen to? I was like, oh, no. Is they going to do like the cliche, like old white guy music or something like that here?

What's cliche old white guy music? I don't know what that would be. Yacht rock. If he said, like, I love Yacht Rock. Maybe Yacht Rock, yeah. What would it be? That's a good question. I listened to Yacht Rock.

I mean, I listened to. Leonard Skinnerd? Yeah, yeah, maybe. No, too many people listen to Leonard Skinnerd. I just afraid they were going to do like something that was very predictable there. But so then when they played the NFL music, I was like, okay, that's good. Oh, yeah, the Sunday night theme is. Yeah, they just played, is that what it was.

Specifically the Sunday night thing. I was like, good job. I was like, good job. You got through it. I was just holding my breath the whole time watching that skit. Yeah, the head and the sunglasses and the chains were a little concerning. I was afraid he was. going to get booed just because like okay he's in a safe place I think but well and he likes being

booed at the draft that now which I think is good I don't think he really he he's been forced to embrace it I don't know if he likes it fair enough so it's a pride thing there were skits and one of them involved the Chicago Pope which frankly we have talked about Pope Leo quite a bit on this show that's Bob to you Pope Bob so Pope Bob who I'm pretty sure help the Bears extend their playoff run and, you know, help the Cubs beat the Padres in the wild card. Here was the NFL skit. There was so much great football. No, no, no, no, no, it sucked.

It sucked. It was a bad season and it ended badly so far. I'm sorry, is this the Chicago? It's His Holiness, the Chicago Pope. No, please. Oh, hello, your excellency. Hello, no, no, no. Your excellency is my father, okay?

Okay. You can call me the Pope. Okay, well, the Pope, sorry about that. I'm sorry if I said something to upset you. I feel like... No, Johnny, it's not you. See, I've always liked you. Okay, I'm from Chicago. You're named after my favorite cold cut.

Fair enough. Right? I'm just bummed about the Bears season and how it ended. And, you know, I'm starting to think maybe there ain't no man upstairs. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Come on, Chicago, Pope. You cannot say that. Come on, you cannot say that.

I'm just talking. People say things they don't mean all the time, like a Chicago winner ain't that bad. or Josh Allen will get her ring someday. Okay, that's not, now that's just not nice. Look, there was a lot of love about your bears there this year. Yeah, it wasn't there? It was great, wasn't it? Ben Johnson and Caleb Williamsman together,

those two pulled off more miracles than Frank of Assisi. But we still ended up losing to Stafford and a bunch of loonies from L.A. I don't have any inside information, but they're all going to hell. Okay, now that sounds very personal. Come on, that sounds personal. Listen, your team was so exciting to watch. Appreciate that. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's team.

Calm down with the ethical lesson, Danny Draper. Look, let me have my crisis of faith, okay? For me, this is a pretty frigging big deal. Honestly, I don't know what we did to upset the big man. Maybe it was Erlocker's new hair. Now, that was never in God's plan, huh? That was very, very weird. Listen, we need to get on with the show here, though.

So why do we even settle this on the grid iron, huh? As opposed to what? What are you talking about? A conclave, a conclave. It works great. You have the regular season. Then we all get in a room like this. We close the windows.

We lock the doors. We have Chicago Deep Dish brought in every three hours. We argue it out until we all agree that the Chicago Bears are the Super Bowl champions. And we send the white smoke up to chimney. For the love of butt kiss, I really hate to see you like this, Chicago Pope. If only there was someone who could cheer you up, I don't know who we could find. Chicago Pope, don't despair. Charles Peanut Tilda.

Men. Adda, baby. Peanut. There he is the man. Your Chicago Holy Minister, you're forgetting the most important thing this year. What's that? We beat the Packers twice.

That's right. We beat the Packers twice. You know it. Yes, we did. Packers suck. Packers suck. Okay. Packers.

I'm sorry, Jordan Love. I guess just let him have this. All right. Listen. Thank you, Chicago, Pope. That's a good song. I like that. What was that?

What was that? What was that? Also, it's painfully obvious. that's Bob Odenkirk. Like, do we even need citation on that? John Hamm and Bob Odenkirk going back and back. Oh, okay. So as Jeffrey Ross did the, was up there,

first I thought that was Jeffrey Ross. Because I know Jeffrey Ross had been on the stage as well, known as the Roastmaster General, playing the part of the aging quarterback, the 60-year-old quarterback. That was funny. Who's open when he's in like the Browns jersey? Yeah.

He kept asking who's open? I actually thought that was funny. Who's open? Yeah, it evolved in. funny. It took a second. It took a second. That's the Mark Roady judgment.

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