Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - George McCaskey talks Ben Johnson's viral 'F--- the Packers' moment (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote reacted to Bears chairman George McCaskey’s recent comments about head coach Ben Johnson directing profanity at the rival Packers. After that, Chicago sports historian Jack Silverstein joined the show to discuss the Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacies of Bears greats Charles Tillman, Olin Kreutz and Lance Briggs. Later, Rahimi, Harris and Grote held the Halftime segment.

This hour is sponsored by Riverfront Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram. This is Rahimi Harrison Brody on 104-3 to score. We spent a lot of time talking about the stadium, so thanks to everybody who called in. Because right now, if you're in Cook County, that's your money. We're still on the hook for. So that's something that matters to me. And in the meantime, Walter Payton's son, Jared,

told us when he was giving out the Walter Payton Man of the Year award the day after at the NFL honors, that he was going to be. going to be interviewing George McCasky as part of his trip to the Super Bowl to do the annual NFL honors show. He was going to be interviewing George McCaskey and it was going to air on WGN TV sports. So he warned us about it. He let us know and he also said it was going to be posted that day, that night on GN sports and then additionally on YouTube. So the WGN YouTube page has it as well. And it's important because we had not seen.

seen. George McCasky speak and how long Mark Grady? How long Bears reporter Mark Brody? Yeah, when was the last time? I think we went the entire regular season without hearing George. We talked to him at the end of last season. That might be, unless I'm forgetting something, I don't think he spoke during training camp. I could be mistaken, but I think, yeah, this has got to be the first time in a year plus that we've heard from George McCasky. I totally agree with that Grotie because just in the general media sense to the beat for sure. George McCasky does do his annual kind of like final preseason game of the year with Fox where it's a little bit like in between the game action.

Right. It's very cleaned up though. It's very cleaned up and I don't know how many people are sticking because it's usually late in the final preseason game. I don't know how many eyes are on that actually. Yeah. So that probably, yeah. And that's not for reporters.

Like we have not. We still haven't talked to George. as the beat. But luckily, we have somebody who did. Right. And that I also think should happen. George, who has made himself public. I mean, for goodness sake, he'll be in a tailgated soldier field.

He'll sit in the stands. He should probably, as chairman of the bears, talk to the beat reporters as well. Which he usually does. And it's ironic that in a good year, he didn't. And it might be because he didn't want to take attention away from the guys that were really responsible for it. And Layla, it could be because. he didn't want to take questions on the stadium. Yeah, he did not get asked about the stadium by Jarrett,

but he did get asked about something else, which is important because, as we all know, under Virginia's watch, swearing was not allowed on the Bears. I feel like Jalen Johnson was the only one who would occasionally take it for the team. Every now and then you get a post-game interview where somebody would throw out a swear word or two.

But even on hard knocks, on HBO, not to be found. My guy, Taven Jenkins, I was like, Okay, are you going to be on hard knocks? He's like, you kidding me? I swear too much. So it was very well known. Do you know how HBO works?

It's awesome that we have passed that era. We're in a new era of following the bears and understanding. Cursing is allowed, if not encouraged. Be authentic. Be yourself. Okay, if that's the biggest knock on Virginia McCasky, that she didn't let her team swear I get it. Or why it was such an issue for the chairman, for example, George to want to execute that order.

I get it. And she took away the honey bears because people will text that. So I just wanted to get that out there. I know what you're thinking. I know what you guys are thinking. Bears too would never. Should they bring back honey bears?

Bears too would not only have hunting bears. They have those people who catapult themselves and shoot buckets and stuff. It's like 3.1, 2, 647, 67. Should the bears bring back the honey bears? I don't see why not. I'd love it. I mean, they were classic, you know.

Every other team's got them. them. Maybe we don't call them the honey bears. Maybe that's the difference. What would you call them? Just bears. Or the bears like the spirit squad or something? I don't know. Spirit squad. The bear spirit squad. You see how quick that came to me? That's disturbing. But cussing was something we all joked about. Was it just like one of those commonly held inside jokes, for example, was you just knew. You just knew that that wasn't something that made bears management happy. Well, your coach Ben Johnson publicly proclaimed blank the Packers pretty loudly, and Jared Payton did ask George about it.

We talked before the season, and a couple of things that I shared with them are, if you look at 100 years of history, whether the Bears have a successful season has a lot to do with how we do against Team Voldemort, not 2 and 15 or anything like that, but if you sweep, you get a pretty darn good chance of having a successful season. If you split, you still have a good chance. But how that series goes has a big impact on how the season goes. And the other thing I told them was when you're with your players, you've got to be authentic. They can spot a phony.

You've got to do what comes naturally. So yeah, we talked and we're on the same page. just so everybody's aware, team Voldemort is the Packers. And George referred to the Packers as Team Voldemort several times in the interview. Today, who shall not be named? George answered that even better than I thought he would. You knew he was going to somehow someway support his head coach that just got them into the playoffs and beat the Packers in the playoffs.

Him saying that you have to be authentic with your players is perfect because I thought for sure he was going to say something to the effect of, we understood the heat of the moment, we prefer that he didn't use those particular words, but we do understand and we do support his dislike for the Green Bay Packers. That would not have been my choice, but he didn't do that. No, the best part about it is that he actually used the same phrasing that Ben Johnson used when he was asked the question. Both men saying, we're on the same page.

Oh, I thought you meant the Packers. Are we going to get into the fact that you slightly got into a little bit of a George McCasky impression? It's just the cadence. Actually, my Dan, weed man. Has a really good, George. Yes. Okay, we've got a lot of names for the possible Bears Spirit Squad team. Oh, okay.

The Chippin Bears? Chippin Bears. We got the Bearettes. Chippin Bears. Chippin is a football term. I kind of like that. This daily spirit squad. appropriately we have also got the honey bears you've got to at least acknowledge it if you're

going to change it or consider it and then 708 says they would like to have the bears have a marching band like the ravens a marching band would be awesome be sick hey i was in marching band i support i support marching bands 630 says just have some nuns instead of cheerleaders the bear nuns i get it i get the joke uh i love it i love it when people name places that they want to blow up for stadiums and I love it when they have ideas about what to name a bear's cheerleading slash spirit squad group. Did you guys know there's only one NFL team that's never had cheerleaders? Is it Texas A&M?

Oh, no. That's not a football team in the NFL. Oh, wait. So there's an NFL team that has never had cheerleaders. And there's eight current teams that don't have cheerleaders, but there's only one that's never had cheerleaders. And it's an expansion team I'm imagining? No.

No, not an expansion team. This team's been around and has had Super Bowl success. This century. This century? Like in the 2000s? Wait, don't tell me the Patriots? No. They have cheerleaders.

Cash money to take a number for the 9-9 in the 2000s? Did you just say Robert? Yes, I did. I said yes. Oh my God. I have solved the problem between Jordan, what's her name, and Robert Kraft. Bill Belichick's girlfriend. Do you know she does the adult cheerleading thing?

Oh, my goodness. Just get on the Patriots cheerleaders. Where your big boat? Oh, is it? Problem solved. Is the team Philadelphia? No. Oh, no.

Philadelphia, they got cheerleading. I'm trying to think of teams that have won Super Bowl. I may have dated a Philadelphia Eagles show. Well, well, well. Hey, man. Good for you. Good for you. So the team that's never had cheerleaders is the New York Giants.

What? I was going to guess that, but then I was like, no, there's no way. And then the other seven teams that don't have cheerleaders. Obviously, we know the Bears. The Chargers. The Jets In L.A. with the team that doesn't even have fans, you probably need

cheerleaders. The Steelers? You also have a plethora of professional dancers in L.A. Yeah. The Bills and the Browns and the Packers. So those are all the teams that don't have cheerleaders. There's eight of them. All right, we got bare necessities slightly inappropriate, so I'm intrigued.

Oh, bear necessities is a great call. The baronets, B-E-A-R. That's it. They get cheerleaders. No, but The Bears have, yeah, the drum line is great. Yeah, we love a drumline. They can play a little balloon when they come out. Oh, yeah, drumline is very prevalent.

How do we feel about Team Voldemort for the Packers? Team Voldemort. You're saying, how do we feel about him calling them that? I kept thinking it was Baltimore. I was like, what? Have you never seen Harry Potter? Team Baltimore. I had to look, no, I have not seen Harry Potter.

I'm not surprised. Have you read the books? I have not. I am also not surprised about that either. Also, way to radicalize, George. Use the language that the kids know. you know, like your younger players and such. I had to look it up.

How do you think he knows about Voldemort? Now that I'm thinking about this. Oh, okay. That actually, he has kids and great kids. Yeah, he's watched the movies. I do enjoy his pettiness.

His and JP. JP won't say Packers either. They just can't. It's just, you know. If the Bears really wanted to be serious about the stadium leverage thing, if they really wanted to get people emotionally fired up. Bring back the cheerleaders?

No, to pay money, to keep them in Chicago. Illinois, they threatened Kenosha. There's plenty of land up there. But that is a bluff, right? If you really want to do this? If you really say you're going out of town? So people are like, I got a secret savings account.

I could, he's like, I can handle those taxes. Not Kenosha. Not Kenosha. They'd have to roll out George himself for the press conference and say, I didn't really want to do this, but I'm going to have to do this. Not going to happen. Yeah, you know me. I've said, okay,

you're serious about the leverage sell Arlington Heights. And then I'm like, if you really, if you really want to threaten, if you really want to, if you really want to party with me. Is that really where you're going? Yes, I was. And I was afraid I was going to mess up the lyrics. So I let Layla take it in the middle and she took it. Thank you, Leila.

Wait, let's get back to some of what George McCasky to say to Jericho on WGN sports. I really appreciated his, first of all, one of the things he kept repeating was how much he loved talking to fans about the bears how much he loves seeing all the viral videos that everybody has created, the tribute videos, and seeing how much those meant to everyone. So that is something that I want to reiterate, because he was very, very adamant about that. And you can see that in their interview on YouTube. He also continued to share which one of his favorites was the Caleb Williams throw that he liked the best. The two fourth down throws in the playoffs, the pass against the Packers, the crazy one against the Rams that I don't know how that.

got to Co-Commet. Which one of those made you yell the loudest? Probably the one in the playoffs to beat Team Voldemort because my first thing was, okay, no flags. And then they left too much time on the clock. So then we had to have, you know, this play at the goal line where he's got all day back there to throw. And it's just a great result. And I, I just collapsed in my son's arms and let the celebration begin. Team Voldemort. You're just going to add Team Voldemort to everything, like Go Cats. He just likes saying Voldemort.

He really does like saying it. He said it at least four times by my count. He does feel good about it. You could tell he's like, I came up with a clever idea. Yeah. He's like, yeah. Good for you, George. No, that's nice again.

It's cheesy, man. It's cheesy, but that's George. Yeah. George is kind of cheesy. It works. Like Jared talked to him about how. George famously, this has become viral push day, photo bomber who was wearing a Packer's hat out of the way of the picture with the Bears fans at the tailgate. And George says he wishes he shouldn't have done it.

No, George. You should have done it. You're good. You should have. I think that might be people's favorite George McCaskey moment is seeing him do that. He's not just talking to talk. He's actually walking the walk about how he feels about Team Voldemort, if you will. No doubt.

I'm pretty sure the Bears view me like I view most of our listeners. who text us with crazy stuff. So like, for example, the ones who are like, oh, you don't know anything, I'm like, cool, you know, I get that. So in this case, you know, I think they probably think of me as a carnival barker. But if they hear anything, is that George McCasky, 100% should have pushed that person out of the way. They invaded your personal space first.

No doubt. No doubt. Can I give you, what I listened to that whole interview, I noticed that Mr. McCaskey, George, was really, use, he was hitting the nail on the head with the adjectives that he used for two separate answers. You don't even need the questions because if there's a word that George

is about to use here in this montage that I had Tyler put together, that is not befitting of the bear season, you guys just tell me. I don't know how any objective observer can look at that, magical, improbable,

unbelievable, miraculous season and not conclude that there was some divine intervention. There was more, though. There was also maddening, exhilarating, exhausting, and satisfying. He also cited the profession of cardiologists? Yes, yes. He cited that as well.

So divine intervention, miraculous, magical, improbable, unbelievable, maddening, exhilarating, exhausting, and satisfying. We're all words that George used throughout that interview. He verbally ran the gambit. He did, but are any of those words wrong? Which is your favorite? Yeah, which is your favorite. That's a good question.

I think the exhilaration for me. That's a good word. You're right. Exilerating is good because exhilarating implies that there was effort that was spent on it with a satisfying result. I would hope it's not improbable because you hired a guy who was good at what he was doing. Yeah, you don't want to think that that wasn't real. I thought about that too. Exhausting is interesting too because there is an exhaust.

There was an exhaust factor, a stress factor, if you will, watching the Bears this year. People aged watching the fourth quarter of Bears games. Yes, I did. And we all came out okay when the game was over. Maddening is like the 10-game losing streak. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess maybe the Maddening could qualify because they did not.

Because George talked about that too in the interview, that the goal is that we fell short. Our goal is to win the Super Bowl. That's Maddening to George. George. The great thing about the maddening. Where we are this season is we've gone from asking one question to asking another question. The question we were asking at the end of last season is, can the bears lose normal? Now we're asking, can the bears win normal?

Can the bears win normal? Does it have to be a last minute drive to win the game? They've been asking that too. In press conferences after games, they don't want to win like this either. Well, see, then that's why we know that there's the obvious areas where the bears, we know exact, like, can they get better? don't know, but we know exactly how they need to get better. Faster starts, better defense. I don't think the bears are going to name their mythical new cheerleading squad.

We've created Bear Naked, 574. I just don't, I don't think that's going to happen. It's been several years. Lela, you're supposed to fill in the lyrics. One week. Thank you. Oh, it's been one week. It's been.

Oh, 847 has a whole plan. Honey Bears Field, sponsored by Haribone, Kenosha, and it will be called Blank the Packers Stadium, and I can't say that word. Okay, you've got a pitch there. I'm interested. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotian, 104-3, the score. We talked a lot about, and the NFL has, too,

the discourse around this Hall of Fame class, notably the lack of Bill Belichick, notably how it's only five individuals. So to get more understanding about it and to also reassess what happens to a lot of bears you know who have been on some of those lists already, Jack Silverstein is joining us to talk about all of that next. Rahimi Harrison Grody

The great Kevin Harlan I just pulled through the Taco Bell Drive-thru and I've got a couple of big, nasty Supreme Burritos right here waiting to beat You know, the first thing they ask you now are you using the app The app, no, I just want my burrito

I don't want to use an app bringing a lot of mild sauce because I'm going to escort it all over the plate Put some hot sauce on my burrito baby Rahimi Harrymi Harrison Grody Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score And the Colts have had a hard time season covering kicks. It's Hester trying to work it back to the middle.

Gets past the first wave and here he goes. It's Hester. Inside the 30, Hester's going to take it over away for a touchdown. And no flag, 92 yards. Devin Hester, the call courtesy of CBS. This is Rahimi Harris and Grody on 104-3 to score. And the Pro Football Hall of Fame class was introduced. as it tends to be during the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl festivities. And for more on that, we decided to bring in our Chicago sports historian, Jack Silverstein.

You can check out Jack's work at readjack.com. He also is joining us via the Circa Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circa Sports app today. Hey, Jack, how are you? Hi, everybody. I'm doing well. How are you all? Good.

I think we're still trying to figure out, you know, the process. It got front and center. in the news when it came to the discussion surrounding whether or not Belichick should be in it, the process overall, which has gotten a lot of scrutiny, rightfully so. How would you describe the selection process and the results we're seeing as far as these Hall of Fame class is being put together? Well, first of all, this is a great class. The controversy about Belichick and Robert Kraft aside, this is a really wonderful quintet of players. I mean, the whole purpose of a Hall of Fame is to honor the very best.

And here you've got Drew Breeze, one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, one of the most accurate, a player who at one point, you know, we all look at the 70% completion percentage. It's a good metric now for who's doing well. Drew Breeze retired. He had more than half of all of the 70% seasons in NFL history. You've got Larry Fitzgerald, who is one of the very, very greatest wider. ever. I ranked him last summer with a group of historians as the second best wide receiver ever after Jerry Rice. You've got Adam Vinatari, who's probably the greatest kicker ever, has some of the greatest kicks in NFL history, arguably the greatest in the snow and two Super Bowl winning

kicks, all-time leading score. You've got Luke Keekly, who was dominant. And then you've got Roger Craig, who's really the purpose of having a senior committee, which is to say, some players have fallen out of favor for some reason they didn't get elected but now with fresh eyes let's look again there's something you know essential about someone they stand the test of time and that's roger craig with the first ever a thousand thousand season he had the 1988 nia mbp award which is the one that's voted on by players so he didn't win the what's considered the actual MVP but he won an MVP that's voted by players and it is a phenomenal class. I'm happy for all five of them. The controversy has overshadowed the fact that this is a great, great group. And we look at that. And the first thing that I've been trying to kind of work through is how do they fix the process? Because I think Bill Belichick's own mission is more about what voters were faced with and tasked with than it is about whether or not Bill Belichick is a deserving Hall of Famer. He is. But like you just said, so are the people

who got into the Hall of Fame, Roger Craig being the one that came out of that. And we still, I don't believe we know if he even got the 40 votes because they just give it to the person with the highest number of votes if no one gets to 40 out of 50 votes. That is correct. So we don't know. All we know is that he had the highest and that no one else was at 40. How do you fix the process? So the first thing that they would need to do is they should go back to having five modern

candidate basically get in. You don't need these smaller classes. I think one thing that the Pro Football Hall of fame does a really good job of compared to basketball and baseball is really getting the best of the best in. You're talking about a sport with 53 players on a roster, 11 on each side with so many different job descriptions. And you really want to be able to honor all of them because they all factor into whether you win or lose on Sunday and whether you win or lose all the way into the playoffs and to a Super Bowl. So to me, you want to be able to honor all of these different positions. And that means that you need enough slots for all of them. So that would be number one, I would say, get back to that. You definitely want to separate the seniors from

the coaches and the contributors. You don't want to force voters to combine those. Voters should definitely have a non-voting meeting annually, so a meeting where they're just discussed. all the candidates, all the new candidates, and all the candidates who are in danger of slipping away. And there needs to be more communication, certainly, between the hall and the voters. And I would like to see more Hall of Famers involved in the process. Man, the thing with Bill Belichick, I was shocked that Bill Belichick did not get in. I organized last year, last summer, and into the fall, a group of 19 NFL historians. So some of the very, very best historians.

And we put together a recommendation list for the hall. This was when there were 34 seniors, 21 contributors, and 12 coaches. And I asked everyone to take every candidate and vote, yes, you approve, no, you don't approve, like of them getting in, or you have no preference. And of all of those candidates, the only person who had yeses across the board was Bill Belichick. And then when they got that final group of five, I had that same group of historians vote in the exact same way that they do it. And the only person who got to 80% was Bill Belichick. So I was very surprised, even though for about a year now, we had heard whispers of these kinds of complaints from voters. SpyGate was a real one

Pitting a coach against players was a real one I know that fans will look at this and they'll say how could you not vote for Belichick? I agree they should have voted for Belichick but if you're a San Francisco fan you're over the moon right now that Roger Craig got into the hall

and if Ken Anderson had gotten in or Elsie Greenwood then those fans would have but to put it in Chicago terms let's say Belichick was on the ballot two years ago go. And voters were being asked to choose between him and Steve McMichael. Obviously, Bill Belichick has a better hall resume than Steve McMichael. There aren't five people in NFL history with a better resume than Bill Belichick. But if you'd ask Bears fans, would you be okay if Bill Belichick waited one more year

to make sure that we get Steve McMichael in or Jay Higgenberg or Wilver Marshall or Joe Fortinato, whoever your Bears senior is? You probably would have said, yes, that's okay. And every fan base in the NFL has three or four or five seniors who they think this person has been overlooked, let's get them in before they pass away, et cetera. And in that respect, voters are doing their duty to make sure that they get people in when they're alive and able to appreciate it and celebrate it. And I don't think that San Francisco fans are complaining that much that Bill Belichick didn't get in. And this was part of my surprise because the Hall of Fame president came out. You know, Layla, you mentioned that people are now paying attention to the bylaws and the process.

The Hall of Fame president came out and really put the onus completely on the voters. And it is on them because they vote. But he came out and said, you know, you need to vote for who is most deserving. That's what the bylaws say. I've read the bylaws. I read the new bylaws when they were issued in August. 2024 with almost no voter input. And that's not what the bylaws say. I mean, they just say that you have to vote for five of seven or in the other group three of five and that you have to focus on

what's on the field. And SpyGate is something that is on the field. So that's fair, that's fair game. I've read the bylaws. I don't, I don't know what he's saying and saying that voters violated or need to be investigated, he specifically called out Vahe Gregorian, who's the Kansas City selector. And Gregorian wrote, you know, I didn't vote for Bill Belichick. And the reason was, I voted for these three seniors. They might not ever get another chance. And the Hall of Fame president said, like, you can't do that. But you absolutely can do that. So there's this weird battle that's coming between the president and the voters. Um, with, with, with, other with other gold jackets, Hall of Famers, kind of in the mix, too. I would just go back

to making sure that you're getting five moderns in, go back to evaluating seniors, see who's really missing. As of this year, there were 81 all-decade players from the 1920s to the 1990s who are not in Canton. And Sterling Sharp wasn't even all-decade. McMichael wasn't all-decade. Ken Riley wasn't all-decade. Chuck Howley wasn't. all decade. I mean, these are all seniors who have gotten in in the past few years. So think of how many players, for a variety of reasons, have fallen through the cracks, and voters take that really seriously. And I know the Hall takes it really seriously because they want to honor the game's greats. And that's kind of the standstill that we're at right now.

Well, yeah. And Mongo is Steve McMichael, one of those guys that almost did fall through the cracks, and it's great that he didn't. And now, using, your phraseology, Jack, in Chicago terms, there are three bears players, retired Bears players that we could all look at right now and think maybe there's a chance. And I'm talking about Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, and our guy here at the score, Olin Croutts. Who has the easiest path to the Hall of Fame and who has the most difficult road? I think Charles has the easiest path. And his path incredibly has, his case has gotten strong. in retirement.

I've never seen anything like it, but it's because people are starting to wake up to what he was doing. How many times, Bears fans, how many times from 2005 to 2010 were we saying Charles was a pro bowler this year and he got passed over for a corner who had a career year in interceptions? It happened all the time. And people didn't realize what they were looking at with Charles

because they didn't account for force fumbles. he was able to, he wasn't the first person to punch the ball out, but he was the first person to make it like, you know, an operational weapon that could be used any time he needed. And his case, you know, we talk about in the media world, about earned media versus paid media. Charles Tillman is the king of earned media because every football game now, in the NFL and college football,

every weekend you're hearing announcers mention his name. Yeah. The peanut punch is, it's coached. And the NFL a few years ago even put out a memo to teams saying, this is how you coach the peanut punch. This is how we want to avoid people just punching each other. Like, this is how you do it correctly. It was also a memo to, like, officials.

This is how you officiate. It was amazing. So Charles's case has gotten a lot better. Lance's case has gotten a lot harder because they've started to really look at outside linebackers based on sacks. And Lance wasn't, he could rush the passer, but he was a much more of an all-around outside linebacker, like Derek Brooks. And I really hope that voters slow down. I mean, the reason that I rail against Eli Manning or, you know, this year, Frank Gore and Jason Witten, these guys are of varying levels, but the bottom line is that they don't need to be in the

finalist room so soon. And you can't elect someone without making them a finalist. And voters have shown that when they hear new cases, like in the senior pool, that they become open to those new cases. Roger Craig is a modern was only discussed once. Sterling Sharp was never discussed. McMichael, Riley, Cleco, Howley, these guys were never discussed. Gratashar was. So when they hear new arguments, they adapt to those new arguments. That's why I think you'd need to really slow down with Eli Manning or Gore or Witten or next year, Rothlisberger or whoever else, slow it down, make sure you're getting all these guys in the room. Lance Briggs is a big one. And that is, as Olin can tell you, you guys should ask

Olin about this. I don't know why centers get overlooked. Hildenberg too. I didn't even mention J. Hilgumberg and all that. The guys is a six-time pro bowler. Absolutely. If you look at all the position groups and you go backwards and you say, all right, how far back do I need to go to see five players elected? So, for example, cornerback. You've got Eric Allen, Ronde-Barber, Revis, Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey, Thai law, all since 2019. Wide receivers, you only have to go back to 2018.

Inside linebackers, 2018. The position group that you have to go back the farthest is center to 1987. That's the last five modern era centers. And basically what the voters do is they sort of figure out this guy's a Hall of Famer. We're going to bring him in the room. We're going to elect him within five years. And we're not going to talk about any other centers. The only centers they talk about are the ones that they elect.

And they hit slam dunks. Kevin Mawai, Dermani Dawson. Bruce Matthews, he played all the positions on the line. So that's not quite fair. But they don't have this range of players the way that they do now with wide receivers or pass rushers. And if Bears fans want to support Olin Kruits, start talking about all the centers, not just Olin, Tom Nalen, and Jeff Saturday, and Matt Burke, and just like, there are tons and tons of centers.

We're going to see Jason Kelsey get in in a few years. Where's Nick Mangold who just tragically passed away young? Like, where are the centers there? The center is the only player who touches the ball on every play. And we've seen here as Bears fans what happens when you don't have that. strength up the middle. We saw what a difference Drew Dalman made this year. And it's bizarre to me that voters just, they don't go for centers. Ask Olin about it. I'm, you know, I'm sure he'll have some thoughts. So that's what, it's almost like Olin would have an easier job if they valued his position.

It's not even him, really. It's the position. Jack, this has been incredibly informative. Thank you so much for joining us. If you want more of what Jack brings to the table and you do, go to readjack.com, as in R-E-A-D, readjack.com. Any luck on your-book? Why We Root is Jack's book. And he also has, where are you socially posting right now? Because I know your Twitter account got taken hostage. My Twitter's dead. Oh, no. I got one of those, like, I got like one of those crypto hacks. Same. And it came, no, this is crazy. It came from Richmond Webb because we've been in touch on Hall of Fame stuff.

And he tweeted me, he DM me and was like, hey, I'm in the running for this podcast thing. Vote for me. And usually I don't do that, but it was the day after he hadn't got into the hall. And I was like, oh, man, Richmond Webb, he's such a nice guy. He should be in the hall. By the way, voters, vote for Richmond Webb. You have one more year. Good to know.

I went and clicked on the link like a doofus, which I never do. Richmond Webb needed the Miami Dolphins social media team to get him unlocked. So, hey, Bear's social media team, help your boy. Get me out of here. But, yeah, but otherwise, my substack, rejack. com, driving to my 90s Bulls book is the best. I started TikTok. Listen to me.

I'm on Instagram at a shot on Elo. You know, all over the place, but not on Twitter these days. Well, good to know, Jack, and yeah, TikTok is what you're trying. Are you on TikTok? Is that what you meant? I am. That is what I meant. Okay.

That happens. Okay, so you can check out Jack's work on TikTok and also at the places we just mentioned. Jack, thanks so much. Thank you, everybody. Thanks for having me. Great to hear from you. Coming up next, it's halftime. Yeah, there's a reason people are saying John Morant should be traded to the Utah Jazz

and it has everything to do with the fact that if one official has his way, you'll be able to pack. Next. What time is it? That it is. We spent our first hour talking with you about the latest on the Bears and Illinois lawmakers getting close to a stadium deal.

And there's more. Cam Buckner will join the afternoon show at 4 o'clock so you won't want to miss the latest with Spiegel and Holmes. I, for one, will be listening. So at least it's just me, if nothing else in my thoughts. Nobody wants to hear that either.

We also talked about George McCasky's interview with Jared Payton. That was tremendous. And everybody came up with Bears, honey bears, possible names, which some of them were inappropriate, but a lot of them were funny. And George calls the Packers team Voldemort. And then we just spoke with Jack Silverstein about the Hall of Fame voting process and where a lot of the bears are as far as their candidacy is concerned. Guys. there's something going on in Utah right now. Just one thing?

Well, there's several things going on in several places everywhere across this nation right now. But in Utah specifically, I got this one thing that caught my eye. And I mentioned going to break that John Morant, this would make sense if you wanted to become a member of the Utah Jazz, because there's legislation on the way. A bill introduced in Utah would allow holders of concealed firearms permits to bring their weapons into publicly funded venues, including the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, home of the NBA's Utah Jazz, and the NHL's Utah Mammoth. Wait a second. Don't they, like, I can't bring my pepper spray into the United Center.

Right. But in Utah, they're like, bring your guns? Bring your gun. You don't need a permit. Just bring it. What could go wrong? State Representative Candice Perucci sponsored the bill, which, quote, prohibits a private entity that receives

a certain amount of public funds from restricting a concealed carry permit holder from carrying a concealed firearm on property owned, leased, or operated by the entity in certain circumstances. Basically, if you want to go to a jazz game, if this is signed into law, you can bring your gun. What's stopping, like, I can't believe I'm saying this. If they're going to go here, like, why are they stopping us from bringing anything into an arena then? Second Amendment is a strong one, apparently. But you know what I'm saying? Like, oh, no pepper spray, but the gun's okay.

Oh, I see. So, like, when you walk into the United Center, you've got to plop all your stuff on the little conveyor belt. People are just dropping their Glock on the belt at the Delta Center. Is that what I'm too? If this bill becomes law, that's exactly what will happen. And now, if signing the law, the measure would directly conflict with policies currently in place by the NBA and NHL,

the bill also could apply to home matches. for Major League Soccer Team, Real Salt Lake, and the Utah State Fair, or even some private hospitals, because there was public funding that went towards these things. Since Utah, excuse me, since 2021, Utah has allowed individuals to carry concealed firearms in most locations without a concealed permit. And last year, it granted permit holders the right to carry their weapons on college campuses. First thing that came to my mind, and this is probably me being a tad in the degenerate bucket, is my parley didn't hit.

Yeah, this does not this does not seem like a good idea at all. Also, like crime, you know, like if you're, well, theoretically, if you're a concealing carry permit holder, like that kind of holds you accountable, but what's the oversight here? Like, are you checking the license as well as everybody else bringing guns in? Like, who's stopping you from holding up somebody outside of the arena?

Yeah, other locations, by the way, such as schools, churches, and daycare centers have remained completely off limits. And according to the Salt Lake Tribune, Olympic venues at the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City might be exempt from the proposed change because the federal government

traditionally designates the Olympics as a national security special event and they are in charge of security. Ah, it's like the FBI. We'll take over from here. And we're not, you know what we're not allowing? Guns. Right. It's probably a good idea.

Yeah, the Jabberampon is, is unstoppable there. Like I understand the connection, but this just doesn't seem like it's going to end well. Certainly not starting well. Yeah. No. All right. Well, that's a disturbing thought I now get to sit with. In the meantime, five on it is next.

And we have less disturbing questions for you. Guess what we have? A lot of baseball talk. That's right. That thing that started today in Glendale, Arizona. You know, they're over there. The warm place. Mm-hmm.

We'll do it all next.