Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ryan Poles didn't look happy about not getting compensatory draft picks

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed how Bears general manager Ryan Poles seemed upset by the NFL failing to award compensatory draft picks to Chicago for assistant general manager Ian Cunningham’s departure to become the Atlanta Falcons’ new general manager.

You're listening to Rahimi Harrison Grotie on sports radio 1043, the score. Doors closing. Oh, that is insane. Ray Diaz, Tyler Bueberbaugh, what did you do? So Lee Crooks is the voice of the CTA, and he was hanging out at B96, and I just asked him like, hey, can you just record this little line for Rahimi Harrison Grotie? And he said he listens to the score, and he'd be happy to do it. Five Buttes.

That was great. I didn't even know that it was a real person. Lee Crooks, shout out, man. Shout out to Lee Crook's. Nice job. You gave me a little stress, though. I thought I was at my stop. Do you're closing.

One of the funniest things that I got to discover was someone posted a hour-long YouTube video of them just sitting in a CTA train to get the authentic sounds of the CTA train. So there's an hour-long video of riding the CTA train on YouTube. You know what? That person's making money off that. video. I guarantee it. Does that include the people smoking their cigarettes and their weed on the trains? Is it include that? Are you shaking your hand in a cloud right now? I am. Do you hear yourself? Don't tell me you don't hate it when somebody comes on and just starts smoking a cigarette on the back of the red line.

It's the worst. I just can't stop certain things. Yeah. I mean, you can't stop it, but you can be annoyed by it. And sometimes I get a whiff of some secondhand smoke of other kinds and I'm like, that smells terrible. Don't you know there's edibles? You've got to level up. Yeah. Right. And they do it in a way that's like, go ahead, try to stop me. And the people that walk from car train cart and the opening that door, stop it.

It is my belief that smoking cigarettes is now an act of rebellion in and of itself because people who know how bad, like you know how bad cigarettes are for you. Yeah. So I think it's kind of like one of those, yeah, and what are you going to do about it? Well, I mean, you know what's going to happen to you. so I can't really, you know, like, all right. Yeah. I'll quickly tell you the worst kind of like gross looking experience that I had because it wasn't smelling.

I was when I lived in Bridgeport, so I was on the south side. I was on the Halstead bus, the eight bus. And there was a guy with doing the dip, chewing tobacco, and he dropped his dip cup. Oh, gross. And it went all over the floor of bus. It was terrible. Yeah, see, that's not okay. Yeah, I had, I was, I had the dangerous spot of being.

right up against the door on the train yesterday. Oh my word. That is some stress. I'm like, I can't be the person. I can't be the person who makes the doors open again. And then all hell breaks loose. Right. You can't be that guy.

There's another train right behind you. Get off the train. No, there's not another train. And I got to be somewhere at a certain time. Nobody ever trusts that. Folks, there's another train. I don't believe you. I am stuffing on to this train right now.

Don't tell me there's another train coming. And like the metro New York, you know, like they'll tell you they'll be like hey don't wear your backpack if you're standing because you take up more space with your backpack hold your backpack here people don't do that common courtesy so then they just like have their backpack on and I'm like you you need to lower your backpack so that way more people can fit same thing on an elevator this the high rise style living you got to you know be courteous right right and you know while we're here where are the draft picks wait a minute NFL where are the draft picks and you know for everybody who who who

just randomly comments on all of our social media and is like, where are the picks? Good on you. Good on you for keeping this up. Because you know what we're going to be? We're going to be like Bryce Turing was to the Cubs last year, a PITA about this. And appropriately, with the latest

announcement of the NFL awarding 33 compensatory picks to 15 teams in the NFL and the Bears were not one of them, Ryan Poles in his press conference yesterday was asked, and you listen to how he feels about this. Ryan, did you have much, dialogue at all about Ian Cunningham and the compensatory pits.

Yeah. I'll see most of you guys at the league meetings, and we can talk about that. I'll leave that alone right now. Why? The visual on this as well, if you were watching the video, is right before that question from Phil Thompson of the Tribune,

Ryan Poles was taking a sip of water from the water bottle, and when that, When that question came up, he looked like you wanted to spit it out. A spit take would have been great right there. I love the sigh. Good for you, Ryan Poles. I want to see some anger out. You know, Ryan Poles, to his credit, is a very even keeled man, speaks in a very pleasant tone, pretty transparent at times.

Let it out, buddy. Because we're all on your side. Even if some people are disingenuous in their desires because they just want the draft picks and they're not looking at the big picture, everybody is on polls. So I would say even in the NFL. Well, and that's the point. And you know what? I understand he wanted to talk about player transactions that happened at that time. That was the dedicated space for it.

But we know. We know how you feel because we have talked about it. And the concept of having to justify why this is a case that matters and why you have to justify the existence of the principle of something that everybody already knows. And you know how I feel about it. I feel like it's just the NFL adding discrimination to an anti-discrimination practice and really kind of illustrating why it's there to begin with. You're telling on yourselves at this point, if you're the league.

But for Ryan Poles to say it in that way, he obviously understands the same scenario. Especially because what the Bears did with Ian Cunningham is exactly what the NFL want, or at least said it wanted done. They hired a minority candidate. They developed. Ian Cunningham to the point where he got real good at his job as the GM of the Chicago Bears, assistant GM of the Chicago Bears. And then what we all wanted to see, a minority candidate getting a power position in Atlanta,

they could not have done more. They passed the test. And then they're like, wait, what? That's not what you wanted done? Because Matt Ryan? Matt Ryan even told you. Not the corporation moving the goalposts on a practice they set in place for people who are already having a tougher time getting opportunities anyway.

It's so dumb. Not the corporation doing that. That never happens. Yeah, it's pretty. It's, yeah, and I wonder too, I think the door is shut shut because the NFL said what it said, but I am looking forward to hearing what he does say, if he does, unless he's just going to do background with the reporters at the owner's meetings,

which could be what's happening. I don't know. But it will be interesting to hear what his side of it is, and is there still some little tiny chance that this can get rectified? I think the door is 98% shut, but I'm leaving the door open just a tiny bit because, like I said, this isn't just in Chicago. Anybody else that has done the topic on this around the NFL, I don't think there's probably one place, one outlet that has not been on the bare side.

Why wouldn't you be on the bare side? The picks don't come from Atlanta. They come from the NFL. So it's not like Atlanta would be giving anything up either. Well, and that's the part when we talk about like the NFL committees as well. You know, you can tell sometimes when people's interests get communicated through the competition committee, for example. That's the most famous one. You know, and that's the one that Stephen Jones has been on for a long time.

Co-chair. Todd Bowles is on that one. You know, the Niners, Giants, Rams, Vikings, Broncos, Texans, Patriots are all represented. And sometimes I wonder if those competition committees or other committees do come into play. But the thing is, George McCasky is on one of those committees as well. He's not in the competition committee. But that's where a lot of the politicking does also help. You know, how much are you sticking up for your team in those types of meetings?

Yeah. And I would think that George McCaskey, the bear's primary owner, the Bears chairman, might have a little sway in this. One would suspect or think just because of seemingly the respect that the McCaskey family has around the league. So I wonder what George's part in this has been, if anything, if he is pushed or if he needed to push harder. The NFL, even on its football operations site, you know, it has this in there. Like it has under the inside football ops tab, there is social justice, and there is also inspire change, player-led social justice legislation and vet the vote.

And the two are not dissimilar in principle, especially when your league is minority-majority among the players. So therefore, there should be better acknowledgement of the representation. And that's the part that really bothers me, is how much it mirrors society. When you were trying to do the opposite, it'll never not bother me. Exactly. That's what the bears. Did it per?

Oh, this is what you want? Okay, we hired the guy. We developed the guy. The guy got good. The guy got hired. Walla. draft picks, please. But Ryan Pohl's knows if he's too loud, they're going to make a worse on him.

So that's what we can be. I guess. I guess you think that's what it is? Like, what happens if he just keeps bitching and if you're, if the arbiter of the rule is somebody who already has it against you? Yeah. What do you think the conversation is if you try to have it with that person? It's just going to be worse for you. I guess, yeah.

And so that's why he was, I guess, remaining tight-lipped Ryan Poles about it, even though the frustration and anger was obvious and good for polls. When discrimination results in justification, I think those of you who understand know what that really is. And as long as that's happening and it's against the bears especially, yeah, I'll keep that. same energy. Yeah, texture brings up an interesting question to which I don't know the answer. They could, but the question is, can the bears sue the NFL? A lot of people have asked that, but I don't think it ends well for the bears that they do. They'll find some way to retaliate, I would assume.

How do you think that would play itself out, the retaliation factor that you're talking about? Like, what do you mean? Well, they have to do it behind closed doors, theoretically. Like what? Like, take away a draft pick? Like, they couldn't do something like that, right? I mean, is that what you mean, though? I think it's just, you know, would your initiatives be met, how much money when you're

asking for money for the stadium. Would they, you know, the Bears need, need some favors from the NFL right now. Like, think about the stadium and all that capital. Yeah, but the NFL is helping them in that. But they would want to help the Bears in a state. Like, they would want to help Chicago in that regard. When we sue somebody, that would change things. I don't know.

That's not good for the league, though, money-wise. So I don't think, I mean, even if they had to do something they didn't want to do, it's good for them to put more money in their pockets. I don't think I'm suing people who I'm asking for something from. Like, that's kind of how I view it. Sue everybody, is what I say. If only. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score.

Let's get to the college game and one of our favorite guests. Jeremy Warner, the publisher of aligni Enquirer.com, is coming on because it was a busy day in Aligni athletics. Pro Day happened. A friend of the show, there's a big connection there as to one of the pro-day performances. And oh, yeah, the Aligni finally get to play in the Big Ten tournament today. We'll do all that next.