Full Show — September 8, 2026

0:00Wake up! Wake up! Come on, guess wake up, man. David Ha! David Ha? You muted in. Sorry about that. Hello, George. So, that was one of the best questions you've ever asked. Yeah, I'm sure it's going to get an answer just as good. This is Ha. Yeah. Okay. Ha, check me out, man. Jared Payton! Me, we want you to see this, Jared Payton, wearing his father's number number 34. Jared, man, man, I love you on the score, man. The Ha and Payton Show! We'll come back here next time we're together at Tuesday morning. It's Game Week. It's Game Week! Game Week right around the corner. I mean, if I didn't feel good about him week one, I know when we get into a true game plan process and we have defined plays and we're able to watch tape and back it up. I think he plays even faster than we're showing so far in camp. So, we're going to be in a good spot.

1:02I'm excited for week one. I ain't going to put one big over the other. I can't wait for week one. When they come back, I know they'll be amped up and ready to go for Carolina. It's, the people are ready for the bear. Get up in the morning with the Ha and Payton Show! Morning's 5.30 to 10. On Chicago's sports radio. You can't wear white shoes after Labor Day. That's not true anymore. Yes, it is. 1043, the score. So I gotta get up in the morning. Good Tuesday morning, Chicago. Welcome back to your work week. This is the Ha and Payton Show. On Chicago's sports radio. 1043, the score broadcasting live. From the Hyundai score studios, it is Game Week. The NFL is back. The first college football week season week one is over. Or maybe they're still going on because college football is drunk. But good morning, Jared. How are you? Good morning, D.H. I'm doing well this morning, man. Always good to be in your presence and talk a little sports. It's Game Week. It is. So I'm excited. You know, the bears are back in college football was amazing over the week.

2:05College football was amazing. That's one word for it. It was outrageous is another. It was corrupt. Maybe they're screaming in Kalamazoo, Michigan. But yes, it was ever present. And it was fun to watch. And I think all of us, all four of us spent time watching a lot of college football. Dustin probably consumed the Notre Dame fighting Irish looking good on Sunday night. Brandon, I don't know what's your game of choice. My game of choice when it comes to this weekend, I would have to go for me. I like watching Miami because I think we finally found like a new Heisman front run advantage. Oh, no. What's one? Now what's up? Yes. I mean, he did all that in the first half. I put it up his desk. Hold on. Damn, Mensa though. I mean, Mensa is he's the one throwing the ball so I think it's hard. Let me see that dynamic duo. Man, let me humbly submit the fact and I watch this painfully as Ohio State ran all over my ball state cardinals.

3:07But Jeremiah Smith is the best receiver in America. Okay. Okay. I'll get proven otherwise. That's a good debate though. It is a great debate. Tony versus Smith, we'll talk about it all season long. But right now, after game one, I understand why you'd say that. By the numbers. The body of, I think the body of work is still more impressive if you're sharing my Smith. But I mean, he is your prototypical wide receiver. Big body, go up and get it, can run all the routes. Malachi though, I was fighting with my son about this. It just, like I get where you're coming from. When you look at the specimen, but what Malachi can do, I said, man, he's going to have an amazing career in the NFL when he gets there. That's the kind of argument you want to have after week one in college football, not the kind of argument that ensued after Western Michigan was robbed of the victory against Michigan with the second being put on back on the clock and all the things that happened in the big house.

4:09So that's a controversial start to the weekend into college football. We saw Lane Kiffin entertain. We saw last night the travesty of a hour and 40 minute delay because the power went out in Tallahassee. How does that happen? That's what happens if you don't pay your light bills and you pay transformers. And you're trying to pay all these players, but you don't take care of your light bills. I love the fact that I saw Miami just go at it and had, they had like a light show going on at the hard rock and say, well, our lights will be on this week. We're not worried about it. And I'll name image and lighting. And there was none of it, not enough of it in Tallahassee. Yeah, there was a lot of college football stuff. We will get to as much of that as we can. It is Game Week, the NFL begins tomorrow. Tomorrow, the NFL season begins. With Seattle and the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks against the Patriots and then we'll go out to Australia and then over to Brazil.

5:12And then finally leading up to Sunday where the Bears opened the season Sunday in North Carolina against the Panthers. Cubs and socks over the weekend. The socks had laid, had Labor Day off. That was kind of odd. Was it not? Yeah. You had all day. I know it probably benefited their bullpen because they had a bullpen game this weekend. But I do think that it was strange not to have the white socks to watch yesterday. Yeah, it was very strange for me just to not have the South Sideers on. But we did get a little bit. We got some cubs yesterday. Yeah, we did. We got enough cubs. Cubs lose up in Milwaukee to the Mighty Brewers. And I say Mighty because Craig Council would scold us if we didn't say that they were Mighty and the best team in baseball. Every time he talks about the Brewers after the game, they have to remind everybody they are the best team in baseball. But they do the little things. And I think he is showing them respect. It's been a little facetious. But they had a game there that they was there for the taking. Matthew Boyd, seven stronggiddings, sent out to the eighth.

6:12We'll talk about some of the things there. But the moment he went out to the mound and the eighth inning, I wondered if that was the right move. Yeah. I mean, you can weaken question, Craig Council all the time. And we will do that on the show all the time. But it is. It's very, it's odd to kind of think about when you try to make those decisions. And are you maybe concerned or have a little bit of doubts with your bullpen? So it's just very interesting looking forward to talking that with you. He did have, he did have an explanation. He did talk about how Matthew Boyd in the eighth inning it was about matchups. I think Brandon, we have that from Craig Council because he explained his thought process. Matthew Boyd was in the 90s and he trusted his veteran lefty to go out there for the eighth inning. Yeah, there's a, we're not going to get a match up there. So you're, yeah, there's, there's a non matchup happening with a pinch hitter. And yeah, you're getting probably bowers at that point. Yes. Okay. It didn't work.

7:12So it looked like it was the wrong decision. Had it worked. Certainly it would have looked better. Zephyr John had been a guy they trusted for a five out save over the weekend. And that was impressive down in Miami. They needed that badly. And they went back to the well, maybe once too often. Yes. So yeah, I'd retrospect it looks like they should have left, they should have gone to Zephyr Jeff for a clean inning. They talk all the time about clean innings. Yeah. Isn't that what you want? Yeah, it's what you want. And, you know, after what it was the boy gave up the walk, then if I'm not mistaken. The second time though, he walked the a-hitter. That's he scored twice. He walked twice and scored twice and you lost by a run. That can't happen. Not against the best team in the national league. And especially a team that does all the little things right and will make you pay down the stretch. Why does that upset you, David? The bet, like he keeps saying it in the best. You don't know why it does. Because right now, let's be honest. They are. They are the best team.

8:13And maybe he doesn't have to state it all the time. But they are the best team. That's a good question, Brad. And I have to examine that. Why does it bother me every time after games they lose to the brewers? And they beat them two to one on Thursday night. Do you remember that? Yeah. Can I answer it? I was there. It bothers me. Because he was brought the other side of the cheddar curtain to be the difference between the cubs and the brewers. Because if it's this small and the thought was that if you were able to steal away the skipper, the guy who's stirring the drink of this low price franchise team, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think this is going to be the thing. And if anything, he's getting it's he's getting stuffed. The real guy is the other guy. Is his mentor? Is the real secret sauce of the whole thing? I think that that's it. It's part of it. With Craig Council in Milwaukee, the assumption was big market cubs, small market brewers. They're winning in Milwaukee because they were winning in the margins.

9:16They're winning because they were smarter than everybody else did the little things right. And it was partly because, mostly because of the manager. So let's go steal the manager. Okay. How's that gone? They're still the team winning in the margins. They're still smarter than the cubs. They're still better. So yeah, I guess it does rank on me. Thanks, Brandon. Yeah, but I get that out. I also think that it comes down to Craig Council kind of laying the foundation in that smaller market with the brewers. And they kind of kept it, they've kept the same tone of what they've, what they've done. And it's, it seems to be a thorn in his side. If you haven't seen it, it's a good read. It's kind of a good for a chuckle. Steve Greenberg went up to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, sometimes columnist. And I believe it was in either, yes, yeah, it was a Monday morning, sometimes. He wrote a column and he went to the grocery store and he went to a local bar and he went to a local deli and he talked to people about who's a better manager, Pat Murphy or the guy who they named

10:18Little League Fields after, who's kids to go to high school there. And he went to the high school and talked to the athletic director. It was a very well done column. But I do think that the Murphy versus Council thing is something that's not going away anytime soon. Oh, that's the brewers. The brewers aren't going anywhere. You better figure it out. Better figured out. Better figure it out. Craig back in action today. And I think they have Jacob Mizorowski again tonight. David Peterson against the Miz. And we're supposed to look at that's going to be, I know they just knocked him out of the game. What do you think it's going to be a different story? Yeah, different stories that he's at home. Yeah, he's at the crib. It's going to listen anything can happen. He's going to put one his pants on one leg at a time. Yes, I was just like Paul Schien's David puts his pants on one leg at a time. But you know what, he's going to be sleeping in his own bed. He did tonight last night still feels like the night. Cubs and brewers back in action.

11:18White socks back at the rate later today against the pirates who, the pirates in town to play the socks and they skip. Scenes. Yeah, isn't that a little lucky there? Scenes gets the cubs on Friday. Oh, man, Friday afternoon, wriggly field. That's appointment, that's appointment radio. Am I being appointment to go see too? Be a lot of fun. You better take me this time. All right, so there's a lot going on. We'll get to some other things that happen on the week. But, Jared, I wanted to, I wanted to give you an opportunity because you, Chicago and Bears fans and the Bears family lost a very important member over the weekend. Matt, Sue, we passed away at the age of 68. And your posts over the weekend were very touching. We talked and I know that it was very emotional for you and your family. And I just thought a lot of people were caught off guard by the news because of 68 is way too young. And the memories are still way too fresh.

12:19And so it was very difficult weekend. I'm sure for you and your family and appreciate you sharing what you did because the reaction and socials I'm sure to you and even just reposting what you did. People are really, it's the 85 Bears man. Yeah. And it's just that era and people remember. So how are you doing? And how would you describe just, we'll talk about it throughout the show and we'll take calls later if people want to talk about it. But just from your perspective, how difficult of a weekend was this and what will you remember most? David, it was, it was very difficult because it caught me off guard. This is not something that, you know, I thought was coming or new possibly could be coming. So it threw the whole family through a loop. We were the conversation once we got the phone call. The pain that I saw on my mom's face when she took the phone call will be something that I'll remember forever. Matt Sui wasn't just number 26 Chicago Bears 85 Bears team.

13:23Matt was a part of my family. When my dad passed in 1999, Matt basically became my father figure. My dad, this is their relationship was so close that when my, when my dad knew that he was dying, he left Matt in charge of his image and likeness family decisions because he trusted him that he would not only make the right decisions, but he would also make the right decisions for our family and look after us. And that's what he did. I look at their friendship on the field and how what Matt did as a, as a full back, his job blocking for my dad, clearing holes, making sure that he got through and got, got all the glory. Matt did the exact same thing off the field. He was always there and he, he did it by the kindness of his heart. From 1999 up to the present day, Matt did this without asking for anything in return.

14:23And that's what shows me what kind of friendship that those two had. And as a kid growing up and watching them together, I knew what a true friend was. It was those two together and watching how they cared for each other, how they, they did everything together. And man, just, just the relationship that grew over time after my dad passed anything that I ever needed. Anytime that I picked up the phone, he was there for me. I, he, the relationship that he's had with my kids over the years as well, watching them grow up. Matt was a true best friend. And I know we all look at Brian's song and we see it's a part of our culture here in Chicago as bear's fans. But there needs to be a story on 34 and 26. Because when you look at their friendship and everything that they went through, a true bond, man, there is, there is nothing like it. So I am grateful for Matt Soui, for all that he did for our entire family, what he's done for the city of Chicago, the hardest worker that I've ever seen.

15:28I mean, this dude was not only back in, back at the 80s, he was playing football and then coming downtown to the board of trade. He's a floor trader. Yes. That's amazing. Like that's what he was doing. That business savvy is what he offered you. Yeah. And I think you benefited from as you have described. When you, do you recall conversations with your dad about why Matt Soui was the type of friend or their friendship, why their friendship was the way that it was? It was never really a conversation. It was more on the outside looking into how they were when they were around each other. You know best friends like the smiles, the joking around. My dad would always joke around and that picture of my dad pulling down Matt's pants. That right there is the, that is them. It was, it was my dad always saying, listen, I got you, man, like, I know you got my back and I got yours. But it was just really watching how they came together as friends all the time and had each other's back.

16:28I wish I was older back in the 80s. So I really could have understood the game of football with seven when my dad retired. So I was getting, I better understanding. Yeah. To see what they did and for him to be a part of all those yards that my dad racked up. And people of a certain age remember Matt Soui certainly eulogized as you say, the, the companion, the, the good friend of Walter Payton. But at the same time, he was a dynamic football player in a versatile one. Unbelievable. I think that's hopefully people got a chance to be able to see some of those, those clips. I mean, we're talking about a guy I was watching Penn State film and I was watching him run away going 60, 70 yards for a touchdown. I was like, Matt, I didn't know you had wheels like that. But then he, what he came to Chicago, it was a little bit rough early on. But then started to get a part of the offense and could catch the ball the back field, a downfield as well. A good blocker, but also run the football. He was, he was everything that you want in a football player.

17:30He was a second round draft pick. He was a second round draft pick who the Bears took in, in 1980. It's going way back and I know certain people, maybe part of members of the five AM club are, are able to remember those years. But at the time the Bears drafted Matt Sui, one of the reasons, and I think as the stories go, I certainly, I was just an observer as well. But Dan Pompey's story, their book is included in some books. But your dad was a little bit reticent to that decision because of his loyalty and the way that he worked well with Roland Harper. Yeah. Roland Harper was the fullback that created all the space and was associated with Walter Payton for so many years early on. And then, oh boy, they're drafting a fullback to replace Roland Harper. And the perception was, and history sort of records this as Walter Payton being chilly to that idea. And get making Matt Sui kind of earn his way, not only in the locker room, but within him being accepted by Payton, your dad himself.

18:31Yeah. I think two guys from different walks of life. And once you get a chance to know one another and my dad was always going to make you earn it, especially if you were in the backfield with him. And Roland Harper and my dad were just as close as well. So I could only imagine what that conversation was like or how he kind of made Matt feel inside of that locker room. But once Matt earned it, that right there was a driving force for the success that they had together. But over the years, you grew up and became after my aunt, he was your uncle Matt. Yeah. And that's the way you referred to him and you became close with his family and that still remains something that is, you're going to help having to help each other, the support that you'll lend his family morning, the loss of Matt Sui. Yeah, I think that's the hardest part is understanding where they're coming from because I've been through this. And especially in this city, we love our athletes. And when you love someone so much, when something like this happens, it becomes, you know, front page news, everybody knows about it, especially in this day and age.

19:40And so I know how it felt for them to kind of go through the process on Saturday, dealing with everything that they were dealing with, missing Donna, missing her husband and the kids missing their dad. But also too, I think we've had a chance to talk along with Sui's about just reflecting on the amazing person that he was. And that's what we're going to celebrate. Well, address it more in the pick six is certainly throughout the program. As we said, if people want to call and weigh in beginning at seven o'clock, we'll start taking phone calls. We've got a big show today. It is Tuesday back to work Tuesday in the city of Chicago and everywhere else. It's game week for the Chicago Bears who were back at practice on Monday. The news out of how I saw it, not great, Jared, because the backfield is back intact. They were healthy. Kalman, unguy and DeAndre Swift, but Roma Dunes, they still with that foot injury, which he said famously last spring was going to be his new normal is now an old problem because he mispractice.

20:40And it's scary to think about that that wide receiver room as we head into game week now because it changes a little bit. I know you had depth in there, but not a lot of experience. And that's the hard part. And so they are going to be tested out the gate. It is really good though that this running game seems to be on track for what they need to do against Carolina. But they're going to have to figure this thing out, which I think that's where you have the tight end room. So built with a bunch of tight ends. We'll talk today, one step at 725 about game week and what it represents. Brad Biggs, Biggs time will be at 8 o'clock. Bruce Levine checks in at 825 because the Cubs and Sox had busy weekends. The Sox had Monday off the Cubs back in Milwaukee. As we said, facing Jacob Mizorowski tonight, Mike Floreo, because the NFL season starts tomorrow night in a day. We're one day away and he will join us at 9 o'clock from Pro Football Talk. A lot of other things that come up a long way, including... So there was this gigantic concert at Soldier Field over the weekend. Two of them, in fact.

21:43Did you go? I did not go. But one of our group dead. And Brandon was at the concert. How would you describe the Kanye West concert? It was amazing. One of the best concerts. And one reason I'm saying that not because I'm, I mean, I am a Kanye fan, music-wise. It was a lot of guests that he brought. That I was a fan of. A lot of, a lot of accident he kept bringing out. So I was a big fan of that. Brandon, question for you. When you look at how he does this concert, I've only seen it from social. A lot of people said that they will never ever see, go to, if they ever go to another concert, it will never be the same again. Is that true? That's true. And I feel like it's going to start the wave of how conscious it's going to be. If you don't know, I'll give you a quick, quick little kind of description of it. He's performing on like a globe. It's like a pretty much a video trying, like you could see like a scoreboard. And you could see the video, but he's on top of it. But it shows him like kind of on top of the world. So I mean, on that, the production of it looks amazing. And you never seen something like that.

22:45And I was always wondering like, man, I hope he stays on right then nobody falls off. But I mean, the guests he kept bringing out and just the catalog is just. The crowd was full of star studded. It was definitely star studded after like I saw certain things that Caleb Williams in the skies. Caleb Williams was in the crowd in the crowd in disguise with a ski mask. What a ski mask is glasses. Justin Fields, former bearer was there. Oh my gosh. They were the same building at the same time. They were in the same building at the same time. And then we had a couple of packers that was there too. Michael Parsons and Jordan Love was there on that night as well. And they had a cross enemy lines that come see the show. What do they do? And so you feel. We're in May. We're in May. We're in May. That was fans chanting at Michael Parsons and Jordan Love as they were leaving out of the stadium. Here's fans are amazing. They never miss. I love you guys so much. That's funny. That is what it's all about. It was quite a long concert. Was it not?

23:47It was definitely long, long walk and a long way to get to the concert, to leave him from the concert. And it was a long Friday night going into Saturday. So he did a two nights in a row. And so Soldier Field was packed already. Anticipation. That you didn't go. No. Too late. No, too late for me. Yeah, that's right. It's all good. But I was, I've been watching from afar on social media. It looked amazing. Soldier Field is, the Bears don't open there for until week two. But tomorrow has another star stud. It doesn't probably match the Kanye concert. But it'll be messy and Robert Lewandowski. So that is tomorrow night at Soldier Field, the Chicago Fire against Miami. And that's going to be, I think it'll be full. Did Soldier Field be sold out? I don't think so. You don't think so? I bet you're messy. Okay. Yeah, let me retract my statement. It's messy. So yeah, anything's fine. I was there last time he was in town last year and it was sold out.

24:49It was quite a ticket. It was quite a thing. Speaking of stadiums, by the way, we're going to get to this, the White Sox. Yeah. They're coming to the South Loop. You see that? The renderings? The renderings. Rendering's are undefeated. They're undefeated. I was like, sign me up. Think of beauty. Sign me up for some season tickets. That's that broke that broke Saturday morning with Dernan inside the clubhouse. I mean, the train Chicago business released the story and the renderings and Bruce, even Bruce was impressed by the renderings. I mean, if that happens, I mean, nothing, there's nothing better in terms of devising a stadium or explaining what it's going to look like. AI is great when you want to have stadium renderings. Yeah. I mean, it's to see where how it looks across the street from the soon to be new fire stadium. But this is what Sox fans are hoping for. The rail yards. That's what it's called. And I love that too. We'll find out more details along the way. We'll talk about it all when we come back.

25:49The Pick Six is next. It's Han Peyton Chicago Sports Radio 1043 this score. Wow. It's Pick Six with Ha and Peyton where we debate the top six sports stories of the day and then open it up to you. The Chicago Sports Fan. Call us at 312-644-6767. Or you can tweet your thoughts at Ha Peyton. Pick Six with Ha and Peyton starts now. And Pick Six this morning brought to you by finishing Chicago. Great finishes. Start with the contractors from finishing Chicago dot com 17 games left after blowing another late lead against the brewers on Monday afternoon. How confident are you feeling about the Cubs and where or who is your biggest concern? Alright, so they're not going to catch the brewers. I think well can accept that. You worry about the Phillies. You worry about the Phillies because they have Lazarda who threw a complete game shut out. And for young Cubs fans who don't realize what a shut out is or a complete game.

26:52That's when the pitcher goes nine innings and doesn't give up a run. And that's like it's something from old baseball, old school baseball. Couch, whorver by the way leads the majors in home or still ahead of PCA, PCA might catch him. But that's a team you'd want to avoid but I don't think the Cubs are going to be able to. If you can't avoid the Phillies you want to play regularly field and that's going to be difficult. Cubs are half game back. It's attainable to still be the number one wild card. That is where you are. That's who you are. You're the second best team in the NL Central again. The biggest concern is the bullpen still. When you turn over a game to the bullpen, there's no degree of confidence that the Cubs are going to protect the lead. Of late we've seen them just blow too many. There are moments like Ryan Zepherjohn in Miami getting a five-out save. There will be moments ahead that Jacob Webb who's coming back from the contusion on his arm that will remind you how good of a season.

27:54Ryan Rolison has stepped forward and been the lefty that's been very dependable out of the pen. But on any given day it could be any given guy. And I don't know if that's the way that you wanted to be heading into October. Daniel Pellencia remains a command mess. So that's the biggest concern. The Cubs though, when you look at their offense and what they're capable of doing, they'd have the star power with PCA. They have the overall offensive numbers to suggest they could win any series against anybody. You look at the numbers and run scored and team OPS and all where they are and yet they're wildly inconsistent. So they are a second place team with World Series aspirations. And that sounds crazy, but that's exactly who they are. And because of how streaky they've been, I wouldn't rule them out.

28:56But I have tremendous concerns about the relief pitching. So bring up, I'm counting now, after saying I would never do this, I really am looking forward to Justin Steele's continued maybe progress he made over the weekend. I'm curious about Jackson Wiggins and I wouldn't mind seeing Edward Cabrera. So yeah, there, I'm relying on definite maybes. You're being Jed Hoyer, you're helping fix the problem. That is the problem. That is a problem. I know it didn't necessarily play out, but they gave Michael Bush the day off yesterday because he's facing a tough left guy, you know, a lefty who's tough on lefties and all this stuff. Couldn't you have taken a day off in Miami? You're going the likelihood of playing the brewers in the postseason if you get to where you want to get to? Pretty high. And guess what's going to happen in that game? Michael Bush is going to play against that pitcher.

29:56So why wouldn't you want him to get that experience? I understand the day off. That guy plays all the time. They don't have a backup for a space map, right? And yes, the kid did all right at first base. And nothing to do with the win or the loss. I'm just talking about an experience factor. So I'm sick of that. Good news on Justin's steel. Good news on Dan's B Swanson, right? We get to next Tuesday of this time next week. Could we be talking about Dan's B Swanson making his first game back?

30:59I'm a little concerned. More concerned now that I was probably two weeks ago when you look at this ball club. You guys have both said where I was going with this thing. You can find ways to get good starting pitching, but the big issue is your bullpen. Your starters are giving you what you need. Your bats are doing what they can do, but your bullpen is not being able to finish games. And to me, we see a guy like PCA doing his thing. Say how's Suzuki and Breggman holding up their end of the bargain. But it comes down to having to lead latent games. And then you get in a situation and you start probably second guessing yourself. Like Craig Council was last night about figuring out what to do and how to figure this thing out. Because you can't trust your pen. And division is, let's not, it's not a reach. But what it comes down to is can you get that top wild card spot?

32:00And if the fillies are on right there and you're in that race and you're trying to figure it out, every game matters. Every game matters. So from here on out for these next two, you got to find a way to, I don't know if you, I don't know if you win tonight. Oh man. I don't know if you win tonight. I know. That's terrible. But you need to get one of these before you leave out, before you leave out. Before you leave out, before you leave out of Milwaukee. And so that is what's probably the most concerning. And if things are going to be this tight all the way, every game is going to count. So the Cubs have to find a way with this bullpen and Craig Council, what he's done and keeping it kind of up with masking tape and some duct tape here and there. I don't even know gorilla glue. He's caulking. Yeah, he's doing whatever, whatever he's got to do to be able to make a good out of work. But it's not going to be easy and could make down the stretch must watch TV for all cup fans. My first question to him yesterday in the pregame was that is the voice of Bruce the vine and he is going in the show at 825 this morning.

33:07Same question for the white socks. They've got 19 games left and the pirates. They are in town. Paul schemes, not scheduled to pitch until Friday against the Cubs. How confident are you feeling about the socks and where or who is your biggest concern? I am confident in the South sideers. Listen, we know what they're all about. This team has been the same. We've watched them. We've had questions, questions of starting pitching and this and here and there are different things. They still find a way. They're still first place in the division. And so I look at it huge not getting Paul schemes. I mean that right there is definitely a big plus for them. But I think the concern is how they put together down this stretch and especially away from the South side. They're 32 and 40 away from the rate and I know they've been better as this team has gone through the second half of the season.

34:07But they have to find ways that offense we know is good enough. When the bats are working, they can make a match with the best of them. Starting pitching I think has always been better than people have thought throughout the season. They just can't afford to be able to give up games away on the road and to me that is what's most concerning. If they can take care of business and I think that series with the Guardians is going to be huge. Because you don't want them to get anywhere close. If they can find a way to do that, they'll be okay. I'm confident in the South Sideers. First place September the 8th with a game off. Yesterday to me the calendar turned from summer to fall. Because it's week one of the NFL season. It's your last quote unquote day off until Thanksgiving. I mean unless you take the day off, there's no government. There's no federal days off. No more white pants.

35:07I don't know, I white shoes. I'm always wearing white shoes. I'm just letting you know. I've never heard the word that one. It's white pants. Always wear white shoes. That's another story. But the starting pitching is probably a thing. Who is your guy? I know I've been kind of complaining about him. But is there a white socks fan out there that is fine with what Luis Castillo has come to Chicago? No. And a lot of people say, well he was this that and that before you got him. What did you expect? I expected a change of scenery. I expected the opportunity to pitch in the playoffs. I expected the organization committing to you further the $30 plus million next year. And the guy that you're going to get, if you get your stuff together, you're going to get the ball in the biggest games in the biggest moments come October for this team. And he just hasn't gotten the job done at all. He has not.

36:07He's been a disappointment. He's been somebody that you regret giving up what you've given up. But it also is as you point out September 8th. If by the end of the season you look at Luis Castillo and he hasn't given you a meaningful start when you needed it most and they're still going to be positioned to need it most. Next week is the biggest week of the season because as Jared points out, you play the guardians that will be in Cleveland and you're not going to be in the comforts of the rate where you are tonight with the Pirates in town. Another series you need to win. Bruce did the math and I think that White Sucks could essentially play 500 baseball and still feel pretty good about their chances of winning the division. I feel very good about their chances of winning the division. 19 left, three game lead and the wildcard math you can do. But the wildcard is crazy because the guardians, White Sucks and Blue Jays, two of those three teams are going to make the playoffs one will not. Blue Jays could be dangerous coming in hot.

37:08I hope the guardians get left out. Don't like Cleveland. I mean, I like the city. I'm not Joaquin Noah. I would go on vacation there. You would? Yeah, why not? We're so good about Cleveland. I like Cleveland. I like Cleveland. Cleveland is cool. I do Joaquin. By the way, yeah. There's a great story about Joaquin going back to Cleveland by Joelle Lorenzi in the athletic that a couple weeks ago. Go back and check that out. But nonetheless, I digress. Socks are going to be ready for the next challenge. The White Sucks have a bullpen. That is, I dare I say, I'm going to use the verb. They're going to unleash it in the playoffs provided they get there. They're going to unleash Hagen Smith on the rest of the American League. He is lights out good since he has been brought up in this role. They've got Grant Taylor who is lights out. They've got a bullpen with weapons. So the starting pitching, I'm kind of coming around on that. Yeah, you'd like it to be better. It needs to be better. But you get into the bullpen.

38:08These openers, not such a bad idea or way to go for the socks. I do believe that they're going to hit. And I think that they are going to take two or three from the pirates. Oh boy, good question. That is the voice of Dave Wonstett, 725 this morning. Game week began for the Bears on the practice field Monday up at Halles Hall. And with the Panthers now five days away in the season opener, when was the last time the expectations for a season were this big? And what makes this team better equipped to handle them than past versions of Bears teams? Or are they? I think that they are. They're on their way to what I believe we'll talk about a predictions later. But they let's set the bar 10 wins. This is a team that can win 10 games. And you start there and some people will go higher and maybe go lower. But Ben Johnson is the reason and the answer to every question about the Bears. What about the defensive light, Ben Johnson? But what about the secondary, Ben Johnson? What about the password, Ben Johnson? You believe in the Bears because you have a head coach that gives you confidence

39:12that he's going to get the most out of a quarterback who can be an MVP candidate because of Ben Johnson. So that's the reason I think these expectations, which this is the reason for the question. You will remember this 2006 Bears go to Super Bowl. They come back in 2007. They fired Ron Rivera. Because Lovey Smith got a little, I believe, drunk with power. And you can make that argument that this team kind of fed off that. They weren't ready. They had injuries and then they fell apart. Those expectations were sky high for the team that got to the Super Bowl and lost. 2019. They were celebrating the hundred, whatever, bear anniversary. And Mitch Trubisky was the appearing with Jim McMahon. And it was going to be the future. And Matt Nagy was going to be the guy that brought all the plays. And didn't you remember the Santa Peslay and all those things? And then it fell apart because he didn't know how to handle success. Ben Johnson knows how to handle success. The Bears are going to be fine in that regard.

40:13The expectations are outsized and enormous. And probably bigger than they have been ever just because of nature of media these days. But I do think that won't be the issue. If they run into problems, there'll be other things. Injuries that you can't control. But it won't be because they got full of themselves. It's game week, baby. It feels great. You know, we're going to get that injury report tomorrow. We're going to hear from Ben Johnson today. We heard for some rookies yesterday. The running backs were back out on the practice field. The new normal Roman Dunes. What I couldn't believe, and I didn't hear this live, but I heard it when I got here this morning. A little bit ahead of you guys. Our gave remeeras predicting that the Bears are going to drop the first game of the season to Panthers because they're a little too puffy-chested. They're feeling a little too confident. And you're always going to lose a game you're supposed to win. And you're going to win a game you're supposed to lose. And he's putting that in that category. And shame on you gave remeeras.

41:15That's not how I wanted to start game week. It was here in gave remeeras, who says, Bingham and Meatball Bears fan as I am saying that he's predicting game one is going to the Panthers because the Bears are a little bit too puffy-chested. David, I agree with you. When you talk about a negative, but there's Ben Johnson. But there's Ben Johnson. But there's Ben Johnson. Yeah, I'm going to go with that, what, go 18 going into 19. There was just that feeling of this team has something special, and it was Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trebuski. I think this time there's just no room for error for this ball club. Because I think the expectations are sky high and rightfully so. But I'm going to agree with both of you guys. It comes down to the Ben Johnson effect. You actually have a coach that you can trust that is going to make the right decisions. Put his team in situations to be successful.

42:18But I'm going to add on, it's not just because I believe in Ben we trust. I think it also has to do with the quarterback as well. You finally, that's the difference between back then with Trebuski and Matt Nagy to where we are now is that you have a quarterback that is going into his second year with his head coach. What he's learned throughout the off season to kind of correct some of the issues that he had. And a lot of the issues were the easy stuff. It was taking what the defense is giving you. Let's just check it down. Dude's open. You know what? Live the fight another day. I think those little tiny things because the great things spectacular things of winning when your team is down and finding ways to be able to put the cape on. We know he can do that. It's the easy things which I think is he is going to make more evident and we're going to see. It's going to be more prevalent in this this year with with Caleb Williams. So there often is good enough with the skill position players to be able to make it happen.

43:21To me, it comes down to being a little bit too puppy-chested. A schedule that is a lot harder than it was last year. And David said it. It comes down to injuries that we just can't see in the future right now. That could definitely derail this thing. But I haven't been this excited in a long time and I hope Bears fans are as well. Different question on a different topics. That is the voice of Mike Floreo. He's going to wake up in Seattle for us this morning as a game. One of the NFL season over on NBC is Wednesday night. A rematch of the big game from last year and former Bears full back. Matsui as reliable in life as he was on the field. Passed away on Sunday at the age of 68. It meant so much just so many lists that starts with our very own Jared Peyton, whose dad was one of Matt's best friends and teammates. What would Matt Sui want to be remembered the most? Probably for the person that he was.

44:22Because it wasn't about the football, it wasn't about the stats, it wasn't about winning a Super Bowl, it was about every time that he was around people, he made people feel happy, made people smile. And I just think the man that he was speaks volumes to all the stuff that he accomplished. I believe in my heart, he was more accomplished off the field than what he did in business than he did in football. Right? I mean, he was amazing when it came to business. And the football was just kind of a byproduct of that. But the man that he was, is how he wanted to be probably remembered. And I told David this yesterday, the amount of times that I called him and we talked. He would always tell me that he was proud of me. Every single phone call, he would tell me that he was proud of me. And that he knew that my dad was proud of me. But the way his connection with my dad and thinking about how he left him in charge, knowing that every single situation and every decision made,

45:25he made it as if my dad was here and what would your dad want. And I think that's what makes their bond special. He will be remembered as one of my favorites on the field. But as an uncle, now I was glad that I had the time, especially after my dad passed to be able to spend with him. He was amazing. Well, obviously, Jared knows way more about the part about how he would want to remember the most. So I'm going to go with that. That's, you nailed it. Obviously, you know, I do not know. But when I woke up to this story, first I thought that I was kind of out of it still for my ad-vill-PM. And I wasn't quite, I'm like, wait, why? Huh? Well, I can't be reading. I can't be reading what I'm reading correctly. I then did think immediately the first image in my mind was, Jared, you brought it up earlier, was your dad joking with him, pulling the shorts down the black and white, the black and white picture. That's very famous, you know, Bears fans. Also flashback to Super Bowl, him scoring the touchdown with the unconventional kind of like paper towel neck roll that he had.

46:31He had a neck roll on that a kid from York or Lagrange Park or Timothy, you know, whatever. Like he had, he just, no flash, right? Like he just, that was what he was comfortable with, right? And I think he felt an unbelievable connection like, oh my gosh, I am helping the greatest running back in the history of the NFL rush for all these yards and kind of wore it with a badge of honor. And that's how I'll personally remember. I didn't know him off the field at all. So well said by you, but those were the images that went through my mind. And it's just sad, scary, that we continue to lose members of that 85 Bears team. Yeah, it is. I had a privilege of interviewing him a handful of times, but knowing him through what Jarrett has talked about. And I just believe somebody like that, how humble he was, would want to be remembered for being as dependable as he was to everybody.

47:33As reliable as he became to everybody. He's indispensable to some people's lives who now are feeling lost without him. It was an interesting, you know, just dynamic. You have somebody who was known best in Chicago was being the complimentary player. The ultimate sidekick to Walter Peyton when the greatest ever. And yet I think in his life, he's not was probably known more for his leadership and being the guy that led the way, whether it was through difficult circumstances personally or in business or on the field. This complimentary player was somebody that you wanted to follow, if you will. And the great, maybe irony that he was, or maybe this was fitting. He was the full back who led the way and then off the field, he would do the same. So I just think everybody wants to have a legacy where they become somebody that they others can rely on them, whether it's in business, whether it's in sports, or whether it's in life. Just your family or your friends. And Matsui can rest in peace that he is one of those guys that leaves a legacy behind where people knew that they could depend on him whenever they needed to.

48:40So condolences to your family and all the bears fans out there. And Matsui gone too soon at the age of 68. When we come back, the PIC6 continues. Did you see the white sucks renderings of the future ballpark in the South Loop? We'll talk about it next and what it all means. Chicago sports radio time paid 104-3 the score. Welcome back to PIC6 with Haim Peyton on 104-3 the score. I'm not going to take any questions. Justin Ispia made a big news Saturday morning by releasing renderings of a proposed new ballpark called the Rail Yards and the South Loop opposite the 78 where the Chicago Fire are building a stadium of their own. Proposal, the news broken by Crane Chicago, has received pushback by residents and politicians in the Bridgeport neighborhood. How feasible does this all look and is this good or bad timing for such an announcement? Well, I think that it's the timing is the timing and Justin Ispia is entering the chat.

49:43And this was a surprise because of that because of his quasi-ownership, minority ownership, his involvement is vague. It's unclear how much he's involved in day-to-day discussions, but this is something that was and is happening. You look at what they're looking at right now. The renderings will look great by anybody's definition because that's what you can do with AI. Now, how realistic is it? You can't, any conversation about this has to start with what's going on in Bridgeport because the people in that neighborhood, the people in that proximity to the ballpark have been loyal. And those feelings can't be just dismissed or set aside. The alderman for the 11th Ward Nicole Lee issued a statement and kind of Commissioner John Daley, they represent Bridgeport.

50:45They had a joint statement who called this movie betrayal to Sox fans who have supported the team in that neighborhood for so long. Generations going way back. So that's to be taken into consideration and you don't want to overlook that. At the same time, there's the reality of professional sports that this would seem to be acknowledging. Justin Ischbia pouring all this money into the patch of land across the river and across from the Chicago Fire Stadium in a 48 acre site of Amtrak's 14th Street Coachyard, the rail yards, if you will. A lot of this hinges on the ability of Amtrak to relocate to Bridgeport and then the stadium. And this could be years away, but 2029 the lease is up. This is moving fast. It would seem I do wonder who breaks ground first the White Sox or the Bears at the pace of this. But this to me does represent the uncomfortable reality that this is progress because you have to, if you want to be keeping up with teams of Major League Bayer,

51:54this is part of that for the White Sox to modernize their approach. And if Justin Ischbia is behind it and bank rolling this, then certainly this is a sign of the times and new times for the White Sox. So it was jarring to see those renderings because they were so like, wow, eye opening. But the next part of this story might be a little messier. So let's stay tuned. I think the timing is perfect. The Sox are in first place by three games. This is exactly when you want to capitalize on feel good White Sox news. You're just doubling down on the fact that it's September the 8th and your team is ticketed right now to be playing postseason ball. Now, I will say there has been really nice walk up crowds this year at the rate. The fans are coming. They're winning and fans are definitely coming. I don't know that you're turning your back on Bridgeport. I think that's probably a little extreme.

52:56I don't live in Bridgeport. I might not understand it the way others would. I don't see the negatives to this. If you shutter the stadium, you are walking away from Bridgeport. Essentially, if you... How big of a day, a game day impact helps Bridgeport. I don't know the answer to that question specifically. But there is an identity that's intertwined with Bridgeport and the White Sox. I think you have to acknowledge that. It's like taking Wrigley out of Clark and Addison away from Clark and Addison. Maybe I just don't feel that I don't know it enough. I just... I'd like to listen. Bridgeport residents die hard White Sox fans. This is similar. This is similar. I like to say same church different pew as bears moving from soldier field to Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana.

53:57Every bear's fans got a thought on it. What are White Sox fans? I love the renderings. Any time that you can jump on AI and give me some renderings of what a new stadium looks like, kind of used to that with what's going on with the bear situation. Always looks pretty. But there is something to say here where what David was talking about with Nicole Lee and also John Daly talking about the betrayal to the 11th Ward. And they're kind of drawing a line in the sand of like seeing where they stand and how they feel about this. I think there is an identity when it comes to Bridgeport and the White Sox. That community is driven by the south side and what that team means to them. And so timing, I can understand Ishbia can do whatever he wants to do. That's the timing. That's what he wants.

54:58But also as well the timing for me, I don't like to talk about these things when games are going on. Because I feel like sometimes it overshadows what we're all here for. And I think for to see the White Sox in first place in the central, that should be the main focus. But also timing though for south side fans and Bridgeport that are upset about this. This is a big deal. But I think when you have how long this is going to take and we're all excited about the renderings, there's still a process that has to go through to be able to get this thing to actually shovels in the ground. I got a lot of questions about him this off season. That's the voice of PCA and he became the first couple left hander since Billy Williams 1970 to hit 40 home runs over on the left side of the play. Now has 35 stolen bases after two more over the weekend.

55:58There's also a post going viral pointing out the PCA has 22 more home runs and 49 more stolen bases than Ken Griffey Jr. did through 438 MLB appearances. Is Ken Griffey Jr. the new comp for PCA? Is that crazy fair? What are we watching here? I'm a Ken Griffey guy. I guess yes, I think it's fair. I guess when you're looking at the comp just by when you look at both guys, right? Both left handed hitters, both just fluid swings. I mean I'm always going to go with Griffey's just because I mean his could be put on to like a as a logo for something if that's what you really wanted because it's so sweet. Both guys are amazing defenders, both playing center field out in the outfield. I look at the games of both guys and early on if you compare the first four years to from Griffey to PCA and what PCA has done especially.

57:02I look at the stolen bases to me that's there. The speed has always been there. It hasn't been something that needs to be seen over time. I think when you it's a little ambitious though to start looking at somebody and have a hard time when a guy as many home runs as Griffey does and as many all star appearances as he does to kind of compare another guy to him. But I think it's he it is a comp and it sounds like from listening to PCA that they he's had conversations with can't Griffey about all about the swing in the game. And so last last year I think they started that friendship. Yeah that friendship. So the fact that they have that friendship says something. But I think over time you still have to do it for a long period of time and that's what we haven't seen but I think PCA is on the right path as right now to doing something special and what we're seeing Dustin. It's much watch TV I haven't I haven't been this excited to watch and at bat from someone in the city.

58:06I think the only thing close to that was when Devon Hester was back there and punt punt and kickoff returns where it was like oh I might need to go to bathroom no I'm going to sit here and watch to see what Devon Hester does that's how I feel about every a B of PCA. That's a great that's a great cup it is sit up in your seat it is turn the radio up a little louder it is reaching to your pocket pull out the app and put the volume up a little bit more it is much watch TV. And then once he gets on base yesterday gets hit by a pitch right and then but it's same thing I'm sitting up a little straighter in my seat watching to see is this is this is is he going to steal a base is he going to try if he gets second. Is he going to steal third right you're just you're you cannot you can't get away from now when we get to the Griffey stuff it that's an amazing it's an amazing cop through 438 games that that he's doing better than him now he's also older it's more mature right then Griffey Griffey came in what 18 19 years old is playing with his dad right okay so that's part of this a little bit.

59:14I think the key to all of this and these numbers are so much fun and and there's a you know we could spend 4 an hour going over all the different things can he repeat it can you do not the same but can you know can you keep the high standard for multiple years that's going to be the next thing everybody's got a year in them right how many guys hit 50 50 home runs all of a sudden Brady Anderson yeah you know you're not Brady Anderson no no he just saying that point you got to do it again it's this is fantastic but you got to do it again that's what makes it so hard I get it I know it's fun to enjoy I don't think the Ken Griffey junior comp those numbers did surprise me but that's also a mouthful when you say that he's on that track that's a hall of fame track yeah is that were is that where he's headed I this is as far as I be willing to go now and I love everything PCA is doing and you could see him almost he stole those bases so easily yesterday he got the jump and he was off you know he's going to get 40 40 you know he's going to do that yesterday was a seven time this year where he had at least a

1:00:25home run and one stolen base in the same game that's a cup record the other guy he's tied for it now 1991 Ryan Samberg is the other guy going back to 1898 that's a lot of great company to keep Ryan Samberg Ken Griffey junior these are the hall of famous were comparing this kid to any is a kid 24 what are we watching here it's greatness that's what we're watching here and I think to be go more than that might be a little premature but I just think you want him to stay healthy you want him to continue this track but I also think we're watching and we're seeing one of the biggest bargains in baseball he's locked up for six years at less of 20 million a year six year 150 million dollar extension jet hoiers of genius he got PCA to sign that contract and he moved to Chicago his parents are here he could not be happier the only people happening PCA right now cup fans because he's going to be here for a very long time all right we come back we got it the extra point what will you remember most from this weekend of college football get into it next on

1:01:36on page college sports radio 104 3 the score in with the extra point painting it's time for the extra point with hot and pain come out for the extra point on 104 3 the score set at this extra point on a wild first weekend of college football what will you remember the most hmm I'm going to need a second here you don't I'm going to get it from Michigan because they're giving out seconds free seconds seconds that they don't deserve yeah that was one second that will last a lifetime in the memories of those western Michigan players that deserved better that was a travesty travesty that they put seconds back a second back on the clock gave Michigan another chance to to be western Michigan that outplayed them the entire game in the big house it was the big upset they should have won they didn't the big 10 needed to get a second did anybody else know that that the clocks were different I've been watching college football a long

1:02:37time I have been studying college football a long time I love college football I didn't know that we were watching two different clocks all the time so that was what stood out you had no to name beating Wisconsin they look good on defense you had LSU with clean kiffin making a mockery of everything they beat dabbo swiney and that's that's fine you can enjoy it now I hope somebody beats link kiffin 51 to six or whatever this this year and also you had last night an odd game with Florida State and the power going out against SMU and SMU winning so it was there was a lot of stuff going on but I think the most indelible impression was left by western Michigan beating Michigan and not being allowed to win that game because of the rough intervention imagine if we had pro players I am a David it's obvious Michigan it's western Michigan but I mean that's a close second and I'm still debating internally whether I love that or I hated that I still can't decide and then the fact that he made

1:03:40dabbo and the tigers sit longer he he postponed it even more he made them wait because he knows how bad the visitors locker room is and how uncomfortable it is there was a rain delay there was a weather issue there and he extended it and made them sit and rot in a miserable visitors dressing room I'm gonna go with I mean I could start with my with my canes but I'm not gonna do that but that was a big one it was there for it I'm it's great to get a you know get off on the right foot I'm cool with that I have to go with you David it comes down to it that game I don't know who's probably more upset western Michigan fans or my wife with watching the game she was just like are you kidding me and I'm like you I did not know there's two different clocks I've been watching college football all my life and play you and I we played it like what is going on here the fact that you get an opportunity to get another

1:04:44Dave on a hell marry if rolls over first this western Michigan get that no they get that opportunity no not not in that arbor no they don't because the people are running on the field and celebrating after I love that sign welcome to an arbor set your clocks back one second 27 and a half point favorites are you kidding me shout out to western Michigan though they played their tails off other than that it Lane Kiffin is the story that's who I'm gonna be watching all college football because this dude throws shade at half time talk trash when he wants to yes his his this half time speech got leaked I mean this is he is must watch TV and what they did that LSU team looks phenomenal they they they are a good football team they will get better as the year goes on but there's something cooking in Baton Rouge so definitely looking at that and I think the Auburn and Baylor game the two points tried that was stuffed that was

1:05:50huge that was huge there's also something cooking at house hall it's game week let's go it is game week here at the score what do you think about the bear's ability to handle expectations how much confidence do you have in their season opening game against the Panthers and maybe you want to pay tribute to Matt Sui who left the far too soon 68 years old past you can away on Saturday on Sunday former bears full back and friend of Walter Peyton let us know we're going to open up the phone lines 312 644 67 67 we're talking bears when we come back it's on Peyton Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score get your morning starting with hot and Peyton on 104 3 the score out of this weekend I feel like it's kind of hit me like going through the preseason and they make the official roster and then now now you starting getting to like like last time I was watching the film prepping for the game and kind of like geez like I'm around really like where I wanted to be like being that little kid and I just spent a great experience it's really exciting

1:06:54obviously there'll be a new experience but at the end of the day you know I'll be playing football so I think I think I'll feel comfortable and it was nice to kind of get some preseason games in my belt just to you know continue to wrap the plays and work with my teammates. Good Tuesday morning Chicago welcome to the hot Peyton show Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score welcome to the Chicago sports network audience simul cast until nine o'clock this morning it is of course game week it is the countdown five days away now bears and panthers in Charlotte Dylan Theeneman it hit him over the weekend hey look I'm a bear I'm a starting safety I have the responsibility of being the last line of defense deepest a deepest why does the widest all the things so I ask you Jarrett Peyton and let's start there although we have a lot of people want to check in 3126 44 67 67 where is your confidence level in the bear defense because when it comes

1:07:56right down to it we can have the conversation about Ben Johnson as we have we know what we know about Caleb Williams and the obsession with his completion percentage and you need to take the layups and we know that but to me starting Sunday in Carolina this bear season will go as far as its defense allows it to go they will be as good as a defense allows it to be the defense is going to be the determining factor for this bear season because I think there's certain things you can assume about the offense that to me are safe assumptions I don't know this were there with a defense where you're relying on potentially Sunday three rookie starters I don't want to sound like I'm I'm not panicking but I am a little worried because I don't know how this defense is going to look and I think that with all of the questions that are still surrounding at certain positions it concerns

1:08:56me a little bit the saving grace is the offense the offense I know because of the head coach the quarterback who's underneath center the expectations from him and the weapons that he has at his disposal it makes me feel a little bit more at ease but it's going to be this defense is going to be tested and they have to find a way to show that they can hang because you are going to need them at some point throughout this season when I know bears fans are all excited about you know scoring 35 points again I get that but your defense is going to have to be able to make stops in some critical moments yeah you know what it going to the season anything but optimistic you have a playoff caliber team all this super bowl talk in the NFC championship aspirations are valid and legitimate you don't want to talk anybody out of being excited about what's ahead what you do also want to be though is realistic about what you're looking at and what you're looking at is a bear defense that

1:09:58lacks elite players at every level I mean they have they have jalen johnson they have montess what and I think you could make the argument that maybe montess wet isn't in that category but you could also look at those are two players that every offensive coordinator begins every preparation session and meeting for the bears knowing how to what are they going to do where those guys on the field and what are they how are they going to try to either avoid them or design things away from them but other than that the bears really have a lot of players who have something to prove I alluded to three rookie starters that's if malik mahamid starts the nickel back which is possible that's if jordan vandabrick starts a defensive tackle which he'll be part of the mix but rotation it's more of a rotation he'll play a big part and of course dilland thedeman who is the first round draft pick that had a okay preseason but I don't know that he flashed

1:10:59in a way that a lot of us expected and he'll be in a position now where against carolina playoff team by the way he's going to be tested tetmic millen is a problem for that bear secondary yeah the rain he came off a year of rookie season he was a rookie offensive player of the year he's big he's rangel and he's got great hands that to me is you have hubbard in the running game and all the things but you you have to make sure that mcmillan doesn't get behind you or make a big play that changes the momentum what about if you had and i'm just asking this because i know i that's a question but let's say that you had kobi brine healthy and you bring in bush as one of your new linebackers but you still don't have that past rush let's say everything was everybody was healthy would you have a better vibe of this defense a little bit or still with

1:12:00some of the the undrafted guys that are going to have key parts in rotations in this defense i think that the health factor is important yeah awesome booker can make a big impact but he's he's not proven he's not proven the bears are relying on a lot of unproven players they're trusting their scouts they're trusting their coaches they're trusting a lot of things that playoff teams don't typically trust and the on defense they resemble more of a team that is uh on the rise up and coming or less proven on offense they have a much different scenario it's like there's two different teams under the same in the same locker room yeah but for me it was more of you were adding certain pieces because you lost some pieces on the back end of that defense you added a rookie first round rookie and then you were adding a guy that just coming off of fresh off of a super bowl championship where i was like okay makes me feel a little bit more at ease of knowing who a guy like Kobe Bryant is alongside Dylan Thinamann that oh i get a chance to watch

1:13:03these two grow now that has changed because of an injury situation the only big that probably the biggest question was how are they going to get after the quarterback and i think that's what everybody has been talking about heading into the summer because they didn't really address that that situation and so you were going with guys that are either coming off of injury or someone that's unproven and that didn't sit well with me as i was like eh i don't know if there was a move to be made but this is what you're rolling with as the season comes in. Well other teams made moves other teams made moves to address their biggest weaknesses and i think the problem that may be persists or maybe the thing that bothers bear critics or analysts or even fans uh is that as you are five days away from week one and the season opener against the Panthers the biggest weakness and defense remains the same as it was yeah last year heading into the playoffs can the bears get to the quarterback can the bear gets the Jordan love and the first playoff game can they get the

1:14:07Matthew Stafford the second playoff game you know to some degree football is always about getting to the quarterback but i think when you have a weakness in that area it's a it's a more glaring omission from your what you don't have and the bear still don't have that so that uh while i say you worry about the three rookies yes absolutely you worry about the fact that your biggest weakness is still what the biggest weakness was a year ago. At least on the your offense on the offensive side the ball you have two you're you're running backs both at practice Monday so you're hopefully that that's going to be a huge part of the the success of running the football and that's going to be the calling card of this team this season. That is true both running backs did return to practice Deandre Swift common unguy healthy and back at it that was the good news at house hall. The not so good news and we don't have any clarity because Ben Johnson has spoken since last month it seems once the last time we heard from the bears coach i know that we've been away for a

1:15:10while the holiday weekend but i don't know that we've heard from him in a very long time i understand the season starts today but it would be nice to have some a little bit of clarity but we have none because Roma Dunez a mispractice on Monday which would be no huge thing if not for the Roma Dunez injury history the foot could be a problem wasn't that the same thing last year and we heard from Roma Dunez a who walked it back talked it back sort of kind of maybe that his new normal was going to be situations like he's facing right now but i don't know that you have a ton of confidence in in Roma Dunez a if he can't stay on the field for practice and this is five days away now. There's a big big moment for him coming into this season after the way last season ended for him so i was you know hoping that this would be a breakout year where he would go okay now there's the absence of DJ more now you have a chance to kind of get your feet wet

1:16:13just a little bit more have another year offseason with Caleb but it comes down to injuries and in this foot problem if that is the new norm it's scary because he he has to play a part in this offense of for them to be successful i i get Luther burden and colson leveling those guys are who they're going to be but to have it have an added bonus of another big body receiver that can go get the football but the fact is that we don't know weekend and week out how this foot's going to be is very concerning. Most reports from preseason practice and in games you can see Roma Dunez a looking pretty fluid getting in at a breaks running the routes being the kind of guy that you can envision having an impact like a number nine overall pick should but i just think he's got to stay in the mix and you can't miss valuable time maybe it's just a precaution we'll find it later today when we hear from Ben Johnson. Text from the 2-1-9 says you guys are praising the bear's

1:17:16offense did you forget that oh just jumped about the last two games again and the play of cicalo throwing five interceptions. I feel like sometimes we do praise this offense a little bit too much i feel like i do in the sense of where i am banking on that it's not going to be the exact same as last year where we're going to see this offense start faster than we did last season and that's what i'm banking on and maybe that's foolish for me sometimes without seeing a lot of it where the we i wasn't at all the joint practices we see a limited amount of reps when it comes to the preseason because guys don't play a lot so we are banking a lot on this offense to do something that it we didn't see it do a lot last year. Why i think that you saw it come back seven times and but then games in the quarter by no update but that ain't gonna that's not when you a super bowl you have to be more consistent than that this year but you have to believe in something and

1:18:17to answer the question why why do you keep mentioning the offense well it's what the bears do best and you also have a coach that you trust talking maybe Ben Johnson sounds like he's over his skis a little bit in talking about being the wanting to be the best offense ever wanting to be the you know not only beat teams but really run the score up and on teams. I would settle you would settle for like victories 11 victories i mean i'll take it and and you would get settle for 28 to 30 points a game and not turning the ball over and you left tackle protecting the quarterback you you don't have to think there's somewhere in the middle they don't have to they don't have to be great but you can't be awful and i think the bears need to maintain the level of consistency which i don't think maybe they had last year which bothers some people because for the first three quarters you saw Caleb Williams with a lot of room for improvement. Yeah it was just it's it's too hard i

1:19:18mean we're banking on that and i and rightfully so just because you're going into another off season you're hoping that Caleb's going to take another step but yeah this this offense still has something to prove to me even though i think that is the the biggest bright side of this team going into the season they they still have a lot to prove and for Caleb it's it's really the easy things it's the the what take what defense is giving you check the ball down when you need to i want to see more of that than i want to see the spectacular throws or you know the putting your cape on in in in the fourth quarter to be able to come back and win that's all good and dandy i'm i'll take it but i do want to see more consistency out the gate from this bear's offense because what happened last year more likely is not going to happen this year and having all those opportunities to come back and win just like on the defensive side of the ball i don't think we're going to see a bunch of takeaways so the this defense is going to have to play different they're going to have to find

1:20:18ways to impact games different which those you can't bank on those takeaways being there like they were what the bear did in the way they approach the off season defensively what they did in leaning into the whole idea of we need to be better coaches and we're going to coach them up which is what ben johnson essentially said what they did to remind everybody as we sit here five days before the opener as they put a lot more pressure on Dennis Allen the defensive coordinator yeah they put pressure on the staff and the individual position coaches and all of that and the defensive lion coach and to get the most out of this committee approach defensive tackle they traded jirvan dexter and that reinforces whole idea that the pressure this season is as much on bears coaches defensively as it is on bears players defensively and if this doesn't go well this you know chicago yes you grew up here yeah i don't have to tell you i don't have to tell fans to follow the bears for years if the bears defense starts to not be so consistent and give up more points and the season does get

1:21:21off to the kind of start people want it to Dennis Allen will feel the heat and when you lean into coaching the offseason if you can't come through during the season that's where the pressure will fall my my thing will be give me give me more talent if i was him anymore you need more talent to be able to win games like you're expecting him to that that's putting a lot on him and there was a lot on that but and there was a lot on him last year though as well it was it was a lot of pressure first year defense coordinator though you have a lot more leeway yes and you are given a lot more grace and somebody who is returning to coach a team that doesn't have a proven a proven pass rusher opposite your opposite your best pass rusher and who went out and reshaped your defense with his input and with players that fit his specific scheme and wants not not having a pass

1:22:23rusher is like on the offensive side not having a number one receiver like how you know how difficult that is so it comes down to okay just coach and i am the believer that it comes it is they want to say we have the coaches inside of this building to get guys better but you also need talent you got to have ballers you got dudes that can get out there and there are dogs out there on the defensive side the ball and he there's a lack of them in my opinion three one two six forty four sixty seven sixty seven let's go out to the phone lines Eric is on the road Eric welcomed on Peyton hey how do you guys do I'm kind of heartbroken working right now because of that but uh uh Jared I loved your dad so much that i named my son Peyton sorry i can nervous

1:23:25that's okay that's okay but um um and that western Michigan so I thought you were going to have a man and true I thought it was I was going we were going deep in this one you were in my heart I was like oh man it's here it's it's it's all coming and then you threw out that western Michigan man and it's exactly what I needed this morning thanks Eric appreciate the phone call back to the phone like did you think it was going to like this emotional I'm coming you oh thought it was deep in the soul I thought it was deep I thought it was coming deep as a soul did you watch that western Michigan again they got robbed matching deserved better and they did Brian is in Lake Geneva Brian welcome to Han Peyton good morning hey Jared I have a bone to pick with you uh oh what's up Brian no so November 20th 1977 i'm a five year old Vikings fan going to my first NFL game my dad brings me

1:24:32there what does your dad do there's runs up and down the field against my Vikings that's the record crushes me thanks i'm sorry Brian oh i hope you enjoyed the game though let's go let's try all right we're all for two let's go for Tony is in Rogers Park Tony welcome to Han Peyton thanks guys but I would like to agree with uh what Jared just said when Jared mentioned that um they didn't really go out and get Dennis Allen Indy talent they but you said well they put that on him okay they put that on him but our we as fans expected to dumb ourselves down and feel expect that defense to be good when you didn't give the defensive coordinator any talent I'm not gonna do it I'm not gonna put that on Dennis Allen I'm gonna put that on the general manager I refuse show me a defense that won anything without elite talent there isn't there isn't anything so me as a fan no i'm not gonna doubt Dennis Allen at all because he's approved the defensive coordinator when he has talent they didn't give him any thanks guys Tony

1:25:32that's a great phone call yeah I appreciate it I don't withhold that but I also think that the pressure that's a very good phone call it is but Jared that's a fact of almost life in every NFL city though it is you you never gonna have enough talent you're always gonna have weaknesses you're counting on your coaches and certain coaches have more pressure on them than others and I think Dennis Allen has a lot of pressure this season he does have a lot of pressure but as fans we're not stupid we know I know we know I didn't want to suggest that Tony knows like we know that like we see what's going on the lack of of of of additions to this defense we we know it's gonna be put on him if it doesn't work out it's gonna be put on DA and that is not fair but what about 1977 Jerry you weren't even bored I got to pick with you that's what I was I was like do I'm not even I wasn't even here and you're mad at me I would come back let's talk about the bears let's talk about Miami football let's talk about all the things NFL and college football with Dave Wonsett he joins us next it's on page the coax sports radio 104 through the score

1:26:35Dave Wonsett bears head coach for six seasons super bowl champion how much did you know he has the greatest mustache you've ever seen some say it's a symptom of manliness others are cons the mustache along is it take you to grow that mustache do you want to do it I wish I could grow one Dave Wonsett with Haim Peyton Dustin we're not gonna waste airtime on it on 104 three the score how do you know coach Wonsett everyone knows coach welcome back it's Haim Peyton she called the sports radio 104 three the score time now to go out to the plumbers 911 hotline plumbing emergency call 1833 plum 911 local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time Dave Wonsett is our football insider man about town he's not in studio because he's on the golf course good morning Dave how are you I'm not on the golf

1:27:40course I'm going to do a charity thing on the golf course I'm working my way there I'm just kidding Dave I'm just kidding I love love that you're doing your job and and talking to us about the bears because you know what it's game week five days away Dave let's just start or continue our conversation Jared and I were having with with callers last segment does this bear defense look like a playoff defense to you I would say potentially how's that does that dodging the question yeah just a little bit coach yeah only for the practice there's a lot of unknown you know and you gotta start with that defense of wine I was thinking about that this morning you know the Gallagher street I mean you know there's three or four guys on there that I honestly don't know much about okay except that they've been in the league for five six years they bounced around

1:28:42they're really looking for an opportunity so you know they're gonna get great effort there's no question they're they're character guys they're gonna get great effort now does that compute making enough plays to be a great defense I have no idea guys I honestly don't and to me that defensive line it gives me the question the difference what happens and and you're from your experience with Miami that you know whenever great defensive line your line doctors I mean they gotta be great players everybody does but it takes a lot of pressure off and let's just put it that way okay so when you don't have a dominant defensive line when you don't have a dominant defensive line that puts a pressure on everybody else to make a lot of plays so these guys make plays I don't know that's what we got to wait and see yeah coach it's it's tough I mean that's

1:29:48what we're gonna have to wait and see as the season kind of approaches but you've been a part of of defenses and forming defenses like force turnovers and that was a big part of Dennis Allen in this ball club last year this is we're going into a new year now so what's one of the traits the bear secondary has to have if that past rushes not there to be able to generate some turnovers well you gotta have guys that do their homework and anticipate the play I remember buyer last year when he was the E231 game I can't remember the game and they ask him about it after the game and his comment hit me right in the face he said you know that's their favorite play and we had studied that practice that and I anticipated that so the number one thing is you've got to have guys that do their homework and and and understand the tendencies not just the plays but

1:30:50this receiver lights the you know run around this particular way he likes to lean here he'll drop his arms when he comes out of the break he did these little things that the real pros do that separate themselves and buyer make that comment and I said to myself this guy is a real pro talk with Dave once said here in the hot patent show Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score Dave you've been in this situation before coming off a winning season coming off a season where a lot of things went right and the one of the enemies might be complacency or might be might be just learning how to handle success what's the key for Ben Johnson and this coaching staff to handling success and maybe the weight of these expectations because they are as high as they have been in many years around Chicago yeah it can be a little bit dangerous it can and one happens for

1:31:50my experience of winning a championship and now what are we going to do the next year the two things that gets you when you win a championship and have a great year and this this is no different than business it's no different than the score if you're rated the top station and you know in Chicago on and off two things happen one you do get a little bit of complacent you know the we we call it when you win a Super Bowl the Super Bowl hangover because everybody's patting on the back and you're going you're on a social you know circuit and the second thing that happens is internally guys are saying I'm not getting my share I'm I should be getting paid more I should be getting more recognition I should be whatever might be I should be getting radio shows uh those two things are the number two things in my opinion that take a football team and

1:32:52organization to be in great back to being just good and so you know a lot of those things are internal guys and I'm sure that Ben you know Ben's been there and he's on these guys and Dennis Ben there so you gotta address it you can't be kind of like it's not there that's the key you can't stick your head in the stand and say oh well that doesn't happen when our team yes it does I think a lot of people are banking coach on just Ben Johnson and just the culture that he's built so far that they can kind of build off of that and and not get complacent but I also think about this team on on the offensive side of the ball we talk a lot about defense and how much we question how this defense is going to hold up but on the offensive side of the ball we we know Caleb's going coming into another year we know that's an offseason with Ben Johnson are you banking on like I'm banking on that this offense is going to start fast this year instead of

1:33:55waiting till the fourth quarter to figure things out yes and from what I've seen in practice the offense was was practicing fast and they were practicing a very efficient level let me use that word in other words they were throwing and catching the football and getting blocking people so they were you know they were one of they needed to be probably ahead of schedule I'm going to say with Caleb they were probably ahead of schedule and so that would be fantastic you know the the thing thing in this the elephant in the room you mentioned it earlier Jared is you know we had 33 takeaways last year we let the NFL you know how many are we going to get because that's a lot of extra offensive possessions that we get the ball we give it to our offense okay that's you know I mean I'm gonna get me that's almost almost two again you're over one again for sure

1:34:58and and one of those possessions were inside the opponent's 50 easy positions are easier to set your offense up the score so that's a big part of it if we don't get turnovers and now we've got to drive the football 70 80 yards and put it in the end zone that's going to be a little bit more of a challenge to us and in my mind this is the year of one of Dune's A and I guess it's Luther Burton now you know there's no DJ more so we can say what we want I got done on them like everybody a little bit for different reasons but we can say what we want but the guy made a lot of plays to win a lot of games so he's gone and now Loughlin is not a secret okay he's not a secret and you know we're gonna have to deal with that but that's the reality of it is it you know whether he's double covered okay that's fine double covered Loughlin we're gonna throw the ball to

1:35:59ball to Roma Dune's A. Well you better be ready to step up on man this is your third year it's your time that's a great point Dave that's why his injury status is so important and he'd mispractice a Monday we'll find out more clarity later today from Ben Johnson Dave we have to get to the college football over the weekend because I know a great job on sports Sunday by the way with Luke Canales and NBC five you'd mention that you talked to somebody in the big 10 officiating office about what happened in Ann Arbor how would you describe what happened in terms of what you learned later and did you feel like everyone else that Western Michigan deserved better well now here's what happened no I talked to Bill Corolla who's the head of the big kind of officials David you're right okay and and he explains something to me that I do know is a coach if a any play that's out of bounds and the ball thrown out of bounds or someone standing out of

1:37:01bonds or is considered out of bounds whether it's a player a coach and a referee a fan a cheerleader if that ball touches you and you are out of bounds the clock stops okay let me just show the player that touched the ball the Western was never aching teams out of bounds came in touch the ball they stopped the clock here's what I did not know an hour and a half before every game okay the the replay officials get together with the people from the stadium and they synchronize their clocks so they are exactly the same and Bill made the point to me he says we were off somehow some way it was a neighbor synchronized correctly and I were out on both parts on the stadium and and the replay but go back to play and here's the point that kind of brings it to

1:38:07life two plays before the how many if you remember they ran a play and they stopped the clock and they said there's eight seconds on the clock we'll miss you again and the officials said no we checked our replay one second there's nine seconds on the clock so two plays before that it was evident that they were a second off on the clock and that's that's the point that I'm making here is that it was evident and you know and now all of a sudden that comes up in the game and so Chicago the replay guys they are going to call it as they see it and that's that's what happened that's what happened unfortunate for everybody sorry I know Michigan celebrated but it shouldn't come down to that Dave we've got to let you go but before we do quickly what do you

1:39:10predict will happen Sunday in Charlotte? Sunday in Charlotte the bears are going to win I'll start there it should be a hot one and I will say this uh Carolina's defense is better know what anybody gives them credit for they were a middle of the road defense last year I expect them to be a little bit better test than what anyone is really talking about for the bears so um you know and I have no idea about terrorized offense they were 27th in the NFL last year guys they were in the bottom five teams worst teams in the NFL but yeah but yeah Carolina won their division with eight wins so there's going to be a lot of excitement with the fans in this football team of uh you know because of the winning the division anybody would be the bears are so that's going to give them a little bit of momentum we'll see what happens Dave you're the best appreciate your

1:40:15time this morning have fun at the golf course where you're talking okay Sean's good guys but Dave wants to score football expert I didn't even get a chance to ask him about the canes oh well I tried to keep you guys apart that would have been having taken the up the entire segment oh how great were we Dave on Friday oh we were great weren't we great Jared yes we were great okay throw that you baby they definitely were were they the most dominant team looking over the weekend yes they were uh I could be a very very honest dominant performance yeah because I just think with with the quarterback in in with Malachi Tony they really showed off on on Friday so let's we got we got more well hey can't wait to come to know today there's plenty of time to count down to that one when we come back Dave wants to mention something that I think we want to explore Carolina did have a very interesting offseason did something that the bears didn't do we'll talk about it next it's hot paint and Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score

1:41:17welcome back to hot and patent on 104 3 the score he's one of the freakiest athletes I've ever seen so I think for him just to kind of let it loose and you know understand where he needs to be his communication has gone up you know tenfold since I've been with him his rookie year and I think just comes from you know the certainty now that he has playing the position understanding the intent of run plays and you know where we're trying to hit him and things like that and you know maybe the first few years like I was always one kind of giving him a call or like hey where you going here on this one and now he's I mean his process at the snap is just so good and you know I feel I feel really good when I'm on that right side playing with him just because you give a good feeling of and knowing of the he understands what's going on it really helps helps me do my job at a faster rate as well welcome back it's on paid in Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score that is a voice of cold commit talking about right tackle Darnell right and why are we talking about right tackle Darnell right five days before the opener because as Dave wants that alluded to the Panthers have a

1:42:23defense that addressed their maybe biggest offseason need in a way the Bears did not Jalen Phillips and by the way are segment with Dave wants that was sponsored by EOC golf play any golf course at home today Jalen Phillips was a expensive free agent four years 120 million dollars Jarrett but the Panthers believe that Jalen Phillips who typically lines up on the left defense defensive side opposite Darnell right which is going to create one of the biggest matchups if he stays there he has moved around at times but if he's going one on one a lot of times with Darnell right that will be one of the biggest matchups on Sunday 120 million dollars 30 per year that's a lot of money to get a game record Jalen Phillips is the closest thing to have to a game record do you think he can wreck the Bears game plan on Sunday is he priority one if you are Ben

1:43:24Johnson neutralizing Jalen Phillips so he does not take over yes because they do like to Caroline like to line up their best past pressure on on that right side where Darnell is so they're they're they're going to have a matchup back and forth what what Jalen Phillips brings you is that first step explosion off of the ball he's he's a Miami guy so I know he he's that that that that cross chop to be able to get the arms down and then what he likes to do is kind of flatten it out to try to get after the quarterback this is this is going to be a test for Darnell right and this is what this is what you want this is why you pay to him the money in the big bucks because if you can find a way to neutralize Phillips doing the game early on especially to me the best way to do that is don't let him feel comfortable and where are the Bears having success the most and we saw it last year was in their run game on the right side of that line run right you run I'm running I'm running

1:44:25chances I am running at him right at because at at some point at over time he's going to get tired of having to which he is a good against the run he's going to get tired of getting bulldozed and have to fight all game that that weakens you a little bit as the game goes on when you're trying to get after the quarterback so you can get into a have a lead early in this game don't let them pin their ears back and run the football that side then that's to me is how you neutralize I'm passing now we've spent so much time this off season talking about and training camp the left tackle competition who's going to play at left tackle the blindside for Caleb Williams Braxton Jones needs to protect it oh no not Braxton Jones when's out of the trapello coming back because we need him all the things one really in week one it's are you going to give all of your help to the left tackle because you worried there and leave Darnell right on an island at times with their number one pass rusher the guy they're paying handsomely to wreck your game plan yeah you're going to have to really I mean because you paid him to do that you that's why you paid him this is this is

1:45:29this is bucks for generations well generation of wealth yeah this is why you paid him big money match up he is he is going to have to find find a way and we know how comfortable Darnell is in the run game he is in the past game there there's certain situations because people don't always win that's it's hard because you're going up against top tier talent right across from you but yeah that's why I paid you I paid you that money so you can go up against the best and we don't have to worry about it and this is where you get tested week one this is a topic for another day but I am always curious about guys who move around sometimes like Micah Parsons does and how versatile and and dangers that makes them versus guys who stay in one side like Montess wet right in he's gonna come atcha or whatever side it is I don't know why they do it I would move guys around all the time especially if you have if I know every team doesn't have a Micah Parsons but if I did yeah I want I want you to get a bunch of looks it's too easy for you to know if I'm going to be at one side that I can help out whether that's with a tight end to help chip with a running back to

1:46:34help chip on that edge I want to see guys move around because it makes it harder for offences to figure out who they're calling the mic how they're calling out their protections when you have somebody that is versatile and moving all up down the line Jayland Phillips Darnell Wright one of the biggest matchups Sunday in Carolina and we will talk to our next guest about that one and much more it's Biggs time right here on Han Patent Chicago Sports Radio 104 3 the score Biggs is name is Brad Biggs Brad Biggs talks for ball with you welcome back it's on Payton Chicago Sports Radio 104 3 the score good Tuesday morning welcome to the Chicago Sports Network audience simul casting until nine o'clock thank you for watching this morning time now to go out to the plumbers 9-1-1 hotline plumbing emergency call 1-8-3-3-3-3-9-1-1-1

1:47:35local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time Brad Biggs is the football man for the Chicago Tribune the best source of bears knew anywhere he joins us now morning Brad. Morning boys what's going on? So tell us this you were up there yesterday the bears return to practice we are five days from the opener week one awaits Brad 2026 has arrived how healthy are the bears? Well they're certainly looking better the Andre Swift and Kyle and Unguy both out there for yesterday real short practice mostly individual work with a little bit of special teams but they participated you saw Austin Booker who we know had been out recently to Marco Jackson the linebacker who had missed some time he was out there so the only player that was not spotted on the roster practice squad for that matter was Roman Dunez and potentially Ben Jansen will

1:48:40shed some light on his situation a little bit later on today or maybe he'll take a pass the bears are going to practice today players will be off tomorrow and then practice Thursday Friday in advance of week one the first injury report doesn't come out until Wednesday afternoon so it will be an estimation for what it would have been had they actually practiced tomorrow. Brad you've been at practices you've seen some of these joint practices as well I'm trying to figure out how much of an emphasis has been going into this camp on the offensive side of the ball for Ben Jansen to get this offense going and starting out fasting games as they head into the season. Yeah I think they want to I think they want to start faster they want to rely on these fourth quarter comebacks and so they've got comfort level with Caleb like you

1:49:46can see that going back to the spring you can see it in training camp you know the number of plays that had to re-rack or just re-huddle everything it greatly reduced everybody knows what's going on so I think the comfort level being up there I think I think they've got more talent across the board on offense this year and that's not to take a swipe at anybody that was part of the action a year ago so it's just going to have to come down execution when the game starts right like what's it going to require you know you need to find a way to score points more in the first half of ball games I think to to prove you can start faster. So the Panthers are we're a playoff team last year so they're no slouch Bryce Young has improved and maybe not what they thought he would be initially but he is ascending you look at Teppek Millen he's dangerous

1:50:52because of his size and because his production level last year Brad I wonder all these things because the Bears defense enters this season still with some question marks and one of them is at the safety opposite Dylan Thieneman and it's odd that the Bears feel best about the safety position manned by the first round rookie so where does that safety position how is that lining up at Xavier Woods and Cam Lewis and then is Xavier Woods if he starts a safety is Cam Lewis to starting Nickelback how is a secondary shaping up overall yeah that's that's something they're probably going to try to keep under wraps until Sunday I think Xavier Woods ends up being the guy that gets more of the starts there if the safety position you know simply based on experience the guys got close to 120 hundred maybe it's just more than that career starts in the league and Cam Lewis has been around for a while and was a valuable guy who could do a bunch of different

1:51:57things for the Buffalo bills including on special teams but he had 14 starts and six seasons in Buffalo okay so the guy with the experience here is Woods so whether that's Xavier starting this Sunday or down the road I guess we'll have to see and then yeah the Nickelspot Lewis has got a little bit of experience my hominism guy that they're excited about I what I'm kind of curious about is there a little bit of a timeshare early in the year do they want to look at a couple different options that they want to give these guys opportunities so that's something to consider nobody's talked about that I'm just sort of wondering aloud and you're right I mean Carolina for all the issues that the Panthers had last season they were in a knockdown dragout ball game with the Rams in the wildcard round they led that game late and they that offense put up 31 points

1:53:04on the Rams in a in a really narrow exciting ballgame. Thanks we were talking before you join the show about the matchup with Darnell Wright and Jaylen Phillips are you excited I know we're getting into game week and we're looking for matchups but that seems to be an interesting one with both guys kind of with generation of wealth as we both said. Yeah yeah I mean Phillips was one of the guys who was in a position to really get paid in free agency and then Darnell excuse me cash is in here during training camp I think Darnell writes the guys and if you're circling as the matchup for the week for the pairs or you're circling it as one of the like hey here's a matchup to watch I think the bears will feel great about that because I would imagine that the bears are going to feel like 80 85% of the time

1:54:07they're going to win that week at that position now is that every play every staff of course not but if but if you're circling these like key matchups going into a ballgame and Darnell's involved I he that should be advantage bears most weeks and then I guess that goes about thing when you consider what the clubs expect you from them based on the contract that he got back at the beginning of camp. So Brad we were talking earlier about Dennis Allen and how this season is different from last season in that he's got a year under his belt maybe you expect a little bit more because the bears invested hope heavily in the coaching staff they didn't go out and get the expensive free agent pass rusher they stayed away from the jaylin philips type signings because they said they would coach him up well now it's time to coach him up how do you view the pressure if any

1:55:10on Dennis Allen this year and how it compares to a year ago. Now you know I don't know that he has I think you got to look at what the guys been given the work with and and jaylin philips he'd say what you want about his previous production he's going to have to be in my opinion a significantly better player than he's been previously to earn to make good on 120 million over four seasons. In other words I think it's going to be a challenge for the panthers to get to the through this deal with philips and feel like we've got our money's worth right and and obviously that's the nature of free agency a lot of the time and maybe people don't want to hear that but when you you know the bears of signs of guys to good value contracts nothing in quite in

1:56:19the neighborhood of what philips has gotten and I think people are disappointed in some of the results that they've gotten here you know last year and maybe the year before that with with some of the defensive players I don't know that the answer is always go out and throw even more money at the next guy and hope that he doesn't bust out but with expectations on Dennis Allen I mean I look at the defense and he's got some nice parts but I don't know how you talk about pressure on him I think we need to kind of reimagine how we look at the football this is a team that's built to win on offense right and you need to defense and you need all three phases to have success but they've built this thing to win on offense and so from that standpoint I think the pressure is on the the other side of the ball and we'll have to see I've got real questions about the defensive

1:57:24line you know had tipped the contiguous street who gets kind of called out by Dennis Allen for the strong performance he had in training camp and that's that's great for a journeyman who I think he was on a practice squad to begin last season I don't know that that's a great thing for the Chicago Bears when this guy that's on a 15 is the player who's getting you noted for an outstanding training camp at defensive tackle Brad one guy that I feel like we don't talk about enough of is Tyreek Stevenson we know we all we talk we talk about Jalen Johnson and rightfully so what he means to that defense but on the other side you got Stevenson when he's right Brad he has the ability to create turnovers he's he's a little bit lengthy so I love that but when he's off we've also seen the issues there what Tyreek Stevenson are you should Bears fans be hoping to see in week one

1:58:28well I think what the Bears fans are hoping to see with Tyreek is the same guy you know we can and we can and it's possible he led that secondary and interceptions for a training camp and coaches you've got to have that track somewhere he was able to pick some balls off and get some deflections I thought he had a strong training camp and you know what but he's got all the motivation in the world he's in a center in a contract year I think when you talk about a skill set when he's right he's a perfect fit for that Dennis Allen defense he's got height he's got length as you alluded to he's got the strength to play press man so he can do all that stuff that's it's just it always goes back to kind of consistency in everything that he does you know you've got to you got to show up in the building you know ready to invest in the

1:59:29meeting you got to go out to practice and be ready to invest in practice you got to be completely prepared for the game and and when Tyreek can accomplish those things he's going to be a valued member of that secondary. So I was Brad Biggs here on Hawn Payton for another couple of minutes right here on the score Brad we mentioned Roma Dunes a not practicing on Monday and his status will receive a lot of scrutiny just because of his past injury history and unavailability I just wonder heading into Sunday in week one who would you expect to be a bigger part of the game plan in light of this maybe this is a recent buy us a Dunes a or Xavier Thomas well he's healthy it's got to be a Dunes a right I mean it's not even close because and I think he helps us well I think that's what we got to find out here you know it and I've seen people beat him up for being touched in the injured he played 17 games as a rookie okay he had a foot injury that he tried to

2:00:34play through like the last season so it wasn't like he was running to the sideline to set out now I'm just going to heal up over here so we'll see what the situation is you know Xavier and Thomas they they're intoxicated with his athletic ability his speed what he can do with the ball on his hands and the open field for all the reasons that are obvious you just get to make sure that bring him along and he knows his assignments he's like I mean it was like Luther Burton last year remember the snap counts for Luther early in the year they were lower because they just wanted to make sure you know he was comfortable with what they were asking to do because they're putting a lot on these guys it's not this isn't a knock on the players at all they're like when they talk about Caleb learning the offense but having to drink out of the fire hose those other players are

2:01:40dealing with that too and so you just bring it along so I would roam would be my answer and less you know he's simply not available on Sunday great stuff Brad welcome to game week appreciate your time talk to you later this week I'm a great day guys Brad Biggs footballman for the Chicago Tribune and Biggs time always delivers I always feel good after Brad always I mean there's a lot there yeah with like there's the the the adunes a question is going to remain unanswered until we find clarity about his about his status yeah now that's not tomorrow probably but week one is the issue I understand that but it's going to something that's going to go through the year probably this is the new normal and it's kind of scary it is game week and the scores kicking off football season with circus sports and Miller light Thursday Rahimi and Grody broadcasting live from Cody's public house and Lakeview tended to then Spiegel and Holmes with Lawrence home in Carmen the tally live from Tim Theotools in street reveal from two to six I'll brought you

2:02:43by circus sports sports betting the way it should be with no bet fees and by Miller light the official beer of the Chicago Bears time to turn our attention to baseball the white socks had the day off the Cubs bullpen took the day off so the Cubs lost to the Brewers the socks are back in action tonight at the rate the Cubs have to face the miz will talk about it all with Bruce Levine joins us next on patent Chicago sports radio 104 3 the score Bruce Levine it's great to talk some baseball score baseball insider covering the Cubs and white socks for more than 30 years that's a really good question bro you win bro you win inside the clubhouse co-host alongside our own David Hawke on inside the clubhouse Saturday mornings 9 till 11 award winning show not yet but you know close Bruce Levine it's a first hard question with Haim Peyton on 104 3 the score welcome back it's Haim Peyton Chicago sports radio 104 3

2:03:49the score time now to go out to the plumbers 9 1 1 hotline plumbing emergency call 183 3 plumb 9 1 1 local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time Bruce Levine is the scores baseball inside our good morning Bruce how are you good morning guys and how quick would you want to get to a Greg council mismanaging that game and uh why did he do it and the Cubs would have won if he you would have gone earlier to the bullpen. Are we there yet? I thought you'd never ask. Thanks, Bruce. A thinning. Matthew Boyd goes to the mountain. Why? Because at that time, look, Matthew Boyd is to be trusted. I know he was having a very strong day. I felt like after seven, they could have called it a day, gone to your bullpen with a clean inning. I know Zephyr John got the five-out save in Miami. He was a hot guy. You ride him. But I just felt like bringing him in when they did, Matthew Boyd, that was an odd decision. I think it was a nod to his experience. What was your, how did you view it? Well, it's emblematic of what's going on with the cubs

2:04:52and what's not perfect for them right now. And the manager is impacted just like everybody else. There was a similar instance in the fifth inning last week when Peterson was trying to get out of the fifth inning and couldn't do it, that came went down the tube. So what you have is a bullpen that's not trusted. So when you have a bullpen that's not trusted by the manager and again, it's not like he doesn't like the guys. It's not like they're in the dog house. They just haven't proved that they can get the jab done on a regular basis. And it's a problem. It's a problem for other teams. It's a problem for the cubs right now because when you're working yourself toward post-season, like the cubs are, there's no reason to think they're not going to be the number one or two seed in the playoffs as a wild card. The more important question is, who's your seventh, eighth,

2:05:54and ninth inning guys? Do you have power arms that you trust that you can get out the big hitters like Schwarber and Harper when you face them? That's the reality right now. They're going to get there. The question is, can they can counsel build the trust in that group? And can he build them up to believe in themselves in those roles, guys like Polencia, guys like Zephyr John? They have to also, no matter how many years of pro baseball, they've been around. They have to believe in themselves going out there that they're the man they can get it done. Bruce, how do cubs fans feel comfortable and feel good about what you're saying when there's not a, there's a mistrust there with Craig Council and his bullpen as you're trying to make a run for this wild card spot and keep it wherever you're at right now and second behind the Phillies, how do you, how do you feel comfortable moving forward? Like that, it just, it should make confidence.

2:06:56You can't, right? Derek, you just don't right now. And it's an imperfection of teams. I mean, you look at the white sacks right now and you go, okay, they're, they're, they're, they have a three, four game lead in the, when the loss column, they, they are imperfect in their starting rotation. What is that going to look like in the playoffs? So these are imperfect problems, but they're good problems to have because you have two teams and especially with the cubs that we're talking about right now. You have a team that plays great defense. You have a team that has had really good starting pitching and you have a team that hits home runs. Those are, those are important elements for, for playoff teams. You know, again, the, the finding, you know, getting, getting Zephyr John, getting web, getting, um, Pollencia right and feeling good about themselves.

2:07:57That's the goal for the next two and a half weeks. I want to get to the socks in a moment, but I still with this cubs, you're right about the bullpen getting it right, but it almost obscures the fact that I was really disappointed surprisingly so that Clay Holmes didn't have it down in Florida. That was the, that was the day they're supposed to win. That was the game they're supposed to win. I don't, the cubs are so inconsistent Bruce because it's odd and I described it this way earlier. They're a second place team that has world series aspirations and he can't really laugh at that because they are good enough if they're hot to win it all because that's the way the lineup is constructed and yet they're frustrating and inconsistent enough to be swept in three in, in the, in the first round. So I don't know what Cubs team to expect in October even with all these concerns, but Clay Holmes was disappointing against the Marlins. Well, I mean, he'd been so good, right? He's been almost perfect and, you know, the sinker was just getting it and, you know, what can you say?

2:08:59Again, when you look at the Cubs right now, come and feel it should be really happy where they're at. Okay, they're not as good as the Brewers, but again, the Brewers haven't been playing the greatest baseball in the world. The good news going into this game tonight to try to win is they got into their bullpen pretty deep and their closer was anything but outstanding yesterday, right? Miguel, without those two great catches, is the loser of that game? Or at the very best, it's a tie and you're going into to the bottom of the night. So with all those things said, you know, again, it's a wonderful game of imperfection. The Cubs are imperfect, but you have the luxury of outstanding defense and you're watching one of the historic seasons in Cup Baseball and maybe in Major League Baseball, depending on how Pete Crowe Armstrong ends it up.

2:10:02Tonight though, they get a chance, Bruce to go up against the Miz again. How did they take advantage of that and for Peterson tonight, how short is that leash going to be for him? Well, they beat him around pretty good last week, right? So, I mean, that was probably the toughest start of the year when he was in the Cubs. And the Cubs had a great plan against him. But the mound was slippery, Bruce, the mound and the Miz, they were just see slipped on the mound. And the poor mound wasn't manicured perfectly for him. Yeah, I was sad, wasn't it? I mean, again, the Brewers are not playing their best baseball and they're probably going to win 100 games, right? That's, they have so many facets of the game that they play well. When we talk about the Cubs being the best defensive team baseball, how far off is the Milwaukee, right? I mean, you saw, you saw Lerim do a Pete Cromes strong yesterday in that last inning there

2:11:03to take a run away. You saw Cheryl make a great play to end the game. So again, it's a team, you should enjoy these next two games because it's probably going to be repeated again, sometimes down the line in that early October, if they're playing themselves, each other in the division series. And Bruce, switching to the white socks, socks fans should enjoy where they are at. You did the math over the weekend when we talked on inside the clubhouse. Now there's a really even closer because they took care of business and as they enjoyed their day off, they get ready for a three game series against the pirates at the rate beginning tonight, they've got Sean Burke on the mound. How would you assess where the socks are at? And after that bullpen outing, you've got to feel very good. Number one, just about how many arms you have to choose from if you're well-venable. But secondly, Hagen Smith is a problem for left-handed hitters, especially, and he has been everything they had hoped he would be.

2:12:04Well, the one thing that is really going right, that isn't going right for the Cubs with the white socks is those power arms and the bullpen. You just mentioned one of them. Smith is nobody expected him to be this dominant force coming out of the bullpen in September, right? He's spent most of the year in the minor leagues and everybody kind of looked at him as a starting pitcher. Right now, he's as dominant as anybody can be from the left side. Then you throw that in with Taylor. Taylor's giving up a couple of home runs here and there, but you'll love what he does, Newcombe home. So I mean, it's our really, really outstanding bullpen. And to say, well, they don't have enough to get to the world series because they don't have enough starting pitching. That may be true. I mean, I heard Jim Bowden and MLB Network say on Sunday that the white socks are not going to get into the playoffs. OK, that's her. Yeah, yeah, they're not good enough.

2:13:05He said they're not good enough. And Cleveland will overtake them in the division. So, you know, experts out there, you know, quasi experts, they they're still not convinced the white socks after 145 games are the team that they've shown to be all year long. Bruce, isn't it crazy that we're sitting here talking about what's the bigger story than this team when in the central or just proven that they actually are built for October? It's kind of crazy. And it really is. When you look at the American League, you know, guys, that was going over run score. Realized the white sacks and the twins are the only two teams in the top 10 in Major League baseball and run scored. The American League, they just don't score runs. And that's worked with the white sacks benefit because they scored the most. They have the great bullpen at the end. And they won an awful lot of games. You think back a year ago to a team that lost the most one run games in baseball.

2:14:09Now you're watching the bullpen dominating and win all these games at the end. It's really fun to watch. And, you know, you're watching the 25, 35,000 white sacks fans coming out there every night and enjoying it. Every player I've talked to over the weekend just told me, you know, they understand. And again, you got 15 rookies, right? 15 guys that made their first appearance in Major League baseball with the white sacks is shared. They said they understand who the white sacks fans are, what they mean to them. And it's been the extra of the 10th man out there. It has been, and it's just been a fun year baseball to start denying the white sacks now because they, what are they, five and five in the last 10? You know, you're not paying attention. You're not paying attention to the American league and the fact that the white sacks are one of the top three or four teams in the American way. Along those lines, 1.7 million fans have walked through the turnstiles at the rate 24,394

2:15:14is the average attendance per game. Bruce, before that you go, we got a minute left. We talked about this Saturday and inside the clubhouse when the news broke. Justin Ishbia released renderings of a proposed new ballpark called the rail yards in the South Loop opposite the 78 up across the way from the new Chicago Fire Stadium that is going up. There's been pushback in Bridgeport. That is something that's going to take shape. And obviously we're going to hear from a lot of people on both sides of the equation. How did you view the announcement and where is this headed? Well, I think it's headed in a great place. And David, you and I talked about it, Jared. David and I talked about the fact that because the white sacks as an organization are being viewed differently, once the bearers decide where they're going to be, and it's certainly not going to be in the city of Chicago. But once that money is directed, the tax money, whatever they're getting from the state of Illinois,

2:16:14that's when the Ishbia and the white sacks and Jerry Rindsdorf can look at getting help for a stadium, even though they're going to pay for a lot of it themselves. And this site seems to be the best case possible because it's still the south side white sacks, right? It might not be Bridgeport and that's unfortunate. I mean, it's been there since 1910, but the reality of it still being the south side white sacks, I think should be appealing to everybody outside of Bridgeport and Canaryville and in that direct area. But it's a win-win right now with the way the white sacks organization is going, the winning the way that Chris gets and his people have built this team. So I think this is the right time. Great stuff Bruce, appreciate your time. We'll talk to you tomorrow. All right guys, have a great day. Bruce will find the scores baseball inside or what do you think, Sox, fans, 3126, 44, 67, 67? Did you have a thought when you saw those renderings released

2:17:16by Justin Ishbia about the new park in the South Loop or are you in Bridgeport and like, okay, don't take my socks away yet. Also, I saw something over the weekend happen that I reacted to more positively than I would want it to. It surprised me, but we'll talk about it next. Cubs related and we'll talk baseball coming back on Hawn Payton's Cubs Sports Radio, 104, 3 of the score. Welcome back to Hawn Payton on 104, 3 of the score. If you're a sax fan and you're from Bridgeport, it's hard to let go. But I think that one of the draws to the other baseball team in town is its neighborhood. And if we had a little bit more going on around the ballpark, it would be a full days event as opposed to just going to a game. That's part of the experience, you know, being in the history of it all, you know, it's been around a long time. Change names more than we can count. So what do you say?

2:18:18So at the end of the day, simple answer, you'll never know. I say stay. Stay here, stay in this outside. It's outside pride. Yeah. I don't think so. I'll go this way right here. Welcome back. It's Hawn Payton, Chicago Sports Radio, 104, 3 of the score. Thank you to NBC 5 for that audio of the divided loyalties, maybe sax fans feel over the release of renderings by Justin Ischbier, the presumptive future owner of the white socks. His company Canal Edge released some renderings, which we don't want to reduce. We were kidding earlier about AI. And somebody was involved. There was a team of professionals put this all together. But it was something that looks fabulous in terms of a ballpark in the South Loop across the river, across the way, from the fire stadium. And I understand there's been some pushback from Fox fans in Bridgeport and Alderman Nicole Lee, certainly called it a betrayal.

2:19:18That's why it's going to get very difficult and conflicting because sign of the times you want the socks to behave like a big market team. This is part of that. It's part of modernizing your organization. At the same time, nobody wants to diminish what that ballpark means to that community. And so it's very difficult moving forward. This was a big bold move. I think it's unexpected to get this at this point in time. But it's a conversation worth having for everyone surrounding the white socks, especially now, when things look to be going so well on the field. Well, that's the hard part. Is when I saw it, it's hard not to take your eyes off the renderings. They look amazing. And we look at what all these teams are doing, whether it's in any sport. I mean, this is the other issue that we're talking about with the Chicago Bears of figuring out where this stadium's going to be because it's not just about the stadium anymore. It's about what you have around it, building things up,

2:20:22having a social district, and all these other things to be able to create revenue for not just on game days, but 24.7, 365. And I see, and I'm always very hesitant when your team is doing well and you start throwing in other stuff to kind of, I don't know, throw it, not throw shade, but kind of to bury the lead a little bit where you have a first place team on the south side, but I understand that this is a top of a conversation. And people are going to have which side that they're actually on. I know from those people in Bridgeport, what the socks mean to them. It's a part of their identity. And to be able to lose that would be hard. In a lot of pushback revolves around the Amtrak facility relocating in Bridgeport. And that's, I can understand that. Anytime that you feel like you're getting stripped from your identity, it's something that's been around for so long that you love, it's hard to grasp that a little bit.

2:21:22It'll be an ongoing conversation. It will be something that would keep the white socks on the south side as Bruce alluded to. It is the south loop. It's not Bridgeport. It's not 35th in shields, but it would be the south side white socks, the south sideers. You could still refer to them as. And the renderings are fantastic. And the ballpark, the rail yards, if you will, looks like a place that would be a destination. I was looking for websites so I could sign up for some season tips. I'm ready. I was all ready to go. 2029, the lease rungs out. We'll see how fast that project moves. If it moves faster than the Bears Projects, who knows who will get shovels in the ground, quicker, we'll keep an eye on that. The one thing I wanted to mention that happened over the weekend that caught my attention as somebody following this closely. I had written off Justin Steele as a contributor a long time ago. I was like, eh, wake me next year. Okay, don't, I'm not gonna invest hope in this. Now, no, I'm not gonna fall for that, no way. And then I see like, all right, this is his second outing on his rehab stint.

2:22:26He hasn't pitched in the major since April of 2025. He went to innings. He gave up two hits. One run, no walks, a strikeout. He was sitting at 91.1 miles per hour. He had four whips and 16 swings, and he finished with 27 pitches. And all of a sudden, I'm like, Justin Steele. Okay, there's Bryce Harper, there's Kyle Schwarber, go. Because lefty versus those tough lefties in the playoffs, I just wonder now, I'm allowing myself a little bit more leeway. Is that a mistake? Am I falling into a trap? Is this a fool's errand to say, all right, I want to believe Justin Steele might be in a position to help this cub bullpen. Yeah, it's more about your expectations. I definitely think if you were getting excited and ramp back up that he can actually help, yeah. But what are your realistic goals for him? I think the range of being seen, I think he needs another rehab start, and then maybe we'll see what he has with back with the cubs. Let's squeeze in a quick phone call

2:23:27because we asked for some interaction from the listeners and wanna get to that. Dave is in Carroll Stream. Dave, welcome to Han Peyton. Good morning, guys. How you doing? Is it honor to talk to you, Mr. Peyton? It's an honor. Pleasure, Dave, always a lot. I don't wanna say about the stadium. It's the stadium. Hey, we need a new stadium or at least in that stadium. We be on, they be on in it. We be on in that stadium. The people outside get over it. You just have to take the train or take a bus or just drive there, you can go to the game still. Why it's actually, there's a good time to do the stuff that are playing good. They're young. Hey, this is the way, don't quit crying. What's it all to do for you recently? She ever done nothing for outside, nothing for Bridgeport. Now all of a sudden, she's, oh, I don't work, you don't work, you're daily. Yeah, daily time is gone. Go away a little bit. I want the new stadium. I'm gonna enjoy it.

2:24:28Hope on my lifestyle. I'm just gonna be 67 and pretty soon. I'm hoping that I believe it can be built before the very stadium. Dave, thanks for the phone call. Stay healthy. Appreciate you waiting in. Stay healthy, please. Yeah, it could move fast. Why don't they move really fast for Dave? Yeah, you better just never go fast. There's gonna be a lot of difference of opinion. The conversation is ongoing and it will continue in earnest because this is all coming to a head pretty quickly. We're gonna shift gears when we come back. Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk is time for his weekly visit here. Keep it right here. It's on Peyton Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk.com, NBC Sports, footer.com slash pro football talk. Hey, my name is Dave. We get better, but to a game, be bleep, bleep, bleep. Boom, bleep, bleep. NFL insider Mike Florio with high and Peyton on 1043, the score.

2:25:29Welcome back. It's Tuesday morning back to work week here at the score. This is the Han Peyton Show on 1043. Time now to go out to our plumbers 911 hotline. Plumbing emergency call 1-8-3, Plumb 911, local 130 plumbers. Get the job done right the first time. We always enjoy our time with Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk and NBC. He is in Seattle. Thank you for getting up this morning. Mike, how are you? Oh, I was already up. One of the perks of being in Seattle when you have a show that's on 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern, that's 4 to 6 a.m. Pacific. And that isn't a just. And I'm not complaining. I'm just pointing out the reality. When that alarm goes off at 3, you'd like to throw your phone straight out the window and then follow the phone out the window. That's a great description. But we're excited because the football season starts tomorrow. That's why you're there. And what has happened is this has become now Patriots,

2:26:31Seahawks, a match up between two of the highest paid cornerbacks in the National Football League. After Christian Gonzalez signed a $435 million extension to make Kim Numer Ouno ahead of Devon Werther Spoon of the Seahawks, Pride of Illinois, who also signed his deal in the off season. This is resetting the market for cornerbacks, Mike. And the market at the position had been sluggish until Patrick Sertain got his deal that cracked it over $20 million per year. And every guy who's the next one up keeps getting a little bit more and a little bit more. And I think that's one of the reasons why Joey Porter Jr. is still on Saundit Pittsburgh. The Steelers aren't inclined to make him the next highest paid player at the position. So we're going to establish a range, here eventually, like they have at the quarterback position, which back in 2018 was doing the same thing. The next guy up became the highest paid quarterback, regardless of how good he was. Next guy up became the highest paid quarterback and on and on it went. Now with Gonzalez getting his deal,

2:27:33I think that the next guy and Joey Porter won't do better than that, but we'll see, because that's been the trend. Next guy up gets more money than the last guy who signed. Mike, going into seasons, we always give credit to the team that won the previous year. And we head into the season. No one's given the Seahawks that much credit or given them any of the benefit of doubt. Why is that? Well, because the margin was so thin, Jared, between the Seahawks and the Rams last year. And really, if you take that crazy two point play from the Thursday night game in December, where Zach Sharbinage just kind of casually picks up the ball in the end zone after the apparent forward pass had been knocked down and it turns out it was a lateral and it was a two point conversion. And the butterfly effect from that moment changed so much potentially about the rest of the season. It feels like the Rams were right at that level with the Seahawks as the two best teams in the league.

2:28:35And the Rams by all appearances have gotten better while the Seahawks have question marks. Kenneth Walker III, the Super Bowl MVP, is gone. Clint Kubiak, the offensive coordinator, is gone. Brian Flurry steps in. He's never been a coordinator before. It's easy to look at what happened with the Lions after Ben Johnson left. And John Morton became the offensive coordinator. There was a step back. So there are reasons to look at the Seahawks and say, have they taken a bit of a step back? And then you look at the Rams with everything they've done. Miles Garrett, Aaron Donald, just to get things started, Trent McDuffey on top of that. And just everything they have going on, it feels like the Rams are the better team, even though the Seahawks are the ones that are hanging the banner tonight. I'm fascinated by the difference in approaches to the Australian game with the Rams and the 49ers going out there at different times and the Rams justifying it by not going to change the body clocks. Mike, I do also wonder this, what you think of those different approaches. But how good is this Rams team going to be?

2:29:39Are we on the verge of something historic? Bill Plasky, friend at the LA Times, wrote a column over the weekends calling for the Rams, predicting that they would go 22 weeks without losing. Undefeated regular season, a home Super Bowl victory and a celebration unlike any other. What do you think about the Rams and the way that they get started in Australia? Well, one thing we've learned over the years, there are so many factors that will influence the outcome of the Seahawks. And we know injuries will happen. We spend months talking about changes teams have made and are they better or are they worse? And it's all in this laboratory condition of everyone is healthy all year long. Once you get one key injury, everything goes haywire. And I don't want to be accused of putting a jinx on anyone. But good Lord Matthew Stafford missed two months during training camp last year with a back problem. If he's not able to play, Stetson Bennett is the guy that's going to carry them to an undefeated season. And Miles Garrett's missed time during camp

2:30:39and preseason with the knee injury. We don't know how good Aaron Donald's going to be. I think it's reckless to just assume the Rams are going to go wire to wire. That's part of the fun of it. And they get the thing started by making this long trip. I think one of the reasons why they're basically barnstorming in and out of Melbourne is they're thinking about week two and beyond. They don't want to go to Australia, spend enough time there to adjust to being in Australia and then fly home after the game and have to spend time readjusting to being in the United States. And so both teams have a very, very thorough, careful, well-reasoned approach. They're just diametrically opposed. The 49ers have been there almost a week, if not longer. And the Rams are just going to fly in and fly out. So whoever wins the game, people will say that's the team that had the right approach. But it's not just about week one. Let's see what happens week two. Let's see if the 49ers are flat against the dolphins week two. And let's see how the Rams look Monday night week two

2:31:40when the giants come to town. Mike, we were watching the TV earlier and it had just the odds of the NFC North flashing on the screen. And David and I looked at each other and were trying to figure out, did we like the Lions having the best odds when the NFC North? Are they your favorite to win the division? Well, here's what helps the Lions stumbling into fourth place last year. Because even though the schedule only changes three games based upon where you finished, those three games are significant three games. I don't have them on the tip of my tongue, but the three games the bears are going to have are very different than the three games that the Lions are going to have. The Lions are going to have the Cardinals, the Titans, and maybe the giants. Whereas the instead of those three, the bears will have the Texans, the Eagles, and the Seahawks. So those three games changed everything. Last year, the different between first place and fourth place

2:32:41in the NFC North was two games. Those three games and the Packers who finished second, they have three difficult games, more difficult than the Lions. So there's a built-in advantage for the Lions. Just as it relates to those three games that DV8 based on where you finished the prior year in the division. And that could be the thing. When we get down to week 18, the margins are so small at this point, that could be the difference between the Lions winning the division and not winning the division. Mike, it's been a crazy off season. It always is. There have been a lot of things that have happened as we look forward to week one for every team. But I don't know if there's something that surprises me more or is more remarkable. And that is a big word, but I'd mean it. Then Patrick Mahomes, possibly starting week one for the cheese. Coming back from that injury, coming back from that surgery, and not missing the beginning of the next season. How is that possible? And is that going to happen Friday night? Well, here's what is amazing about how crazy the off season has been.

2:33:44As you were doing the wind up, I had no idea where you were going. It was like 10 to choose from. I thought we were heading back to a trailer park and he's palestine all the way. And look, the rest of the story there is the boss moved out of San Francisco. He done the living California anymore. That's another reason to look at the 49ers and wonder what the hell is going on. And again, they continue to be a great team. But for Mahomes, it really isn't unprecedented. Go back to 2012. The great Adrian Peterson, Tories ACL, Christmas Eve, later, 10 days later, then Mahomes tore his ACL. And Peterson was back week one, and he won the NFL MVP award in 2012. So Peterson kind of ruined our view on this recovery from an ACL. And oh, it takes 18 months. Well, no, it can happen a lot more quickly. And Mahomes is determined. He wasn't going to mess around. I think that he'll be good to go on Monday night against the front.

2:34:47Monday night, I can't have Friday. Monday. They have Kenneth Walker the third, and they're supposedly going to run the ball. I'll believe it when they do it. Whenever Andy Reed decides he's going to run the ball, he reminds me of the guy who gets a gym membership and says, I'm going to go every day. And then the alarm goes off and forget it. When it's time to play, they're going to throw the ball. And I think Patrick Mahomes is going to be Patrick Mahomes. He had his best untold touchdown interception ratio in training camp of his career to the extent that matters. But also, he's had his best years under Eric B. And Eric B. And he is back. Mike, looking at some of the quarterbacks in the AFC, we look at the bills. And we know offensively how good they can actually be. But on the defensive side, I think coming into this season is, can they stop the run? Well, and look, I just think there's a lot of flaws on that team beyond the quarterback position. Does Josh Allen have enough help around him to get to where they're trying to go?

2:35:48And defense, offense, offensive line, James Cook was very good last year. Led the league in rushing. He may want an adjustment to his contract that is yet to happen. Have they done enough by adding DJ more? I just think that the thing that hovers over Buffalo is this idea that we got to over time at the division around we lost. We fired our head coach. We promoted the GM to present the football operations. We promote the offensive coordinator head coach. And more pressure is on everyone. As we get deeper into Josh Allen's career, there is just more and more pressure on everyone in that organization to try to lift that team up and get that team back through the Super Bowl. And there's just, there's so much you cannot control. There's so many things that can screw up the season. And once you get through the regular season to have it all come down to that 60 minutes on a Saturday or a Sunday in January, the pressure on the bills, if they get to the playoffs this year and they should, the pressure on the bills in the postseason is going to be as intense as I think it's ever been on any team.

2:36:50And it's going to keep that, keep that way until they finally punch through a Super Bowl. Mike, before let you go, I'm just curious because we talk about sports media all the time. And you're right in the center of it. You're part of the most watch show every week in America. And I think that sometimes we take for granted, we get a chance to talk to you every week. But that's got to be, I think, exciting for you to anticipate. There's some changes. Mike Tomman's coming. You're back for another season. What do you look forward to the most as you anticipate another season of being on NBC? You know, it's amazing. You just blink your eyes and you go from being the new guy to the senior member of the team. Mike, I'm in year number 17 or 18. That's the other problem too. You start losing count like, how long have I been doing this now? But Tomman is going to believe, I believe, be great. He is just so much fun to be around. He's such a wealth of knowledge. His view on everything is refreshing. And the way he communicates, he's just, he is just a lot of fun.

2:37:54And I think that's going to come through. I've seen him in rehearsals and we saw him on the Hall of Fame game. And I think he's going to be a star. He's already a star. We're just all going to get a chance to bask in that star shine starting on Wednesday night. And he's just going to be a big part of what we do, obviously, each and every week. And it's going to make the show even better. Mike, enjoy it. We really appreciate you joining us this morning, even though you were up and probably already had two of Seattle's best cups of coffee. I didn't love, I didn't, I be drip. But, uh, enjoy everything about week one. Look forward to talking to you next week. Thanks guys. Have a great week. Mike Florial from pro football talk.com and NBC. That is something to look forward to. That is week one. Yes, the NFL season arrives. Uh, football night in America. It's on a Wednesday instead of a Sunday. But I am really looking forward to Mike Talman adding his wit and wisdom and just overall personality to that broadcast. I mean, his swagger just comes off of being a coach.

2:38:55But now you get a here chance to hear him talk about X's and O's. That's what I'm excited for because great minds when it comes to football, hearing them on the other side now, explaining the game, you can learn a lot more. You have much interaction with him, ever? I have a really cool story. Uh, this is the year, um, we were in Vegas and we were going to the commissioners party and he was walking. I just wanted to, I wanted to say something to him. And so he actually pulled me aside and talked to me for a good five minutes. And we just, we talked about everything. The man of the year award and all that stuff. And he is, when he talks, you listen, like you don't eye to eye. I made sure I was looking at him hands crossed, you know, just yes, sir. Yes, sir commands respect commands respect. And that's what I love. And I think it's going to train. I've already seen it translate over TV. Now he's really, once again, to a groove, it's going to be a special. Let's get a sampling of his analysis work.

2:39:56He was on Westwood one talking about none other than Caleb Williams. This is what Mike Tomlin had to say about the Bears quarterback. Uh, hi. Thanks for doing this guys. My question is for coach Tomlin. Uh, there has been a lot of attention this off season on Caleb Williams. Liam Cohen even made a joke about all the images he sees of him on NFL. Com and he's the cover athlete of Madden. I'm curious as a coach, how you would guide a young player through that, getting all of this national attention this early in his career. And then to put your new television analyst hat on, I'm curious if you think this hype is merited around Caleb Williams. You know, I don't know that I don't know that there's a lot to manage there. Um, I think each individual player has a different journey and different story. You know, Caleb was a quarterback in an LA for SC. And I think there's a certain intensity that comes with that. He didn't develop into their franchise guy.

2:40:57He was drafted to be their franchise guy. They moved Justin feels when they acquired him. And so I think he's going to be comfortable in his shoes. I think that that's less of a discussion. Um, I'm optimistic about the trajectory of things for him, uh, but not necessarily because of him, but because of him and his relationship with Ben Johnson. He took a significant step in year one with Ben. And I think it's reasonable to expect him and Ben to build upon that and be even better with more positivity and less negativity in year two of their collective. And so I think the hype is married it because of those reasons, but I don't know that that's something that they need to manage or spend time talking about or watching Caleb in that way. He's kind of been a one man corporation since he was a teenager. He's always approached it in that way to my understanding. He started as a very young guy at his first institution. And so I just think although he is somewhat young, he's not new to the intensity of the spotlight.

2:42:02Mike Tomlin on Westwood one, answering the question about Caleb Williams very succinctly strongly to love it. Love it because he gets it and understands and everything he says is right. This young man came into the league with all these expectations, but also that NIL era where he already had money in his pocket before even got one man corporation. That's referred to a man. That's great. It's a good way to put it. I want to be like that one day. I think you're not. You need something else to do. I need something else to do. It's just add something else to it. When you come back, Jared Peyton will share a few stories about Matt Sui who passed away Sunday at the age of 68, the former Bears full back and best friend of Walter Peyton. We'll talk about it next on Hawn Peyton, Chicago Sports Radio, 104, 3, the score. Welcome back to Hawn Peyton on 104, 3, the score. His best friend was full back Matt Sui. They were two guys from odd sides of the planet,

2:43:06but they just felt like they were connected some way. My youngest son, Scotty was born on 3494, 1034 in the morning. And I called him up told the story. I'm his godfather. It's the first things out of his mouth. And I said, Oh, absolutely. We're just going to ask him anyhow. It was kind of a big treat for my son. And it was kind of thrilled for him too. Welcome back. It's Hawn Peyton, Chicago Sports Radio, 104, 3, the score. That was a clip from my believe NFL films. And you heard the voice of Matt Sui. You heard the voice of Jared Peyton. And we lost Matt Sui on Sunday at the age of 68, bears full back past a way in his sleep. And it's a big loss to the bears family. It's a big loss to the Peyton family and Jared. You have expressed yourself well, eloquently all day, all morning long. And yesterday when we spoke and I just, when you hear stuff like that,

2:44:11and you hear the stories, how, how difficult has this stretch been? And you're smiling. So these are fond memories and their fond memories amid the sadness. Yeah, David, I think I'm, I'm smiling because that's what I'm going to miss the most. This is voice. I mean, the conversations that we've had over the years since my dad passed. I mean, Matt has become the father figure that I've always looked for after my dad passed away. And so a man that knew him the most, knew my dad had a close relationship with him. And then for me to be able to grow, become a man, a husband, a father, and all the questions that I was looking to be able to ask my dad as I grew up, I wasn't able to. So I went to, I went to Matt. And just the responsibilities that my dad left him with, you know, looking over all of his stuff and managing the family business and taking care of us as a family. And Matt did it all from the kindness of his heart.

2:45:13He'd never asked for anything and return. And to me, that showed me what true friendship is all about. And so that, that hits me. So reason why I'm smiling because just hearing his voice is what brings a smile to my face. That friendship wasn't a ranged one. The Bears drafted Matt Sui in the second round in 1980 to essentially replace Roland Harper, who was also close with your father. But initially, as you have, as you know firsthand, but we all have read about that the partnership, the friendship, if you will, between Walter Peyton and Matt Sui, wasn't natural. And it's almost like your dad made Matt Sui earn his spot in that inner circle. He had to because my dad knew the way that he was, he was a student of the game. Love the game. That's all he really wanted to do. And he wanted to make sure that whoever was playing with him, whoever's in front of him, have that same exact intensity and love for the game as well. And so I didn't know that either before for reading that, but I can only imagine my dad test him

2:46:13at the fullest extent to see if he was ready and ready for his opportunity. And he was. And after that, to see what they did together, all the yards that they racked up together, he was a big part of that of making, making holes for my dad. And then he would also say, hey, you know who the best blocker is with your father? Anyone because it doesn't really matter. They don't need to block anyone. Just pick a side. He might go the other way. And when you look at some of the videos, I used to ask it Matt all the time. Like you were blocking inside out here and my dad ended up cutting it all the way outside. And he's like, yep, just saw a big blur run by with a high step all the way to the end. Run today, like, yeah. So they shared a lot of huddles together, a lot of lock rooms together, but they also shared an RV together. Yeah. Which was saying earlier. So my dad used to have the RV at a training camp. And so just to find out that that was that was the place where everybody came to hang out. The offensive line would come by, drink beers, hang out a little bit. And yeah, they spent a lot of time together in camp.

2:47:14But then that extended off the field as well when they got back home. And so those those last few months of my dad's life, Matt was always around. And and my dad really liked to drive and he'd get Matt to come all the way over from Lake Forest and come hang out with him and then have him drive him around. And they would just sit and talk. And so I know his biggest thing was is make sure my family's okay. And from my mom and my sister and I, we will always be indebted to Matt Sui for how he took care of us. And how he was around for us whenever we meet him. And that's what is your earliest recollection of meeting Matt Sui or him becoming special part of your life. I really think it was leaving the Super Bowl. I don't know why I remember this. I don't remember the game because I was there. Don't remember the game. Dan Pompey wrote a great recollection of that or part that was part of the great story he wrote in the athletic or he reposted on Sunday.

2:48:16But you were at the Super Bowl in New Orleans is 1986. Yeah. And then we were leaving to come home. And my dad had a private jet. We were all getting on and I just remember Matt getting on and making sure that I was getting on the plane as well. Because my dad was doing all this stuff. He was signing autographs and then next to you know Matt was ushering me into the plane. I just remember that vividly for some reason. Can't remember the game. He was really blocker for a moment. He's always been our lead blocker for the entire family. So man, he will be missed. And I think about him every day. But the coolest part probably was the last time I saw him was this past summer. He came out to my son, Jaden's baseball game. One of his last ones in the area before we went on a travel trip. And I remember coming out and just sitting there and my son loved that Uncle Matt would come out to watch. There's the first time and I never I leave my son alone when he's playing baseball. I don't say a lot. But I walked up to he was on deck and I said,

2:49:18Hey man, Uncle Matt's here. He got to do something. You got to do something. And he looked at me. He's like, I got you. Long be hold his third at bat. Man, got this hanging curve ball and just took it all the way out the right field. No doubt her. And Matt's face was smiling from ear to ear because I walked up behind him and I said, I said, Matt, that was for you. And he it was the coolest thing of having him there because it's the closest thing to my dad being there. Right. And so for him to see that and that was my last interaction with him. Pretty special for me. 312-644-6767. Maybe you have a thought or a memory of Matt Sui who was known as Walter Payton's best friend and lead blocker but was also a more versatile football player than sometime that he's given credit for because he could run himself and he would catch the ball out of the backfield. I even saw a highlight, Jared, of him throwing a touchdown pass to your dad.

2:50:20Yes, I see I want people and I hope people in go and I know everybody's, I thank you to everybody on the text chain, RIP, Matt. But go back and watch his highlights because you see him blocking but you don't see how athletic he was and how many how versatile he was inside this bear's offense early on. He could do it all. He could block. He could run. He could catch. That's made him special. I've probably perked my dad's interest as well that this guy belonged in front of him. You've heard from quite a few people in the inner circle throughout the last 48 hours or so. It's been difficult for you and showing up but it shows you how many lives that he did touch and how many people do care about this and feel a sense of sadness. Yeah, I mean from everyone, David from old teammates to entertainers who just love the bear's. I mean the DMs have been flowing and people just they love Matt and they have that connection

2:51:20with him and my dad and so really cool to see all of the love that we've gotten over the last few days but also too it's always keeping Donna and the Sui family and our prayers as well because I know they're going through a tough time right now but they know that the whole entire city and bears fans all over the world have their back. Dan has been waiting patiently on the Odyssey app. Dan, welcome to Hawn Peyton. Thank you for being on hold. Hey, thank you guys for having me. It's a true honor to speak to you Jared and you David. Congratulations on the new adventure for Volpia. So I just have a couple of stories. I happen to be an Uber driver over the years. I've ran into a couple of different NFL players. Real quick, one of them, Nellvin Gordon, asked him whose favorite player was. Of course, Walter, guy he wanted to model himself after, shared that Walter was running back second and considered himself a member of the offensive line first.

2:52:24I thought that was neat. I also got to spend some time with Silke D. Dennis McKinnon from the 85 bear's. This is a rookie year. He actually accepted an invite to come to a barbecue at my mother's house. And Wally was there. He started sharing a couple of behind the scene stories about Walter Peyton. And as everybody knows, Walter was a great prankster. But he always had an ulterior motive in mind, Dennis. And so that year, as you mentioned, Walter was in a RV, all the rookies after doing two days went back to dorms. And Dica was pretty, pretty adamant about lights out at a certain time. Well, Walter would wait just too about the time, Dennis said, when they were falling asleep, he would sneak out of this trailer. And he would go into the rookie dorm. When he lights her out, he would open their doors, light off a bunch of cherry bombs, throw it under their beds, and then run out laughing hysterically. Well, what Dennis shared was that, how the rookies that year didn't like each other, and they weren't working together. And so Walter understood that.

2:53:25And so the purpose of him doing that paid off greatly. Because what they ended up doing was they took two guides, two rookies every day night with walkie talkies that had to be on Walter's side shift and guard the rookie dorm. And they got them to work together and galvanized them. And they played a big role, of course, in the 85 bears success. And then finally, he shared a story. He hadn't seen Walter in a while. But he said he always knew, Walter would come up behind and put him into a big bear hug. And he just described the incredible strength that Walter had. And he said one day, after not having seen Walter in a while, guy comes up behind him, bear hugged him, but he didn't recognize him. This is very frail. He said he turned around and he saw it as Walter. And this was the time Walter had come down with his condition. He hadn't told Dennis or any of the guys for six months, he kept it private. And as they got to talking, Walter had revealed that he had been given an opportunity

2:54:30to move up the list to get a bone marrow transplant. And Dennis asked him, well, what did you do? He said I turned it down. He faced what he had had on. He said, because had I done that, that meant somebody else would have had to be removed and were pushed down the list. And I won't do that. And to me, that symbolizes the kind of man that Walter Peyton was, a guy who was selfless, a guy who would make the ultimate sacrifice for others. And so Jared, just to say, you're dead meant so much as a Chicago bear, but even more off the field. What a role model, what a mentor, what a man. And so yeah, I just wanted to share those stories and just say thank you. Thanks Dan, appreciate the phone call and holding. Yeah, it's powerful to hear that kind of stuff. I'm sure that you hear a lot, but it never loses impact. It never does. And it speaks who he was as a person, but all these guys, man, these 85 bears, there's something special about all of them.

2:55:31And so every time I get a chance to be able to be around any of them, I really enjoy that time and savor those moments. One of the things I think was interesting about the damn pump-pay story of the athletic and Dan's a friend of the program and been a long time personal friend as well. But he's such a good storyteller and such a gifted writer. He had something at the end of the story that I wanted to ask you about. He said, because your dad made so much about how Matt Sui initially came in and he compared him to a real-life Brian song, except for the difference in race and those types of things. But he was very honest with Dan Cordingham here. Said, Peyton said Sui was one of the first white people he knew well. Quote, we were Ebony and Ivory before Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. I think our relationship helped break down a lot of lines, a lot of racial lines on the team and some said in the city. And I just wonder like when you had the proximity to being so close to

2:56:34Matt Sui and certainly you were the younger man at the time. But like was that something that was discussed? Is that something that you considered an important part of that relationship? Because when you look at these two men who mean so much to so many and we've heard the emotion all morning, that's a big part of it as well. Yeah, I don't think it was talked about a lot, but it was it was something that I saw. I knew where my dad came from, coming from Mississippi and just the struggles that he had growing up. And yeah, coming to Chicago was a whole new like idea and whole new platform for him that he wasn't used to with looking at it being cold. Up here and all these different things. And so my dad was all about bringing people together. And so to see their relationship and people watching them and how they were both very, very different, but they respected one another and they cared about one another and it didn't matter about race or creed any of that stuff. And so they, I think they were. They were a great kind of

2:57:35jumping point for for people to see that it's about how you care about someone and you can get the job done and my dad's biggest thing was bringing people together and winning. And that was all about the exact same thing. So no reason why they're there special relationship grew so big. And setting an example that obviously you follow six three o points out this as a St. Charles resident and father of a baseball player in the same organization as Jaden the last couple years, I can confirm. Jera approaches people from behind with the same bare hug. All the time. I love everyone shots out to the six three father like son. Yeah. And that's a great story. And so is your hey, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Today. Today was a tough one waking up this morning and knowing what I had to encounter just even yesterday. But just for the love of the people that are listening right now to the people have sent text messages emails, all that stuff. Thank you so much. But thank you for making it easier. David. Yeah. Thanks for sharing all your stories. You handled it

2:58:38like a pro. And we come back to talk to two more pros. It is Rahimi and Grote. Laila and Mark are here for transition. You're listening to Hon Pages, call the sports radio 104 3 the score.