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Happy 4th of July, Perks of Family Ownership, Secondary Issues, and Other Bears Bullets

Luis C. Medina Luis C. Medina
Jul 04, 2024
Chicago Bears
Bears home stadium soldier field
Bears home stadium soldier field

Happy Fourth of July from me (and the rest of the BN Bears gang). Let’s get right into this because the sooner you’re done reading Bullets, the sooner you can get back to grilling, chilling, or whatever you’re doing on this Thursday.

  • There are 66 days between now and when the Chicago Bears kick off the regular season against the Tennesee Titans at Soldier Field. The only player to wear No. 66 for the Bears was Bulldog Turner, who wore it from 1940-52. Turner, who played center, tackle, linebacker, and guard during his career in Chicago, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966. A member of the All-1940s Team, Turner was a four-time NFL champ (they didn’t have Super Bowls yet!) who picked up four Pro Bowl and earned first-team All-Pro recognition seven (!) times. What an impressive résumé!

  • Hey, this is a neat graphic:

  • In 1920, you could buy a professional football team for $100. Fast forward to 2024 and $100 won’t even get you in the door for Week 1. Not in Chicago, at least. Only five Week 1 games have a get-in-the-door price of $100 or less: Panthers at Saints ($39), Commanders at Buccaneers ($56), Texans at Colts ($62), Vikings at Giants ($88), and Jaguars at Dolphins ($93). In other words, be prepared to pony up if you want to see your favorite team in Week 1.

  • Hey, man … why aren’t the Bears on this list?

  • In addition to having PFF’s No. 1 cornerback last year, the Bears had two other cornerbacks grade out in the top half of Pro Football Focus’ rankings. Terrell Smith (69.6) checked in at No. 40, while Kyler Gordon (65.6) was 57th. It’s weird to see the Bears rank in the bottom half of these PFF rankings while having three cornerbacks who are top half at their position and both safeties coming in among the top 48 (among the 95 qualifiers at that particular position. We’ll dig in to this stuff in a post tomorrow because I’m sure it’ll make sense given some context. Let’s not work ourselves up on a holiday.

  • A fun fact to make you feel better: Terell Smith was the fourth-highest-graded rookie cornerback last year. Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks), Brian Branch (who’s more of a hybrid than a traditional corner for the Lions), and Mekhi Blackmon (Vikings) were the only first-year players who graded ahead of Smith. That’s right. Terell Smith graded out better than Joey Porter Jr. as a rookie. I didn’t see that coming when I opened the PFF grade book in an attempt to add context to this post.

  • If the Bears can get Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, and Jaquan Brisker to level up in 2024, their end-of-season ranking will likely look good. And isn’t that what matters most?

    • kyler gordon bears
    (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

  • Joe Burrow shares his belief that the Cincinnati Bengals offense will be able to do more with different personnel groupings in 2024. “Putting different people in different spots,” Burrow explained via the team’s website. “and doing a lot of different things as far as eye candy and making teams adjust their personnel based on ours.” Burrow and the Bengals are set to face the Bears in a preseason exhibition game in August. Plus, they’ll have joint practices in the days leading up to the game. Even though Cincy won’t give Chicago its best looks, this could be a test for Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus and his defense.

  • Wide receiver Drake London says the Atlanta Falcons plan to play fast on offense, which is seems to be the modern NFL offseason equivalent to a player in MLB saying they’re in the best shape of their life during spring training. (Pro Football Talk)

  • Sometimes, having family ownership has its perks:

  • We’ll be rooting for you, Simone Biles!

  • An ESPN piece I’m bookmarking for later reading: DJ Bien-Aime has a story on how Snoop Dogg’s youth football league helped shape Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. The Bears willl see Stroud and the Texans in Week 2 of the NFL season on Sunday Night Football. Get your BBQ aprons ready for that one, which is being played deep in the heart of Texas.

  • Sometimes, all you need to read is the headline: “Bomani Jones says Joe Biden like coach on ‘hot seat'” (Awful Announcing)

  • It sounds like the Chicago Blackhawks would like Artyom Levshunov in Rockford this season. (BN Blackhawks)

  • Over at BN Bulls, a new Lonzo Ball workout video dropped.

  • Did Chicago sports fans get swindled by another overachieving coach from Wisconsin? For me, the jury is still out on Craig Counsell. I hope his body of work as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers is a more accurate reflection of his managing style than the small sample we have as Chicago Cubs manager. Anyway, this headline made me chuckle, click, and (ultimately) read:

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    written by

    Luis C. Medina

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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