NEWSLETTER
A friend of mine posted a classic clip of a Blink-182 live show this morning and now I can’t get “Carousel” out of my head. Guess I know what I’ll be listening to today!
•  The Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL are celebrating and honoring Juneteenth, a holiday that observes the end of slavery in the United States as the news reached Galveston, Texas, which was the last remaining group of Confederate sympathizers.
•  Some words from linebacker Josh Woods on what Juneteenth means to him:
Learn.@allhail_JWoods x #Juneteenth pic.twitter.com/Nh0Fk4097m
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) June 19, 2020
•  Over at NBC Sports Chicago, JJ Stankevitz writes the Bears need to support player protests, explaining why and how they will. When we heard players speak to the media last week, there was a sense that the Bears were being supportive of their players right now, which is important considering we are in a time where people across the country are protesting racial injustice. But support shouldn’t stop there. Perhaps the NFL and all of its teams have a better understanding of what is happening now than when Colin Kaepernick first began his protests.
•  Something to file away for later:
Bears CEO Ted Phillips says "in a perfect world" the entire team will agree on a way to demonstrate in unison this season, echoing Matt Nagy. Phillips says kneeling has opened people's eyes to what Colin Kaepernick's cause is, so he doesn't sound opposed to it.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) June 18, 2020
•  There is no easy transition to go from serious subject matter to the rest of our Bullets. So here’s 3 minutes, 42 seconds of the greatest quarterback to lace ’em up for the Chicago Bears mic’d up for your entertainment:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1273710287603064833?s=20
•  OH GOSH YES:
bring back Josh McCown so he can fight a bear.
my column: pic.twitter.com/gHr3H9RI0d
— Amanda Kaschube (@amandakaschube) June 18, 2020
•  Also, I’ll take +350 odds of Josh McCown beating out Nick Foles, Mitchell Trubisky, and the literal bear for the QB1 spot.
•  Highlights of Jay Cutler’s high school basketball career started making their rounds again, so I suppose these are worth watching as part of your Friday flashback:
The Jay Cutler high school basketball highlights that you deserve. pic.twitter.com/Fbwa2Dms7b
— Alan George (@VandyGeorge) April 29, 2020
•  Akiem Hicks is the truth:
Coach Pagano on the importance of @The_Dream99's voice on and off the field: "You can’t replace it. We’re different when he’s out there. He’s a wise, wise man. He’s a smart guy. And when he speaks, people listen."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) June 18, 2020
•  Khalil Mack is going to destroy people this year:
Pagano on @FiftyDeuce: "He’s determined. We want to be the best defense in the National Football League. And he wants to be one of the best players in the National Football League. But more importantly, he just wants to win."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) June 18, 2020
•  ESPN’s nation of NFL reporters put together an All-Decade Team featuring only NFC North players. It’s not like the Bears weren’t well represented. Kyle Long, Josh Sitton, Julius Peppers, Jared Allen, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, and Cordarrelle Patterson are all players who played on the Bears during the last decade who made the cut. Between playing out of position and his short tenure with the team, I don’t consider Allen a #TrueBear. But Patterson gets recognition from me, if only because he’s done it on the field as a player and off of it as a recruiter/GM-in-waiting.
•  I can’t wait until June 2030 when we’re looking back at the All-Decade team littered with Bears offensive players. Allen Robinson represents at wide receiver. James Daniels checks in at one of the guard spots. Cole Kmet is the division’s top tight end. A quarterback to be named later gets the torch passed to him from Aaron Rodgers as the King of the North’s QBs. It’s gonna happen, so we might as well prepare for it now.
•  It’s quite telling that the only Bears offensive players to make the team were interior offensive linemen. Although, I think Matt Forte deserved serious consideration for his contributions as a running back. And I think Brandon Marshall’s excellence was overlooked. Maybe there is a case to be made for Marshall over Davante Adams?
•  A whole lotta tools are your Deal of the Day at Amazon today, and I also see that the newest Apple Watch is a hundred bucks off today. #ad
•  I guess we know what Theo Epstein will do after he is done running the Cubs:
Theo Epstein connects from 50 yards, donates to #SnowyStrong to fight ALS, and nominates @RedSox’s @davidortiz and @PearlJam’s Eddie Vedder in the #TrickShot4Snowy challenge.
Keep up the fight @ChrisSnowCGY and @NHLFlames! https://t.co/Gh0fqhzh9I #ALSAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/s19LLza8Mk
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 19, 2020
•  Ah, yes, I see the Jets are doing Jets-y things again:
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1273768078128680960?s=20
•  In a year of normal travel, I would be preparing myself to schedule a trip to witness the firepower of the fully armed and operational battle station in Vegas:
Allegiant Stadium passes the “super flush” test https://t.co/7ZlS4Dnioz
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 18, 2020
•  A tough break for the Niners:
Deebo Samuel sustains the same injury that Trent Taylor had in training camp. Taylor had setback after setback after setback and ended up missing the entire season. https://t.co/Kckh32otyk
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) June 18, 2020
•  ENOUGH ALREADY:
Rob Manfred: “This Needs to Be Over” https://t.co/GRB3rzr3wx pic.twitter.com/LRd3QuvNfy
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 18, 2020
•  The Bulls could really use some lottery luck …
Here’s What We Could Learn from the Bulls First Pick in the 2020 NBA Drafthttps://t.co/4datp4uMKw
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) June 19, 2020
•  And some good fortune once their search for a new head coach officially begins.
