I found myself driving downtown late on Sunday night / Monday morning and realizing I was over by where my mother used to work around LaSalle and Adams.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t miss driving downtown during rush hour. But I miss the chats we had when I used to drive her to work. And the ones on the ride home, too. We talked about everything. From what was happening in school, to things going on in baseball, and even – whenever I was willing to open up – my personal life. I write all of this as a reminder to embrace the moments you have with your loved ones while you can. You’ll miss them when they are gone.
• Bears Hall of Famer Ed Sprinkle is No. 2 on Chase Goodbread’s list of the 11 best NFL players who came from service academies.
• Considering how it is Memorial Day, today seems like the right time to re-visit the list. Moreover, it is a good time to glance back at Sprinkle’s career. The Navy product was a four-time Pro Bowler who earned Hall of Fame status and will be enshrined in this year’s mega class. Sprinkle was so good, Bears Owner/Head Coach George S. Halas gave Sprinkle the No. 7, which Halas wore as a player. What an honor!
• How about some Ed Sprinkle highlights for your perusal:
• Over at Windy City Gridiron, Lester A. Wiltfong takes some time to remember Young Bussey, who is the only Chicago Bears player to be killed in action while serving in the military. I was unfamiliar with Bussey’s story until I read it this morning, so I would encourage you to check it out for yourself.
• Yesterday would’ve been Gale Sayers’ 78th birthday. Sayers’ reflection on his 6-touchdown game is worth re-visiting:
• Looking ahead, I’m looking forward to this:
I’m expecting Darnell Mooney to break out for the #Bears in 2021 with the addition of Justin Fields.
Look at what Fields did for Chris Olave as a deep threat at OSU. He ran the same 4.38 40 as Mooney and excelled vertically with Fields throwing the ball. pic.twitter.com/8LIBK1IJ5V
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) May 30, 2021
• Deep ball excellence hasn’t been there for Bears quarterbacks in recent years. Ideally, the combination of Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney will put together some dynamic down-the-field plays.
• Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times wonders if Justin Fields can be the best Ohio State quarterback in NFL history. And by presenting the draft picks who came before Fields, I would say he has a shot to make magic happen. Admittedly, it’s not a list that is brimming with Hall of Famers. But much like past performance doesn’t indicate future results, because Terrelle Pryor and Dwayne Haskins didn’t make it big doesn’t mean Fields will follow.
• Fearless prediction: In 20 years, we’ll see a Justin Fields highlight at the top of a countdown like this:
https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1398368477853872131
• Not that you didn’t already know, but quarterback is the most important training-camp battle happening in the land of the Bears. But in case you needed further confirmation, Alex Kay (Bleacher Report) goes through every team’s biggest camp battle.
• Instant Pot, oral care, skin care, and more electric kitchen stuff are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• The NFL needs to open up and nudge its teams to share more behind-the-scenes looks like this:
This is a really cool inside look at the #Panthers negotiating a free agent deal with agent @ErikBurkhardt for TE Dan Arnold.
Arnold ended up getting a 2-year deal worth $6M to join Carolina.
This type of access is awesome.
(via @Panthers)pic.twitter.com/WlKkEHBJuk
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) May 30, 2021
• I think this makes Urban Meyer and Chris Jericho tag team champs now:
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1399206608056557568