The second installment of the Chicago Bears’ “Meet the Rookies” YouTube series stars Rome Odunze. This wide-ranging episode includes all stories from former coaches, anecdotes from a family with a proud Nigerian heritage, and tales from Rome himself. Once again, the Bears knocked it out of the park.
My favorite thing to come from Rome Odunze’s “Meet The Rookies” story is his telling of how his Bears fan origin story begins with watching Devin Hester highlights.
Words from Rome:
“Devin Hester wore No. 23, so I wanted to wear No. 23. Just looking up Devin Hester on the computer, I remember it. It was “Catch Me If You Can” by Lil’ Wayne playing in the background and it was all of his punt returns and his kick returns. I would just click, watch it, click again, click again, click again … like, I don’t know. I was just in awe.”
This is remarkable. I can imagine Rome Odunze sitting in his bedroom watching and re-watching Devin Hester return highlights and getting hooked on Bears football because of it. Can you blame him? Being at the ground level of fandom for a player’s Hall of Fame career is one of those things that you just have to be there for — and it isn’t something that every fan gets to experience. Now, Odunze gets to play for the team that gave Hester his first shot. That has to feel pretty neat.
For the entire “Meet the Rookies” episode starring Rome Odunze, you can click this or watch the video below. The 9-minute video gives us a bunch of stories about the first-year Bears receiver that I hadn’t heard before watching it myself. I strongly encourage you to watch it, and maybe you’ll stumble across a favorite story of your own.
ICYMI: Meet The Rookies Starring Kiran Amegadjie and His Manifestation Plan
Devin Hester’s Hall of Fame career led Rome Odunze to Bears fandom
Every fan has a backstory. For example, mine has the humble beginnings of watching players like Curtis Conway, Donnell Woolford, and Raymont Harris. One of my first vivid memories as a Bears fan was Steve Walsh quarterbacking the team to a playoff spot in 1994 with an 8-3 record. That team even won a playoff game on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. But let’s not discuss what happened a week later against the San Francisco 49ers.
And then we have Rome Odunze, whose Bears fan origin story begins with watching Devin Hester highights. That anecdote might be the single-most relatable thing I’ve heard from an NFL player. I’m not even being hyperbolic. So many sports fans right now support teams and players based on highlights they saw as youths. Yes, even the guys who grow up to be NFL players.
I wonder if the highlight video that led Rome Odunze into backing the Bears is still floating around the internet. If not, this feels like a good time to share some Devin Hester clips:
Ahhhh, that’s the good stuff!
Watching those Hester clips and thinking about the Bears’ return game situation has me curious about the possibility of Rome Odunze getting a chance to follow in his favorite player’s footsteps. The Bears sound open to giving Odunze a chance at returning punts as a rookie. And while it isn’t something he has a ton of experience doing, I am not opposed to anything that gets the ball in the hands of a skill position player as talented as Odunze. If that means occasional usage as a return specialist as a rookie, then so be it.
Besides, wouldn’t it be cool if Odunze housed one? We’d eat it up all day. I bet he would, too.