You could’ve given a game ball to any number of different players after the Chicago Bears’ Week 4 win against the Los Angeles Rams.
But it was fitting that tight end Marcedes Lewis got the pigskin in the locker room.
Sure, you can make arguments for D’Andre Swift, Jaquan Brisker, Gervon Dexter Sr., and a bunch of others. However, it just feels right that the 40-year-old tight end nicknamed Big Dog got it after playing in his 272nd NFL game. What an accomplishment.
Check out the locker room scene when Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus gave Marcedes Lewis the game ball after the win:
Marcedes Lewis gives postgame speech after Bears win
What. A. Moment. And the speech from Marcedes Lewis was exceptional, too. Here is a transcription of my favorite part:
“There’s nothing better than experiencing victory with y’all. Everything we talked about during the week showed up today. Now we can look in that mirror. We are who we know we are. The big part of it is, it’s coming back next week and doing it again. Anybody can do it this s— once, man. Anybody. We’re special in here, man. You’ve gotta believe it. You can say it. You’ve gotta believe it. We’re special. We work hard as f—. We deserve this s—. This is not by accident. … We always have a high state of mind in whatever it is we’re doing every single day so we show up authentically. Every single day.
Chills. Literal chills.
I watched (and re-watched) that video several times between last night and this morning. And each time I came to the conclusion that it makes so much sense why (1) Bears General Manager Ryan Poles brought Marcedes Lewis back into the fold on a one-year deal and (2) why the veteran tight end was voted as a captain by his teammates. That guy holds a lot of cache in that locker room, and it shows. Between the locker room speech and his nudging of Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron in a private meeting before Sunday’s game, I’m glad he is a member of Chicago’s football team. Here’s hoping this squad can rack up some more wins in Big Dog’s honor.