8/11 3 PM: What do the Bears do now?

The Waddle and Sylvie podcast is brought to you by Viori. Get 20% off your first purchase at viori.com slash waddle. Broadcasting live from the Chicago Board of Trade. This is the home of the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago. And this is Waddle and Sylvie, WMVP, WTBC, HD2, Chicago, a good karma brands radio station. What happened with Kobe that kind of changed it to more of an extended timeline there? This was what I had been told all along. We were getting opinions on it, and so it's four to six. months is what I've been told. That was a knee surgery. Yeah. It's terrible news on Kobe Bryant. Like the one thing that we are hopeful for is like, hey, yeah, he's going to miss eight to ten weeks. Like the national report from Shephti and rap. initially said, but like October, hey, maybe the Packer game. Maybe he's returning for the Packer game. You get them for the bulk of the season that you may have dodged a bullet, but four to six months isn't much of a dodge there. And it was something that Ben relayed today. There's no real timeline or anything newsworthy on Kyler Gordon. So those are two impactful players. that they were really hoping on for the back end of the defense while not doing much up front. So address that, Waddle, and then tell us some of the other things that stood out to you from the Ben Press conference, including this day that seems like to have a big impact here in training camp. Yeah, I mean, there was some definitive statements from my perspective. And look, I got a little meatball in me. I will fully admit it. I hear a little bit of Mike Ditka in him sometimes. Now, they are entirely different coaches, but having experienced the Mike Ditka way of doing things, there's a little bit of Ditka in this approach. We're going to create evidence. And by the way, they are not set on their left tackle. You could hear the way he talked about Jedrick Wills. You know, there is no over the top. There's really no, you know, there's no solid. You know, way of what's the best way to say? No front runner at all or no. But like there's there's no complimenting anybody playing that position right now. Sure. And Braxton, like one of his biggest issues while like reliable when he's healthy is the health. Because sure enough, like while it wasn't serious, he's still out, isn't he? Yes. Well, yeah, I think he, I don't know if he's going to practice today. I don't know. But what I took from it is, is today's a day where, like he said, we're creating evidence. The left tackle position is up for grabs. I think he also was talking about in a day where you're creating evidence. Your front seven, I want to see who wants to play because we've got some injuries on the back end. You guys are going to be asked to do a lot now. So who wants to get out there and get after it? Dio, you're healthy. What are you going to do?

Neville Gallimore, what are you going to bring to the table? Austin Cory Booker, what are you going to? Hey, listen, Jervon Dexter. You're in your walk here. I mean, what are we going to get from you? So I think that, like, today is a great day to evaluate. Who you can count on in the trenches on both sides of the football. Look, today's not for Joe Tooney. It's not for Darnell Wright. It's not for Jonah Jackson. It's for Jedrick Wills. And if Braxton Jay Jones is available to go or the Canadian Eagle. And all of you guys on the front seven on defense. Let's see. It's go time. I mean, like, this to me is more important. overall for this team than what you're going to see Saturday. Yeah, I think that that's the same thing I was thinking, Waddle. The three most important days of the preseason sure sound like the head-to-head practices against the two opponents. Yes. And then today. That scrimmage-like, he opened, he says, we will have a scrimmage-like mentality. I like it. Did I hear this right, too? Did he say that they're going to start with short-yardage? Yes, go-line. It's almost like the old days, like your comparison with Ditka. Yes. That, like, they used to do on day one of training camp. Day one, you would have nutcracker drill. Yeah, yeah. Before anybody has ever done any, listen again, I'm not trying to compare something from 30 years ago to today. It's different. And I'm saying this in a complimentary fashion. When I'm laughing when I hear Ben, this is an approval laugh. Like, yes, let's do this. And when I reference days gone by, it's like, yes, I bet you Tom Thayer heard all of that stuff and had a giant smile on his face. Because this is when you learn. Look, one of the Jedrick Wills, the coach just described Jedrick Wills as a freak of nature physically, with all of the natural skill that you would ever need to be a top end. Offense tackle in the National Football League. How much do you love football? Today's one of those days where they're going to create the evidence. Jedrick, how much do you love football? Because there's a chance. If you go out there and show us that you love football and you combine that love of the game with your natural God-given talent, not only can you be our starting left tackle, you can be a difference maker. There's going to be some evidence created today for a guy like Jedrick Wills. Or I don't know if Braxton Jay Jones, but certainly the kid from Canada. What are you got? What are we going to see? Somebody needs to take over the role as front runner at left tackle. And we all know about their past rushing issues from last year. But what gets hidden at times is their inability to stop the run. That is directly a shot at your front seven. It's your front four and even your linebackers behind you, but your front four in general. Hey, kid, from Georgia Tech. You want to play? You want to play on opening day? Vandenberg. Go out there and show everybody that you're ready to go right now. He can create some evidence. He's got opportunity. And I asked Courtney yesterday when we did the switch and I was on with Cap.

And we talked a little bit about him last week with Courtney and others. Like, is this more than just a good training camp story? Like, and we've seen, we've seen what the Bears have done. I've highlighted this a lot, the back end of drafts and with free agents who have made an impact. Jaday Walker, one of the biggest catches of the year, running back. One of their guys that they really like was drafted in the seventh round. We saw Ian Wheeler come in as an undrafted free agent before. he got hurt, that he was having. In fact, they have done a good job finding players who contribute to the football team in important areas. Maybe Vandenberg's that guy. It's an opportunity for Vandenberg to do what? Create some evidence. And listen, with Luther Burden out, Jod A. Walker, continue the growth that you showed in your rookie season. The kid from LSU, Xavierin Thomas, let's see. You know, we've given you a lot of run in training camp. We're going to put you in a game type of environment today. create some evidence for all of us. I think it's a great term. And I just, I love the approach. And again, I think you're going to get more, there's a chance because I think this one's going to last a while. You know, I'm hoping there's no NFLPA representatives around here that have the practice on the clock because those rules are somewhat ridiculous. But this one sounds like it's going to be a lengthy practice. There's an opportunity today for them to get more work done for a greater number of people than even the opportunity that you're going to get against Cleveland Browns. It is silly if you want to go three hours that if there's like a time, what is it, two and a half? I don't even know what the rules are. But like I get it. Like they wanted, the players wanted to be protected against six hour practices or two a days or just things that don't make common sense. Correct. But if a coach, instead of going 215 wants to go three. to get more things done with all the other things in place. And as you've always highlighted, they've accepted these things because they don't win any other battles. So they think they're getting something when they're not. And this is no skis. Yerko's always highlighted this. The owners don't care. Of course. An owner doesn't care if you go, if you limit practice from two to, from two and a half or three to two. He's not giving up anything. He's not giving up a thing. And so players like, look, we'll take whatever morsels we can get. By the way, you basically had a walkthrough yesterday at Stevenson. Yes. And you're going to have a, you know, tomorrow's Wednesday. I mean, you're playing, the game's going to be played on Saturday, which means the last day you're really going to do anything is Thursday. So, like, Tuesday, let's get it on. They should do that. They got to do what they did at Stevenson every year. And, like, whether it's a Friday Night Light Series where they pick two high schools a week and they do it on, like yesterday was during the day, but they do a nighttime practice or a walk through just to let fans come out and see the team play. It's one of the first things Ben referenced when he met the media today. It was just how much they appreciated the love that they were shown. The place was packed. Like it was one of those things that, you know, I mean, he's a football psycho, but he understands the business of this sport. And he knew that yesterday was something that's good for the organization. But today they get back to work, and I love it.

I love it. I wish we weren't sitting in the basement. I wish we were sitting in the stands watching what was going on. Those are the days. These are the days to practice and tell people what was going on. Again, today's not for Joe Tooney, but today's for, these are the days you used to love if you were a borderline player or a guy fighting for a roster spot. When the coach tells the media, we're going to create evidence today. That's a door opening for me. That's a door opening for Vandenberg. That's a door opening for Jedrick Wills to get his career back on track. That's a door opening for so many different guys. And it doesn't sound like Waddle that there's a door opening right now for Logan Jay Jones. Doesn't it sound like they love Bradbury as of now? Yes. That he's their guy that that's not really a competition. Yes. But I will tell you the following from my own. Can't you just wave to the people? You came in so quietly. Stand in front of the camera. Joniac just walked in to talk to Aden. And I, like, wanted him to wave and just show. He just wanted to get his past. And he's like, he's like, shh, don't say anything. You're just using. You're just using us is all you're doing. Come and wave to the people on YouTube. Come and wave. You're just using us. There he is. Oh, look at you messing stuff up. I need a gif of that. That's so Joniak right there with a glasses flying. Hold on here. I'll tell you what's funny. So these glasses, right? I'm talking to the media folks. Hi, everybody, Jeff Joniak, voice of the Chicago Bears. This isn't... This isn't... This doesn't count as your weekly hit with us. I know it doesn't. So all of a sudden, there's glasses on the floor, eyeglasses on the floor. I'm talking to all the guys. And I stepped on them. I didn't know it. I heard it crack. Wow. I thought, oh, I broke my glasses. No, you broke someone else's glass. I broke someone else's. But they were on the floor. I stepped on them. Oh, that's... Who's glasses? Matt, TV producer, TV camera guy from NBC5. So I have to take a meeting with him now. Before you go. No, real quick, just real quick. How jacked up are you after hearing what Ben had to say about creating some evidence on the field? I love that. My nipples got hard, Jeff. I didn't love that. Feel them. I know, but I did not love the first thing that came out of his mouth today. That one took me back. But to create some evidence today? I think we're going to. Look at my God, I'm telling you. His word choice just gives you. Mipples. They're hard. I could cut bread with these things, Jeff. I could slice bread with these things. I'm telling you. Now, that's funny. All right, boy. All right, get out of here. You could always walk in and say hi. Like, you know, you're never interrupting. What do they say, me, Casas, Sue Casa? Damn really. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Anyone can walk in. We don't, like, get out of here.

Charlie works every... Charlie, he's busting your balls now off Mike. I'm not even there. He said you don't deserve a game day pass. You said why does Charlie get a pass? Because he produces the pregame show. Every week. Oh, you didn't know that. It's only your pregame show. Because you don't ingratiate yourself with the people that work really hard that are below you. Below you. Starting Saturday, we give you, I believe now it's five hours of local bears programming in the morning. Yeah. So from 7 to 9, the local pre-game starts, and then at 9 a.m. 9 to noon. Well, save your voice. Look, you know. Wow, don't even say that. What did you say that for? I'm trying to help him. Trying to help him. We don't want him to lose his voice. Okay, back to the coverage, five hours of coverage. Five hours of coverage, nine a.m. with the network pregame, we're now, we used to do two hours in the first three years of the agreement. Now we're going to three. So it's because of the Bears fans. It's because of this team. It's because of everyone wants this. And we can't wait. It used to be, I'm not going to lie, it used to be a death march to cover this team at times over the course of the last couple of decades. When they were down low, when they didn't give you any. Now it's a joy. Yeah. It's like a holiday to get to work on a Bears Sunday. So I did the poll question. It's subjective because it's not a clear cut. answer based on what your expectations were. I said, have you lowered your bears expectations with the long-term news on Kobe Bryant and Kyler Gordon? And we knew that the defense was not going to be their strength. But we thought with Jalen back, with Kyler back, with the addition of Thineman and Kobe, they'd get faster, they'd get better, some faster linebackers with Devin Bush. And now that, like, Kobe Bryant and Kyler Gordon, I would say the three most important players in that defensive backfield are Jalen Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Kobe Bryant. Would you agree? In their secondary? Yeah, in their second. Yeah, in their defensive backfield. And now you've lost two out of three. And we don't know how long Kyler's out. Ben Johnson just told this it's four to six months. For Kobe Bryant. For Kobe Bryant. I was hopeful when he said four to six. You know how your brain thinks quickly. When I heard four to six, I was hopeful he was about to announce it's four to six weeks. I thought I heard it wrong as what I thought. Yeah. And it's four to six months. We have nearly a thousand votes. You can vote on my Twitter handle at Waddell and Sylvie. 65.7% say yes. They have lowered their expectations. I'm not in that group. 34.3% say no. No. I like this answer. And you could react to this and then tell us why you're thinking your way. Eldo said, this team will go as far as Ben and Caleb take them. Yes.

That's what I've said all along is like, look, I'm hoping, hope is not a plan. I've said that a bunch, and I stand by that. There is, though, hope that they will be healthier at certain spots. Now, that's gotten off to a bumpy road, but getting Kyler Gordon back would help. Jalen Johnson 100% would help. Tyreek Stevenson focused would help. Whatever you're going to get from your defensive line, that would help. But I've thought all along from the day they used a second round pick on Logan Jay Jones, a third round pick on a tied end and a fourth round. Another third round pick. Was a third round pick on Xavier and Thomas or a fourth round pick, whatever it was? Yeah. Third. Three of your first four picks were offensive players. And guys who won't make an immediate impact. Like Xavier may, but Logan Jay Jones may have a redshirt year. Yes. But Ben will find a way to get the other guys involved and get something out of them. The day that they did that, to me, just my own personal brain working this way was a signal that, look. We're going to be an offensive-generated, focused football team. We're going to score 30 to 35 a game, and you're going to have to keep up with us. And if you do, God bless you. If not, we're going to hope our defense is better than it was last year. But we're going to put you on a track, and we're going to make you run a track meet. Good luck to you. And, you know, at 2027, we're going to have some more resources to work with and we'll make some changes. But 2026 is going to be about taking what we kind of created in the second half of the season offensively, involving that to the top. Two or three offenses in all the National Football League, and that's who we're going to be. That's going to be our identity. We're not ignoring the defense, but that's what people are going to know about us. Yeah, you're banking on Caleb being better than he was last year. You're banking on Lovlin, giving you a full season, being better than last year. You're banking on Burden coming back from the groin injury being better than he was last year. I'm begging on Ben Johnson even being better at his job. Yes. So you're banking on all these things offensively. So I heard Jack McGrath say this morning, and I don't want to totally put words in his mouth, but he said, is Luther Burden the guy you could least afford to lose in preseason? I think he's the guy that you could most afford to lose in the preseason. And I think that's what Thayer said, too. I was surprised by Jack's take. Because, and I know what he was saying. He was saying, like, This is a guy who didn't know the playbook in and out, but Ben is assured us now he's faster the way he's running because of his, because he knows everything. He knows where he's supposed to be, knows what he's supposed to do. Sure, I'd rather have him healthy than unhealthy. I think he'll be back for the regular season.

But, like, I think the Kyler Gordon news was the worst. That's the guy you could, like, he is such an impactful player on every layer of the defense, even though he's in the back end. Your receiver in tight end room is very deep. It's the reason why you could move off of DJ Moore. I'm with you. I think Luther will be back sooner rather than later. I hope he comes back. I think it's really smart and imperative to get him healthy so that even if for whatever reason, he's not there opening game or the second week of the season, but he's there in December. I'm more interested in him being there in December at full speed than him being there in September at full speed. And I just hope that that's something like they're very cautious with that. But okay, so you know what? We're missing Luther. We're going to run some more 13 personnel. Or Zavian Thomas gets an opportunity to do more. Or Khalif Raymond is not just going to be a returner for us. We trust him to play a bigger role as a wide receiver. So like... Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Jide A already. Jod A, yeah. I'm expecting big things from, I like him. Look, you're a much better off. You're a better offense with Luther Burden for sure, but I'm on the other side of that conversation with Jack. I think he's a guy that. that you can't afford to be without for a shorter period of time or for a period of time because you're so deep in that spot. And I'm with you. Kyler Gordon's one of the fewest guys that you can afford to not have. Jalen's on that list too. You don't mind to sweat if you would go down even though like we don't. absolutely love him. We like him. But Kyler Gordon is also a guy that, look, don't just look at him as a guy that covers people. No, he does everything the way they deploy him. Yes, he's good in run support. He can rush the passer. He allows you to do other things. Like having him out there is not just beneficial because he's an outstanding player, but it gives Dennis Allen more freedom to do difference. I'm still hopeful of this. I want to play this before we break for Waddle's World. And we're at Hallis Hall. Again, the breaking news that we got from Ben Johnson at about 245 was that Kobe Bryant is out four to six months. Not eight to ten weeks. It's Harrison Smith doing these days. He retired, didn't he? I'm like, you know what? Aaron Donald has done. Sure, that's right. That's good. You know, I think he had way less gas than Aaron Donald. Okay. Maybe he's, you know what? I'll compare his gas to maybe whoever else they're throwing out there, Charlie. Dude, this is a disaster to me. This is, here's your answer. Just a question. This is your answer right here. It's not a safety. It's guys up front. You want to make your back end better? And this is, I'm not losing hope on this guy.

This was Schefter, I believe with McAfee. And this has been going around the last few days late last week. There was speculation about Crosby with the fight that happened with Cousins. I don't believe this is him trying to get out of there either with a fight because this is just the way Max Crosby practices. Max Crosby has created havoc for his own team's players for years. Happened his rookie year. Happened in college. He just competes his ass off. That's what I love about Max Crosby is. High motor in practice, high motor in training camp, high motor in the games. This was Schefter about the possibility of Max Crosby getting dealt this year. To get worked up enough to go out. Somebody is strong. Max Crosby tells you that he had to be pretty pissed off about the whole situation. I know a lot of people are thinking that Max Crosby wants to be there right now. I think he's going to be there. I think the real question with Max Crosby and his future in Vegas comes down to what happens if this team doesn't perform well? What if there's a contender out there before the trade deadline that wants to beep up its pass rush? Could we see a team later this season if the Raider season is slipping away, make a run of Max Crosby? I could see that being a possibility in October. But right now, no, Max wants to be there, and I just think he's worked up. He's intense. He wound up hitting. Kirk, I didn't see the two plays. Kirk took offense to it, and here we go. They're both suspended for Saturday. As Kirk Cus has ever been suspended in his life? For practice, I would venture to say no. And it looked like he went to the Backstreet Boys concert that night with his wife. So he got a real nice day out of it. This is today as Kirk ran on to the field. Max Choresby gives him a high five and a shot that I have. So this, again, creates the speculation that Crosby, if he performs here, and the Raiders don't. will be good and will be available in October. And if the bears get off to a good start, and if they need defensive help, how do you improve the back end? We've always, like, it's basic. You get, you get guys who could rush the passer. Well, yeah, I mean, that would be my approach from the beginning, but now you're having to do a little bit of remodeling. And, Charlie, I'm not promising you Harrison Smith answers your issue. I just wanted to know where he was, you know. I'm going to put that on my, you know, to do list to see where he's at. And I guess that's me more lashing out and panicking because I think this is like a nightmare for this defense. I think this is like the absolute, like, you think so kind of disastrous. They told you with their actions, we can't, we don't have the resources to fix the pass rush. So the way this thing is going to get better is by.

investments in the secondary and a big investment in free agency. And already one of the biggest ones they made, possibly the biggest one, is done for the year basically. It's not good. There's no question. It's not good. They basically told you in so many words, look, the longer we cover, the less, you know, the, you know, the better chance our pass rush has to get to the opposing quarterback. That's reverse engineering in my world. And we've talked about that a bunch. You know, at this point. I'm not sure what you're going to do, but... The 31 a game. That's what you're going to do. You're going to score 31 a game. You've scored 31 to 35 a game. Greatest show on the lakefront. They've cycled like 10 defensive backs through here already in the last week. It really is. Like last year we thought the strength would be the back end. And it's your strength until it's not when everyone's hurt. And then this year again, we thought, hey, okay, they lost guys, but they... They drafted. They signed guys in the back end. And now it's not your strength anymore. Like, Aiden asked a good question, what is the strength of the defense now with the injuries? We could debate that a little bit later. Let's get to Waddle's World. Again, the breaking news. Kobe Bryant is out four to six months. Ben Johnson with the announcement here. And later in the show, I do want to, like, how does this get, like, how do big guys who break news all the time? How do they miss on a story like this? I have an idea. I'll share a little bit later, but we'll have some fun. Inside Waddle's World, we still have baseball. Wil Bond's going to join us. It's Waddle and Sylvie at Bears Camp. The afternoon drive is easier with Waddle and Sylvie. Chill out. They're coming right back. ESPN, Chicago. The Waddle and Sylvie podcast is brought to you by Viori. Get 20% off your first purchase at Viori.com slash Waddle. And in Chicago, Tom Waddle. He can't run. He's not fast, but he gets open. Bears' legend. Amazing. Nine career T-Ds and the NFL. He caught everything that was thrown and took every hit that they could give him. Tom Wattel. Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? It's time to find out what's on Tom's mind. Is that why you are here? As we go inside, Wattel's World. Yeah, what's on my mind most is just to repeat what we heard a little bit earlier, that Kobe Bryant will be out four to six months after having knee surgery. You could do the calendar math. That's not cool. That isn't good. Four months, okay, so one month of preseason, right? Or is it four to six months from now? Is it four to six months from the injury? I would think it's four to six months after the surgery, wouldn't it be? So like it'll get one month to get us to the regular season, September, October, November. Chance to get them back for December and the closing six weeks? Could. Depending on what it is. You have two January games? Yeah. Playoffs? Yeah. We better not be saying that in the middle of this season. I wouldn't rule it out. You know, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait and listen to what Ben has to say. Like, we never expected Ozzie Tripillo to be talked about now. Like, it's, you know, so. And that's the other, you know, that wasn't discussed by Ben today, but that's, you know, that Ryan Poles speaking, I think, with.

Johns and Hogue, right? Or Hogue and Johns, however they advertise themselves, both great guys, said that there is a chance, an outside chance that Ozzie could be participating in camp before it's over. Yes. So that's positive news to me. At this particular time, I think a healthy Ozzie Tripolo is their best option at left tackle. I may be proven wrong. Maybe there's some evidence created out there today over the course of the next two and a half, three hours. And somebody takes a, you know, takes the pole position at the left tackle spot. But I think they want some clarity, and they want some guys to, you know, show up. And they're not scared either to make the change. They did it last year. So even whoever starts week one may not be the starter, and Ben has said this, week eight. I get to get two things off my chest. Two things I read. One I saw, one I read. I actually read it on Twitter and then saw the clip. Did you see Shady McCoy? They do a, he's part of a podcast. He used to be on Fox and he had weird takes. Yeah. Was talking about how Antonio Brown is more deserving of the Hall of Fame than Jerry Rice and was a better receiver than Jerry Rice. That is one of the worst football perspectives I think I have ever heard. With no disrespect to Antonio Brown. As I like to say, this isn't a vote against Antonio Brown. This is a vote for Jerry Rice. I can make a case that Jerry Rice is the greatest player regardless of position in the history of the NFL. Look at Jerry Rice's numbers from age 30 on. They will make your eyeballs fly out of your skull. And then add him to what he did from the time he was a rookie to when he got to be 30. His body of work is, you can't compare it. Right. If the worst, and I know you said football takes, if the worst take we've ever heard in any sports show is Vince Goodwill's, that the NBA championship is a participation trophy and that they need to win a second to validate their actual championship. If that's the worst, this is up there. This is in the team photo. But this is there, yes. For Antonio Brown was terrific. Fabulous. When he was in his prime. Terrific. Before he went crazy. Terrific. In the same take, he also said that Brad Raffensperger should never be in the Hall of Fame no matter what. So I'm not going to bat for Big Ben here, but if you're going to bat for Antonio Brown, who was throwing him all those passes? He said that Ben should not be in the Hall of Fame? You should never be in the Hall of Fame if you never had no all pros, end quote. Wow. I just thought it was one of the great. You know how much I appreciate the game of Jerry Rice. Now, again, that was in our heyday growing up, watching him do it. Will Antonio Brown have any problems getting into the hall? Probably. I mean, statistically, he's beyond deserving.

But, you know, based on some of the... Quit during a game. And listen, it shouldn't because, especially in the NFL, they don't take any of that stuff into consideration. So he shouldn't have any problem getting in. My guess would be he still goes in first bow. But you may get some. So really good. He's eligible now, right? Is he this coming? They just had the induction. I think this year's class, which usually round the Super Bowl, I want to say like Rathlisberger's eligible, he's eligible. And there's some real like top top tier guys too. Yeah, for 2027 coming up next year. Gronk. Adrian Peterson. Adrian Peterson's a lock, right? He's a first ballot lock. Yes. Ben Rothlisberger, Richard Sherman, Alex Mack, Eric Weddell, Antonio Brown, Cam Newton, Gerald McCoy, Andrew Whitworth. Ben's getting in in the first ballot, isn't he? Big Ben? Yes. Well, I think so. No? I don't know. No, no all pros is like, I don't. He is getting in. I don't fund it. I don't, like, I kind of understand a little bit of the no all pros thing, but at the same time, like, when you play in such a specific era. Look with Dan Borrelli. Wait, is this a thing? Or is this a Bears giveaway? Is this one of one? A fan made this. Look at that. Zoom in on that. Can you guys get on YouTube? The first thing I would say, there's two things. First of all, too tall and skinny. Spot on with the shoes. Too tall and skinny. Too tall and skinny, yes. He is a shorter, stouter guy. He's not tall and thin. But it is, it looks like a bobblehead that doesn't bobble, but it's a little figurine on a platform. of Jeff Joniak for those who are listening to us and not watching us. It's mounted to the base. Yeah, it seems to be connected, and I don't want to jeopardize the overall. He's got his glasses down. He's got the hair down. The face looks like Joniak yet. The shoes, like you said, he's got the binoculars out. There's a tint of gray in his hair as well. And it says, in the front, voice of the Chicago Bears, Jeff Joniak. And then some catchphrases on the side. 30, 20, 15, 10, end zone touchdown. Touchdown bears. You know, his phone should be on the ground like next to him. Right, right. And his glasses should be on the ground somewhere else as well. I love it. That's, boy, can we, do you guys use that? Do the bears use that? We should have. Come on, that's us. We should have this. Dan Borrelli's giving that choice. Can we take this to the JD Studio? This has got to go to the ESPN 1000 studio. You're in charge of that. This was the second story. This is a collector's item. Whoever the fan is who sent this in should make these and sell them online. I'd buy one. Well, you can't sell it with the Bears logo. Okay. So you just have to take that. I think George would approve. I don't think. George is a big fan. I don't think he would. I don't think. George is a businessman as well. And we can talk about that later. This was the other story that caught my attention. University of Michigan.

She had a 5.3 grade point average. How is that possible? And a 4? Yeah, because she took accelerated classes and advanced stuff. She was sharp. 5.3 couldn't get into her first choice. Wow, that's incredible. Okay, but so here's your grading procedure or you've got to meet these requirements and you still can't get in. But when you get into Michigan and she wasn't applying to Michigan. We're not even going to give you grades. It's just pass or fail. Wait a second. I had to scale this enormous hill. And I had to get over these, these, you know, set, you know, numbers to get into school. Like, so the process of getting into the school you want to is an unbearable. achievement, but then when you get there, you're going past fail. That is the ultimate participation trophy, isn't it? Like if you pass, you've participated. By the way, if I'm paying tuition to Michigan, I want my money back. That's great. Yeah, exactly. And you've got to pay a fortune for most people. So Mike Rahm has a great comment on YouTube. He says, JFC, the Waddle household are all just winners. You know, like, you know, 5.3. They take after their mom. They take after their mom. I don't think I had a 5.3 when you added up all the grades. It wasn't the average grade. I'll pull back the curtain. It was my youngest. Wanted to go to Vanderbilt. My daughter, Leah, and my two middle daughters went to Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. My daughter, Leah, actually roomed for four years with the granddaughter of a woman whose name's on the dorm that they stayed in. I asked a certain quarterback who may have blown through the city of Chicago for a while to also write me a letter of recommendation. Oh, a cutty recommendation. He said, why don't you write it and I'll sign it? I said, perfect. Are you sure that didn't hurt? No, I didn't. She was more than qualified to go to Vanderbiltz. Couldn't get in. That's crazy. Couldn't get in. If you have a 5.3 and a 34 ECT. Not to mention. My two middle daughters went to Vanderbilt. So she was a child that was going to be the third line going to the same damn school. Okay, that's enough about me. I'm just saying. Like, as somebody who has gone through the process, I like the hurdle that they make you clear for all students to get into. Listen, it ain't easy to get into Michigan. Michigan's one of the better schools in the United States. But once you get there and you clear that hurdle, now you're going to tell me that my first semester as a student, it's pass failed. If I was a parent of one of the... Would you change the way then you study if you're a student? Like, and then maybe you're... Right, you're getting horrible habits. You're like, I'd be down in Mariance. I'd be down at the bar even more. Like, I'll pledge your fraternity. All I have to do is pass. Nothing like setting the bar low. From the beginning of the race. So, yeah, I don't know why it got me so agitated. And I'll end with this one. This was another story from yesterday that I didn't understand. You can tell me if you understand it, when we come back, I got a couple of sports things for you. Brad Pitt announced the other day in a very personal decision.

He's off the wagon. After seven years of sobriety, he's back to drinking. Well, I never understand that term, the on the wagon, off the wagon. I'd always confuses me. That means he's back, he's on. What'd you say, he's on the wagon now? He's back on the wagon. He's back on the wagon. Oh, no, he's drinking again. No, you're right. Being on the wagon means that you're not drinking. You fell off the wagon, you fell off the sobriety wagon. But he didn't fall off. He just, he opened the door and walked out. Yeah. He said that he's got to monitor himself closely still. Listen, I don't need to be, I'm not his keeper. I'm not, you know, I'm not his moral compass. I'm just saying this is the first time I've ever seen anybody announce that, hey, you know what, after being sober for seven years? I've had enough. I'm done with that. You know what after being sober for seven years? I could use drink. Yeah. That's what Brett Pitt told us. Did you know the cap sober these days? He surprised me with that nugget yesterday. I didn't know that. He's off the weed. He's off alcohol. Yeah. I don't drink during the week anymore. Oh, that's BS. I don't. That's complete BS. No, I don't. I don't have a bottle of scotch in my house. There's not a beer in my house. You've got whiskey you coming up. That's right. And when I do get one of those fine bottles, I may start drinking a little bit. But I... This wasn't a choice. It is a choice. I told you this weeks ago. I've spent like the last six weeks. Being very, very judicious with when I actually have a cocktail. It's because you drank yourself to the brink in South Carolina. No, it's because, like, I wasn't sleeping well and, you know, just I didn't feel great. I figured, hey. You know what my sleep score was yesterday and I want 100? I don't even know what that means. And the aura ring. The gummies that I keep talking about. Scale of 1 to 100. 96. 95. That was my highest sleep score ever. And if I wasn't taking a gummy, that wouldn't happen. But does it monitor quality of sleep? Yes, and it shows you like when you're in your REM. I don't know if it's like totally exact. Like when you're in your REM sleep, when you're in deep sleep. You trust it or you think it's all? I trust it. I think I trust it. Like I don't routinely get 95s, but my sleep has improved since gummies. All right, we have to take a break. But when we come back, I have another sports story that we didn't really talk about yesterday, but I need to get your guys perspective. Waddle Danny's calling BS on your Scotch. During the week. I didn't say Friday night, Saturday night games on. But Monday through Thursday is what I'm talking about. He said you took a bottle off his death, so you do have a bottle. No, no, it's gone. I drank that.

That's what to mean. This is like you saying you don't gamble anymore. You don't gamble anymore because you have 39 cents and you can't deposit the money. It's not your willingness to stop gambling. I don't want to deposit the money in there. Because you don't trust the electronic nature of the way they withdraw funds. I stole. I took that and I got permission. I took that bottle three weeks ago. You've been. It wasn't yesterday. It was three weeks ago. Three long weeks. Yeah. I don't drink. I try not to drink Monday through Thursday. That's my plan. Good on you. But on Friday, look out. Daddy is getting hammered. I'm joking. More coming up next? Yeah. Yeah, we got some. This is Waddle and Sylvie. On Adriano Espaillat and Chicago, Chicago's home for sports. By the way, we have a special treat, Waddle for Waddle's World, for everyone watching on YouTube right now. YouTube.com slash at ESPN 1000. Much more handsome than Jeff Joniak. He is, Staley is more handsome than a person, too, than on television. Yes. There you go. It's Staley in studio with us. Looking good, Staley. You ready? Big hot from Staley. Come on. Got to make that a gift right there. Oh, yeah. There you go. Smell delightful as well. Bears on three. One, two, three, bears. Fantastic. Okay, all right. Sylvie usually does that. That's right. Yeah. Staley, he's the best. He's the best. How great is that? You know, like you're walking around the building and went up. Man down. Man down. He pulled the prank on us. Yes, he did. He pulled the set down. We were, I was going to get some food, went to the bathroom, and you're just walking the halls of Dallas. Hey, that's Stanley. And you just bump into Staley, and I'm like, hey, can you just pop on? At 5 o'clock, we're going to bring a real grizzly bear in here to Maul Aiden. That's not true. Have you ever seen a bear in person, like not in the zoo or something? Like in the wild? Yeah. No, I have not. There's some of those videos are crazy that I see. You have? Where were you? I was in Alaska. Oh, that's... Yeah, it was just kind of hanging out. Took a couple pictures with it. Didn't get too close. What do you took a couple pictures with it? You know, it got kind of close and flipped the camera to selfie. You're one of those? What are you doing? We call that a dumbass move. It didn't get me. Did you see the guy that got caught by the bison and flipped in the air and got hurt? That was a great video. You think that a bear couldn't do something comparable to that? Yeah, but it didn't. That's not a good way to live. I didn't. It didn't. So I'm going to do it again because it didn't do it the first time. It was a nice bear. By the way, I need to ask you this before we get to prank, as the resident Sox fan here on the show right now. Did the Tim Anderson retirement come out of nowhere? Like, I... First of all, I didn't even know. He wasn't... I know he was with the Angels a little bit last year. Right. And he's been out of baseball, and he just... He sure sounded like...

You know, we just were talking about him, too, the off-the-field issues with whatever happened. Four straight years of hitting over 300. Now, a couple of those years, one was the COVID year, another of the years he didn't play 100 games. But. Like he spent four years in Major League Baseball hitting over 300 each season. He had some personal issues, marriage and stuff like that. I don't like to get into the personal stuff. But it hurt him. You could tell he was hurt. It was really, like the vibe in the clubhouse, and I think he contributed it to it too. Like at once he would at one time, Aiden, and you're the Sox fan, so maybe you could speak to it better. I felt like Tim Anderson was the heartbeat, you know, and that changed that. I will add this real quick, too. I was told from somebody who would have known that, because remember that that was a clubhouse that had some... some bad vibes, that he was one of the hardest working guys in there. I will say for a very small amount of time, himself and Jose Abra, you were pretty much the only two reasons to watch Sox baseball. It was the walk-offs. It was the bad flips. It was everything. It was great. I wish him, you know, I think we all do all the best in retirement. I will say. A Friday night game when you're battling for the division this season in September against Detroit, maybe not the best time to honor that era of Sox baseball. Oh, are they doing it? So they're honoring him then in that series? Oh. Maybe not the best time, just in my opinion. Just the whole thing, like, I don't know why. Maybe it's just me. Maybe the starting next year, is that what you're saying? Yeah. You know, it's a Friday night to start of a four-game set with Detroit when you could be neck-in-neck. It's September 17th. It does seem odd to, you know, the timing of it. But the whole thing, I just, I guess it wasn't expecting it. I believe it was on the... There was a... He was the face of Major League Baseball for a short period of time. I mean, the new age player. I'll still say that Field of Dreams game, probably the best baseball game I've ever watched. And it came right after COVID, right? Like, it was... It was so great for baseball. Won two batting titles? Yeah, I mean... Just like you always say, one of the mightiest falls in Chicago sports history. No doubt. And injury related. No, no. By the way, speaking of that, I asked Cap this question, then we never got to it about, like, Ozzy's number getting retired when we come back. And then I'll reset with all the news here from Bears, and there's plenty of news, guys. We'll play about what Ben Johnson had to say Kobe Bryant is out four to six months. That's the breaking news. It's not eight to ten weeks. It's four to six months now.

But who's next with the number retired? Like, who would you bet on? I mean, I would, I think this should happen immediately. There's one guy I've got in mind, but there are other suggestions, and I want to ask you guys who you guys think will be next. Maybe we'll do each team who will get their number. And the Bears are off that. I saw someone, too, blasting a number not being retired by the Bears. We'll get into all that coming up next.