Chicago Bears Camp 2009
Well, better late than never.
We finally got down to Bears camp on the last day. Talk about a fun day! The weather was great and the crowd was a whole lot smaller than on the days we went last year. I think the fear of rain and 3:00pm start time on a week day worked in our favor. I had heard that the first few days of camp were packed. Everyone wanted to see #6.
The players were in a good mood. Hey…it was the last day of camp and in the next few hours everyone would by flying up I57 to go home. I’d be happy too! After all the players arrived on the field, they began switching jerseys. Brian Urlacher made a beeline towards Jay Cutler and they switched. Devin Hester switched with Rudy Burgess and funniest of all, Orlando Pace actually got Peanut Tillman’s jersey on! It was interesting trying to figure out who some of the players were out there.
Cutler got the biggest cheers upon his arrival and after watching him move and throw, I can see why. Chicago hasn’t had a real QB since Sid Luckman and it is fun to see him in action. The team roster has him at 6-3 233, but he looked bigger than that. The first few plays I saw him run, he threw a pass for about 35 yds and put the ball right in the receivers hands. Next pass, right through 2 defenders into the receivers hands. Bears fans aren’t used to seeing this!
Toward the end of practice I got Kieran set up along the exit path the players use so he could maybe get some autographs. A lot of the players just blew through and got out of there without stopping. Brian Urlacher came through in his golf cart and all the kids went crazy. He stopped, looked around, and with a big smile on his face, tossed his cleats up in the air to one very happy kid! All of a sudden, other players started tossing their gloves into the crowd. That was fun to watch. The adults were all behind a rope and only the kids were on the fence so there was no stupid crush and every kid there seemed to be having a blast! Kieran managed to get one glove and 3 autographs so he was one happy camper.
Even the ride home was good. We waited around in the lot for a little bit and then departed. No problems getting out and we were home in less than an hour.
A great afternoon. I think the only people happier than the fans were the players! Time for them to go home and get ready for a great season. Go Bears!
