INSTANT REACTIONS: Ian Wheeler getting injured on Hard Knocks was an emotional moment | CHGO Bears

that was an emotional episode of Hard Knocks to be honest with you I kind of want to cry right now guys um lot to get to a lot of notes we are here tonight and we will be with you for at least the next hour recapping what we just watched on Max and we are powered by ComEd tonight um I'll just start with my instant reaction because I feel like a lot of us are gonna be on the same page here but that Ian wheeler stuff was hard to watch man that that is as raw as it gets in the NFL guys fighting for their jobs um you got the Hard Knocks cameras rolling because they already had the storyline set up right like this is a guy he's fighting for his job if there's any criticism I have of hard knocks over the years it's kind of like it becomes a very cook cookie cutter at the end of each season it's kind of the same storyline it's just you change the characters and you know you got his mom miked up and he's miked up and you set it up with Chad Morton just on his ass constantly and then it ends the way it did which we all knew was coming because we heard the news over the weekend that he tore his ACL in that game but uh you know HBO didn't know that when they miked everyone up going into that game and so to see that like his mom get the text in the middle of the game that I just and that's the longest hug I've ever seen I lost my mom a long time ago it just made me want to hug my mom so bad that was that was hard to watch guys I'm not even going to lie I got emotional watching it yeah I think that was definitely tough to watch because I was in his shoes uh back in college when I tore my ACL and I remember I was coming out that year projected as a potential first round pick and I just remember uh they called my parents tell the story they called it was at the Alamo Bowl we played Chase Daniel Jeremy Macklin last two minutes of the game I go to get my third sack I get pulled from behind I'm on the turf and my parents said yeah they called him and said hey it's not good you got to come down and I just remember this trainers telling me after doing the ACL test like you tore your ACL I thought it was a bad dream I just started crying I remember I hugged my parents and it was just it it felt like a bad dream and and I know where he was and it's such a great training camp and and he was being such a likable guy that everybody you know probably behind he had talent and speed and it's just like in this league in in general in football right you have limited opportunities um to be able to capitalize on it and it's unfortunate hopefully we'll see him again we just don't know I mean there's so many talented people in this league I hope it's not the last we see of him um but even even the cobbert piece right about him almost losing his life I mean just very emotional episode in general and you know how thankful he is for every day and um yeah I think I think things like that like put things in perspective when we're you know dealing about our regular oh this sucks or that sucks it's all about perspective and and kind of uh how you live your life and and what you're grateful for and I think we all have to stop take a breath and sometimes just be thankful for what we all have no yeah I mean perfectly said there wood and you know even when Ian's mom's like why are you limping like that got me right there like you can hear it in her voice as Ian Wheeler's going to the sideline like that was tough to see but you know I really like the the perspective that you know Adrian Colbert just kind of goes about his everyday life you know not having the shoes on staying grounded and kind of getting the energy from the earth and you know showing the bike ride to how Hall that he takes to get get to practice like you don't hear about those stories other than like a hard Kno a setting like this so it was good to kind of highlight those things and then he made a couple really good plays in that Chiefs game breaking up the pass that would would have you know it saved the touchdown and then set up ready do it for the pick six by coming off the edge like again Adrien culber we know his fate because we knew the roster but he did make it I think tough on the coaching staff because of the game that he played but yeah the definitely two heartfelt kind of characters to watch in this this episode of Hard Knocks yeah we had Ian wheeler on over the summer and you could see just how thoughtful of a young man that he is and and someone that's easy to root for you know on a team that has a lot of different personalities and and you see the camaraderie of this of this Chicago Bears team coming together here uh but I've always been somebody when I go to training camp you know it's fun to see the big Superstars and but training Camp's all about those guys at the back end of the roster trying to make a spot and it's fun to root for those guys because you see how bad they're working to get it you know they're not getting anything you saw what do you say $7,500 is what he got as a b rookie bonus like these guys are literally fighting for their livelihood you know other guys at the top end of the roster they're going to be all right their generations of their family ahead are going to be all right he's fighting to have thaty he doesn't have it yet so for all the people I used to work with old times oh they're playing the NFL you know boohoo well it's not like that for it's not that's not how it works for everybody in the NFL not everybody's you know Caleb Williams and Keenan Allen right so Ian wheeler you know is right on the precipice of making the team potentially and you see how it all is gone in a second and it's as simple as a helmet to the knee it wasn't like it was we've seen worse you know hits to the knee but that's all it takes you know and and my wife was sitting with me and she was like wow I can't believe he tore his ACO I'm like well helmet on knee you know your your foot's planted it it and and personally you know we've been talking about it here on the show I I just had ACL uh surgery here uh two days or Friday I I've lost track of my days now on Friday and I would have never imagined how much much it was going to hurt afterwards and in fact I'm glad no one told me because it's brutal and the pain you're there's no escaping that pain it is brutal and it's it's Relentless it just keeps you have to just live with it and learn to now I just had my first physical therapy session today and you slowly work your way back I have no feeling on the entire front of my knee and halfway down my leg and I asked them I go when am I going to get feeling back assuming they were going to say like two weeks and they said about six months and my I couldn't believe it I I could not believe that that was the answer to that so you know like you said W you don't take these things for granted you you appreciate what you have and you know I'm thankful it wasn't worse you know I'm sure Ian is trying to look on the positive side of things if you watched his interview with us uh I think he's that type of person that's going to try to find the the positives from this and that's what he said to Ryan poles I'm going to use this as a red shirt year and work on things mentally but man to your guys's point that was just a gut-wrenching moment uh but I also think is what makes this show special and why going to training camp for me is always something I appreciated because you go beyond the fantasy football lineup you go beyond you know the the stats and what you see on TV and you start rooting for the the human beings and and see that they have families at camp that come that are you know they it means a lot to them on a level that I think a lot of fans just just don't appreciate because we all just want to see the Bears win a Super Bowl and so you got to see that on full display and I think that's going to make if it wasn't for hard kns would Chicago Bears Nation really rally around him not knowing the full extent of the story and now I think when he comes to Camp next year he's gonna be a fan favorite because we all know what he just went through and what he's gonna go through here over the next 12 months yeah I um I get I was very happy that they showed that scene with Ryan poles in his office because I I've kind of I've always kind of imagined how those conversations go um but in this case was already thinking about it like understanding to me Ian wheeler was somebody that had he not gotten hurt was going to get cut anyway um maybe ended up back on the practice squad which would have been I mean obviously better than this outcome because you still get to practice you'd still get to develop all those things um but you never know I mean you're never safe on the practice squad maybe you get claimed somewhere else and it's not as good of a fit like guys their careers just sort of deteriorate quickly because of circumstance sometime so if there was one silver lining here it was that um you know I somewhat joked the other day there's two guys that I know tore their acl's that'll be at training camp next year and that's Ian wheeler and Greg brags Jr they'll both be there're they're not going away they're still going to be there next year and that I don't know that would have been a guarantee otherwise so it doesn't make you feel any better about it but there is a silver lining to that at least and so I'm glad they showed that scene between polls in Wheeler to kind of like let the public understand some of those circumstances that go into that woot yeah I think anytime you know you have a coach like like poles man he really cares about the guys he could tell that it's refreshing because a lot of times like GMS and and not to not to name drop or Diss anybody but you know there were some people that were GMS um Phil Emery I I don't I don't really know to be I'm talking negatively I I don't know if he really cared about the guys like polls does I'm just being honest and and not trying to knock him but I I think there's something refreshing about this because football is a business right at the end of the day it is a business like any other job out there but has been known for being Cutthroat so the way he operates the way he does stuff like the wheeler example or even Justin Fields right he probably could have got a better pick for him but he wanted him to be in a situation that was better for him so I think that's really refreshing to have a guy to be like you know what I want what's best for my players whether or not they're going to be here or not I want to do Best by them I want I want the best for them and uh Paul seems like an awesome guy the way um the moves that he's starting to Stack Up and how the he's building this team and the players around it I think it's the mark of hopefully what can be a dynasty here in Chicago that's really what I'm hoping and real Qui real quick though Nick I mean to your point on that having covered the you know the entire time Phil Emy was the the GM like let's be honest he treated the he treated the players like they were just chess pieces you know just these little magnets I have in front of me right now on the board like and that's about as important as some of the guys were I mean the one of the biggest travesties was how the end of Brian or lacers time with the Bears ended with an email that went out like that's that's ridiculous you're talking about one of the best players that's ever played for the franchise and that just type of stuff cannot happen and so you to I think we already sort of knew that about Ryan poles without hard KN but to see it on Hard Knock that you got a GM who's preaching what is constantly said in the building too and like the stuff he said on hul and John's last week that it's all about people in any workplace like it's all about the people you're working with um that that is very very refreshing and that might sound maybe somewhat naive in football a little bit but I think when you start to build that and you see W like you played for Lovey Smith you saw like how that culture started coming together because it was people treating people like people then you have a level of respect and you start to fight for each other more and more right exactly and I I think there's a way to still treat it like a business but be a person right show compassion show show that you care for people and um I I just think too many times throughout the league you just see so many people like you said treating these flares like chess pieces at the end of the day right this is a small portion of our life right playing in the NFL whether or not you play for one year you play for 15 years you play for 20 right we're all a part of that Brotherhood and I think everybody wants the same thing right they want to live out their childhood dream they want to have a great experience they want to play with great teammates everybody wants to win a Super Bowl so my thing is just like this lift everybody up um encourage people and regardless of of how you feel about that person as a player right at the end of the day I think you just should want what's best and that always doesn't happen because you've seen it left and right and even like the ear laacer thing the fact that they couldn't give him like what was it like 500,000 or a million dollars extra for arguably one of the greatest linebackers to ever play the game the face of the franchise the most recognizable linebacker um in the NFL history couldn't you couldn't meet him halfway and just say listen you know what maybe I don't think you're worth this but Hey listen you've done so much for this organization you've done so much for football here Brian let's ride you off into the sunset it's your last go around let's have this historic year with you um but he couldn't do that and that that's the part that that's so and and literally that whole regime you look at we had the biggest turnover at any team I think uh what was it like 2015 or 2016 Jay Cutler um Kyle long and sherik mcmanis were the only three people on the team it was like the biggest turnover like we've seen in a while um so it's just yeah it it was it was such a weird time but I think everything happens for a reason and now we're back to this point with polls and I I think he's gonna lead us to the promised land made a great a bunch of moves and he keeps stacking up and he's building the culture and the culture is what's going to make the difference to wins and losses people say no you gotta have no yes you have to have talented people you have to have great coaches you have to have great players but the chemistry the camaraderie that all translates to wins [Music] [Applause] we all sting like the May