Buckle Up, Chicago!

Dear Bears fans, 

A little further down in this thing, I’m going to let everyone in on why I feel like this season is setting up to be pretty special, and why I think you guys are in for a wild ride with this Bears team led by Coach Johnson. But before I get into all that, I really just need to clarify something first. I want to make sure everyone realizes where I’m coming from when I talk about the Bears, and this city, and what this season could be like for everyone in Chicago, players and fans alike. You gotta understand…. 

Me and this football team, we go way back.

How far back?

Well OK, let’s go.… It’s Christmas morning. Sometime in the early 2000s, Lake Barrington, Illinois. I’m maybe five or six years old. 

There are a bunch of presents under the tree for my siblings and me, but there’s this one box that catches my eye. I run over, grab the present, and tear through the wrapping paper like a madman. Then I rip open the box and … there it is, staring me right in the face….

Number 54. 

A brand-new Chicago Bears home jersey. Urlacher. The legend! 

It’s navy blue, with those white numbers outlined in orange. (The best-looking jersey in all of sports, if you ask me.) I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I pulled that thing up over my head immediately. 

And when I say to you that I was ALWAYS in that jersey from that point forward, well I mean….

Photos don’t lie!

That Urlacher jersey was my favorite thing in the world as a kid. It made me feel so good to be able to wear the 54 to school, and to the mall, and to … pretty much everywhere else I went back then. I was really little at that point, so in some ways I think it made me feel like I was an actual part of the team when I put it on, you know what I mean?

And now, 21 years or whatever it is later, I gotta be honest, it really is tough to look back on that time in my life and think anything other than: Somehow this was all meant to be.

I feel like a lot of people know that I’m from around here, but I don’t think most folks fully understand just how many of the most memorable moments in my life growing up involve the Bears. 

It’s not just getting that jersey. It was things like pretending our backyard was Soldier Field while tossing around the ball with my dad, or going nuts with my grandma over at her house watching Devin Hester take that opening kickoff at the Super Bowl to the house against the Colts. (I was only at Grandma’s because my parents were miraculously able to score tickets and were AT THE SUPER BOWL IN THEIR BEARS GEAR.) Or staying up late any time we were on Monday Night Football. Or, let’s see … just totally hating the Green Bay Packers. (Does that count as a memory?)   

I guess what I’m trying to get at is…. I honestly couldn’t have dreamt up something better than how everything actually ended up, with me getting drafted by Chicago and then finding myself in the locker room at Soldier Field putting on my very own, completely official, navy blue Bears jersey that says KMET on the back in all caps.

The crazy thing is, looking back at my journey … on draft night in 2020, it actually seemed like none of all this would ever happen. That draft was during Covid, so we only had a small party at the house, and I remember I was sitting next to my brother when my phone started ringing. 

At that point … Jacksonville was on the clock.

And look, nothing against Jacksonville. At all. It’s beautiful there. Lovely place. But, I mean…. THE BEARS PICK WAS JUST ONE SLOT AFTER THE JAGS.

So my brother hears the phone and … he’s pisssssssed. It’s like: “No!!!!! Ah s***. Are you kidding me?!?!?! One spot away?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” 

But then, it’s the funniest thing.… 

It was actually just that our TV was delayed for some reason. Literally. It was behind by like two or three minutes. So when I answered the phone, it was actually….

“YOUR CHICAGO BEARS!!!!!!”

From that day forward, it really has kind of felt like I won some amazing contest where a longtime fan gets to suit up for his favorite team. There’ve been lots of moments where I’ve felt like it can’t actually be real that I’m playing for the Bears. Not the Bears on Madden, or in a football-toss game at Dave & Buster’s, the actual Chicago Bears.   

It hasn’t always been easy. But even through the tough times, I’ve been grateful for everything I’ve experienced. And the ups have been incredible. Catching TD passes, beating the Packers, are you kidding me? Last season, especially, was just an absolute all-timer. That playoff win against Green Bay at our place, where we sent them packing? That one probably qualifies as my favorite moment of my Bears career to this point. I watched so many of those Bears/Packers games growing up, and every single time it felt like my life depended on us winning. So to come back in that one like we did, and score 25 in the fourth, and to have our fans out dancing in the streets…. 

It doesn’t get much better than that.

And believe me, I know firsthand how awesome it is here when the Bears are going great. My family and friends, they all bleed navy and orange. I’ve got buddies from high school who … their entire work week going good or bad depends largely on the result of our game on Sunday. (Sound familiar?) And I can always tell when we’re playing well and stacking wins because on Sunday nights, like clockwork … the hilarious drunk celebratory text messages come rolling in from my boys. 

I know we also have the Bulls. And the Cubs and the White Sox, and the Blackhawks and the Sky. I love and respect all those teams. But at the end of the day … I really do believe that Chicago is a Bears town first and foremost. And I can absolutely promise you that I wasn’t kidding about what I said at the very top of this thing. 

I truly believe we’ve got something special in store for you guys this year.

First off, let’s talk about Caleb. That guy … I honestly don’t think there’s a limit to how good he can be. He has the best arm I’ve ever seen. And now with Ben here running the show? I’m mainly just excited I get to be around for it. But I’m also just really happy for Caleb. I’m happy we were able to bring in such a great offensive mind in Ben. That those two get to work together. It honestly just makes me happy for my QB. And I think you’re gonna start to see some very special things happening in year two of this offense. Like we’re all gonna look back on this time and be like … Hmmmm, that really was the beginning of something big.  

The other thing that has me thinking big things lie ahead is the array of young talent we now have around Caleb. When you hear us talk about wanting to be the highest scoring offense in the history of the NFL … we’re not just saying that. We mean it. That’s literally what we’re shooting for.

Our receivers room has a bunch of guys who are willing to do a lot of different things, not only in the passing game, but in the run game, too. So that means it’s going to be hard for teams to gameplan for us. We’ve got three really good tight ends. And, of course, Colston is an absolute beast. I think he has a chance to develop into one of the top offensive weapons in the league this season. Dude’s a walking mismatch. But if you look at it, we’ve got size and speed at every position. Great backs, incredible O-line. All the ingredients are there. 

I wouldn’t recommend running to the concession stands for your adult beverages or Polish sausage sandwiches anytime we have the ball. And, actually, you know what? Our defense is looking like a bunch of ballhawks this season for real, so I wouldn’t get up when the other team has the ball either.

Maybe just wait until halftime?  

But, in any case: Buckle up, Chicago. 

Because winning the Super Bowl is the goal this season, plain and simple. No hedging. And I feel like I’ve been around this place long enough to say with some credibility that we have a team that could realistically do it. Obviously, it won’t be easy. We’re not sneaking up on anyone anymore. But even that in itself is exciting. 

I can’t wait for things to get rolling.

These days, I tend to look at upcoming seasons a bit differently than in the past. I used to be more focused on stats and my numbers. But at some point, that all kind of stopped being a focal point. At this stage in my career, I care most about just doing what my coaches and this organization are asking me to do, day in and day out. If that means catching eight balls in a game and scoring twice, great. But if it means staying inside to block all game and not catching a single pass, well then … that’s cool with me.

Ultimately, I just want to win games and represent for this city, and for this team that I’ve loved since way back when I got that badass Urlacher jersey for Christmas. I want to do all I can to help bring another Lombardi Trophy home to Chicago. And hopefully we can all join together to make that happen this season, because I’d love to see all of you on Michigan Avenue for a big parade this winter if everything goes our way.   

One step at a time though, I guess, right? 

For now let’s definitely just enjoy beating the Packers a few more times first, and then kind of just take it from there.  

Bear Down!

-Cole