← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Ben Johnson's Circle of Trust: who's IN, who could be OUT?
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A
I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking Forward progress.
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C
Come on. 10219 219Forward progress a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 sports.
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A
We give you forward progress on 312 sports. And we're doing that right now as we talk bears in the NFL. I will urge you to check out today's DBU if you want the latest news that she acappos@politico gave us today regarding the stadium stuff that somehow the Bears finally, finally, finally have crawled back toward Illinois legislators and the governor's office and are now drafting legislative language for a bill that would facilitate their move to Arlington Heights. We knew this was going to happen at some point. Everybody involved saying we're not going to call a special session of the Illinois Legislature unless we got this deal done. So they're working on it. They're drafting language, and the moment you hear that they've called a special session, that means the deal is probably done after they were told to get their act together they finally did. They needed to crash and burn before it happened. Just remember that if in fact, Kevin Warren pushes his way toward the front of the line and claims credit for getting something done, it is in spite of his efforts and not because of them. So check that out on dbu.
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D
You.
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C
Yeah, very good there. And I wouldn't say if he tries. It's. It's when. When he tries, because he will for sure. He'll get front and center, even though he should have been fired weeks ago. And I think that the two biggest points are that the Bears are actually doing work.
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A
Yes, they're involved.
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C
Right. They're actually involved in their own process to get a stadium site secured and all done and whatever they need to do. But the fact that, number one, that they're. They're actually physically working on it, which is great that they're showing up this time around. And I think the second point. And you. And you did mention this, but I just want to highlight it. If you do hear of a special, special session being called, it's because the deal's done. And I think that's really important to note. So when. Once you hear that that is announced, just know it's a done deal. And I think that's the key to it. Yep.
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A
It's a pro forma arrangement here. They're not gonna bother calling people back there and doing all of this and ripping people away from their summer plans just to have something else fail. Now, I would never put it past the Bears to find a way to make it fail, because knowing Kevin Warren, even though they're laying out breadcrumbs for him and saying, this is what we're gonna do, I would never put it past him at the end to say, wait a second here. Now we're doubling down our declaration that our board is focusing on Indiana. So I'll never say it's done until we actually walk into a stadium in, you know, 15 years from now, or however long it's going to take. But it does appear that the Bears are finally listening to the very condescending advice they've gotten from smarter people.
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C
Yeah. And before we go on to the. The. The next next item here on Bears, Bears notes. I do want to give a couple shout outs, though, to some people. There was a guy that I forgot to mention a couple weeks ago I met at one of our baseball tournaments in New Lenox. His name was Dominic. He's out in Michigan now. He was from the Illinois area, moved out to Michigan a few years back. Listens regularly to all the 312 sports stuff. So I want to say hey to Dominic. Thanks for saying hello because there isn't a week that goes by where I don't have at least one person somewhere out in public, whether it's the train or the store or this case a baseball tournament coming up and saying that they listen to the shows and they really like them. So thank you. Hello to Dominic. And then I also want to give a big shout out to Joel, one of my wife's colleagues out in Proof Point. Joel, what's up my man? That's all I'm gonna say there. SI.com had an interesting article. The, the, the title caught my eye and I'm going to rephrase it for him though because it's not really worded correctly. They had two contracts that will age poorly during the 2026 season. These are just the two contracts that the Bears have that will have the most negative impact on this upcoming season.
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A
Ooh, let me see if I can guess.
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C
Yes, that's why I wanted to do it for you. So two contracts of significant note for the Bears that will have a, a negative impact on the Bears in the 2026 season.
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A
I'm not saying I agree with this. I'm just trying to think like somebody who is writing this kind of article around this time. And I'm going to say number one is Kyler Gordon.
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C
Okay, and who's number two for you? And I'll tell you if you're correct. Your number one guess is Kyler Gordon. Number two is
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A
Montes Sweat.
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C
Good guess. But Kyler Gordon is correct. His 3 year 40 million dollar deal kicks in, starts this season. They have that down as a contract that will have a negative impact on the Bears this year. Now do you agree with that or not agree with that?
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A
Yeah, until we see him on the field, it's a massive risk. Yes. The other one, I would, I would say somehow if there's any sense of humor involved, the answer has to be de' Aaron Fox.
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C
Well, Dan, you are correct. It is the Aaron Fox that is.
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A
I don't care what team, I don't care what sport. After you almost single handedly cost your team an NBA shot at an NBA championship because you were bad and dumb. And now your 4 year mega max guarantee is kicking in.
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C
So he was actually 2A on their list. Two for them would be Dio Odangbo at a three year, $48 million deal signed last year. So he's in year two of that. They questioned the, the contract signing in the first place coming off of a three sack season in 2024. Why you would give him 16 million a year over three years to begin with was a question mark. Then he gets one sack for you in 2025, ends his season with an Achilles injury And going into 2026, what kind of player is he going to be? How close to normal form can he return to after an Achilles injury? And they asked the question now even what is normal form for Dio Odangbo? We don't know. We don't know. So I, I just thought it was really good. And, and again it's, it's difficult because those are two guys that you are counting on going into this off season, looking ahead to 2026 and say this is why our defense will get better. We're going to draft some guys, we're going to sign some free agents, but we need these guys who've gotten big contracts to step up and really return to form. Overperform, certainly from last year. Stay on the field and be healthy at least. But if that's your bare minimum of two of your biggest contracts you gave out on the defensive side of the football is to just, hey, stay healthy on the field. That's not, that's not enough. Nope.
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A
No. And it's, it happens to every team. A lot of this stuff. There are all kinds of unforeseen circumstances, largely injury based, that have affected these two players and it makes just end up being bad money. It's too bad. Especially in the case of Kyler Gordon, just because of how tantalizing some of the possibilities were for using him like a, like a Swiss army knife, like a Josh Metellus type player who you can unleash in a variety of spots.
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C
Especially given the, the words, I mean the comments, the thoughts, the feelings of Dennis Allen when he got here. Too bad, I mean he was, wasn't he, the only guy he mentioned by name on the defense.
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A
The only one I remember him talking about. His excitement was getting the opportunity to work with somebody with the skill and versatility of Kyler Gordon.
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C
Yeah. And then on the Odengo side of things, he'll turn 27 in September. So only 27 still is, you know, some good years left, but we just don't know what his body's going to be and what an Achilles injury can do to a guide his position.
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A
Particularly anybody when you come back from that, knowing not just the trust in it but the actual explosiveness that's still there even if you do trust it remains to be seen. So we shall, it's, it's a lot of money they have poured into those positions. We're still waiting on the big contract decision before the season begins. And that is Darnell Wright, and that would appear to be the guy next in line for a massive extension. He's earned it and should get it. And then right now they're, I guess, lucky or unlucky enough to not have to pay anybody on that left side.
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C
You know what, it's, it's interesting you say that, that, that he's, he's earned, he certainly has earned it because he has earned the trust of the Chicago Bears. And let me move on to one real thing and I know that there's a story you want to get to. Yeah, let me just move on to one other thing real quick. And this was on espn and they went through each team with their, their, their ESPN reporters that cover the team and they came up with one player from each team that had a standout spring. So this is the most like, significant player of what they saw in spring. Okay, so that's, that's the OTAs. And then the mandatory minicamp for the Chicago Bears. It was wide receiver Xavion Thomas that they highlighted. The lightning fast receiver who ran a four two eight, a 40 yard dash at the combine, got multiple reps as a punt returner this spring and showed that he can be more than just a special teams guy and can utilize his skills on the offense as well. And this is Ben Johnson. He says he tends to make plays about almost every single day. Right now, if we can harness all of his energy and make sure that we can trust him, he's going to align with where he needs to and run the route that we need him to run, that we could really use him and he could be a big weapon for us this year. And I know we've heard that. We've read that comment before. But the thing that jumped out at me again was the word trust, because that's been one of the key words since Ben Johnson's been here is the trust. And if you don't have Ben Johnson's trust, you don't get opportunities to play on the field. We talked about this last year when guys like Luther Burden and Colston Loveland. Loveland, again, coming off of recovering from an injury, didn't get a whole lot of time to build up into the season. But when he earned Ben Johnson's trust, when Luther Burden earned Ben Johnson's trust, we saw what happened to the opportunities they got during games.
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A
Well, let's look at the other side of it. I don't. I'll never really know where DJ Moore was on. In. On the trust meter, about the fact that he was obviously good and obviously accomplished and obviously had huge numbers, but I don't know that he ever got to the point where Ben felt what he had to feel about that kind of conviction, that kind of commitment. And we heard Ben Johnson talk about the drops, whether it was a lame day, Zacchaeus, or I'm trying to remember some of the other big drops that we had. And he. He said, yeah, Devin DuVernay, thank you. When he got on the coaches and said, this is going to be, you know, their responsibility to make sure this doesn't happen. And that's why John A. Walker earned a promotion later. It was like working with a bullpen. It really was like a lot of the stuff we talk about with a high leverage bullpen of, can I do I feel okay bringing you in right here. And it might even be more stringent for Ben Johnson just because of the nature of football and the nature of you. You know, those. Those chances are fleeting. You only get these moments that make or break games, and you have to think that the people that you have out there are going to be able to take advantage of those situations.
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C
Yeah, I would have thought that if. If DJ Moore had fully had Ben Johnson's trust, and I know that he got big opportunities, obviously he had huge catches. I mean, some of the biggest catches that we've seen as Bears fans in the organization's history, very memorable catches. But I. I think if he had fully earned. I think it's a good question you ask, if he had earned Ben Johnson's full trust, would he still be here?
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A
Right.
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C
I don't know. That's a pretty significant piece to remove from your offense that was successful last year, building more successful offense this year.
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A
There's all kinds of other reasons why when you start looking at the financials and where burden is supposed to be, and you're supposed to be always building up the next young wave to come through and start replacing some of these guys. That's how it's all supposed to work. So it may just be that we're not used to the Bears doing that. Reason we say we have a good player, we have to hold on to that good player. Well, by the time that this good player is not going to be good anymore, I don't know, we don't replace him. So this is just. I think we all have to kind of inure ourselves to them Doing real football business.
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C
Yeah, I love it. I also wanted to highlight the other three teams in the division, like, what players stood out. So these, again, these are these ESPN reporters that cover the teams, give commentary on it, and then highlight one player from the spring for Green Bay, it was tight end number three, Josh Wiley, who stood out for them for Detroit. And I'll give you the honors because it is your wide receiver there from Detroit.
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A
Oh, my man. He is Isaac Tusla.
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C
Yes. So he was. He was the player of the spring. I guess you could. You could have this. So Minnesota, I was really excited to go down to Minnesota and see what they had to say in their paragraph about the Vikings.
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A
It's McCarthy, isn't it?
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C
No. So I was hoping it was something to do with a quarterback. So it's like, all right, here's one of the Bears rivals. Here's a division opponent that finished 9, 8 last year. That gave the Bears one of their losses last year. What player stood out in the spring session for the Minnesota Vikings? So I thought, all right, maybe it's Kyler Murray. You know, I'm just really going to solidify the fact that he was brought in. He's the starter. He's the guy. Even though Kevin o' Connell won't say it, but he'll say a lot without saying anything. The player that stood out the most, and I thought this was great, undrafted free agent from Georgia could possibly be the number four wide receiver.
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A
Oh, big news.
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C
Dylan Bell. So very good. I mean, that's exciting for a young undrafted free agent player. But you talk about season impact, like, who stood out the most?
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A
That guy. Your fourth whiteout.
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C
Possibly the most. Maybe your fourth wide receiver.
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A
All right, just like. Like Scotty Whitington or whatever the the guy is.
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C
What's his name again? Don't call him Whitington. Miller. Miller. Is it Miller? Is it Miller? Is it. Is it not Scotty Miller?
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A
Is that right?
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C
Well, maybe it is Scotty Whitington.
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A
Hold on.
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C
Scotty Miller. Yeah. Football wide receiver.
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Okay.
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C
Yeah, he's a Chicago, but that's the guy. Scotty.
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There he is.
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C
I got him.
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A
Okay, there he is. I found him. I found Scotty. He is wide receiver. Oh, he's the backup wide back up to Luther Burden. Your starters are a Dunes, A. Burden and Khalif Raymond, who everybody adores. And then you've got the big battle between Jade Walker, Scotty Miller and Xavion Thomas.
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C
Yeah, probably if it continues in this path, it should be Xavier and Thomas getting those Opportunities. But today, Walker proved himself last year in some small opportunities. Your guy, Isaac Tislaw.
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A
Yes. Great athlete.
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C
Okay, pull it up real quick. Do I have this correct? That he had 16 receptions last year and six went for touchdowns? Isaac Tesla.
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A
He's Isaac Tesla. Well, according to Pro football Reference, last year he had 16 receptions and six touchdowns.
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C
Wow.
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A
That's production.
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C
That is production.
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A
That's efficiency.
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C
So you're saying that if he gets 32 this year, he'll have. He'll have 12 touchdowns.
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A
Oh, maybe even more.
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B
That's.
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A
That's presuming he doesn't increase.
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C
48 receptions would be 18 touchdowns.
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A
That's only if he. If it stays at the same percentage. What if he has. What if all of his catches are touchdowns?
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C
So 16 catches for 16 touchdowns? Yep.
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A
Wow.
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C
Yep. That'd be great. Good for him.
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A
I mean, you're not using him enough.
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C
Good for him. Yes. If every catch is a touchdown, you might want to throw him the ball more every time. Yes. Yep. So congratulations to Isaac to Slaw. And you, Dan. Congratulations to you as well. It's my guy. Josh Wiley, undrafted free agent from Georgia, Dylan Bell and Bears receiver Xavion Thomas.
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A
All right, whatever the opposite of congratulations is here, I would just say, do you remember a Chicago Bear named Mike Pennell?
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B
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- [20:02]
C
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C
I do only because of the story. But had the story not come up, I would have had to think long and hard about who he was.
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A
Mike Pennell, a big guy he played in as a defensive tackle and, and he played I think in 2021 for the Bears. And I saw the name like, oh yeah, okay, I know this guy. And then I saw what was going on. Oh my God. There is some amazing investigative journalism that ESPN is doing. I didn't even know they still paid for this kind of work. TJ Quinn and Juan Ratio are doing this in Santo Domingo. Apparently Mike Pennell Jr. Is leading a life as like a. I don't know what he's doing in the Dominican Republic, but it sounds like some kind of kingpin slash warlord or I don't even know what you'd call him. Yeah, but there was a young woman found dead and now they are tracing back the connections that she had to Mike Pinnell and how much time they spent together. It's really shadowy what he did and. Or does in the Dominican Republic where he owns a bunch of property. And apparently there were, there was a belief that there was a dead body on his property and it was never properly investigated because of how powerful he is and that people I guess were scared to cross him and his friends who had been interviewed by police. But where there was some half assed investigation and it's, it's an unbelievable rabbit hole of a story. And the only reason I kept going was like, oh, here's another former Bear, but I had no idea how bad things had gotten. He's currently a free agent. He's not an NFL player at the moment but. And the NFL itself is not involved in this. But there the authorities are now Dominican law enforcement is involved and apparently there is also U.S. involvement. But the case had been dropped at the request of U.S. attorney General and Acting U.S. attorney General Todd Blanche. So there is, there is, there's a lot more to come. If you have not run into this story on the ESPN website. It does involve a former Bear and an apparent murder that is unsolved. That there's a, it has a lot of smoke here and a lot of questions as to why the US Government was involved in dropping this investigation. It is, there's some scary, very unsettling things. I would suggest you give it a read.
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C
Yeah, like you, I didn't know that they still did that kind of journalistic work. It was interesting to see that they had that. And then. Can you. Is there, like, what does he do there?
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A
That's what I don't know. That's. That's why I said it. He. He lives there. He has friends there. I don't know what the other connections are. It just says he owned a property in the resort area of puerto Plata until 2025. So I don't know if he's bugged out of there since that it would be. And. And it seems like there's all kinds of lying involved because they're saying that his property smelled like a dead body, and then they're. They're lying about what it was. And they've identified the body as this missing woman. The missing woman's grandfather had been trying to tell authorities to check Pinell and his friends Leandre Comet Jefferson and Tyree Lamont Davis, who have been interviewed by police. But apparently her grandmother was so insistent that Pinel's property could contain clues to her whereabouts, they let her accompany them to his address.
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C
Oh, that's probably a bad approach.
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A
I don't understand exactly how this is, but these are old, lifelong football friends of his who moved there to the Dominican Republic with him. They were using phones that all traced back to him. He was known on the island as El Footballista, the football player.
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C
Doesn't it sound like a. And I'm not. This isn't anywhere in the story, I don't think. But doesn't it sound like a. Like a drug thing?
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A
Like I said, it sounds. Or like a drug kingpin or a warlord or engaging in. It all sounds bad.
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C
Yeah. And if there's no mistaking the smell of a dead body, like, if you. I mean, you can't confuse that with something else.
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A
Well, they're saying it was. There was. It was bug spray.
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C
Yeah. Bug spray doesn't smell like a dead body.
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B
Yeah.
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C
Apparently dead body smell is.
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A
Said Pinell's two associates told police they had sprayed the property for pests, and that's what probably caused the smell.
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C
No, that's not.
- [26:08]
A
No, no, no, no.
- [26:10]
C
That's not accurate. When I was. I was in. I was in high school, Dan, and we lived in an apartment building, and the neighbor across the way passed away and didn't have a whole lot of visitors and. Or friends. And it was. Seven days had gone by, and this was in August.
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A
Oh, God.
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C
And I remember it was a Saturday morning. I was getting ready to go, to go. To go to my job. And I Opened the door and the smell hit me and it's something I'll never forget. And I got down three flights of stairs in about two steps to get outside. And then we called, we called the, the landlord and then police came and then. Yeah, they came in and checked and yeah, sure enough, yeah.
- [26:52]
A
All you can just think of like in Silence of the Lambs when they take the vapor rub and they put it under their nostrils when they have to unzip the body bag with a floater in it.
- [27:01]
C
Like I'll never, yeah, I'll never forget it. But like there's no way you can mistake that and say, oh, it's just bug spray.
- [27:06]
A
But what really is troubling here is that his friend was arrested for smuggling or trying to smuggle two kilos of cocaine into the U.S. but this January, in January of 26, the case was dropped at the request of current acting U.S. attorney General and former Trump personal lawyer Todd Blanch. I'd be very interested to know why and how that happened.
- [27:39]
C
I'm sure it wouldn't give you a logical explanation or.
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A
Right. Or nothing that would make me feel good.
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C
Right.
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A
You're probably certain. Right.
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C
But worse if possible. Yeah. And as soon as they catch all these that are vandalizing the reflecting.
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A
Oh, you know, how dare they.
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C
It's unbelievable, man. I mean you got, no, you got the, you got, you got like who's, who's, who's out there guarding the, the National Guard. National Guard is out there now.
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A
Did you see the, the former US Olymp, the three time US Olympian canoeist who is also a chemical and materials expert, he went over there, he, they arrested him for touching it. They arrested him. They arrested, they're going to prosecute him for touching it. And well, but now they said vandals.
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C
Well, if you get arrested for that, Leftist vandals. Right. If you're vandalizing the reflecting pool or pole, as he put on his truth social stupid post, he put poll people are reflecting pole. The reflecting poll.
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A
Well, there are some polls that reflect some things.
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C
Well, if you do get arrested for vandalizing the reflecting pool or pole, just throw a MAGA hat on during your perp walk and you'll get, you'll get pardoned and you probably get some cash. Yeah.
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A
Or just wear it while you're, while you're doing that.
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C
Did you, did you see, is it, was it the doctor? I think was the doctor that giant resort that was on fire? Did you see that massive resort fire? No, I just thought of it because when you said the doctor where the football drug lord is living or Dominican Rep. Yeah, right.
- [29:11]
A
Beach resort fire, devastating impact is. It's not the same resort. It's not like Mike Pen. No, no. I'm not torch everything.
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C
Okay? I'm not trying to associate the two. It just. It came to my brain again.
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A
All right.
- [29:24]
C
I thought you were saying that if you look, this is him, right?
- [29:28]
A
Right. They can't search the place now. They can't find. No, but they've already identified the remains. So I don't know what. What torching it would do now, but,
- [29:37]
C
man, it was a massive fire. It was insane.
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A
Yeah. It's no good.
- [29:40]
C
No, it is no Gouda. Did you know this, Dan? I don't know if you did, but you're a very smart guy, so maybe
- [29:47]
A
you're always quizzing me that whether. Whether I knew things or no.
- [29:51]
C
Alex freeman of the U.S. men's National Team scored a goal against Australia. He is the son of former NFL wide receiver Antonio Freeman. Did you know that? No, I had no idea.
- [30:04]
A
Really?
- [30:05]
C
Yeah, I didn't know that either.
- [30:06]
A
That's cool.
- [30:07]
C
Yeah, very, very cool. I guess if you're packers fan, probably cooler, maybe.
- [30:11]
A
Yes. I don't know. I did good for him. Following in his father's athletic footsteps without is, you know, as much.
- [30:20]
C
As much race trauma.
- [30:21]
A
Yeah, not as much. There's still some Heading a ball is dumb and it hurts.
- [30:27]
C
Heading a ball? Yes.
- [30:28]
A
Oh. Hated it.
- [30:30]
C
Oh, God. One of. One of. One of my. My kids, they're. One of their buddies took a baseball to the face over the weekend.
- [30:39]
A
Is he okay?
- [30:40]
C
He's fine. He's doing good. And was.
- [30:43]
A
He was wearing a helmet, though, right?
- [30:45]
C
Wearing a helmet, but he caught it right in the face and he broke some. Broke some bones in his face.
- [30:50]
A
And was the pitch.
- [30:52]
C
Well, you know, it's so. It was over 70.
- [30:57]
A
Oh, my God.
- [30:58]
C
And it's a kid. And this is a conversation that we. We had this conversation over the weekend because it came up a lot. It's a 13U level, but a kid that is older playing down. And a lot of these teams that have these rosters full of kids that are playing down, and you have a kid, like there was coaches, they jack
- [31:21]
A
around with these tournament rosters.
- [31:22]
C
Yeah, dude, my stepson played in a tournament this weekend and he's. He. They're the class of 2031. And there was one kid on the roster that was class of 2029. So he's going into his sophomore year of high school in the fall, and he's playing on a 13U roster at 54 Foot Mound.
- [31:42]
A
No way.
- [31:43]
C
Like that's, that's not, that's not okay.
- [31:45]
A
That. No. That. That's like taking 100 mile an hour fastball for no.
- [31:51]
C
Yeah, it's not okay. Well, anyway, yeah, and he's doing really good and he's. And he's already looking forward to getting back out on the field. Strong kid, tough kid. But yeah, he's doing all right. I just thought of it when you mentioned heading the football.
- [32:02]
E
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- [33:32]
C
One last thing on ESPN or no, this is NFL.com Jeremy Bergman had an article and he had seven teams in his opinion, seven teams most likely to end their playoff drought this year to
- [33:49]
A
end their playoff drought Drought.
- [33:51]
C
So one one being the most likely to make the playoffs this year. Number seven being the least likely of his teams. But these are the seven teams and here's the order for you.
- [33:59]
A
I think that he was able, through by pulling political strings, to have a brief audience with Mike LaFleur. And because as we know, it's very, very difficult to Be able to get a slot on his.
- [34:15]
C
Are you saying that Arizona is number seven on his list of seven teams?
- [34:20]
A
Yes, I am.
- [34:21]
C
Number seven is the Arizona Cardinals.
- [34:23]
A
Yes, sir.
- [34:24]
C
You nailed it.
- [34:25]
A
I knew it.
- [34:26]
C
Because it's.
- [34:27]
A
I know that there's the layers of security around Mike LaFleur.
- [34:30]
B
We are.
- [34:30]
A
We've already established that.
- [34:31]
C
Right. One of the backup quarterbacks can't even get to him.
- [34:34]
A
Can't even talk to him.
- [34:36]
C
So, yeah, Arizona is number seven. They last made the playoffs in 2021. 2021 was quite the year. Number six on his list, the Las Vegas Raiders. Last year they made the playoffs, 2021. Number five, the Tennessee Titans. Last time they made the playoffs, 2021. Yes. So you had the Titans, the Raiders, and the Cardinals all in the playoffs.
- [34:59]
A
I'm not interested in seeing any of those teams in the playoffs.
- [35:01]
C
Neither am I, really.
- [35:03]
A
Not at all.
- [35:03]
C
And as. Actually, there's another one you can add to the list. I'm not interested in seeing. Number four, the New York Jets. The last time they made the playoffs.
- [35:12]
A
Do you know 2021.
- [35:14]
C
No.
- [35:16]
A
19. 1968.
- [35:21]
C
It was 2010.
- [35:23]
A
Okay. Oh, my God.
- [35:25]
C
Yes.
- [35:26]
A
2010. Do you know how hard that is?
- [35:29]
C
Yes.
- [35:29]
A
In the NFL,
- [35:32]
C
that's the last time
- [35:34]
A
the jets were in the playoffs.
- [35:36]
C
2010.
- [35:38]
A
God, that's just horseshit. That is.
- [35:40]
C
It is.
- [35:40]
A
That's really bad.
- [35:42]
C
Brick and stick. You've got their work cut out for them.
- [35:44]
A
They're on it. Oh, they're on it. They're number three, Grandpa Woody was actually their dad.
- [35:49]
C
No, they call them Grandpa Woody, though. Yep. Number three, the Colts. The last time they made it was 2020. The Atlanta Falcons. 2017. The last time they made it. I think they went to the super bowl that year. Right. Wasn't that the 2017. Oh, that was the big show. Yes. And the number one team he most likely to end their playoff drought. So this is the team he thinks most likely to make the playoffs this year. The New Orleans Saints.
- [36:18]
A
Not a bad bet.
- [36:19]
C
Not a bad bet. I mean, given that division, certainly not a bad bet. And the last time they made the playoffs was in 2020. You said grandpa Woody there. Did you. Are you. Do you plan on seeing Toy Story 5?
- [36:36]
A
Not in theaters, you won't. I just. I don't know if it's worth the money. I. The one thing that I have.
- [36:42]
C
One of the.
- [36:43]
A
The best things I've read about those movies is the first one, if you. If you actually time it up, that really they're. The movies are for people our age.
- [36:57]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [36:57]
A
And they always kids. Well, and they're for our age, like. Like for our age group. And it's always been. Each one has been a different, very, very grown up message. And there's been lessons in there about parenting and about how to listen to kids. And there's. And this most recent one about tech, about trying to confront this idea of screen time and phones and tablets and tech and all that. Now, I haven't seen the movie, but I am interested in some of that because I always think there's some really worthwhile things that have. Were that crew and those characters, the writers and everybody, the voice actors have followed a changing world and kept a line of consistency that relates to our generation in an important way.
- [37:48]
C
So, yeah, it's crazy that the first one came out. I was 22. You would have been 25. 26.
- [37:56]
A
What year was it?
- [37:58]
C
95.
- [37:59]
A
Yeah. 25.
- [38:01]
C
Yeah. Now here we are in our mid-50s and Toy Story 5 is coming out. Oh, by the way, someone has a big birthday coming up this week. Oh, I wonder who that is.
- [38:11]
A
It's not birthday.
- [38:13]
C
Well, it's not big. Well, I think any birthday is big when you get your age.
- [38:16]
A
That's true. Just making it another year.
- [38:20]
C
All right, so that's. That's all of that football stuff. Now on to the important things. Dan, the question for you. Oh, this is the most important question.
- [38:27]
A
This is the most important question of
- [38:29]
C
the day and of forward progress every episode. What should I make for dinner tonight? Oh, what's dinner?
- [38:35]
A
Oh, you know, I was thinking about it for me.
- [38:37]
C
Okay.
- [38:39]
A
I had a listener ask for my chicken Vesuvio recipe, and I. I had to, you know, write that down over the weekend. But I, you know, that's in my regular rotation.
- [38:48]
C
Yeah, you do that once a week.
- [38:50]
A
I'm also looking at looks like an ideal grilling night.
- [38:55]
C
I was thinking of that too, because
- [38:56]
A
the wind should be just right that where I'm protected from like a north wind. It should be lovely out last night because it was the Father's day get together at my aunt's house. We had brats and big kosher dogs and burgers. So I think I'm gonna do a chicken.
- [39:14]
D
Okay.
- [39:15]
A
And I'm trying to decide do I want to do like regular barbecued, like sticky barbecue chicken thighs, or do I want to do like a grilled, like a chicken rigginati, like a Greek oregano garlic lemon chicken, some potatoes. Yeah. I can't decide because. Is that too close to Vesuvio?
- [39:38]
C
Yeah, it's. No, no, no. Yeah. Do the. Do something on the grill. Do the chicken thighs sticky barbecue.
- [39:45]
B
Okay.
- [39:46]
C
Yeah.
- [39:46]
A
And then, like, what kind of side will you do? Probably cheese.
- [39:49]
C
Yeah.
- [39:49]
A
My guess is probably that'll go with a. With a. With either a Stouffer's Mac and cheese or there's that Reese's brand that does the baked one, the big tub, for like, five bucks. I like that.
- [40:00]
C
I haven't tried that one.
- [40:01]
B
It's good.
- [40:01]
C
Okay.
- [40:02]
A
It's good. Mariano's had it. And they were. It was in, like, this big thing and it was on sale, and I was like, oh, this is really good. I should have tried this sooner. It took me too long to figure out how good this was. And then they discontinued it.
- [40:15]
C
Oh.
- [40:16]
A
And now it's gone from my Mariano's.
- [40:18]
C
That's no good.
- [40:19]
A
So. No, it is probably why it was like, oh, we need to get rid of all this. Like, oh, this is really good.
- [40:23]
C
I love it.
- [40:24]
A
And then it's like, where is it gone? And again, they sent me a coupon for it. They were torturing me. It was like $2 off. Like, this is great. Where do I find it? Oh, we don't have that anymore.
- [40:34]
C
Yeah, it's the coupon with a big picture of a middle finger.
- [40:36]
A
It's what it was. Yeah, I was all excited.
- [40:39]
C
Bernstein, I'm in.
- [40:40]
A
I'm all set. Have everything planned. Everything's all set where it ever needs to be. All my little OCD tendencies were taken care of. And then I can't get that. And then I'm in a bad mood because of it, because I'm not right ahead.
- [40:52]
C
I had a good Mac and cheese the other day. We were at a restaurant called the Lucky Monk. M O, N K. Lucky Monk.
- [40:59]
A
How's it just a monk?
- [41:01]
C
Well, I want to make sure that I was enunciating it clearly for you to hear that. I was saying Monk, Monk, Monk.
- [41:07]
A
Yes.
- [41:07]
C
Yeah, the Monk.
- [41:08]
A
The Monk brought Lucky Monk.
- [41:10]
C
It was a Pepper Jack. Cheese Mac and cheese. It was good. It was spicy.
- [41:16]
A
Yeah. Well, see, I like the Martha Stewart recipe, which is the sharp white cheddar. It's baked in, like, a big ramekin, and it's got a lot of cayenne in it. You know, her recipe is a spicy. It's not Pepper Jack, though. It's not like the jalapeno. It's like a deeper cayenne capsaicin burn in the sharp white cheddar.
- [41:40]
C
It's good.
- [41:41]
B
Yeah.
- [41:41]
C
I don't know what to do, though, for dinner. I gotta figure it out. I'm gonna go to the store after we're done here and get my stuff. I just don't know what stuff I'm gonna get.
- [41:48]
A
You know what you could get? I think you could get, like, a big slab of Atlantic salmon and do a. Do us like, a soy sauce hoisin garlic glaze on that. And just, like, salmon. Oh, she won't do salmon.
- [42:07]
B
Like an eight.
- [42:08]
A
Like an Asian glazed salmon would be something different.
- [42:10]
C
I can do, like, I can do. Yeah, most any other fish, but no, no salmon. Really? Yeah. She just doesn't like it.
- [42:17]
A
I get it.
- [42:17]
C
I would eat it, but she just doesn't like it. So I thought about maybe doing tacos and making my own tortillas and doing the whole thing.
- [42:24]
A
Make your own masa.
- [42:25]
C
Oh, yeah. Oh, I got a big bag. I got. I always have a bag of it on hand.
- [42:29]
A
Okay.
- [42:30]
C
I got a tortilla press.
- [42:31]
A
Oh, you have the thingy. Yeah, I don't own one of those.
- [42:34]
C
It's not that hard to do.
- [42:35]
A
I know it's not hard. It's just. It just. You got to start early. See, for me, a lot of those ambitions are undone by. By the time I get home and then I look at the clock, I'm like, God, I would have had to have started this two hours ago.
- [42:46]
C
Time you get home, we're done working at noon. What do you. Oh, from. Okay. I was like, what, you have a job? Another job at a Nova?
- [42:58]
A
Kinda. I could, I guess. But, you know, these days, they're. They're fleeting. It's already the start of summer. We're gonna have back to school ads in a week.
- [43:07]
C
That's a really, really deep thought, Dan. The. The days are. The days are fleeting, Dan.
- [43:12]
A
And they're getting shorter now.
- [43:14]
C
Right. And tomorrow's not a guarantee for any of us.
- [43:18]
A
Good Lord willing and the creek don't ride.
- [43:22]
C
All right, have we made enough people angry that we're not talking football on the football show?
- [43:26]
A
Angry and hungry.
- [43:29]
C
We don't end it until you're hangry, people.
- [43:31]
A
Yes.
- [43:32]
C
The whole idea.
- [43:33]
A
Give me two polish with everything.
- [43:37]
C
Oh, and speaking of Jesse, Toy Story 5 is based around Jesse. She's the main character.
- [43:42]
A
I know. They should because she's, I mean, a wonderful actor, I think, you know, wonderful act. She really, you know what movie she should have been nominated for?
- [43:51]
C
Which one?
- [43:53]
A
School of Rock.
- [43:54]
C
Oh, yeah, That's a good movie too.
- [43:57]
A
But it's her performance. Every. Because you're Jack Black is up there, you know, chewing every bite of scenery and People are talking about the kids performances. She is incredible in that movie.
- [44:09]
C
Yeah, she was really good.
- [44:10]
A
Her whole.
- [44:11]
C
I haven't seen that a long time. I should watch that soon.
- [44:13]
A
Yeah, I showed it to Jason. He wasn't even really aware of it. He loved it.
- [44:17]
C
Oh, did he? When is it? Recently.
- [44:18]
A
Loved it. Yeah, it was. It was like before he left for Sweden that time. I showed it to him like you ever seen this movie?
- [44:24]
C
He's home though, right? He's back from Sweden yesterday.
- [44:26]
A
He got home yesterday.
- [44:26]
C
He made it back safely.
- [44:28]
A
Made it back. He had been up since midnight. He came directly to the. The Father's Day gay. I wasn't expecting him to show up. And he showed up and it was all good.
- [44:37]
C
And how many hearts did he break in Sweden?
- [44:39]
A
Oh, well, I was. He and his buddies were telling a bunch of stories and I didn't really want to hear what was going on so I didn't hear good calling. Oh, dude, I did. Off the air.
- [44:51]
C
I will tell you as a father, the less you know,
- [44:55]
A
remind me.
- [44:56]
C
Okay, I will.
- [44:57]
A
To tell you it was okay. I won't. I don't even want to get.
- [45:02]
C
Yeah. All right, let's. Yeah, let's wrap it up. We're good. Yeah.
- [45:04]
A
And that'll do it. For Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears and NFL podcast on 312 Sports for Progress has stopped.
- [45:23]
C
Forward progress, a chicago bears podcast with dan bernstein and mattdicaliola on 312 sports.
- [45:45]
A
Voltos Maxelecto Ademas Jeba Gratis Una batteria additional de vault.
- [46:04]
D
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