Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini drama is not what the NFL needs

Summary

Podcast Summary: Forward Progress – A Chicago Bears Podcast

Episode: Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini Drama is Not What the NFL Needs
Date: April 8, 2026
Hosts: Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola (312 Sports)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the week's biggest NFL headline: the controversy surrounding Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Diana Russini, who were photographed in an unusually intimate setting. Dan and Matt unpack the implications for professionalism and ethics in the NFL media landscape, reflect on judgment and public perception, and pivot into more Bears-specific topics, including George McCaskey’s public image, Colin Kaepernick’s upcoming memoir, draft prospects for the Bears, and a surprisingly candid look at spring football and halftime realities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Vrabel-Russini Controversy: Bad Look for the NFL

• Setting the Scene (00:24–02:26)

  • Hosts introduce the episode’s main story: Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini pictured in page-six-supplied images, appearing overly friendly at a luxury resort in Sedona.
  • Dan describes the photos as “holding hands, hugging, embracing, enjoying the view… poolside with drinks.”

• Official Statements & Reactions (02:26–04:34)

  • Vrabel: “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn't deserve any further response.” (Dan Bernstein quoting Vrabel, 02:26)
  • Russini: “The photos don't represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
  • The Athletic’s executive editor: Photos are “misleading and lack essential context.”

• Ethics, Judgment, and Media Optics (04:34–09:27)

  • Matt: "You hope what they're saying is accurate... It's hard when seeing it doesn't match." (04:46)
  • Discussion of professionalism, with Dan recalling the local Amy Jacobson scandal: “It ended her mainstream media career. At least locally, we know the consequences of such things because it was because of the judgment.” (05:21)
  • Both hosts agree: “It looks really bad. It’s a bad look.” (Dan, 06:42)

• Public Perception & Crisis PR (09:27–13:19)

  • Dan and Matt highlight the setting as a “couple’s retreat” — casting doubt on innocent explanations.
  • Dan shares PR advice from personal experience: “Never, ever say anything you might have to take back…and full disclosure and ownership as early as you can is always going to benefit you.” (Dan, 10:55)
  • Dissecting the Athletic’s defensive statement: “If you’re the executive editor saying that, you better be 100% confident.” (Matt, 12:43)
  • Dan: “You can't say this and then go back to the office and be like, ‘Hey, do we have any exonerating evidence?’” (13:01)

• Memorable Moment – Humor as Relief (14:00–15:44)

  • Both hosts riff jokingly about past professional interactions (“the day I spent in the sex dungeon with John Fox…”), underscoring how outlandish the Vrabel-Russini explanations sound by comparison.
  • “If he’s gonna drip hot candle wax on my nipples, I better get a couple scoops out of it.” (Dan, 14:19)

2. Bears & NFL Sidebar Stories

• George McCaskey – Bears Owner Humanized (17:36–19:55)

  • Matt highlights Dan Weiderer’s Athletic article: “It made me like George even more… really regular guy who has a lot of money and happens to be the grandson of George Halas.” (Matt, 17:36)
  • Stories of McCaskey attending a Cubs game like a normal fan, not pulling strings for special treatment.

• Reputation of the McCaskey Name (19:55–20:59)

  • Dan: “The immediate emotional response from most Bears fans is negative to neutral... doing the stadium right is what seals the McCaskey name.”

• Colin Kaepernick’s Memoir Announcement (20:59–24:33)

  • Matt summarizes Kaepernick’s “The Perilous Fight,” highlighting its roots and its role as both memoir and manifesto:
    • “People saw the moment, but they didn’t see the years that made it possible…” (Matt quoting Kaepernick, 21:12)
  • Dan notes the title as a meaningful nod to the anthem controversy.
  • Thoughtful reflections on privilege and identity in sports:
    • “It’s sad… in our country, a really successful athlete of the country’s most popular sport felt like he just didn’t have the space provided to him…” (Matt, 23:28)
    • Dan: “What you’re talking about is privilege… Understanding what it’s meant is important…” (24:33)

3. Bears Draft Talk: New Names for Pick 25

• Right Tackle Possibilities (25:24–28:11)

  • Matt lists mock-draft suggestions for the Bears’ 25th pick:
    • Kaden Proctor
    • Blake Miller (right tackle, Clemson): “The only thing I didn’t read [about Miller] was the ability to transition from right to left.” (Matt, 26:43)
    • Dan: “Maybe they would draft a right tackle there and have that as their swing tackle.” (27:43)

• More Mock Draft Names (32:33–34:28)

  • Matt lists CBS Sports’ seven Bears picks, including Cassius Howell, AJ Halsey, Grayson Halton, Jake Slaughter, Julian Neal, Eric Gentry, Kaden Wet Gen.
  • Dan, joking: “Great interior offensive line name. When he was born, they picked up that baby, whatever it weighed and knew that that was guard, center, guard. Yes, because it’s named Jake Slaughter.” (33:24)

4. Spring Football, Halftime Myths, and Access

• UFL Coverage, Production, and Realities (28:11–31:37)

  • Dan watches UFL and is struck by the high production values and unparalleled audio access.
  • “It demystifies what happens at halftime… people go in, sit at their lockers, and open a bag of Doritos.” (Dan, 29:35)
  • Matt: “Hollywood has portrayed a very different image… They eat, they drink, and that’s it. It’s more of a breather.” (30:06)

• Honest Coaching in Minor League Football (30:40–32:14)

  • Dan: "He [Neuheisel] was more honest than you could believe… 'We lined up in the formations backwards a couple of times, everybody on the wrong side.'" (31:40)
  • Lighthearted banter on failed Hail Marys: “Poor Mary. Mary’s going to want that one back.” (32:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn't deserve any further response.” — Mike Vrabel statement, read by Dan Bernstein (02:26)
• “The defensiveness is what invites further scrutiny… tests the smell test on this one.” — Dan Bernstein (11:36)
• “Never, ever say anything you might have to take back. Full disclosure and ownership as early as you can is always going to benefit you.” — Dan Bernstein, on crisis PR (10:55)
• “What essential context do I need to better understand these?” — Dan Bernstein, on The Athletic’s response (12:22)
• “It ended her mainstream media career… because of the judgment.” — Dan Bernstein, recalling Amy Jacobson’s scandal (05:21)
• “It’s a couple’s retreat destination, is what it sounds like. A very romantic…” — Matt Abaticola (10:09)
• “You can't say this and then go back to the office and be like, ‘Hey, this is a statement I gave. Do we have any exonerating evidence?’” — Dan Bernstein on corporate PR blunders (13:01)
• “I think Hollywood has portrayed a very different image… They eat, they drink, and that’s it.” — Matt Abaticola (30:06)
• [On Kaepernick] “People saw the moment, but they didn’t see the years that made it possible…” — Matt Abaticola quoting Colin Kaepernick (21:12)
• “When he was born, they picked up that baby… and knew that that was guard, center, guard. Yes, because it’s named Jake Slaughter.” — Dan Bernstein (33:24)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• NFL Vrabel/Russini Controversy Introduction – 00:24
• Official Statements, Ethics, Optics – 02:26–06:42
• Crisis PR Reflection – 10:53–13:19
• Weekly Bears News: McCaskey, Kaepernick – 17:36–24:33
• Bears Draft Names/Mocks – 25:31–28:02, 32:33–34:28
• UFL Coverage & Halftime Reality – 28:11–32:14
• Closing Vrabel Jokes, Outtro – 34:33–36:29

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Tone & Style

• A mix of analytical scrutiny, humor, and candid, relatable conversation.
• Unflinching when discussing sensitive NFL topics, yet self-deprecating and playful with each other and the material.
• Bears coverage is precise but accessible, with deeper NFL and cultural context woven throughout.

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This episode is essential for Bears fans and anyone wanting insight into how NFL media controversies intersect with fandom, journalism, and the business of football. The hosts’ decades-long experience shows in their blend of sharp insight, personal storytelling, and wit.

Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking Forward progress. Come on. 10. 219, 219.

[Matt Abaticola]

Forward progress. A Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola on 312 Sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

We award you forward progress every Monday through Friday here on 312 Sports. Bernstein Abatacol. And at the risk of devolving into something that is gossipy, the NFL story of the day is just that. And it is your doppelganger, Matt. Mike Vrabel in a curious if not compromising series of photos with the athletics national NFL reporter Diana Rossini. These are pictures that appeared on tmz, excuse me, by Page Six with the New York Post. And these pictures appear to show the Patriots head coach and one of the top national reporters canoodling, as Page Six would say, holding hands in multiple photos, embracing, enjoying the morning view of the mountains is actually a gorgeous picture, whoever took it. And what a place in Sedona, Arizona, the Ambiente, a boutique resort set against the Brins Mesa mountain range. But they're holding hands, they are hugging, they are relaxing in a pool side by side enjoying drinks. And it is there are obvious questions being raised right now and official statements being issued.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it certainly isn't a good look. And my, my first, first reaction, Dan, was let's just pump the brakes. Let's find out what's going on in their lives. I mean, these are two adults, but apparently they've released some statements as well, too. And I think I saw one earlier that just said, hey, you know, we're just friends and we were with other people. It, it didn't, the, the statement that I saw from Vrabel didn't match what I saw in the photos.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, here the, the Post published the photos. They, the Post describes it obviously as holding hands and hugging. And Vrabel told the Post, these photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn't deserve any further response. Rossini supplied this statement, quote, the photos don't represent the group of six people who are hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues. Now, here is what the executive editor of the Athletic said to the Post. This is, he's already out here. This is Steven Ginsberg who says these photos are misleading and lack essential context. These were public interactions in front of many people. Diana is a premier journalist covering the NFL. We are proud to have her at the Athletic. In response to an inquiry from Pro Football Talk, the Patriots had no Comment on the situation. Well, because indeed, this is a public place. This. There. If at the very least, we're talking about a judgment issue, we're talking about a professional, ethical and judgment issue, at the least, alleging nothing else and presuming nothing else, you still can't be in a public place canoodling with an NFL coach. If you're a journalist that you, if you're someone you cover and you're sharing these moments and these interrupt of breakfast under the mountains and sharing a warm embrace as you stare upward together in public. I guess an employer should be, if nothing else, disappointed in that judgment.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. I look at it and, you know, again, they're, they're, they're two adults. I don't know what's going on in their, in their lives, in their marriages. I think they're both married. Correct?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, correct.

[Matt Abaticola]

And, and I, and I know I, I get. If you cover a team, you spend time with members of that team, whether they're the coaching staff or front office or players, you spend time together outside of the actual game environment. That, that's, We've all done that. You've done that. I've done that. I, I hope, I hope, I hope what they're saying is accurate. I just hope, like, for both their sakes, that it really is innocent. There's really nothing to it. It's just, it's really hard when seeing it doesn't match what they're saying about what the environment was.

[Dan Bernstein]

I. This reminds me, everyone in Chicago, I think, will remember what happened in 2007 when the reporter from Channel 5, Amy Jacobson, was photographed at the house of Craig Stebik, who was a murder suspect that she was covering. And she was photographed multiple times in a bikini at his house, at his pool. And it ended her mainstream media career. So the, at least locally, we know the consequences of such things because, and it was because of the judgment and for the athletic to go in as hard as they did right now, this is certainly going to invite. What happens now is the Streisand effect, when everyone involved says, this is nothing. Don't look at this. You're inviting everyone who may have ever seen anything to start dumping information to whoever may want it. So I, we don't know. I just know it looks really bad. It's a bad look. Yeah. At the least, it certainly is.

[Matt Abaticola]

And you know, like, like I've said now, it's just, it, it doesn't match what the statements are saying. And, and I, and I, again, I, I hope, I hope it is Just that it was something innocent. There was a group of people together. It just. It certainly doesn't appear that way. And the way the photos were taken and then released, it certainly doesn't show other people being involved. It just. It is not a good look. And I just. I really hope that it's not more than. Than what it appears to be.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, and also in the post, it says the pair, both married to other people, had breakfast on the patio of the hotel restaurant before spending a leisurely hour or so together at the pool and lounging side by side in a hot tub. They were spotted together that evening on the private rooftop of one of the hotel's bungalows, which feature glass walls offering panoramic views of the state's famed red rock formations. Roofs are only accessible from two person bungalows, which cost up to $2,160 per night. Photos show the two hugging at sunset, weaving their fingers together as they stand face to face. They were seen briefly dancing together

[Matt Abaticola]

with

[Dan Bernstein]

both insisting they were there with friends who weren't visible in the pictures. Yeah, neither. If they're both there with friends, why is. You got to show me pictures of them with these friends, then.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, even. Even if you can, then, you know, explain to me how a two person bungalow. Here's photos of the two of them hugging. Yeah. And their fingers interlocked and then dancing. It sounds like a lovely, lovely place. And it sounds great.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's the other.

[Matt Abaticola]

Sounds really good.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's the other thing. This is. I'm getting the same response to this like I did from that, that episode of heated rivalry when the critical stuff. Spoiler alert. When there's all sorts of important things that happen at that lake house. And I was so mesmerized by the lake house and how awesome it was and how I wanted to live there. I'm doing the same thing here. I'm like, yeah, yeah, this is a big story. This is bad judgment. But oh my God, look at that view.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, that sounds great. And Natalie and a couple of her girlfriends went to Sedona a year or two ago and she. She still talks about it. It's an area I've never. I've never visited, never spent time in,

[Dan Bernstein]

but, oh, this is on my list now.

[Matt Abaticola]

It sounds insane. Yeah. And the food, too. There's great restaurants and obviously there's really great. You don't have to stay at a glass bungalow on the rooftop of a resort for 2100 bucks a night. But I guess if you got it, do it.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's a Big ticket. That's the old. Big old numero right there.

[Matt Abaticola]

But.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it looks worth it, you know, it certainly does.

[Matt Abaticola]

And from everything my wife has said about it, it just. It sounds like an incredible place. And so, yeah, some of the pictures, the views are just really cool. And dude, like. Like, that's not a typical. Interacting with journalists and teams I cover or people I cover at. You know, at a. Even at a luxury hotel on the Vegas strip. I mean, if you're in the lobby bar. Right. If you're hanging out.

[Dan Bernstein]

Lobby bar, yucking it up. That's one thing.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's one thing. This is like destination, right? This is. It's a destination.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's a.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's a couple's retreat. Destination is what it sounds like. A very romantic.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

And, you know, that's where you go to spend time with someone that you have more feelings with and more relationship with and just a personal or a. A business level.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Well, we'll keep an eye on this. I do think those particular statements are. Might. Might be a little rushed. And what is. Who, boy, what is. I always talk about crisis PR and some of the rules of crisis pr. Hell, I had to go through it myself, you know, I had to do crisis PR for myself. And, you know, I was always sort of considered myself a bit of an expert in it. And then the irony.

[Matt Abaticola]

So you go through it. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Until. Until I fucked up really badly and had to get a deeper understanding than I ever wanted of the rules of crisis pr when I'm doing damage control, for me, being an idiot. And so, believe me, I know. And one of the things is never, ever, ever say anything you might have to take back. And full disclosure and ownership as early as you can is always going to benefit you because when you invite people to dig, when you ask people to say, what.

[Matt Abaticola]

What.

[Dan Bernstein]

What more is there? This isn't. This is weird.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, the.

[Dan Bernstein]

The defensiveness is what invites further scrutiny. And some. So much of this really tests that. The. The smell test on this one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And was it Vrabel who said it's laughable. Yeah. Was it Vrabel or was that the.

[Dan Bernstein]

That was Vrabel. That. That was Vrabel.

[Matt Abaticola]

But then the editor. Yeah, the editor had things to say, though, as well, too. Yeah. Let me get this. I think both statements invite more scrutiny.

[Dan Bernstein]

And if you're coming out there as the executive editor saying. And I get it. Exactly. Stephen Ginsburg, these photos are misleading and lack essential context. Okay, then you. What. What are the photos lacking?

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Give us the Context. What makes this. Okay, what context says that they're in a two person bungalow hugging each other as they watch the sunset with their fingers interlaced, dancing, and then having breakfast together and sitting in the hot tub together next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. What essential context do I need to better understand these?

[Matt Abaticola]

Right, because if you're the executive editor saying that you, you better, you better, better know 100% be confident that, that, that it's not what it looks like.

[Dan Bernstein]

There's something exonerating there.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right? There has to be. Like, you, you can't put that statement out as the executive editor, but that's something that, that's something that, that impacts your job as well, too.

[Dan Bernstein]

Exactly. And you can't say this and then go back to the office and be like, hey, this is a statement I gave. Do we have any exonerating evidence? Right, like you, you put yourself out there now, Ginsburg. So. Oh boy, it might be a long day for Stephen Ginsburg at the Athletic.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's just, it's, it's too bad. And again, like I've said, I, I hope that it's not what it appears. Just, I mean, for. And, and you know, I would think my initial thought was, well, let's find out what's going on in their lives. We just, we don't know. But from those statements, at least the statement that variable gave, it doesn't sound like, hey, there's like, there's a wiggle room out of this. That's like, hey, yeah, maybe we're not with our significant others anymore and we've been working towards a relationship. We have been one. And that's different than. It's laughable. And, oh, there's context and you know, it's not as it appears like, then you need to. When you say that too, Dan, you have. You put the onus on yourself to prove that. That as well. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's making me rethink my judgment about the day that I spent in the sex dungeon with John Fox. That was probably a bad idea. What do you think?

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I think it was fine because it was consensual. And I mean, you know, you know, break some stories too, as well.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's true. Like, I do quid pro quo. Look, if he's gonna drip hot candle wax on my nipples, I better get a couple of scoops out of it.

[Matt Abaticola]

And that's just ice cream either.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, no, no, I better, you know, you better make sure that I'm, I'm wetting my beak on some stuff here. If I'm gonna do that. Oh, you know, it's all a problem with a cat of nine tails. And they put me on the rack and stretch me out. I was wearing latex. Yeah. So.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Well, I still. I still question your night in Bourbon A where Olin Cruz was holding you. I mean, he was in the corner, I think TJ Donlin's you guys were at.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, but see, the difference was Olin was. Was holding me because he was threatening to squeeze the life out of me.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, okay. He was choking.

[Dan Bernstein]

Different. No, I actually think that I could.

[Matt Abaticola]

I.

[Dan Bernstein]

If I. The statute of limitations on a violent crime is probably still open, so that's got the sword of Damocles there because he knows at any point I can press charges because it occurred in a bathroom with no witnesses.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, so that it wasn't a warm embrace.

[Dan Bernstein]

I didn't think so. I never know with Olin.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, because I stepped in and I saw it and then I was like, all right, I slowly backed out. I was like, I'm not gonna see.

[Dan Bernstein]

The thing about him is it could be both. You know, you never really know. I think it's just tough love. He's a warm.

[Matt Abaticola]

A warm embrace that murders.

[Dan Bernstein]

A warm embrace. It might. That. That's just a byproduct. It's not the intent. So I think. I think legally we'd have to separate intent from just. Just an accident. It's like in Of Mice and Men with Lenny and the. And the rabbits.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah. You know, well, if this somehow gets back to his ears and he comes looking for us, I'm going to say you put me up to that.

[Dan Bernstein]

So fair enough. I don't want anything to do with all. And we'll all end up in Sedona and in a two person bungalow hugging as we enjoy the sunset and then waking up and going to breakfast together and then lying in the hot tub. But we know that the essential context is going to make this all fine.

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[Matt Abaticola]

Hey, this piece came out a few days ago and I'm sure you saw it and I forgot to mention it during, earlier in the week, but the George McCaskey piece that Dan Weider wrote in the Athletic, it just, it's really, it's really charming. Like it made me like George even more than I already do because he just seems like a really regular guy who has a lot of money and happens to be the grandson of George Hallis and owns the Chicago Bears. And you know the story about he and his wife going to Cubs opening day and they just, they drive, they park their car like a regular person would and you know, no fanfare, no reaching out to the Cubs and getting special treatment, bought tickets. They park, they lock their doors, they walk to the Wrigley Field, they watch their game. It's just, it's really, he's really enduring guy and really sweet and you know, they talked at length at multiple times in the piece about you know, the lack of swearing and no swearing and hard knocks and how he reacted to Ben Johnson swearing and f the packers. And, and then, you know, George said we're on the same page now. And then they asked Ben Johnson about it and he's like, oh, we're on the same page. So it just, it's really cute and it's just, it's a really, it's a really feel good piece about George McCasky who through the stadium debacle and issues and really for, for years McCasky name is kind of not really a, a really positive, you know, in, in Chicago over the years with, with the football team. So.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, it's going to take time. I don't think we're there yet that the people say the name, the, the immediate emotional response from most Bears fans, I would say is negative to neutral, that it's going to take a long time. I think doing the stadium right is going to be what seals the McCaskey name.

[Matt Abaticola]

I do. And I think, you know, when you have that season last year and again, you can't duplicate that. What they did with those come from behind victories. You know, you go from, you know, fans chanting sell the team or you know, negative, hostile chance about the McCaskey family to that last year did a lot to build up a lot of currency. I mean that was, they really, that wasn't a small step forward. I mean, Ben Johnson, what happened there, took multiple leaps forward for the McCaskey name. And again, it was just a cute piece. I'm sure you saw it and read it, but I forgot to bring it up earlier in the week.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And I think it's true. I don't think it takes. This isn't some cynical PR effort to elevate the standing of George McCaskey. I don't think so. Like I, I would call out a lot of the Kevin Warren stuff when he got to town and he was, you know, commissioning his, his personal hagiographer to follow him around and write everything. Oh, he's, he wakes up at 4:30, he's got his Bible with him and there was this, this obvious over the top effort to build some sort of narrative about the ubermensch that is Kevin Warren. I don't think that's the case here. I, I think that George is pretty, I think he's comfortable in his own skin in a lot of ways and he knows when he's not comfortable and that's kind of why he hired Kevin Warren. I don't, I don't have anything necessarily against George. I think he's, that this family is, is, is being dragged into a, an era of business and this in a speed of news cycle that it just may make some people uncomfortable still.

[Matt Abaticola]

And I don't know if you saw this too. The former NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, has a memoir coming out that's released on September 15th. It's called the Perilous Fight and it sounds interesting. Here's the piece. Kaepernick has not played the NFL since 2016, said in a statement he wanted to offer context for what led to his taking a knee. Before that he had remained seated during the anthem. People saw the moment, but they didn't see the years that made it possible. The questions about who I was, the injustices I could no longer ignore the voices of those who came before me that I carried into that stadium, Kaepernick said in a release. A statement released on Tuesday, that journey from a black kid navigating an identity the world didn't always make space for, to an athlete who realized the game was bigger than football, shaped everything. When I took a knee, it wasn't a sudden act. Legacy lit is calling the book equal parts of memoir and manifesto, tracing the off the field battles that turned a single act of protest into a movement that changed American sports and culture forever. So that's the perilous fight that comes out on September 15th. That's something I'm going to take a look at too.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that's a cool title too, to actually take. To take a line from the national anthem during which he chose to kneel.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

That he's. He is a thoughtful person who was ill treated by the league and others. That I think it's. I think it's okay if we understand more deeply what his motivations are and also understand the unfairness and the imbalanced scales that we judge the quote, unquote, political commentary around our football games when, when, you know, flyovers of warplanes and screaming displays of jingoism is considered okay and neutral and anything outside of that is not. Maybe this will be a further explanation about that inherent unfairness.

[Matt Abaticola]

It really stuck with me, too, in that statement he released yesterday where he says that, you know, as a black kid navigating the world, that didn't always make space for him. That, that sentence hit me because it's something I've never experienced. I've never, you know, 53 years

[Dan Bernstein]

being

[Matt Abaticola]

here in this country. I've never had to deal with that. I've never had to walk into a room or be in an environment or a space that just didn't allow space for me to be who I am, you know, and, and that makes me sad and it's, it's hurtful. You know, I, I don't know what, what that's like. And, you know, I'm very lucky and fortunate. And I think we've said on the show many times in the seven months that we've been together doing, doing this and doing DBU that, you know, really, and this is just my opinion that a lot of the bad things that have happened in our society and in our world really caused by, you know, white males. And, and, and I've, I've been, you know, I've been very lucky to never have to experience a world that doesn't allow space for me, you know, and there's multiple levels of who that occurs to and why it happens. And it's just. It's. It's really sad. It's sad in our country, a really successful athlete of the country's most popular sport felt like he just didn't have the space provided to him, that he needed to be really who he is as a person. And that's really what everyone deserves and everyone wants.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now, what you're talking about is privilege. And it's something that over the years, it is. It is. Takes a little effort to understand and appreciate. And it's hard to be when you've lived your entire life as I have, when I've lived my entire life blessed through. Through the sheer luck of it, with that kind of privilege. Understanding what it's meant is. Is important and I think has helped me better understand others. And it's an ongoing process that I do forget about it sometimes and I don't appreciate it and I lose sight of it. But I think living in a space where there is an awareness of that and understanding that everybody's going through something different and not everybody has. Has the benefits that others do, I think makes us all nicer to each other, and that's a good thing.

[Matt Abaticola]

So yesterday, Dan, I gave you a new name. Well, not. Not a new name, but it's one that's resurfaced and bounced back a little bit for the Bears.

[Dan Bernstein]

Dylan Thienaman. Again, I'm not. Don't give me Emmanuel McNeil Warren. Again, I'm not. I gave you with those names. Or Peter woods or Zion Young. I want new possibilities at 25. I want to fill out this board.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right? I told you yesterday, Pete Schrager had Kaden Proctor as the Bears pick at 25, which I loved. Yes. I think they need to address tackle. I don't think they have a guy that you can go into a season with next year for 17 games at left tackle unless Braxton Jones can prove me wrong.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

But Pete Prisco of CBS Sports now, this is now two and two days, guys that have been around. I mean, we've had Pete Prisco on the show years ago. We've talked to Pete Briscoe. This is a guy that is an old curmudgeon in the NFL world, and here's who he has the bears taking at 25. It's a new name. That name is Blake Miller.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, Doesn't Blake Miller doesn't jump out, right? No, it doesn't really sound. That's a baseball name.

[Matt Abaticola]

6, 7, 317 pounds. Right tackle out of Clemson.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right tackle.

[Matt Abaticola]

So read a lot of good things about him, but that. The only thing I didn't read was the ability to transition from right to left.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, if. Well, then that could just be out of town stupid. Or it could be if somebody's done their homework in awareness that they're going to try Darnell right at left again.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Which do you think it is?

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't want to say out of town stupid, because I mean. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what I mean by that term? I don't mean stupid. I just mean you don't have the.

[Matt Abaticola]

The.

[Dan Bernstein]

The.

[Matt Abaticola]

All of the necessary context what's happening within the Bears. Right. I. I get it. No, yeah, I get it. That could very well possibly be it. But I also can't see him missing that as well either. So maybe he has information. Maybe he's spoken to people that. And maybe I just didn't read it anywhere about Blake Miller, that he has the ability to play left tackle. I just didn't read that in a few of the scouting reports I read about him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. It's a new name. That's what I asked for. It is hereby added to the list for whatever reason, and maybe they would draft a right tackle there and have that as their. As a swing tackle or somebody in the mix if they feel that's the best value they can get at the position. But thank you for the new name.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. See, and that's what I'm trying to provide for you is a new. Is new names. And I, you know, that was a. Certainly a new one for me at Blake Miller. So.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, Blake Miller added. Can I give you a little bit of advice here, too? Let me tell you about something I did last night. I watched football last night. I watched the ufl.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, you did?

[Dan Bernstein]

I watched the ufl.

[Matt Abaticola]

How'd that go for you?

[Dan Bernstein]

Because the Cubs game was kind of. The TV was still on when I was, like, done with the Cubs, and I made dinner for everybody and the. And I was going to sit down to my dinner. I'm kind of like, oh, football is on. So on FS1. And it's a very professional production. You know, they've got. It's Kevin Coogler, and they've got a real fox where they play the fox music. So the trappings of it. There's nobody at the game. The football is atrocious.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it'll make you dislike football. But what's awesome is the Production and the access. You hear the headset communication. You hear the play go in. You hear the response to the play. You hear the play called. You hear the line adjustments. Over, over, over, under, under, under. So you get to hear all of that. And then there's a camera in the locker room at halftime. And I do think it demystifies what happens at halftime, where people go in and they sit at their lockers and they open a bag of Doritos and they.

[Matt Abaticola]

And they eat and they drink, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

And they eat and they're hydrated. And the coach may come over and say a couple things. Hey, man, we gotta. We gotta look at that. We got a mismatch on the right side. Just keep ripping that thing where that. That's gonna hit for us. Just hang in there. That's it. We're gonna set that up. That's gonna hit for it. Like little things like that there. People have this image of the halftime adjustments that they all gather around like in Star wars, where they're showing them where the hole in the exhaust port is to blow up the Death Star. That's not what it's like. They're sitting at their lockers eating Doritos.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think Hollywood has portrayed a very different image of what actually takes place, because I think you can look at football movies and you get the halftime. And coach gathers everyone around. Take a knee. Take a knee. And then he gives a, you know, a really big speech and then talks about things they need to do to win this game. No, they. They go in. They. They go there. They might have meetings. Yeah, yeah. They go to the bathroom. They'll eat something. And they might have, like, a unit get together. Like, you know, special teams might get together. O. Line might get. And there might be one or two things shared, but it's more of a breather. And it's time to refuel.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's all it is. And I did like the coverage. And also. But both coaches, Rick Neuheisel, who we know is a terrific TV guy, and Ricky Pro, who we talked to. I talked to Chris Ronge about him when you were out. Chris Rong, he's like buddies with Ricky Pro because he's a big part of their show in St. Louis. They. They cover the Battle Hawks and the former Bears wide receiver. And he's very coachy. They're all very, very coachy. And Newheisel would ask, what do you have to do better in the second half? Like, well, what don't half. We have to do better? We. And he explained everything lately he actually said, we're not doing this very well. We needed this. He said, this looks nothing like what we practiced. He said that we just. We just got to run these plays because we didn't practice it to look like this. We. We got people in the wrong place. And then he said, we, we. We lined up in the formations backwards a couple of times. We had. Everybody was on the wrong side.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, I thought they were facing the wrong direction. That'd be bad.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but he said something like we, we had. I forgot what the word here.

[Matt Abaticola]

You.

[Dan Bernstein]

He didn't say mirrored, but he said, yeah, we had something upside down or something like that. And it was. He was. He was more honest than you could believe. So I really enjoyed the coverage and just sort of the inside professional ish football that was going on, but that was more important to me than the actual action. Austin Reed is. Is the quarterback of the Dallas Renegades. The former Bear. Yes, the Bears exhibition training camp guy, Austin Reed. And he's, you know, he knows what he's doing. But then he tried to throw an end of half. Hail Mary.

[Matt Abaticola]

Mary didn't get her hailed very much.

[Dan Bernstein]

Poor Mary. Yeah, Mary's going to want that one back. I think Mary's going to call and say I was improperly hailed and I'm going to rain fire and punishment upon you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I told you weeks ago about the Battle Hawks. I said, that's something that you should be on for the springtime.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I tried St. Louis Battle Hawks.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, one, one last thing for you, because I know you do like. You do like new names, and I'm not going to get into each player here, but this is from CBS Sports also, and it's Carter Baines. Put out the Bears seven picks. Okay. Oh, and these, these are. You want new names?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but you can't do the seven picks in a draft. None of these are going to be right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Correct. None of them will be right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Seven are going to be correct.

[Matt Abaticola]

Here are new names. Okay. The 25th pick is Cassius Howell Edge from Texas A and M. Okay. This is not a new name. A.J. halsey. We've heard him before. That's 57 60. Defensive lineman Grayson Halton from Oklahoma.

[Dan Bernstein]

Halsey followed by Halton.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. Pick number 89, Jake Slaughter, Interior offensive lineman out of Florida. That great name.

[Dan Bernstein]

Great interior offensive line name. When he was born, they picked up that baby, whatever it weighed and knew that that was guard, center, guard. Yes, because it's named Jake slaughter.

[Matt Abaticola]

With the 129th pick in the fourth round, quarterback Julian Neal out of Arkansas, the 239th pick, linebacker from USC, Eric Gentry. And with the Bears final pick at 241 in round seven, Kaden Wet Gen, which I like the name wide receiver out of.

[Dan Bernstein]

I bought one of those, but it broke. You know, I did the floors with it and it was fine. And it started out great, but I was going through refills so fast that I'd rather just have a cheaper, like, Libman mop and I'll rinse it out myself.

[Matt Abaticola]

I agree with that. Good assessment. Okay. Good Yelp review.

[Dan Bernstein]

Thank you.

[Matt Abaticola]

But, hey, you wanted some new names. There's new names for you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Thank you. New names came from Matt Abaticola.

[Matt Abaticola]

Nothing will be correct on that.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they'll all be wrong.

[Matt Abaticola]

And maybe one maybe gets one correct out of the seven, but that's near impossible to do.

[Dan Bernstein]

And let me. Here's what if I were hired by Mike Vrabel to handle the fallout from his. His canoodling, I'd blame you. I would say if I'm verbal, I'm like, that was Matabaticola.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like, he. Because he's. You're sitting right here and somewhere his PR people are going to watch forward progress and be like, guys, come here. Look what's on my screen. Our answer has just shown itself to us.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

They look and the camera zooms in and they're like, oh, there it is. And it's going to be like the movie Dave, where all of a sudden you're going to be enlisted as this. As this double for him, and you're going to have to keep hanging out with her.

[Matt Abaticola]

A lot of money. It's not going to work on multiple levels. I mean, I would, I would, I would step in for a moment. If they paid enough money for sure. And be like.

[Dan Bernstein]

Or had to go there or had to like, redo the photos and stage everything at that resort in Sedona. I'm never coming back if I stay there.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, but there's two things, though. He doesn't have the beard, and I have a really handsome.

[Dan Bernstein]

He could grow it in five minutes, though. He, you know, he could walk in and say, grow up here. Just like pop out of his face.

[Matt Abaticola]

See the difference, though? Physically. Physically, he's very meaty. I'm not meaty.

[Dan Bernstein]

Meteor than I am.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, well, yeah, because I'm like, I'm a full grown adult size.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's true. I'm fun size.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. So, I mean, that's why. But he's. He's very meaty.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like if I was part of the NFL coaches picture, you'd fit right in. I would fit right in. But I wouldn't be as mansplaining as he is with his left leg over one guy and his right leg over the other guy. Yes or yes man spreading. Sorry, either one. Motorboating too.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't wait for the next chapter of, of this story. I just, because there, there, these statements are not going to hold.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's just, it's too bad. And I, I, I hope, I hope that there is nothing going on. Just, I mean just for the sake of both of them.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's, it's not good. No, it's not. But you know it is. Forward progress here on 312 Sports for progress is stopped. 10219 219.

[Matt Abaticola]

Forward progress a chicago bears podcast with dan bernstein and mattdicalicola on 312 sports.