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CHGO Digest: Bears name eight captains including Caleb Williams

Patrick Norton

September 3, 2024

Good morning, friends!

It’s Game Week. In five days, a new era begins in Chicago.

CHGO Sports’ Kevin Kaduk tweeted what a lot of us have been thinking with kickoff slowly approaching:

“This has been the greatest and also the longest Bears offseason of my life. Next Sunday feels like it’s still a year away.”

Patience, Kevin. And let’s hope next Monday’s CHGO Digest starts along the lines of “worth the wait”.

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— Patrick Norton

Bears name eight captains for season

Lovie Smith introduced official captainship to the Chicago Bears for the first time in 2007. Marc Trestman and John Fox continued the tradition, naming captains ahead of each season at the helm. Matt Nagy took a different approach, electing honorary captains on a weekly basis.

No Bears head coach had the privilege of naming a rookie to captaincy… until Matt Eberflus. Along with Cole Kmet, Marcedes Lewis, and DJ Moore, the Bears announced on Monday rookie Caleb Williams was officially voted a captain by his teammates.

The team also named Kevin Byard, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, and Jaylon Johnson as the defensive unit’s captains.

A starting quarterback being awarded a captaincy is hardly abnormal. Being named a captain before seeing a snap of regular-season action is a different story. After Monday’s practice at Halas Hall, Eberflus said, “I haven’t had that before. But again, I put it to a vote. I had it with offense and defense and had the guys rank those guys and [Williams] came out really high.”
Fellow captain Jaylon Johnson said, “He just continues to come in here and be who we want him to be. I feel like we know why we brought him in here and I feel like he continues to do that, continues to walk in those shoes and just continues to reset the bar for himself.”
Eight captains is a lot, especially without representation from the special teams unit and the trenches. Here’s a little fun trivia for you: The last offensive lineman named a season-long captain of the Bears? Cody Whitehair in 2022. Last defensive lineman? Robert Quinn, also in 2022. Sherrick McManis was the franchise’s last season-long special teams captain in 2017, and Robbie Gould was the last specialist given the honor in 2015.

🔎 GO DEEPER | Nicholas Moreano on Jaylon Johnson’s winning attitude, and more reaction from the locker room on Caleb Williams being named a captain.

Cermak & Wabash

Join the CHGO crew at our exclusive tailgates at the corner of Cermak & Wabash throughout the season. Food, Miller Lite, and Chicago Bears football. First up: Sunday, September 8 vs. Tennessee. Celebrate the beginning of a new era with us!

Tailgate with us!

Cubs suffer nail-in-the-coffin type loss

Where’s Hector Neris (to blame) when you need him? Riding high, winners of six straight; it’s not just that the Cubs lost to the Pirates on Monday night, but how it happened.

Jameson Taillon pitched his tail off, throwing seven strong, scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. Chicago entered the eighth inning with a 3-0 lead. Jorge Lopez took over for Taillon, and five batters later, the Pirates led, 4-3. Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen sparked Pittsburgh’s comeback, smashing two home runs off of the Cubs’ reliever.

The Cubs did not threaten in the bottom of the eighth or ninth, and the Pirates played spoiler, winning, 5-3. So, back to 3.5 out of the final NL Wild Card spot.

Monday night marked the Cubs’ 23rd blown save of the year, and first by Lopez since joining the club in June. Hector Neris and Adbert Alzolay lead the club with five. 23 blown saves tie the Cubs with the St. Louis Cardinals for seventh-most in baseball.
With 24 games left on the schedule, Monday’s loss dropped the Cubs’ playoff chances from 7% to 3.9% according to Fangraphs. To make matters worse, Craig Counsell announced on Monday night that Justin Steele had been scratched from his scheduled Tuesday start due to elbow soreness. Desperate for a rebound victory, the Cubs will turn to Kyle Hendricks, who allowed six runs in just 1.2 IP last week in Pittsburgh.

🎧 SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | CHGO Cubs’ Corey Freedman and Brendan Miller broke down the Cubs’ latest surge back into the playoff picture on Sunday night.

Roundup: White Sox break franchise record, drop 11th straight

I can hear Hawk Harrelson shouting “HISTORY!” On Sunday, the White Sox broke the franchise’s previous record of 106 losses set by the 1970 club. 107 losses. On September 1. The loss also marked the organization’s first 0-10 homestand in the long, storied history of White Sox baseball.
At 11 games, the White Sox own the three longest losing streaks in the majors this season — 14, 21, and now 11…and counting. Forget about the 2003 Tigers’ worst record in a 162-game season (43-119), the White Sox are entering 1916 & 1919 Philadelphia A’s territory. The A’s own the modern era record for least wins (36) in a full season, doing it twice — 1916 (36-117) and 1919 (36-104). At 31-108, can the Sox find six wins in the last 23 games of the year? I don’t know.