Jake Kumerow Is One Packer Bears Fans Could (almost) Like
It's never easy for Bears fans to pull for someone on the Green Bay Packers or even think well of him.
Somewhere way in the back of their hearts, they have to have a place for Packers wide receiver Jake Kumerow.
Bears fans will remember Kumerow as the guy who caught a third-down pass from Aaron Rodgers in a dead spot behind Kyle Fuller along the sidelines against zone coverage and broke tackles for a 49-yard gain. It sparked a critical third-quarter touchdown drive during the Packers' 21-13 win at Lambeau Field, helping eliminate the Bears from the playoffs.
Kumerow is from the Chicago area, has Bears family ties and if Green Bay runs a wide play or screen pass Sunday against the 49ers he could be blocking his cousin, Nick Bosa.
Unlike his cousins Nick and Joey Bosa, Kumerow is a study in perseverance as an undrafted player. He could have quit the sport numerous times from the start of college on up until 2018, but has fought on and through to become a role player for the Packers. He has 12 receptions and appeared on 140 special teams plays.
While both of Jake's cousins came through college as five-star recruits and first-round draft picks, Kumerow fought to earn four starts on a team now in the NFC championship game by going through the back alley of the NFL.
Kumerow is from west suburban Bartlett, Ill. and played high school football for Dale Schabert at South Elgin High School, then went to University of Illinois but left after only three catches when he became disillusioned with his situation.
He wound up as a standout at Division III national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, and eventually signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals. They were impressed enough with his 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame and ability to catch almost anything to keep him on the practice squad in 2015.
In 2016, he was brought up at season's end to the active roster but didn't get into a game. Then an injury in 2017 training camp landed him on injured reserve, before he was eventually waived. The Bengals had acquired two new receivers and it was his ticket out of town.
The Patriots signed him to their practice squad and later cut him in November of 2017, but then the Packers got involved and added him to their practice squad.
Ever since, Aaron Rodgers has been impressed with Kumerow's work ethic and knowledge of the game.
Rodgers said he never has to worry about Kumerow doing something foolish on a route or making a fundamental mistake.
"That is not who Jake Kumerow is," Rodgers told reporters. "He's an extremely intelligent guy who's in the right place at the right time. He makes fantastic catches, he makes the plays that are there and he does the little things."
Rodgers says in practice he has applauded Kumerow for doing things like toe drags on sideline catches even when the team wasn't nececessarily working on at those types of things. Understated by Kumerow caught Rodgers' eye.
"It separates him from a guy you might not trust as much," Rodgers said. "He knows what he's doing all the time."
Kumerow's first NFL reception came against the Cardinals Dec. 2, 2018 in his first NFL game. His second catch was a 5-yarder in the Bears' 24-17 win at Soldier Field to clinch their 2018 NFC North title.
Kumerow's first touchdown came on a 49-yarder against the Jets in 2018 during a 44-38 win, and he matched that distance for a career-high long against the Bears on the play when he broke tackles at Lambeau Field this year.
Bears ties to Kumerow are deeper than being from the Chicago area and catching some passes against them.
His father is Eric Kumerow, a former Ohio State standout who was a first-round Miami Dolphins draft pick and played there from 1988-90 before being traded to the Bears for cornerback Vestee Jackson. Kumerow suffered an Achilles injury and never played in the regular season for the Bears, as his career ended.
Bears and Chicago ties go back for the Kumerows much deeper. Eric Kumerow was born Eric Pyle. He is the nephew of the late Mike Pyle, a Pro Bowl center in 1963 for the Bears' championship team and starter for nine NFL seasons.
Mr. and Mrs. William Pyle, in the 1950s, were big Bears fans from Winnetka and Mike was one of their sons. Another son, Palmer, was a Michigan State player who eloped with Marie Accardo, the daughter of reputed crime syndicate chief Tony "The Big Tuna" Accardo.
Eric is the son of Marie Accardo and Palmer Pyle, but the marriage into a reputed crime family didn't last long. And later Marie Accardo married minor league baseball pitcher Ernest Kumerow. The two raised Eric, and daughter Cheryl.
Eric (Pyle) Kumerow then had his own family, including Jake, while Cheryl married Kumerow's friend and Miami Dolphins teammate John Bosa. They raised Nick and Joey.
So the Kumerow legacy has been in and around the Bears for decades, although Jake has never wound up in Lake Forest wearing burnt orange and navy.
It's all at least something to think about when booing the Packers on Sunday and rooting for the 49ers.
Just root a little less against Jake Kumerow.
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
