The Bears Who Toughed It Out

Toughness and perseverance have been qualities Bears GM Ryan Poles said he sought in all players he brings to Halas Hall.

The Bears boss is looking for as many high-character guys as he can get. It is evident in various players he drafted in this class but especially in first-round pick Darnell Wright from Tennessee.

Wright could have left the school when the NCAA conducted an investigation into the football program over alleged recruiting violations by former coach Jeremy Pruitt. But he stayed and helped lead the program under coach Josh Heupel to second place in the SEC East and also a 52-49 win over Alabama.

"Coaches were getting fired," Wright said. "There was a certain point where there weren't even coaches in the building. We just had to keep the main thing, the main thing.

"Going in there working out by myself, just trying to handle my business as a professional. Knowing the things that I could control and knowing the things I can't control. I can't control coaches not being there but I can control my approach to every day."

As for why he stayed, Wright called it a case of the personal connection he'd already made. He wanted to see it through.

"For my situation, I had guys there that I had grew bonds with and I felt like there was no reason for me to leave," he said. "I can be my best here, I can do my best here. So that was just the main choice."

Poles described similar ability to withstand tough situations with several other players he drafted this year.

Seventh-rounder Travis Bell had to work a full-time job while also going to practices and playing games from Kennesaw State.

Fifth-round cornerback Terell Smith lost his starting job at Minnesota but fought back and also through injuries to reclaim the job and finish his college career starting.

Second-round cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had a stormy time in Georgia, getting charged after a bar fight with disorderly conduct and then later not wanting to play slot cornerback. He left the school during the pandemic to go play at Miami.

"Just the fact that me being naive and frustrated with how everything was unfolding at Georgia," Stevenson said. "Me being on the defense with great players who got drafted last year and are getting drafted now. Being around good players and not being able to contribute just caused a lot of frustration.

"And I decided to go back and help the fam(ily) after COVID hit, so all of that played a part into me deciding to leave my brothers at Georgia."

While it might sound like Stevenson didn't exactly tough out a difficult situation like Wright did, Poles saw the entire thing in Georgia differently. He saw someone who later owned the mistakes made in the Georgia situation and admitted he didn't handle it well.

And then (to) apply that to going to a different school and getting to know his teammates, meshing with that culture, learning from his past and then improving and playing at a high level, I love that," Poles said. "And with that, that was during COVID as well, I believe, and part of it was to go back to Miami to help his family and you start to understand what his family means to him and what being back there and supporting everybody means to him.

"To me, that's a grown man trying to take care of his business. He's got priorities and I thought that was good."

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