Bear Digest

Colston Loveland's strong work ethic and first major Chicago mistake

No one can doubt Colston Loveland's willingness to work or produce under pressure but there is one thing he doesn't seem to have right and Chicago will have to set him straight.
Gene Chamberlain|
Colston Loveland lunges to try to reach a pass. Loveland's refusal to quit impressed his former coaches.
Colston Loveland lunges to try to reach a pass. Loveland's refusal to quit impressed his former coaches. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Chicago Bears

Michigan struck gold when it mined for Colston Loveland, and now the Bears can reap the benefits.

Coach Sherrone Moore thought back to when they recruited the top Bears draft pick out of Gooding, Idaho and it explains his toughness and competitive nature.

“You know, we just found a blue collar guy, super athletic,” Moore said.  “He played everything on the field for his for his high school in Idaho. And not many people go to Idaho  to go recruit in general.

“But you know, we try to dig and find, we call it mining for gold, right?”

The gold they struck was everything a team usually wants in a tight end.

“He's going to be physical,” Moore said. “He's going to be everything that the Bears organization really wants.

“Very selfless kid, man. He just he just want to do anything he could to make the team, help the team win. And he did that. You know, he did it in every way possible whenever he could.”

One of the qualities Poles cited on Friday night after drafting Loveland was his play in the clutch. When the pressure was on, he shined the most.

“People always ask how he impacted us early, you know, his first touchdown catch was in the Horseshoe at Ohio State, as a freshman, true freshman,” Moore said. “So that was his first touchdown catch and the next catch was the next week in the Big Ten championship.

“He was never a guy that was going to be outworked and it took him some time to get exactly how he was as a route runner and became what he is now.”

The willingness to work makes it so he can be a player who refuses to lose.

“He doesn’t like to lose, refuses to lose in anything, whether it’s that, whether it’s a talk about Jordan or LeBron, or whether it’s a talk about anything football. He’s a grinder, he’s worker, and it comes from his background, his foundation of his family and who they are as people,” Moore said.

He’ll probably have to get used to losing if he’s going to come to Chicago and argue LeBron James and his 4-6 record in NBA Finals is better than Jordan (6-0).

Asked if Loveland thinks James is better than Jordan, Moore said, “I’m not … I’ll let you guys handle that.”

He might work hard but rookies need to learn.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.