Bear Digest

Food and Nutrition Still Questioned by Players

A year after conducting a survey of NFL players about the franchises, the NFLPA released a second survey and the Bears ranked a solid 10th.
Gene Chamberlain|
Food and Nutrition Still Questioned by Players
Food and Nutrition Still Questioned by Players

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Chicago Bears

Despite a fantastic football training facility and dining area, the Bears apparently need to be fed better or quit being picky eaters.

The NFLPA released its second survey of NFL players about their franchise and the Bears rated 10th overall in the league-wide vote.

However, the Bears received only a C+ for their nutritionist (24th in the league), a C for the cafeteria food (21st) and a C+ for the way they treat players' families. Still, they were judged better in these areas and rated no worse than 24th in the league.

The grade for how the Bears treat players' families was still judged the 11th best in the league and they were said by the NFLPA to have improved over last year. Part of the reason for that was they began providing daycare for players' children on game day. They also have a family tent at training camp, leading to a more positive response from players.

Although Bears ownership frequently gets criticized by fans and media, players gave them a B grade and they were 13th out of the NFL's 32 teams.

They also gave a B to their coach, although a B grade for a coach ranked only 25th among the league's teams. That 25th place with a B was the worst for all the Bears grades in terms of how they compared to grades in specific categories across the rest of the league.

The Bears expansive and modern locker room at Halas Hall continued drawing rave reviews. Players gave it an A-, good for fourth in the league. The training room got a B+, which was sixth in the league and the weight room was also sixth with an A grade. It was the only A grade they were given. The training staff was 10th overall with a B and strength coaches also had a B but that was 22nd compared to the rest of the league.

As one might expect, the Washington Commanders received poor marks overall while the Cincinnati Bengals surprisingly were graded with F- in several categories.

How the Bears Graded on NFLPA Rating

Ownership: B+ (13th of 32)

Coach: B (25th)

Team Travel: B (6th)

Strength Coaches: B (22nd)

Weight Room: A (6th)

Training Staff: B (10th)

Training Room: B+ (6th)

Locker Room: A- (4th)

Nutritionist/Dietician: C+ (24th)

Food/Cafeteria: C (21st)

Families Treatment: C+ (11th)

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

Published
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.

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