The John Fox era of Chicago Bears football has seen a record of just 10-25 thus far, and it comes on the heels of the Marc Trestman regime, which managed to go just 13-19. All the losing that the team has suffered over the past four and a half years is indicative of just how extensive the rebuilding project truly is.
On the bright side, the Bears have do some solid building blocks to work with. Defensive End Akiem Hicks is a primary example, as is Pro Bowl Guard Kyle Long. Tailback Jordan Howard showed everybody yesterday, in a big win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, why he is a major centerpiece of this reclamation project.
In other words, they do have some pieces in place and Hicks is certainly one of those. In an interview with The Sports Bank and two other media members at the Built Ford Tough Toughest Tailgate at the Brookfield Zoo on Saturday, Hicks displayed his leadership abilities.
With teammate Jerrell Freeman going down for the rest of the season, a void at team captain was created, with Hicks voted as the next man to wear the “C” patch on his Chicago Bears jersey on Sundays.
“It means a lot to me,” Hicks said of earning the captaincy, which was announced Friday. “Ultimately, it’s another responsibility. You’re looked at by your team as someone who’s responsible for a lot. I’ve always taken that pretty seriously, so I’m excited about it.”
It’s a really important position, and anyone who holds it must be an ambassador of the team, sometimes it means answering the serious questions and Hicks has handled doing that very well when called upon.
The Chicago Bears have definitely made a large financial statement about how much they believe in Hicks as well. He signed a four year, $48 million contract 16 days ago. Hicks was asked his feelings about the Bears making him a franchise cornerstone in their rebuilding project.
“It means everything to me,” he responded.
“That’s all you want as a player; you want to be appreciated. You want your front office to believe in you, and when you extend somebody in that manner, that’s what it means to me, and I’m looking forward to giving them everything they’ve given me and more.”
The trending topic with these 2017 Chicago Bears is of course the quarterback situation, and there’s a very heated debate right now about whether or not the team should move on from Mike Glennon to Mitchell Trubisky, and if so, when would be the proper time to do so. Richard Dent, arguably the best to ever play the same position as Hicks for the Monsters of the Midway, weighed in on this issue.
Hicks fielded a question on this topic as well.
“It’s a team,” he responded.
“I know it gets cliché and it’s thrown around a lot, but it’s a team, and there are going to be forces outside that want to cause us to separate and have us do things that would make us look at each other funny in the locker room.” Hicks responded.
“I just believe that you never let that happen. You know what I mean? I’m not going to go T.O. (Terrell Owens) and say ‘that’s my quarterback’, but I will say that’s important to present a unified front, and to be truly unified at the end of the day.”
Full audio of the Q&A with Chicago Bears star Akiem Hicks is below:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/akiem-hicks-talks-captaincy-contract-extension
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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