For all the clich\u00e9s in the clich\u00e9-rich game of American gridiron football, the old axiom that the game is won in the trenches is among the most well-known.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s one of the most accepted.<\/p>\n
Few teams have had long-term or even short-term success without solid lines on both sides of the ball. And there are more line-dominant clich\u00e9s to cite.<\/p>\n
Build a team from the inside out. The game starts up front.<\/p>\n
All of these statements are ways of saying that offensive and defensive line play are important for success in football.<\/p>\n
And today, we\u2019re focusing on the Chicago Bears offensive line.<\/p>\n
While I am not as astute in line play as my colleagues Jeff Berkes or Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., I appreciate the line and always love a big nasty up front.<\/p>\n
Picking an all-time favorite is difficult for me. I am someone who appreciates and loves the game\u2019s history as much as I love its current players.<\/p>\n
I appreciate the linemen I never saw play. Like Stan Jones, Jimbo Covert, Bulldog Turner and Jay Hilgenberg.<\/p>\n
But I think for me, my favorite needs to be someone I watched play. It\u2019s difficult for me there, too. I remember watching the steady play of Big Cat Williams. I loved Olin Kreutz, his demeanor and leadership on many an offense struggling to put up points.<\/p>\n
My favorite, though, my number one, is Kyle Long.<\/p>\n
And I am a little surprised to type that. Because I always thought my all-time favorite was Kreutz. But Long was a warrior. He fit into Chicago and embodied the Bears from day one.<\/p>\n
He played out of position. He battled through injuries that ultimately cut his career short. Elevating the line play on the teams he was on with attitude, toughness and a fun-loving side that resonated with fans.<\/p>\n
Long was always honest with the media. A straight shooter who said how he felt. It never seemed like he was sugarcoating his thoughts or PR-sensitizing them.<\/p>\n
The only downside to Long\u2019s career was that it wasn\u2019t longer. He played on just one playoff team.<\/p>\n
I have enjoyed Long\u2019s transition to broadcaster. He brings much of what I loved about him as a player to his TV gig. He\u2019s funny, engaging, tells good stories, makes good observations, doesn\u2019t B.S. and still has a soft spot for the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
Who is your all-time favorite Bears OL? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all the clich\u00e9s in the clich\u00e9-rich game of American gridiron football, the old axiom that the game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,85235,14087,2493,7,6],"class_list":["post-925779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bears","tag-bears","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicago-bears-discussion","tag-chicago-bears-history","tag-chicagobears","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116793995641846659","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}