If you’ve followed the NFL for long enough, you know it is a league filled with quirky individuals. Football players are a cast of characters who don’t approach the sport the way they do in the movies. Many of these guys have unique and often bizarre rituals when preparing for games. Brian Urlacher ate chocolate chip cookies before every game. Defensive tackle John Henderson had someone slap him. Marshawn Lynch drank booze and ate Skittles. Jason Kelce listened to Christmas music. Guys handle the constant pressure and preparation differently. Yet none of them hold a candle to Jonah Jackson.
The Chicago Bears traded for the veteran guard last year. He’s been an outstanding addition ever since, well worth the 6th round pick they gave up. His presence has been a key factor in their success running the ball, and he’s been a terrific mentor to ascending right tackle Darnell Wright. However, the All-Pro does have one lingering question about his line mate. It is something that has bugged him since the two first started playing together. Adam Jahns of CHGO caught wind of it.
Apparently Jonah Jackson takes A LOT of s**ts.
But Wright does have one lingering question about Jackson off the field – an important one that he hoped the author of this story would get to the bottom of through some essential, behind-the-scenes reporting.
“He’s always gotta take a s**t for some reason,” Wright told CHGO. “Ask him about that. Like, why do you always gotta use the bathroom? I don’t know what he’s eating at night.”
Make no mistake about it: this is a real thing at Halas Hall – Jackson’s routine visits to the porcelain throne – that’s worth discussing when it comes to the inner workings of arguably the best offensive line in the NFL.
“He’s always got to use the bathroom,” Wright said. “It seems like right when we’re getting into meetings, so be asking him about that.”
The Bears are finally building a cast of characters.
For the longest time, it felt like the organization was going out of its way to avoid players with any personality. They wanted milk-toast, upstanding citizens. While that might be great for a corporate hierarchy, it doesn’t do very well when building a football team. People always celebrate the 1985 Bears. They often overlook how looney that group of guys actually was. You could throw a dart randomly in that locker room, and you’d hit somebody with a weird quirk. Steven McMichael? William Perry? Jim McMahon? The list was endless.
Only now has the franchise finally begun to embrace such players again. Caleb Williams, Luther Burden, and Grady Jarrett are such examples. Jonah Jackson fits right in. Granted, his ritual is a bit messier than others, but it clearly works for him. Keeping those insides evacuated is his way of gaining comfort with his job. It reflects in how he plays on Sundays. If he keeps it up, the Bears may end up renaming one of their bathrooms after him once he retires.
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There has to be a story there.
Is it something Jackson picked up when he was young? Maybe he had a weird food stretch that saw him hit the pot an abnormal number of times during a week, and he ended up playing great. As a result, he made it a point to keep doing that. Or perhaps it’s a strange medical condition. Either way, Wright is justified in at least feeling somewhat curious about it. Whatever the case, the process is working. Jackson continues to be a key fixture for the Bears’ offense amidst one of its most successful periods.
One can only hope he can keep it going for a few more years. Perhaps more incredible stories like this one will have time to emerge in the process. Regardless, fans just have more reasons to love the guy. Weird bowel movements aside, the team’s winning ways don’t happen without Jackson in the mix. That trade will likely go down as one of the best the organization has made in the past decade.
