What’s it really like inside the Chicago Bears locker room?

In the premiere episode of Untold Chicago Stories, former Bears cornerback Jerry Azumah pulls back the curtain on life in the NFL—sharing raw, honest stories from his time in Chicago that fans have never heard before. From the grind behind the scenes to the moments that shaped his career, Jerry opens up about the dedication, sacrifice, and pressure that comes with wearing the Bears uniform.

We also close the show with our Youth Spark, where Jerry speaks directly to young athletes chasing big dreams—offering wisdom earned through both success and hardship for the next generation of Chicago legends.

This is more than football. These are the stories behind the moments.

Welcome to Untold Chicago Stories.

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Untold Chicago Stories: Raw, unscripted conversations with former Chicago professional athletes sharing their real journeys—no spin, no headlines, just truth. Dive into the untold stories of Chicago sports, including first beliefs and doubts, early supporters, the pressure and pride of Chicago, post-game life, and lasting legacies. These stories have never been published in the media. This isn’t interrogation—it’s a safe space for athletes to reflect and be heard, in our private studio.

Chicago fans: Get behind the stats—moments, people, and feelings that shaped Bears, Bulls, and more. Add context to misunderstood careers and lessons for the next generation. The conversation will be led by new Sports Mockery teammate Colin, a close friend and confidant of all the athletes we host.

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George McCaskey has long been what you might call a divisive figure among Chicago Bears fans. While many agree he is a genuinely good person who loves the franchise, he also isn’t what you would call qualified for his position. Since taking over as team chairman in 2011, the Bears have gone through one of the worst down periods in team history, posting a 105-140 record throught 2024. His hiring of Matt Eberflus as head coach was the cherry on the garbage sundae, resulting in the two longest losing streaks the Bears have ever had.

People have pleaded with him to sell the team. Let somebody else try to fix this nightmare. McCaskey doesn’t know football. Why should he be trusted to run a football team? That may be true, but one thing he does know is the Bears. McCaskey has watched this team his entire life. He knows its history as well as anybody. That is why when Ben Johnson was hired as head coach, the owner decided to impart some advice before the season.

If he wants to make the playoffs, he would have to go through Green Bay. McCaskey explained this to Jarrett Payton on WGNTV.

George McCaskey knows the Bears better than we thought.

Say what you will about his prowess for identifying qualified people, but his memory is perfect. In the Super Bowl era, the Bears have made the playoffs 17 times. They beat the Packers at least once in 14 of those seasons. All three where they didn’t resulted in the Bears going one-and-done in the playoffs.

This lesson stems from something George Halas himself learned throughout his Hall of Fame career as a head coach. His last championship came in 1963. That year, he knew that getting to the mountaintop would require one objective: sweep the season series against the Packers. Green Bay had won back-to-back championships. They were the class of the NFL. To be the man, the Bears had to beat the man.

People have long teased George McCaskey for having an unhealthy obsession with the Packers rivalry. Maybe now they will understand that he saw the arithmetic better than anybody. The only way the Bears could return to championship form was finding a head coach who could break Green Bay’s iron grip on the rivalry. Johnson was the first to approach the rivalry different. Calm? Respect? To hell with that. He made it clear from the beginning that he has no love for the Packers and has every intention of ripping their hearts out in every meeting. He did this with the full blessing from his owner.

Say McCaskey is out of his depth. Don’t say he doesn’t understand his team.

It appears he always understood the reality of the Bears’ situation. If they wanted to regain their long lost NFL crown, they had to get past the gatekeepers to do it. Green Bay has stood in their way for over 30 years, often toying with Chicago thanks to holding the services of two all-time great quarterbacks, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. The Bears had neither the coach nor quarterbacks capable of matching them. That has finally changed. Johnson and Caleb Williams proved their mettle beyond a doubt with consecutive comeback victories over Green Bay, shattering the aura of invincibility.

For the first time in decades, it feels like the two organizations are on equal footing. McCaskey hasn’t experienced this since he was a boy. The formula is finally in place. He has a coach who embraces the rivalry and a quarterback talented enough to carry his team to victory. As an owner, his job is to have their backs. Give the man credit for understanding that.

The Chicago Bears’ process towards building a new stadium has been one long slog through the mud. Things started out well enough. They bid on the Arlington Park property, won the bid, and closed the deal to claim ownership. They already had the land. All they needed was the funding, tax assistance, and infrastructure to make it happen. Enter Kevin Warren. The former Big Ten commissioner had extensive NFL front office experience going back to the late 1990s, and had even helped the Minnesota Vikings get U.S. Bank Stadium built. He seemed like the perfect choice to guide the franchise forward.

Three years later, not much has changed. The Bears still own the land, but they haven’t made any progress with the state government on property taxes or infrastructure. It has gotten so bad that they’re now threatening to leave Illinois for the first time in over a century of existence, all because Warren bungled the entire process. Sports Mockery’s Jeff Hughes revealed on Twitter (X) that the McCaskey family is not happy with their president, feeling the man sold them a bill of goods.

The belief is Kevin Warren disrupted everything two years ago.

For two years, Arlington Heights was the Bears’ central focus. They wrapped up ownership and just needed some assurances on property taxes. Then, in early February of 2024, it was announced that the organization was diverting from that goal and making a concerted effort to build a new stadium in downtown Chicago. Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia believes this was a miscalculation on Warren’s part. The city wasn’t really capable of providing the support necessary to build a new stadium, let alone the lack of support from Springfield and likely interference from activist groups.

It took months for Kevin Warren to realize this mistake and pivot back to Arlington Heights. By that point, the property tax issue had been resolved on a local level, but all that time spent on Chicago could’ve been used to work with the state government on solutions for Arlington. Warren tried pushing Springfield for help, hoping to make up for lost time. When he encountered resistance, that triggered the decision to explore options in Northwest Indiana, something the McCaskeys had never wanted.

Everything about Warren’s hiring process felt wrong.

As Hughes stated above, the stadium was the only reason Kevin Warren was hired. That should’ve been a red flag from the outset. The team president’s responsibilities should go beyond just getting a stadium built. They run the business operations, seek financial success, and establish the strategic vision. Yet it feels like the McCaskeys didn’t do a serious vetting process. Warren was the only name to emerge for the job, and he was hired. Did ownership even bother doing a serious search?

If they had, they might’ve come across the knowledge that Warren wasn’t exactly liked or respected in the Big Ten ranks. Many high-ranking officials, including coaches and athletic directors, hated him. They felt he was arrogant, lacked common sense, and didn’t know how to handle negotiations, as proven by the conference’s media rights deal with NBC. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.

Warren is the first-ever person outside the Bears organization to receive the job. The McCaskeys had kept it in-house for decades. It’s little wonder the search they conducted was so poor. They likely had no idea what they were looking for, given their overall lack of business savvy.

Coach of the Year voting results are in. Mike Vrabel received 19 votes. Liam Coen finished with 16. Mike Macdonald earned 8. Kyle Shanahan had 6. Ben Johnson received 1.

What stands out is the last name on the list. Ben Johnson getting one Coach of the Year vote does not match what happened on the field in Chicago this season.

What the voting says

Coach of the Year voting often follows a pattern. Voters lean toward surprise teams, defensive jumps, or coaches who fit a clean national story. It is not always a full evaluation of total impact.

Mike Vrabel overachieved and is in the Super Bowl. Liam Coen was rewarded for offensive growth. Mike Macdonald is also in the Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan continues to get credit for long term success.

Those selections make sense within the usual framework of the award.

What does not make sense is how little credit Ben Johnson received in comparison.

What actually happened in Chicago

Here are the facts. The Bears went 5 and 12 last season. Under Johnson, they won the NFC North. That is not a small step. That is a full turnaround.

The offense improved across the board. Most importantly, it fit the quarterback. Caleb Williams was put in positions to succeed, and his growth showed week after week.

That development was not accidental. It was coached.

Johnson also showed adaptability. The Bears adjusted game plans. They attacked matchups. They did not rely on the same answers every week. That is a sign of strong leadership on the offensive side of the ball.

Culture is harder to quantify, but it showed up in how the team handled pressure. They responded after losses. They played with confidence late in games. For a franchise that has struggled to sustain momentum, that matters.

One Coach of the Year vote feels disconnected from reality. Turning a last place team into a division winner while developing a quarterback usually puts a coach squarely in this conversation. This time, it barely registered.

Why the Bears should not ignore this

This is not about awards. It is about trajectory.

The Bears do not need outside approval to validate what they are building. The results already speak for themselves. Still, the lack of recognition is hard to ignore, and it will not be forgotten inside the building.

That edge matters. Teams that believe they are overlooked tend to lean into it.

That mindset showed up Thursday night when DJ Moore accepted the NFL Moment of the Year award. He did not focus on trophies or attention. He talked about what comes next.

“This season was special,” Moore said. “Can’t wait to cause more havoc on the league next year.”

That quote fits where the Bears are right now. They are not chasing validation. They are focused on what they can become. If the rest of the league wants to overlook it, Chicago will be fine using that as motivation.