The following piece originally ran on DBB on May 19, 2014. Two years later the NFL is finally allowing players to showcase their personal causes on the field. It’s probably the best thing ever published in this space, non-game related.

Josh Marks liked to cook. He was good enough at cooking and handsome enough to land a spot on the television program MasterChef. He finished second. At twenty-six years old and with a seemingly limitless future before him, Marks took his own life Friday. In a CNN article Marks’ family recount the young man’s struggles with mental health issues, with the family lawyer going so far as to say “It is overwhelming to think that with proper, intensive treatment, Joshua may still be with us.”

He was found dead by his mother in an alleyway on Chicago’s south side.

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DBB will return with original content next week as we begin our draft coverage with a podcast featuring Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown.

Adam Jahns joins me for another free-wheeling conversations on all things Chicago Bears. Some important and/or telling information includes:

• Jahns describes the locker room this week as “cheery” after last week’s dourness, almost as if the team is resigned to their existence of being terrible. (Can’t imagine fans want to hear this.)
• Marc Trestman is described as a coach carrying himself like he knows he’ll be returning in 2015. Jahns says he would be “shocked” otherwise.
• Jahns is bullish on Jon Bostic and has been all season long. If Bears want one player to keep their eyes on these next three weeks, Jahns believes it is Bostic.
• Don’t expect to hear anything from Emery or McCaskey until season’s end.

Love these conversations. Expect them all year round.

On the idiocy of the boycott

The Reverend’s performances this year have somewhat worse than the Bears themselves. But we are not changing this feature’s name. Today, sitting in for the Rev is yours truly, the father of this here blog.

This week’s guest’s complementary ranter is a gentleman known as Cody Kustra and his rant complement came via email, presented without edit.

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I’ve received more requests for radio spots and podcasts in the last 48 hours than in any 48 hour period since I started writing this site in 2005. Many of those requests came from websites and radio stations with no direct ties to Chicago. You wanted a transcendent franchise, Chicago? You got one.

As always my buddy Trent Condon in Des Moines asked the most direct questions and pulled the most succinct answers. This is how I feel about the state of the Chicago Bears today.

In for the Reverend, our old friend FQD1911 (or Doug)…

Here’s the story on this one.

One of my work colleagues and I made a bet on who would win the NFC North last year. Obviously, this came down to the last game of the season. I 100% thought this was in the bag FOR SURE when it happened.

Cutler turnover here, Brandon Marshall dropped pass there and Randall Cobb burning Chris Conte for the season-crippling (and ending) touchdown.

For the record this is the first time in my twenty-eight years on earth to ever have a Packer jersey touch my skin.

If someone were to challenge my fanhood, I would go nuclear on them.

NOTE: Have a picture or story you want to share on DBB? Send it to Jeff@DaBearsBlog.com and we’ll share it on the RevZone Channel one of these Saturdays.

Preparing a rather lengthy Audibles. In the meantime here’s a radio spot I did with Trent Condon at the tail end of last week and never posted.

I watched him do it. From behind the goal post, decked out in ski goggles and enough waterproof clothing to stay dry in Seattle, I watched Tom Brady dissect the Bears defense in a blizzard. He was not phased. He was not human. Moon Mullin described the early dismantling:

The Patriots went through the Chicago defense on drives of 85 and 87 yards, lasting 12 and 11 plays against a unit that had allowed drives of double-digit plays only five times in the last five games. Less than five minutes into the second quarter the Bears were in a 14-0 hole.

In fairness I only watched the first half. That was plenty for me.

Now that same quarterback, that same coach, stand between the Bears and the possibility of a successful 2014 campaign.   A win Sunday at Foxboro would send the Bears into their bye at 4-4, a respectable mark and a record to build upon over the second half of the season. A loss would compound early inconsistency and leave the Bears to answer a relentless stream of questions over the next two weeks. The most frequently asked question: how did this happen?

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