Which current and former Bears player would you like to sit down and have a beer with?

You may not be a beer drinker (or 21-years old for that matter), so for those of you that aren’t, just think of today’s question in terms of a couple guys you’d like to hang out and shoot the breeze with. It could be someone you think you’d connect with on a personal level, someone you’d like to hear stories from, or someone you think would be a blast to hang out with.

Here’s what we asked our team...

Which current and former Chicago Bears player would you like to sit down and have a beer with?

I look at this fun exercise as a way to connect two people so I could listen to the stories and conversation they’d have, so give me Akiem Hicks and Olin Kreutz. I’m not a big talker, so getting these two together and listening to them talk about life in the trenches would be fascinating to me. The battle between defensive and offensive lineman is more technical that many would think, so having two of the very best to do it go over their process while in the pit would be incredible.

Now let’s check in on what our other staffers had to say.

Sam Householder

By his Instagram stories maybe Roquan Smith? Nah, I’m not much into that kind of scene at my age. How about Tarik Cohen? He’s a goofball and it seems like it would be fun to chill with him and see if he would do any back-flips after a couple of brews.

Historically, there’s been so many party animals, but now days I don’t know if I could keep up with them. I think Bronko Nagurski would be cool though because he was such a larger than life figure and to hear his stories of his playing days would be cool.

Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter

I’d grab a cold one with Akiem Hicks any day, he’s just a cool dude who never acts like he’s in some elite class of society.

Of course, for my “historical Bear” I’m going with Walter Payton. He personified Chicago for his entire career, and his humble roots will always be remembered by fans of the Bears. He should have won more than one ring.

Ken Mitchell

Current Bear? Tarik Cohen because he’s so funny.

Historical Bear? Dick Butkus. Because Dick Butkus.

Aaron Leming

This is going to be a weird answer (at least for the current player) but here it goes.

Current- Patrick Scales. Yes, I know. He’s the long snapper but there’s just something about the guy that seems like he’d be a blast to hang out with. Not only does he seem down to earth but in terms of personality, he seems like the type of guy I’d get along with.

Historical- Walter Payton, without question. Why? It’s simple for me. He’s my all-time favorite player. Not just for the Bears but for the sport in general. What better way to celebrate that than to sit down and simply have a drink with him?

Robert Zeglinski

I would love to have drinks with Martellus Bennett. In my experience, I believe many of the Bears I can think of have a very limited or uninteresting personality. (And I won’t mention anyone in a historical sense, as I can’t gauge who they are based on limited information.) A collection of stilted, repressed individuals afraid to show who they are because of the culture of football and sports. I have zero inclination to hang out with a majority of them and have one-sided, awkward conversations. You wouldn’t have such problems with Bennett. You’d have one of the storied nights of your life that doesn’t conclude after one drink.

Jack Salo

Current Bear - Eddy Pineiro. I want to know more behind-the-scenes of that kicking competition besides that hit piece of an Sports Illustrated article. And my Historical Bear is George Halas.

Robert Schmitz

Current Bear: Charles Leno. Couldn’t tell you why, but he seems like a great teammate and I would love to pick his brain about playing the game’s most over-scrutinized position (and yes, I say that even with QB as heavily analyzed as it is).

Historical Bear: I want to pick Jay here, but I think he’d just blow me off. Instead I’ll go with Charles Tillman, because I’d love to hear all about the Bears teams I grew up with (‘06->’14) and what it was like to revolutionize the league.

Patti Curl

For a current Bear, I’m going with Sherrick McManis for three reasons. 1) Unlike Hicks, I wouldn’t be too star-struck to speak. 2) He’s the longest tenured Bear, so will have the most awesome Bears stories to tell. 3) He’s old enough that I won’t have to do a tiktok search for “hip slang” to finish a conversation with him.

For a historical Bear, I’d have to go with Papa Bear George Halas so that I could tell him all about Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack, Mike Glennon, and the 85 Bears season and he could tell me how best to build and captain a flag football franchise.

Jacob Infante

Once I reach the age of *legal* alcohol consumption, I would choose Akiem Hicks as my partner for beer-drinking activities. He’s a laid-back, down-to-Earth guy who also knows how to have a good time and lighten the mood with his sense of humor. From personal experience, I found him to be a fun player to talk to. As for a historical Bears player, I would have to choose Brian Urlacher. Of the players I’ve interviewed - counting collegiate prospects or NFL players - Urlacher was the most enjoyable one I’ve had. Part of it stemmed from his being my favorite player when I got into watching football, but he was also an outgoing and thoughtful guy who could carry a conversation very easily.

Superfans

We had to jump in on this topic of discussion because Beer.

Fellow Bears fans, we’ve been fortunate to share a pitcher or three of beer with a few of the beloved in our days, but if we’re talking about a fantasy threesome to consume copious amounts of tasty Chicago grub and beer with, set us up a smorgasbord and Hall Of Fame Bear George Musso, who at 270 pounds was a mammoth of a man back in the 1930s, and save a seat for current Bear Cole Kmet so we can revel him with stories about the passion and the fire we expect from our players.

You guys are up now.

Give us your current and former Bear that you’d most like to hang out with.