The Bear’s Den, July 24, 2020

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

Bombastic Songs week continues with

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

BEARRRSSSS

Chicago Bears release veteran TE Ben Braunecker - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears on Thursday released veteran tight end Ben Braunecker, who spent four seasons with the team after arriving in 2016 as an undrafted free agent from Harvard.

Bears Release TE Ben Braunecker - 670 The Score - The Bears have released tight end Ben Braunecker, the team announced Thursday afternoon. Braunecker, 26, played in 47 games over four seasons in Chicago.

Sports arenas, stadiums facing a new normal - Chicago Sun-Times - Even as sports return to Chicago with the White Sox and Cubs opening Friday, it won’t be the same until the coronavirus pandemic ends. And it will end. In the meantime, a lot of what makes the games communal will be missing.

Bears release TE Ben Braunecker - Chicago Sun-Times - In four seasons, he played 47 games, starting seven times.

Chicago Bears release tight end Ben Braunecker - Chicago Tribune - The Bears cut tight end Ben Braunecker, ending his four-year stint in Chicago. Braunecker played in 11 games last season, totaling six catches for 59 yards and his first career touchdown. Over four seasons, he had 13 catches for 142 yards.

Mitch Trubisky: How Chicago Bears lost faith in their QB - Chicago Tribune - If you need to understand how Mitch Trubisky got into this “open competition” pickle and why the Chicago Bears’ confidence in him as their undisputed franchise quarterback has been lost, it’s best to start with a 10-day period last October.

How NFL's financial losses will impact Bears' roster in 2020, beyond - NBC Sports Chicago - The NFL is bracing for major financial losses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and could lower its salary cap in 2020, leading to some significant short- and long-term impacts for the Bears.

Bears begin clearing tight end logjam with release of Ben Braunecker - NBC Sports Chicago - And then there were eight.

Chicago Bears safeties coach named young NFL rising star - NBC Sports Chicago - Could the Bears be grooming the next big thing?

2020 Bears training camp questions: Will NFL actually support player protests? - NBC Sports Chicago - The NFL has sent signals it'll support player protests on gamedays in 2020. But will the league -- and the Bears -- actually follow through?

Making a Case for Charles Tillman's Hall of Fame Bid - On Tap Sports Net - While Charles Tillman didn't carry the same status as some of these first-ballot Hall of Fame inductees, he's carved his name into the game in a similar fashion.

Bears Count Defensive Line Depth as a Strength Again - SI.com - It could simply be due to the knack defensive line coach Jay Rodgers has for developing players or possibly GM Ryan Pace's ability to pick defensive linemen, but the Bears have had an extra layer of players at those positions they've lacked at some other spots.

POLISH SAUSAGE

NFL's unspoken issue amid COVID-19: Competitive balance threatened to be thrown out of whack - CBSSports.com - In a league built on the idea of a level playing field, 2020's competitive potholes need to be worked out

Tom Brady: "Let's stay unified and demand answers from the NFL" - ProFootballTalk - Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady didn’t participate in Sunday’s orchestrated tweetstorm from NFL players who pressured the league to do what needs to be done to allow the game to proceed safely. On Wednesday night, after several gains have been made but while negotiations on other issues (including financial) continue, Brady has spoken out.

Washington to keep colors while name change in process - ProFootballTalk - Washington’s no longer going to send out press releases with the racial slur nickname they decided to stop using.

Bills still hope to have fans at games, defer all 2020 season tickets - ProFootballTalk - The team posted a letter they sent to season ticket holders to their website on Thursday and said they will continue to consider ways to facilitate having people on hand when the regular season opens in September.

Washington will go by 'Washington Football Team' until further notice - NFL.com - The Washington NFL franchise will go by a new name until further notice: the Washington Football Team. Washington's name change, announced by the team on Thursday, is only temporary as the franchise attempts to rebrand its image.

NFL wants to finalize deal by Sunday or virtual work could continue indefinitely - ProFootballTalk - The NFL’s original schedule is now off schedule.

What will lack of preseason do to potential expansion of replay assistant's responsibilities? - ProFootballTalk - The NFL’s officials will have a harder time getting ready for the 2020 season, given that they won’t have the benefit of a preseason or the ability to work at training camps. When the regular season begins, they also likely won’t have the benefit of help from the replay assistant.

Report: Expectation is face shields will be recommended, not required - ProFootballTalk - One of the outstanding issues regarding the start of training camp and the 2020 season is whether players will be required to wear face shields on their helmets.

Team virtual work could continue indefinitely if no deal between NFL, NFLPA - NFL.com - Training camps are scheduled to begin next week across the NFL, but a failure by the NFL and NFLPA to reach a deal could extend virtual work indefinitely, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Detroit Lions’ Bob Quinn ranked as NFL’s worst general manager - Pride Of Detroit - Matt Patricia is on the hot seat, but what about Bob Quinn? Ken's Note: Because Lions.

Packers, City of Green Bay named finalists to host the 2024 NFL Draft - Acme Packing Company - The Packers were likely in the running for the 2022 event until the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Ken's Note: Management at the finest restaurant in Green Bay (the Taco Bell at 1529 W Mason Street) is already making plans to show Green Bay's finest cuisine off to the world.

WINDY CITY GRIDIRON MADDEN INVITATION

Do you want to do more officially sanctioned WCG Madden stuff? Or just enjoy the game?WCG now has an official Madden Discord server! Feel free to offer suggestions, updates, or anything to help the internet’s best Bears community have the best Madden community as well! Invite link is here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Ryan Pace ranked 28th among his peers - Windy City Gridiron - This one doesn’t surprise me in the least.

Wiltfong: Chicago Bears release Ben Braunecker - Windy City Gridiron - The Chicago Bears have announced that they have released veteran tight end Ben Braunecker.

Wiltfong’s 10 Most Important Bears of 2020: #3 Chicago is counting on Juan Castillo to fix the o-line - Windy City Gridiron - For the 12th straight year, I’m bringing you who I believe will be the ten most important Chicago Bears for the upcoming season. Next up at number 3 is the first coach to make an appearance on my list, Juan Castillo.

Infante: Fantasy football - Playing buy and sell with Bears players in 2020 - Windy City Gridiron - The Bears don’t exactly have the best offense in the league, but is there still hope for their players as fantasy football options?

Berckes: Vote on you Favorite Championship Belt Poster - Final Four - Windy City Gridiron - It’s a tournament of champions! Vote now on your favorite from the series!

Wiltfong: Which Bears’ QB has the edge heading into training camp? - Windy City Gridiron - We wrap up our latest WCG pre-training camp round table with a question about the quarterbacks.

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.

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