Hello, my name is Lester and I'm a Bears fan... wait, that sounds kind of 12 stepish, not exactly what we have in mind. But we would like to use this thread as a way for all our longtime readers (and you rookies) to chime in and introduce themselves and perhaps share their "how I became a Bears fan story".

Also if you're a long time reader, but have yet to join so you can comment, now would be a good time to do so. If you have a Facebook or Yahoo account you can join our site through them, or you can just create a SBNation account. We love the discussion we get on the comment threads, and the interaction our members have is what really separates us from other Bears sites. Well, that and the fact that we're just better, and we have Kev...

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The Chicagoland Youth Football League (TCYFL) is not only America's largest independent football league, but they are also leaders in raising concussion awareness on the youth level. I may be biased, as this is the league I've coached in, but they do a hell of a job with educating the coaches, parents, and players about safety.

This year they are running a "Caring With Impact" raffle (see the flyer after the jump), to promote keeping kids safe from potential brain injuries. Some of the prizes are Chicago Bears related, and since we are the premier Chicago Bears site we had to bring the info to you. Hit the jump to see some of the prizes available.

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In yesterday's Bears Den, Spongie brought Peter King's Monday Morning QB column to our attention, but with Memorial Day putting a dent in our usual readership we wanted to bring the piece to light again for those that may have missed it. King talked to Chicago Bears General Manager Emery about his past, his philosophy, and his new receivers. After the jump some highlights...

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First off, we hope everyone is having a safe and happy Memorial Day. Now down to business...

In today's Photo-caption Extravaganza we'd like you to imaging that Lovie Smith and Mike Tice are just a couple of buds at a Chicago Bears Memorial Day cookout. What has them so amused? Did Phil Emery tell a joke? Did Matt Forte threaten to hold out if he didn't receive the first Polish Sausage? Is Jerry Angelo trying to crash the BBQ?

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Take a moment to think about those we've lost in service to our country, and if you have the chance to do so thank a soldier for all they do. And be sure to have a happy and safe Memorial Day.

I'll steal an idea from David Taylor from a couple years ago, and even give him the blockquote treatment;

WCG Military Roll Call...

I know we have a few, so if you’re a WCG member or an avid reader and are in the military, reply below.

... that is the question. And the answer is a resounding, Yes. Windy City Gridiron has a very active membership, and the comment threads are always a good read. Many times it's the comments that generate even more discussion on a particular WCG article, and often times the thought provoking comments are from members that never write Fanposts. Some of the comments are so lengthy and detailed they could be stand alone posts. If you've ever wondered if you should write one, we say stop wondering and Do It. Do It Now.

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Here's a quick list for you to ponder; Ahmad Bradshaw, James Starks, Pierre Thomas, Willie Parker, Dominic Rhodes, Corey Dillon, Antowain Smith, and Michael Pittman. Those were the leading rushers for the last 10 Super Bowl winning teams. Bradshaw and Parker each lead their teams in rushing yards in two Super Bowls. The reason I'm bringing this list to light is to show the trend of the type of running back that is picking up championship rings. Between those eight players they share six Pro Bowl appearances, Parker was a 2 time Pro Bowler and Dillon played in 4.

Where would you rank Matt Forte on that list?

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So much for those knuckleheads that thought Chris Spencer would be playing center. ESPN's Micheal C. Wright tweeted the following;

Chris Spencer was told after the draft by the Bears he'd be moving to LG. Worked w/the 1's there today.

Something for Bears fans to keep in mind, Spencer played part of last season with a broken hand. What does everyone think of this latest o-line development? And I'll assume that Chris Williams will be staying at tackle.

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What do we really know about Gabe Carimi? He played about a game and a half last year before going down with a knee injury. Since that time he's had a couple of procedures done on his surgically repaired right knee. It's been reported that he'll be ready to go before the June 12-14 veteran mini-camp, but it looks like he won't be participating at any OTAs until that point. The Chicago Bears seem content with him staying at right tackle. And they are obviously very high on him, as they didn't bother drafting any of the umpteen right tackles that were available in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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"Da Man" is of course the do it all running back of the Chicago Bears, Matt Forte. The still unsigned Forte seems to be serious about not signing the contract that is on the table from the Chicago Bears, and the Bears are quite content to stand pat on their offer. There's also the little 7+ million dollar franchise tag that is awaiting Forte's approval. When neither side is willing to budge in a negotiation, the side with the least leverage and the most to lose has no choice but to cave. Forte has no leverage and everything to lose. The only play in this situation is to sign the long term contract the Bears are offering.

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We haven't done one of these in a while, and with rookie mini camp concluded last weekend we have a fresh batch of pictures in the hopper to check out. I like the new bespectacled look that offensive coordinator Mike Tice is sporting and that stern look from Lovie Smith is almost Cowher-esque.

There are no rules for this caption contest, and that's fitting because there'll be no prize handed out to the winner. But remember to rec your favorites so the most rec'ed will at least have the satisfaction of being the greenest on the thread.

Good Luck!

In my attempt to break down every sack on the 2011 season I discovered a few things. For one, it's impossible to assign blame on every sack. If the quarterback is supposed to roll to his right, but the right tackle misses his block causing the QB to step back inside into the waiting arms of a blitzing linebacker that slipped the block of the running back, is that sack allowed credited to the RT or the back? A coach would get all over the tackle, but who knows how a grading service or an official statistician sees the sack.

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We need to get MidWayMonster54 on staff, he's a fanshotting machine. The Bears signed their final unsigned draft pick today, as safety Brandon Hardin agreed to a 4 year deal.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Dear J'Marcus Webb,

I hope this letter finds you healthy and ready for your first off season as the starting left tackle for the Chicago Bears. With last years lockout stealing valuable reps and prep time from you, I know you're raring to get after it and show the coaches that they were right in handing you the job after being one of the worst starting right tackles in the NFL as a 7th round rookie in 2010. Your natural size, length, quickness, and strength are prototypical for the left tackle position in the NFL, but your performance at the position in 2011 left a lot to be desired.

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Our extensive post draft coverage is rolling on as only Windy City Gridiron can do it, and this time we caught up with the guys over at Frogs O' War (awesome name btw) about the Chicago Bears newest corner back, 2012 7th round draft pick, and former TCU Horned Frog Greg McCoy.

In case you've missed any of our other Five Questions With... series of posts about the Bears rookies, first you should feel shamed, and then you should click the link above to catch up. Now on to the five questions...

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After rookie minicamp this weekend the Bears added seven players to the roster, so the dominoes fell on three Chicago Bears today to make room for the new fellas. Offensive tackle Levi Horn, offensive guard Reggie Stephens, and tight end Andre Smith were all waived. Good luck in all your future endeavors.

After the jump a list of those seven the Bears signed.

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I really hope you're not late to Windy City Gridiron's Five Questions With... series. We've had Q&As published all week about some of the Bears rookies, and to borrow a sports metaphor, we plan to finish strong. Today we're talking with Drew Champlin about Chicago Bears undrafted free agent offensive lineman James Brown. Champlin is the beat writer that covers Troy athletics for the Dothan Eagle, which is a daily newspaper that serves Dothan, Alabama and it's surrounding communities, and he also maintains the Dothan Eagle Troy Blog.

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Our friends over at the Oregon State Beavers SBNation site, Building The Dam, were gracious enough to answer a few of our questions about new Chicago Bears strong safety Brandon Hardin. Click the following link if you haven't seen our Five Questions With them yet.

They also had a few questions about their former Beaver corner back and how he may best fit in with the Chicago Bears, so we returned the favor and gave them our insight on his future as a Bear.

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We're continuing our special NFL draft edition Five Questions With... posts by talking to Temple Football Forever's award winning journalist Mike Gibson. Mike was gracious enough to give us the skinny on new Bears tight end Evan Rodriguez.

We've already done Q&As about the Bears 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks, so click on those links if you need to catch up to the rest of the class. Now on to the Mike Gibson interview...

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When the Bears drafted former Oregon State Beavers corner back Brandon Hardin in the 3rd round, there was a collective "who" from most Chicago Bears fans. Then it was brought to light that he missed the entire 2011 season because of injury and that they intend to move Hardin to safety. It didn't take long before grumbles of Jerry Angelo 2.0 started to creep up about current GM Phil Emery. But let's find out a little bit more about Hardin before we all delve into our inner meatball...

This is the second straight year the Bears dipped into the talent pool of Oregon State, and just like last year, we had a chance to talk to Andy Wooldridge who is the editor for the SBNation Oregon State Beavers website Building The Dam, and the editor of OregonPrepSports.net.

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Chicago Bears punter Adam Podlesh will be at the Great Jewish Family Festival tomorrow at the West parking lot of Westfield Old Orchard Center, 4999 Old Orchard Center in Skokie, Illinois. Podlesh will be available for a meet and greet and he'll be signing autographs for Bears fans. The festivities will kickoff at 4pm and the celebration will continue through 9 that evening. And have I mentioned the All You Can Eat BBQ?

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The Chicago Bears have signed their 7th round draft pick Greg McCoy. The corner / return specialist from TCU will add to the depth in the secondary and will most likely have to carve out a niche on special teams to ensure his place on the 53 man roster. He'll get his first crack at it this weekend at the Bears rookie mini-camp.

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Our Five Questions With... series rolls on, and this time out we're talking Bears 2nd round draft pick Alshon Jeffery with the SBNation South Carolina Gamecocks site, Garnet And Black Attack. They were nice enough to chat with us about Jeffery, his potential impact on the 2012 season, and about some of the concerns Bears fans have about his weight issues/character concerns. We also did a Q&A with them that they posted to their site which you can find here.

Just in case you missed it, we already did our Five Questions With One Bronco Nation Under God about Shea McClellin yesterday. And stay tuned tomorrow for our Q&A about the Chicago Bears 3rd round pick, Thursday for our Q&A about the Bears 4th round pick, and Friday we have a Q&A lined up too. Oh yeah, it's like that...

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We're always looking for ways to give better insight into the Chicago Bears draft picks, and just like we did last year, we reached out to the sites that covered these players in college. Earlier this week we talked with Track 'Em Tigers about undrafted free agent offensive tackle A.J. Greene. And if you read through the comments (and didn't just skim...), you'd have noticed we promised getting into the higher profile rookies the Bears acquired at a later date. That date is today and we'll start off by looking at #19 overall.

We had the chance to pick the brain of Kevan Lee, Chairman of the Boise State SBNation site, One Bronco Nation Under God, about Chicago Bears number one draft choice Shea McClellin.

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All this week we have interviews lined up with people that make it their business to know all about the college programs that the Bears rookies attended. Later today (3pm Central) we'll have our "Five Questions With" the Boise State SBNation site, One Bronco Nation Under God, about Chicago Bears top draft choice Shea McClellin.

We'll also participate in a few Q&As on other sites about how we think their former player will fit in with the Chicago Bears. The back and forth Q&A is a great way to gain some unique insight to the newest Bears players.

Garnet And Black Attack is the South Carolina Gamecocks site on SBNation, and they had a few questions about Bears 2nd round draft pick Alshon Jeffery.

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I didn't expect the last post to really take off like it did, so why not try and catch some WCG magic again and allow you to get your 2nd round preferred choice on record. The Bears traded up a few spots to make sure they got the receiver they wanted in Alshon Jefffery, but is there a different player you think would've been a better option? In case you can't recall the 2nd round here's a link to it. So peruse those players that the Bears didn't take at number 45 overall and just in case you're not on board with Jeffery, be sure to get on record with who you think they should have selected.

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The Chicago Bears drafted Shea McClellin with the 19th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Some of us have come around to the selection, while others are still adamantly opposed to the pick. This is the time and the place to get your get your thoughts on record. The internet is forever, and so is the WCG comment threads. So give us your take and let the world know who you think the Bears should have picked at #19. And none of that trade down for this guy scenarios, we want to know the specific player that you think Phil Emery should have drafted instead of McClellin at number 19.

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Well, that didn't take long. The Bears are always one of the quickest teams to get their rookie class signed, but this is a heck of a jump start. As per the teams website, Alshon Jeffery signed a 4 year deal with the Chicago Bears today.

The Chicago Bears didn't draft one single offensive lineman in the 2012 NFL Draft. This fact has some fans calling foul on Bears GM Phil Emery. You may be among those wondering, how can a team with so many question marks on the o-line ignore the position?

But they did pick up a veteran free agent guard about a week ago, and a couple rookie free agent linemen immediately after the draft, including former Auburn Tiger offensive tackle A.J. Greene. Maybe not the rookie prospect many of you were hoping for, but at least they are adding some competition. After the jump some more info on Greene.

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Now that we've all had a few days to think about the initial draft class from Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery, and a few days to take in all the undrafted free agent rookies that he acquired, we wanted to see how you felt about his first rookie haul. In case you were living under a rock the last several days, here's a recap of the Draft choices and here's a recap of the rookie free agents. Now vote.