Unrein proud of his 'one in a million' medal-winning wife
BOURBONNAIS - While Corey Cogdell-Unrein was winning the Olympic bronze medal in women's trapshooting Sunday in a shoot-off in Rio de Janeiro, her husband, Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mitch Unrein, had to watch the live feed on his phone.
The hard part was not being there.
"It was really tough, especially when I saw her in that last shoot-off when she hit the bird and then the other girl came up and missed," Unrein said. "That's when it hit me. I was like, 'Maaaan! I'm not there.'
"It was tough for me. I get a little emotional and stuff. It was so cool to see all the hard work pay off for her."
Cogdell-Unrein also won bronze in Beijing in 2008 before she met Unrein, and she finished ninth in London in 2012 when they were dating.
Many of Unrein's teammates wore T-shirts supporting his wife at Saturday's Soldier Field practice, courtesy of place-kicker Robbie Gould.
"We took a team picture," Unrein said. "She couldn't believe that Robbie made all those for us. It's so cool to have teammates like that that support one another.
"Robbie's a leader on this team. I really think it brings us closer as a team.
"The support from not only from our team, but from the community - so many people on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook have been writing her."
Unrein said that fans on social media joked with him, asking, "How did you get her to marry you?"
"I'm a smooth talker, maybe," Unrein said. "I hit a home run when I got to marry her. She's one in a million. There's not too many times you can say, 'My wife is a three-time Olympian and has 2 medals.'
"It's so cool to watch her achieve her dreams. It's so cool that we're both kind of at the pinnacle of our sports. It really helps our relationship."
No mas:
The ridiculous frequency of training-camp fights may have run its course.
"We talked Saturday at Fan Fest afterwards," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "We're getting to a point where it's a tough team, I think. (But) now we're getting to the point where we're just kind of being a dumb team.
"So we've got to find that fine line of when we're being tough and when we're being dumb. I think we're right there on that edge, so now we have to start dialing it back and getting ready for games."
Saturday's scuffle may have been the worst. Even guard Kyle Long, normally a peacemaker, sprinted into the fray.
"He's got to be smarter than that," Cutler said. "We've talked to him. He's better than that. He's smarter than that. He has come a long way in his years here.
"I know he's protecting his teammates and doing everything possible, but some things we just can't do."
No turf monster:
John Fox refuted any notion that the turf at Soldier Field was responsible for the torn ACL that ended Hroniss Grasu's season during Saturday's practice.
"It has nothing to do with grass," Fox said. "It's the same. You look around the league, whether it's this year or 50 years ago. It's a rough game. Your alternative is to go on turf. I don't think anything anybody really loves that idea.
"Sure, it's grippier, but that can be a negative, too. It has nothing to do with the grass fields here, the grass fields there, or wherever the heck we go play."
Getting noticed:
Rookie outside linebacker Leonard Floyd took some reps with the first team Monday, which the first-round pick has earned, according to coach John Fox.
"I think he's everything that we thought he would be, so (we're) very impressed," Fox said. "He's learning well, (but) it's not perfect yet. Like any rookie, they're going to make some errors, but I like his athleticism and like what he brings to the table. He'll be a big part of us."
Injury report:
Wide receiver Eddie Royal and tight end Zach Miller are still out with concussions.
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) dressed and stretched but not much more. Tight end Ben Braunecker (ankle) remained out, as did linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski (knee) and Roy Robertson-Harris (ill) and wide receiver Derek Keaton.
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