2025 Draft Diaries | Kymie Walker: Bears' International Fan of the Year
As told to Gabby Hajduk
The Bears' 2024 International Fan of the Year, Kymie Walker from the United Kingdom, documented what she described as an "absolutely out of this world" experience before and at the 2025 NFL Draft, which included a meet-and-greet with coach Ben Johnson, a tour of the draft theatre, announcing the Bears' fifth round selection and more.
For years and years, I've stayed up into the early hours of the morning in England to watch the NFL Draft. It's one of my favorite events as a fan, sort of the beginning of the journey for next season.
Whether you're watching it with a group of friends or on your own, you're so absorbed by those moments. To not just experience it in person, but be a part of the draft as the Bears' International Fan of the Year, was absolutely out of this world. It's the sort of thing you dream about.
From start to finish, last week was outstanding, which began in Chicago Monday, April 21. My best friend of 39 years, Angela – who I got to bring on this trip – and I flew into the states and made our way to Halas Hall that afternoon for a tour of the Bears' training facility.
You don't expect to ever have the opportunity to walk through those doors and experience the facility. And then not only that, but to see the players out on the field and meet some of them was ridiculous. I got to spend some time with the specialists — punter Tory Taylor, kicker Cairo Santos and long snapper Scott Daly.
They were literally amazing. We chatted about football, soccer, the draft and Tory's perspective of coming from Australia to play American football. You can't ever imagine having such fun conversations with these players, but it was really lovely.
I also got to meet Ben Johnson which was ridiculous. It was absolutely amazing. He just seemed very lovely, very relaxed and he just had a warm spirit. He came over after practice and was just happy to stand and talk for a minute. I can't believe he's brand new and I had the chance to meet him already.
Before we left for Green Bay, Angela and I took a quick trip to downtown Chicago. I'm lucky to have been before, but this was Angela's first time, so we had a nice walk down Michigan Avenue and State Street. Right before we left, we popped into the ESPN 1000 studios, because I was hoping to meet Waddle and Silvy. I listen to ESPN Radio all the time for my Bears news because we have limited access to shows in the UK. Silvy came down to meet me and take a picture, which made me really happy.
I just love Chicago. It's so beautiful, isn't it? If you go out to Soldier Field at night and look back at the city with all the lights, there's nothing like it. I don't think people realize how beautiful Chicago is.
Our first day in Green Bay was Wednesday, one day before the draft kicked off. That's when I had the chance to meet all of the other International Fans of the Year. Commissioner Roger Goodell met with all of us and participated in a Q&A, which was so fun.
I've met the commissioner before at NFL events in England, but this moment was quite nice because there were fans from all around the world asking different types of questions. He also took the time to meet with every team's fans, which was quite unbelievable.
It was really lovely to share the weekend with all of the international fans because we all share the same passion and excitement. It means so much to all of us knowing we were the chosen ones to represent our teams. Sometimes people don't understand the level of excitement you have as a diehard fan because they're not as into it as you are, but everyone in this group understood.
Thursday was the big day and it started for us in the morning with a tour of the draft theatre. We walked through to see how the draft was set up then got to stand up on stage, look out towards Lambeau Field and envision what the players would feel that night, which was really cool. We walked through the tunnel where the picks go from the green room to the stage, and there were wood-carved badges for every team, which was pretty impressive. It was exciting to see it all in real life rather than on the TV screen.
We also got to walk the red carpet inside Lambeau Field before the players came through. I made sure to walk first in front of the Packers fan, of course.
A couple hours before the draft commenced, we entered the inner circle where we got to meet 10 other diehard Bears fans. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and bouncing questions off each other like, 'who do you want us to pick? Have you heard about this guy? Maybe we'll draft him?'
The excitement of your team finally being on the clock is ridiculous. We made sure to be loud when Colston Loveland was selected. I'm excited to read up on him and see him play this year.
Surprisingly, the crowd was buzzing even more on Friday. I think everyone was nervous on Thursday to see who their team picked but on Friday, it was more of a party atmosphere in the inner circle.
The best part of the night was meeting Seth Rollins before he announced one of our picks. He came and stood next to me while he was waiting and that was crazy. He was so lovely. He had on the sparkly jacket and brought the big Bears-branded wrestling belt, which was so cool.
We were back at it bright and early Saturday morning for the final day of the draft. I was really surprised by how many people were still there. The energy was just as great as the previous two days.
Saturday was a monumental day for me as I was set to announce our fifth-round pick. I was honestly too excited to be nervous. Your heart is definitely racing a bit when you're standing behind the curtain waiting to walk out, there's no denying that.
But once I walked out to the Packers fans booing, I loved it. I think I did quite well up there because I started off by thanking them for the hospitality, so they all quieted down, but then I sucker punched them with the "Caleb Williams and undefeated 2025 Bears" comment. Then it was double the boos.
I made sure to take some advice from Cairo, Tory and Scott for my speech, so I hope they appreciated that.
Days later and I still cannot believe the experience I just had. I'm so grateful to the Bears for selecting me as their International Fan of the Year. I can't explain how much this meant to me.
I became a Bears fan as a little girl in 1986 and I've been rooting them on in England ever since. I'll never forget this week and I appreciate everyone for following along. It was absolutely out of this world.
Bear Down!
