In celebration of Mother's Day, ChicagoBears.com talks to the mothers of three Bears rookies – running back Kyle Monangai, defensive lineman Shemar Turner and offensive lineman Ozzy Trapilo – about the moment each of their sons' dreams came true during the NFL Draft, what it was like raising a now-professional football player and how proud they are of their kids' accomplishments.

Gwen and Kyle Monangai

Kyle Monangai used to beg his mother to let him play football.

Kyle looked at his older siblings – brother Kevin and sister Kathy, who are nine and seven years his senior, respectively – as the standard. So when Kevin took up football, Kyle felt he should do the same.

"He always felt like he was one of them, and they didn't leave him behind," Gwen said. "So he always had to keep up, and keep up he did. He's always competed up, physically and intellectually, too. He was just a joy."

Gwen grew up in Cameroon, a country in central Africa where soccer was the dominant sport, so she didn't understand Kyle's deep desire to play football. Transparently, she always thought, "why would you want to play this game where people are trying to hit you?"

Of course, her mindset has since changed.

"Kyle would tell you I'm a diehard football fan now," Gwen shared. "I'm the one screaming on the sideline, 'Kyle, go!'"

For the majority of Kyle's childhood, Gwen wasn't working, which allowed her to fully embrace her son's endeavors. She spent countless hours driving him to local football practices or games, while her husband handled taking Kyle to camps that were far away.

From peewee football to Pop Warner, Gwen never imagined football as a career for her youngest child. She remained focused on supporting her son's passion while ensuring he learned the importance of competition and facing challenges.

"We always wanted to give him the best opportunity to not be the best player on the field," Gwen said. "You never know how good you are or how far you can go if you're the best player on the team.

"He was on a local peewee team when he first started, and he was better than everybody. We didn't want him thinking he was the cat's pajamas, so we put him someplace where there were kids who were better than he was, bigger, stronger, and [could see] see how he'd measure up."

Providing her son those real life learnings through football is something Gwen takes pride in, and in her eyes, makes Kyle's journey to the NFL that much sweeter. For the Monangais, draft weekend delivered a rollercoaster of emotions.

Gwen hosted a small group of close relatives and friends, per Kyle's request of not creating a spectacle of his draft moment. As the final four rounds started to go by on April 26, the stress levels inside the house rose. Kyle hadn't eaten all day, and like any mother, Gwen could feel his emotions as her own. But when Kyle's phone rang during the seventh round, and he began speaking to members of the Bears front office, Gwen felt both relief and absolute joy.

"After he was called, I saw a tear run down his face and he just hugged us," Gwen said.

Once Kyle was selected, the living room went nuts. Kevin and Kathy engulfed their younger brother. In Kyle's draft video, you can just barely see a piece of Gwen's head as she was frantically trying to find the Bears hat, her children later joking: "mom, you had one job – find the hat."

"The rest of the day was just smiles," Gwen said. "We took a group picture outside the house. The next day we had the celebration for him, and it was wonderful to just have everybody there who was a part of his journey from Pop Warner to now."

It's been two weeks since Kyle was drafted and the joy in the Monangai household hasn't subsided. Gwen couldn't be prouder to be Kyle's mom.

"I don't know that I can put it into words," Gwen said. "I look at this little kid — he just used to run around the house. I had to keep up with him. I used to take him places and now he's taking me places. It's just incredible."

Nakita and Shemar Turner

Nakita Turner remembers the moment Shemar decided he would become an NFL player someday.

Shemar, a Texas native, was in fifth grade when his school took a field trip to the Cowboys' stadium just a few years after it opened. Nakita tagged along and vividly remembers her and her son taking a picture in the middle of the star at midfield, where he declared his path.

"He said 'mama, 'I want to be an NFL player,'" Nakita recalled.

Shemar started playing little league football at five years old. He'd always loved it, according to his mom. It was the one thing she could use against him. When he didn't want to go to school, she'd remind him he had to if he wanted to play.

While Shemar's passion for football has always burned inside him, a major shift in his physical ability occurred in seventh grade. But in order to harness it on the football field, Shemar needed more guidance.

"[With me] being a single mom his whole life, he got to the age where he needed a male role model in his life more and more every day," Nakita said. "I made the ultimate decision to let him go stay with my brother, who was in DeSoto, Texas, about 20 miles from where I live, which was in Mansfield.

"I tell people all the time that for me, it was the ultimate sacrifice to let my son leave my home, even though he was down the road. For me, that was major, but I knew that it was something he needed."

Nakita still saw her son nearly every day, but not having him at home was a difficult change. However, by ninth grade, the decision looked like it was beginning to pay off, as Shemar was playing at a high level. Nakita, who never missed one of Shemar's high school games, remembers thinking at one of his first, "wow, my baby's a beast. He's a really good player."

College offers started rolling in, so many to where envelopes began overlapping each other on her brother's pool table. She had a feeling her ultimate sacrifice would soon lead to Shemar fulfilling his dream.

And on April 25, it did.

Leading up to Shemar's selection in the second round, the emotions in the Turner household were high. Nakita admittedly is still learning a lot about football, including the NFL Draft, so when picks started rolling in Friday evening and Shemar's name hadn't yet been called, the anticipation was grueling.

She could sense Shemar growing antsy, so Nakita grabbed his hand and whispered to him, "baby, it doesn't matter. The race is not given to the swift nor the strong, but to the one that endures to the end. It doesn't matter what number you get called."

Three or four minutes later, a call from Chicago came through. Tears began to flow. Hugs were shared. Nakita was left speechless.

"I don't even have the right words to explain it, but it was the best experience that anyone can ever experience in life," Nakita said. "It was wonderful, and it was just breathtaking."

Sharing that moment with Shemar is a memory Nakita will cherish for the rest of her life. Raising Shemar and his siblings on her own, Nakita is proud that her son "beat all the odds" to realize his dream.

As a mother, that's all she ever wanted.

"As a kid, they had less," Nakita said. "They had less and they went without whatever other kids had. They never, ever made me feel like less than a mom. They always made me feel like I was a special mother, the best in the world that was trying her best to do the best.

"There's not even words that describe how proud I am of him. It just made me feel so proud that he's proved a lot of people wrong, that he can do and be anything that he wants to be, no matter what."

Kim and Ozzy Trapilo

Kim Trapilo used to carry around a copy of her son's birth certificate.

From the time Ozzy could participate in sports, he was almost a full head taller than the other kids. Kim worried about him playing a sport as physical as football. She didn't want Ozzy hurting anyone with his size difference, so she put him in basketball and baseball, both of which he excelled in.

But in sixth grade, Ozzy made the push to play football. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his late father, Steve, who passed away in 2004 when Ozzy was just three years old. Steve played offensive line for Boston College and spent five years in the NFL with the Saints.

Kim couldn't deny Ozzy's desire any longer.

"I support my kids in whatever decision they make," Kim said. "So I had to be all in."

While out on the field Ozzy could run through a defender pretty much any time he wanted, Kim describes him as a "gentle giant."

Having been raised by mostly women – Kim, her now 26-year-old twin daughters Devyn and Jordyn, as well as her sister, cousin and mother – Ozzy learned to, in his mom's words, "always be on his toes."

Kim believes that upbringing factored into Ozzy's intelligence on the field and willingness to never stop learning. While she fueled that environment as his mother, she credits Ozzy for taking his passion and running with it.

"It's nothing but pride," Kim said. "When push comes to shove, this was all him. He earned it. He worked for it. He was passionate about it. I think that and the talent, that's what makes a good player."

Seeing Ozzy reap the rewards of his hard work and discipline on draft night, just as she did with Steve, was monumental for Kim.

On Saturday night, 18 family members gathered at Kim's house to share the moment together. The family was in the middle of a competitive cribbage tournament when Ozzy's phone rang in the middle of Round 2. Everyone paused and, according to Kim, the room was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Ozzy stayed on the phone for a few minutes, speaking to a number of front office members and coaches, the family trying to listen in and figure out which team had called. Finally, Ozzy revealed it was the Bears.

"It was emotional," Kim said. "I was wishing his dad was there to see it. To have that moment yourself and to be able to relive it with your son would have been monumental for his dad. I know he's looking down and super proud of him as well, but what a rollercoaster. It was so amazing."

After collecting themselves and celebrating the moment, the Trapilos finished their cribbage tournament. Ozzy nearly made it to the final round, but his mind probably wasn't in it to win it at that point.

As Kim began researching the place that would become Ozzy's new home — halfway across the country from their roots in Massachusetts — she discovered some poetic connections.

Of course, general manager Ryan Poles had played offensive line at Steve and Ozzy's alma mater. Offensive line coach Dan Roushar spent 10 years coaching in New Orleans, where Steve was drafted. The Bears' iconic navy and blue are the same colors that line the walls of the gym where Kim runs.

For any mom, the thought of their child leaving home is scary, and Kim feels no different. But she knows this is meant to be.

"It's tough for me not to have him here on Mother's Day and to have him so far away," Kim said. "But he had this look on his face — he was so excited to go. Now that he's there, I think that he's ready for this next chapter of his life and to make his own path. Even though he's far away, he knows we're right there."