Bears rookies explore Chicago for first time
Story by Gabby Hajduk, photos by Bailey Black
ChicagoBears.com follows the Bears' 2025 rookie class during their trip to Chicago, where they got a bird's-eye view of the city, participated in professional development and built bonds with their teammates.
For the past three years, Bears director of player engagement Erika Marmolejo has put together a city tour for the new class of rookies during the team's offseason program. For this year's group, that tour included a boat ride at Navy Pier and a professional development opportunity in the city's West Loop neighborhood.
"The experience really creates camaraderie amongst the class in a unique way, and allows them to take their rookie programming from in the classroom to outside the facility," Marmolejo said. "The players are gaining education and cultural insight about the city of Chicago while taking in the history of the city. The business elements we sprinkle in give our guys a special competitive advantage for their life outside of football."
The group's day started with a bus ride from Halas Hall to Navy Pier, where they boarded a three-story boat, which took off to explore Lake Michigan.
Before eating lunch, the rookies made their way to the boat's top deck, giving them an opportunity to take in the city's breathtaking views on the beautiful sunny afternoon.
"The skyline, the water, the boat is all super nice," defensive end Shemar Turner said. "This is my first time being a place with water like this. It's real pretty out here. The scenery looks good. This is definitely more than I expected. The skyline especially, it's crazy."
Friday was the first time the majority of the rookies had experienced Chicago, or any city of its size. For Bears first-round draft pick Colston Loveland, who grew up in Gooding, Idaho, the size of Lake Michigan caught him off guard.
"It was awesome," Loveland said. "The boat tour was super cool. The water, I mean, it looks like an ocean. All the people we were seeing were super nice. I feel like all of us rookies had a good time and it was good team bonding for sure."
Linebacker Power Echols, a North Carolina product and Charlotte native, was amazed by the size of Chicago's skyline.
"It's big and beautiful," Echols said. "I haven't seen a city this big — I'm from Charlotte and it's not this big at all. It's like a mini-New York in the Midwest. The lake, the water is beautiful. The skyline we were able to see driving in here and then out on the water — I'm very blessed to be here to be able to see this."
For a native Midwesterner like offensive lineman Luke Newman, who grew up in Michigan, Chicago does not feel like a foreign area. While he would not consider himself an expert tour guide just yet, he enjoyed watching his teammates' reactions to the city.
"It's been phenomenal," Newman said. "I have good familiarity with Chicago – been down here a couple times with it being a relatively short drive away. Getting to experience it with these guys, who many of them hadn't seen the city yet, I think that's incredible. A lot of these guys come up from Texas or Florida, haven't been up north really, so getting to see their experience for the first time is incredible."
After the boat tour, the group made their way to the West Loop to take part in professional development. Integrating a business education piece into the day is a key piece of Marmolejo's work in player development. Giving the rookies insight to the resources and network they have available through the Bears while also learning about potential business ventures allows them to expand their opportunities outside of football.
"It was great just being around the other guys and getting around the city," receiver Luther Burden III said. "It was cool vibes, chill vibes and I was super happy to tour the city with my teammates."
The rookies' day in the city was the conclusion of their first month as Chicago Bears. While that time has mainly been spent inside Halas Hall or studying the playbook back at the team hotel, Friday gave the group a chance to learn more about one another and enjoy some of their first experiences as NFL players.
"It's definitely a blessing being able to take part in things like this with the other rookies," safety Major Burns said. "It's a dream come true. Ever since I was little I wanted to be in the NFL, so being able to soak it all in and not be by myself in this process has been amazing. We've been having fun throughout our journey. It's been a real fun few weeks and I'm still new to being a rookie, but I love it out here."
