Linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and running back Kyle Monangai weren't teammates or friends before being selected by the Bears in this year's draft. But they certainly weren't strangers either.
Each of the past three seasons, the two Bears rookies often ran into each other—literally and figuratively—during clashes between Big Ten rivals Maryland and Rutgers.
"Him being around me, that's what I remember," said Monangai, who rushed for 3,221 yards and 27 touchdowns in five seasons at Rutgers. "I saw him every year. Me and Ruben know each other well on the field. Now we get to know each other off the field. [He's a] great player, great linebacker. We've met a lot of times in that hole."
In the three matchups—two of which were won by Maryland—Monangai rushed for 45, 118 and 97 yards, while Hyppolite recorded two, five and three tackles.
"Playing against Kyle was great," Hyppolite said. "He's always been a physical runner, somebody who's been tough to bring down. Kyle and I met in the hole plenty of times. I won some, he won some. But that's just the nature of the game."
Every spring throughout the NFL, college rivals become pro teammates. The dynamic is especially interesting with the Bears this year after they drafted four Big Ten players.
"It's crazy," said first-round pick Colston Loveland, a tight end who played at Michigan from 2022-24. "It's super cool to see how things change. In the moment, it's bad blood. You hate these guys. But it's all love at the end of the day because we're all on the same team now and we're all chasing the same goal."
"It's fun," Monangai added. "We talk about what college was like and now we're all here on the same team. We're excited to work together. We all have the grind mentality to us when we're working in practice and in the meeting rooms."
Loveland recalls preparing to face Hyppolite late in Michigan's national championship season in 2023. Loveland caught three passes for 36 yards in the Wolverines' 31-24 victory, while Hyppolite recorded a season-high 10 tackles.
"I remember playing Ruben," Loveland said. "I actually got to block him. I remember throughout the week just scouting and hearing that he was fast; a sideline-to-sideline type."
"Colston is one-of-one," Hyppolite said. "He made big plays his whole career at Michigan, especially against us. He made a couple plays that I wish I could have back."
Guard Luke Newman, a sixth-round selection from Michigan State, feels similarly about Loveland. In a 27-24 win over the Spartans last season, the talented tight end caught six passes for 67 yards and two TDs. During rookie minicamp, Newman revealed that he had discussed that contest with Loveland.
"We touched on it briefly," Newman said with a laugh. "Just fun banter going back and forth. You've got to do that with a Michigan guy. But seriously, Colston's a great guy. Colston's awesome and a very talented player and another guy that burned us pretty good during the season."
Newman also had a conversation at rookie minicamp with Monangai about the running back rushing for 129 yards and one TD in a 41-14 win over Michigan State late last season.
"Right as we were de-cleating, I went up to Kyle because I hadn't had a chance to connect with him yet and I said, 'Kyle, you terrorized us last time,'" Newman said.
"We're teammates now and we can joke about it," Monangai said. "Whenever he wants to talk about college, I just look at him a little bit. He knows. It's all fun. I love that we're teammates now and it's something we can joke about. I told him, they know my name up there in East Lansing a little bit."
The banter no doubt will continue, especially when their schools play each other this year. But their days as adversaries are over.
"It's work now," Hyppolite said. "We're all on the same team. It's always been a brotherhood but now especially. It's a tight-knit group and we're all here for one common goal and that's to win."
