Bears players recall lifechanging draft experiences

Gordon remembers staying up late to watch the NFL Draft as a kid thinking, “this is the most impossible place to be.” It was also important to Gordon for his parents, cousin and sister to share the special experience with him.

“To me it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really go there and walk on the stage, meet Roger Goodell, really just be there in the moment and take my family,” Gordon said. “It was cool for me because I really wanted to take my dad and my cousin because they’re big football fans, so I wanted them to see that and they deserve to be there. They got their own interviews; they walked on the red carpet.

“They deserve to be there and be appreciated too for all the sacrifices they made for me to even get there. I feel like it was more of an appreciation for my family and friends that were there too rather than me just being there myself.”

Walking the red carpet then across the stage once selected was an “unbelievable feeling” for Gordon, who compared it to how a movie star likely feels. The entire weekend was an unforgettable experience as the cornerback was able to meet Hall of Famers, current NFL players and professional athletes in other sports, making sure to pick everyone’s brain as much as possible.

While the entire weekend was filled with a range of emotions, the most anxiety-inducing moment was being in the green room with other prospects before being drafted. With the television broadcast a little behind the live action, Gordon received the call from Chicago several minutes before he made his way across the stage.

“I remember I got a call and I’m freaking out,” Gordon said, “because you sit there in the green room, and you hear someone else’s phone ringing and everyone’s freaking out like ‘whose phone is that?’ My stomach just sinks and I’m reading the number like, ‘what could this number be?’ I see the caller ID and it’s something in Illinois and I’m like, ‘Oh s—, the Bears.’ I was freaking out. My mind’s racing, stomach’s sinking, butterflies. I couldn’t even think straight.”

While Gordon became part of the small percentage of NFL players to actually attend the NFL Draft, Bears players like Teven Jenkins and Trevis Gipson spent the weekend at home surrounded by friends and family.

Jenkins, a second round pick in 2021, remembers having over 80 people at his draft party hosted by his brother-in-law in Wichita, Kansas. The most crucial part of the day was making sure Torchy’s Tacos, a local Mexican restaurant, could cater the…