On top of his interviews with Poles and Warren, Pope was excited to visit Halas Hall and see the history throughout the building. Pope never expected his career to take him to Chicago, but the move allowed him to develop a deeper appreciation for a team he grew up watching.
“I’ve been here for about seven or eight years now and you can’t escape it but nor do you want to,” Pope said. “There’s something about the fandom, the energy. I also came into Chicago at a time where the Bears as an organization are transforming in a really cool way.”
While Pope was raised a Browns fan having grown up in Ohio, his admiration for the Bears as an “iconic franchise” started with recent Hall of Fame electee Devin Hester. Watching Hester return kickoffs and punts are some of Pope’s earliest football memories.
“Usually in football you ignore the kick or punt returns,” Pope said. “That’s where you go get up and take a bathroom break or grab a beer or whatever. But for me it’s like, no, you have to be seated and watch what Devin Hester does. I had never seen anything like that in my life. It made the Bears in a sense, almost appointment viewing because you just wanted to see — they had this electric guy — what’s he going to do next?”
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