Charles Tillman and Adrian Peterson will be thinking of their grandfathers who never stopped believing in them.
Rashied Davis will say a prayer for his father, taken from him at age 8, for a brother he lost too soon, for an aunt he adored.
Chris Harris is dedicating the game to his dad, who hasn’t been able to attend many since 1999, when doctors told him he was losing his eyesight.
Together, the Bears will be focused acutely on the task at hand Sunday, the biggest game of their football lives. But before taking the field for Super Bowl XLI, many also will take a moment to think about those who have made a special impression on them.
“My grandfather (Donald Tillman Sr.) passed this October,” Tillman said. “He used to come to all the games, but he got real sick and couldn’t come anymore. He was the most upfront, bluntest guy I’ve ever known. He’d say the funniest stuff. You know how certain older people are? They say whatever they want, when they want. To me, it was funny. He was himself. He didn’t care what happened. I liked him, he was a great guy. And he would really get a kick out of this, out of seeing me. But I’m sure he does, I know he does.”
Peterson also will be thinking about his grandfather, Henry Robinson, who died 10 years ago.
“He was a strong-willed man,” Peterson said. “He didn’t say a whole lot, but when he did, they were strong words. You enjoyed his company.
“He saw me play in high school but passed away my senior year, so he never saw a college game or a game in the pros. For me to be in the Super Bowl, I know he’s smiling.”
At first, Davis said he would be thinking only of the game.
“Football is kind of my oasis away from all that stuff,” he said. “I usually don’t think of too many things outside of football while I’m on the field. Life is so hard as it is and football is not real life. You can really get hurt, but it’s not the real world and how tough things really are. I just go out and play as hard as I can and do my job and have fun, because that’s where I can get away from things outside.”
The real world is not easy to reflect on when it includes the sort of heavy personal loss he has experienced. Davis’ father, Marion, was killed during a robbery attempt while standing outside the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant in South Central Los Angeles in 1987. Davis remembers that his brother, Delion Jamerson, was with him in 2000 right after his San Jose State team defeated ninth-ranked TCU. Shortly after, Delion was killed in a car accident.
Davis lost his aunt, Bertha Lee, right before he received his scholarship to San Jose State in ’99.
“I wish they were here, that they could see it and see me play,” he said. “But like I said, football is my oasis away from the troubles of this world.”
Tank Johnson surely can relate. But he, too, will take a moment to remember someone special to him, his closest friend William Posey, who was killed at a nightclub in December while he was with Johnson.
“This game is special because my guy is not here with me and this is where he wanted me to end up,” Johnson said. “He wanted me to end up in the Super Bowl, and I take him on the field with me every game now. He was my biggest fan and also my biggest critic, so I have to go out there and impress him.”
More Top Picks Desk Lamp
Terrence Metcalf also will be thinking of a friend, Craig Glattly, who died in a car accident in November at 47. Metcalf and other Bears players got to know Glattly through his wife, a real estate agent who worked with them when they came to the Bears.
“I want to dedicate this game to him and his family,” Metcalf said. “They just kind of adopted us into their family my rookie year. [Craig] was a real loving person, not just to me but for other guys on the team he dealt with. They opened their arms to us. We were young kids coming to Chicago, didn’t know much about Chicago and they came by, looked after our kids. . . . He was like a grandfather to the kids and like a mentor to me as far as business stuff goes.”
Alex Brown said he couldn’t pick one person who would be in his thoughts.
“There are a lot of people who have had a hand in helping me get to this point in my life,” he said. “But I will be thinking of my high school coach, Barry Gardner, who passed away when I was in college, my cousin MacAuthor Zanders, who passed away when I was in high school and my grandmother, Genethal Ash.”
For Harris, there was no question that his parents inspire him most and that his father Charles, who is legally blind from a hereditary optic nerve problem that has deteriorated over the years, will be utmost in his thoughts.
“He doesn’t come to [games] much,” Harris said. “He’d rather sit home and watch them on TV because he can get close and see it better. So when he comes to the game, he always has his earphones on, listening to the play-by-play while watching it.
“When [the eye condition] first happened, I think he took it kind of hard. It was hard to get him out. But now, he’s more outgoing, he’s not letting it stop him in the least bit. A lot of people are like, `Is your dad really legally blind?’ because we go bowling and he kicks my tail. He averages 190-something. He has had 280 games before.”
Charles Harris will be at the game Sunday.
“He doesn’t really like to travel, but he’s going to come to the Super Bowl,” Chris said. “My sister would talk real bad about him if he didn’t.”
Families and friends will be on the minds of many Bears.
“There are a lot of people I’ll be thinking of before the game,” Ian Scott said. “My wife Crystal and my daughters Skyler and Savannah, because they have to go through a lot during the season. And then, obviously, my parents and the rest of my family who have supported me forever.
“I’ll be thinking of all those people before the game because I represent them every time I go out on the football field and I always want them to be proud of the effort I put out there.”
Hunter Hillenmeyer had trouble narrowing it down.
“It’s like picking your best man for your wedding, even trying to select who you’re actually going to give tickets to,” he laughed.
Adewale Ogunleye knows what this game is all about.
“[It’s] about family, people who helped you get to where you are,” he said. “But more important, I think this game is for ourselves, it’s more for everybody to reflect on how hard it was to get here, how many great players in this league have never made it to this game.
“If there’s any game you want to be selfish for, this is the game you need to do it because this is once in a lifetime. All the hard work you’ve put in to get here has paid off, so you should take time to reflect on that and think about what you had to do to get here.”
Brendon Ayanbadejo is dedicating the game to children he does not know but feels like he does.
“I just look at where I came from and the direction I’m heading,” he said. “Growing up in Chicago and not really having much, living in the projects and being on welfare, I dedicate this game to kids who are in the same shoes I was in and give them a positive role model that they can get out of their situation.
“It’s not about where you’re at, it’s about where you’re going and what you’re trying to be and what you’re trying to achieve. Those are the kinds of things I look at when I play this game.”
For Cedric Benson, making a dedication is simple.
“I dedicate it to God,” he said. “He dedicated it to me. No game is promised. Any one can be your last, so to get a chance to play in another is pretty special.”
———-