Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
James 'Big Cat' Williams: Free agents are seeing Super Bowl on horizon for Bears
20 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What insights does James 'Big Cat' Williams share about the Bears' recent season?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody.
The great Kevin Harlan.
I just pulled through the Taco Bell drive-thru, and I've got a couple of big, nasty Supreme Burritos right here waiting to be... You know, the first thing they ask you now, are you using the app? The app? No, I just want my burritos. I don't want to use an app. Bring a lot of mild sauce, because I'm going to squirt it all over the place. Put some hot sauce on that burrito, baby.
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. Middays, 10 a.m. to 2 on The Score.
A big part of that was predicated on you going in the tape and you see a guy like Burst on their side and the type of rusher that he is. He's very powerful. He's very violent. He was that way coming out of college. And that's translated to the NFL. And it showed up all over the tape where he's taking tackles and just driving them straight back on the quarterback's lap. And we wanted to...
We just thought Joe had a great anchor and he was going to be able to help us in that regard.
That is Ben Johnson talking about Joe Tooney, an excellent intro to our offensive lineman joining the show. It is James Big Cat Williams joining us on the Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, CircaLasVegas.com. James, the former offensive and defensive tackle from 1991 to 2002 for the Bears, voted to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and one of the 100 greatest Bears of all times. Big Cat, thanks for joining us.
Oh, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
It's so good to talk to you, not just for the reasons of it's nice to catch up with you about football, but to do this after a playoff game where the Bears almost made it to the NFC title game and they won their first one previous to that in 15 years. How do you look back at this season?
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Chapter 2: How does James Williams reflect on the Bears' playoff performance?
But you're going to have a lot of people that want to come to Chicago. It was a bad – look or a bad feeling to always hear that people didn't want to come to Chicago because of the dysfunction in the organization. That opinion has changed now. You are going to have high-priced players, high-talent players that are going to want to come to Chicago because they see the turnaround.
They see what they believe is on the horizon, which is the Super Bowl. and a team that is playing for their coach, believing in their coach. And right now, you know, hey, everyone's believing in the organization. So, you know, it's going to be a destination place for some players. And that is a big change, and it's a good change.
Well, you know, James, that was something that I think we all observed was how the Bears, especially on the offensive line, added big veteran presences. We mentioned Joe Tooney, whose assessment by Ben Johnson played right before you came on with us. That involved guys like Jonah Jackson, who Ben Johnson had familiarity with, Drew Dahlman. What does that veteran presence on the line mean?
How did you see it grow, and then how did you see what you talked about? Like, guys coming to this team, having that willing attitude, and then how it permeated in the success that we saw.
Well, I think when you're talking about the offensive line, you're talking about a group of guys that they brought together that had never played before. It did not take them as long to gel as I thought it would. Those three guys in the middle along with Wright and Braxton at the time, I thought was a good little matchup.
Braxton goes down, you bring in Trapillo and Benedict, and they really didn't skip a beat. They were able to help those guys when they needed to as far as the guys on the left side. at the left tackle position. And, you know, whether it be with tight ends lining up next to him, whether it be a chip out of the backfield, whether it be a guy coming in motion and helping the chip.
So, you know, the development of those guys And especially after the bye week. It was like, you know, they were playing well together going into that. But after the bye week, they solidified some things. And that group really became a unit. You know, they were working together well. Their double teams looked good. They were coming off their double teams when they were supposed to.
You know, everything was just starting to flow well. So... When you have guys like that come into a situation where you really don't know what's going to happen and to see them gel and mold and become the unit they became, it was very fun to watch. As a former player, you knew how much work they had had to put in to get to that point. So, you know, it makes you excited for the future.
You know, what one or two pieces are they going to bring in to help fill out that offensive line? You know, what is the progression of Trapillo and Benedict going to be? You know, where does Braxton Jones fall into all this? Do they feel as though they need to go out and get a more experienced left tackle? Or do they feel as though... they can work with what they have.
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Chapter 3: How has the coaching staff influenced the Bears' team mentality?
As far as I'm concerned.
He went old school on us. Yeah, but he's going letter, not number. I get it. I get it.
So I'm at a 90 then.
Oh, that was my exact number was 90. Oh, 89. Dang it, Big Cat. That's the difference between a 3, 5, and a 4.
That man's got standards. All I heard is that man's got standards. Before we let you go... Colson Loveland, some people are already calling him a top five tight end in the NFL. I'm just curious as to where you have him and what you see for him in the future.
Because remember, he didn't even start healthy in training camp, and he came on late and was really a difference maker in this Bears push to win the North.
Yeah, it would have been... I can only imagine where he would have been at the end of this season if he... Like you said, his progression throughout the season was big.
We saw it started off with a catch or two here, some good blocks, and then you just saw it explode into this young guy that everybody was talking about coming out of the draft as far as his route running ability, as far as his hands, as far as him being able to be that that comfort spot for Caleb.
Everybody wants that back out of the backfield or that tight end that can be a good check down for a young quarterback. And I think he turned into that. It was unfortunate not to see him finish the game because I think he still had a lot left in him. He still had big plays to be made
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