Tremaine Edmunds is still relatively new to the city of Chicago, but he’s already doing his part in making a lasting impact both on and off the field. Last Sunday, he and Bears teammates did their part to sack the quarterback during the team’s Week 6 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. On Tuesday, Edmunds turned his attention towards sacking hunger.
The Bears linebacker teamed up with Campbell’s® Chunky and spent the day at the Greater Chicago Food Depository helping collect donations as part of Chunky Sacks Hunger™, the brand’s community platform aimed at ending food insecurity. Throughout the season, Edmunds will be working with Campbell’s® Chunky, as well as other NFL defensive players throughout the league, to donate over two million meals to those in need.
Edmunds took some time in between packing meals to speak with Bears Wire about Chunky Sacks Hunger™ and why it means so much to him, as well as his last couple games with the Bears, and the passing of the legendary Dick Butkus.
Edmunds on why he teamed up with Campbell's® Chunky
Teaming up with Campbell’s Chunky was an easy decision for Edmunds, who talked about how giving back to the community has been a major part of his life growing up.
“My family’s been a part of giving back since I can remember,” Edmunds told Bears Wire. “Just remembering growing up, eating Campbell’s chicken noodle soup and the cause that was behind it, that was definitely something I wanted to be a part of and something I obviously wanted to bring my mom to be part of as well.”
Edmunds did have his mother, Felecia, with him on Tuesday, as the two worked together to pack meals for a good cause. He was also joined by teammate Dominique Robinson. The Bears linebacker is one of a handful of NFL players taking part in the initiative, including Green Bay Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone. For every sack they get in a game, Chunky Sacks Hunger will donate to their local food depository.
It’s a good opportunity for friendly competition, but Edmunds is simply focused on helping those in need.
“It is a friendly competition, but at the end of the day, it’s for a bigger cause,” he said. “The cause in which it’s behind obviously gives you the extra push to make sure everyone has food because it’s a necessity in life. People can’t control what environment they’re put in, or situations they’re put in. So just being able to shed some light, put some smiles on people’s faces simply by eating at night.”
Bears fans can track donations results and get involved by visiting ChunkySacksHunger.com
Volunteering in a new city
Edmunds did his part to serve the community while he was a member of the Buffalo Bills for the last five years, but now he has a new opportunity with Chicago. The 25-year-old linebacker signed a four-year, $72 million deal this offseason with the Bears and is excited to help more people in a new setting.
“I feel like it’s my duty to give back,” Edmunds said.
He added: “I live by the quote, ‘to whom much is given, much is required.’ So much has been given to me as far as the support from the outside and now I’m in a position to give it back. I’ve always said that’s what I’m going to do because that’s who I am as a person. That’s what I believe in. I’m just happy this is the start of hopefully many [opportunities], and just to be able to do it in a new city, it means a lot to have the support from the outside.”
Edmunds on his strong outing vs. Minnesota
While Edmunds and others are working to sack hunger, sacking the quarterback is still a key part of his job, and those have been hard to come by for the entire Bears defense this season. But they’re coming off their best game as a unit this past week, albeit in a 19-13 loss against the Minnesota Vikings.
Still, Edmunds arguably had the best game of his Bears career with six tackles, one pass defensed, and a fumble recovery that put the Bears in prime scoring position. His takeaway is still resonating with him days later.
“It felt good, man. Actually, it felt great. Good is an understatement,” Edmunds said with a chuckle when asked about the specific fumble recovery. “Just getting that support; the Chicago community has been giving me support since Day 1, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”
Edmunds was quick to highlight his teammates and coaches, though.
“I couldn’t have done it by myself,” he said. “T.J. [Edwards] got pressure on the quarterback, and it put me in position to make a play. And even the coaches called on a play that put us in position. But that’s obviously what I’m striving more towards—making those game-changing plays to help the team win.”
Though Chicago’s offense wasn’t able to capitalize on the turnover, getting more of those impact plays provides more opportunities to change the game.
Edmunds on the passing of Dick Butkus
It’s no secret that the Bears have a rich history on defense, specifically at the linebacker position, and no one played it better than Dick Butkus. The Hall of Fame linebacker passed away at the age of 80 on Oct. 5, and Edmunds talked about what his legacy meant to him as a young linebacker in today’s game after sitting down to chat with him in September.
“Definitely meant a lot,” Edmunds said. “I didn’t know him personally prior to the interview, but obviously I knew of his game, how great of a player he was, and all the good things you hear about him. But obviously, when you sit down and have a conversation with a person, you find out a little bit more about them. We start to open up a little bit more towards one another. And just being able to get knowledge, me being a student and being a sponge, soaking up all the game that he gave, it meant a lot.”
The news of Butkus’ passing broke just prior to the team’s Thursday night matchup against the Washington Commanders. Edmunds described his feelings going into the game and whether it became something more when he and the team heard the news.
“It definitely did,” he said. “When the news broke [while] getting ready for a game, just being able to calm my emotions down and have everybody understand it’s for a bigger cause gave everybody a little bit more reason to go out and lay it all out on the line.”
And that’s exactly what the Bears did, earning their first victory of the season — a 40-20 defeat of the Commanders.
Edmunds' message to Bears fans after rough start
Edmunds came from a Bills team that was a perennial playoff contender to the Bears, who are still very clearly in the middle of a rebuild. At 1-5 with injuries to prominent players like quarterback Justin Fields, it can be difficult to be optimistic about the team’s chances going forward. It’s something Edmunds hasn’t experienced in recent years, but as a leader and captain, his message to the fans is simple: “Trust the process.”
“I know that’s easy for me to say; this is my first year here,” he said. “But you can’t look in the past; you have to continue to look at what’s ahead of you.”
Edmunds isn’t looking to dwell on their recent losses and is just trying to take things day by day.
“Obviously, we lost the game on Sunday, but the main approach is, what can I do today that’s going to be better for me the next day?” he said. “Then we take it one day at a time, putting one foot in front of the other.”
Edmunds is also looking at each game—win or loss—as a chance to learn a lesson and grow.
“Every loss you take is not a loss, you know what I mean? Everything is a lesson,” he said. “So whether we would have won the game Sunday, and unfortunately we lost it, but we can learn great lessons from it. And how we respond to that is going to be the outcome of how the rest of the season goes.”
