The Chicago Bears took a tough loss to the first-place Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15, but despite the disappointing outcome, there were several aspects of their performance that should be heartening for fans moving forward.
Among the bright spots in the defeat was the milestone achieved by Bears long snapper Patrick Scales, who marked his 100th career game with the team against Philadelphia. Scales has been a rock-solid contributor to Chicago’s special teams unit over the course of the last several years and is a foundational piece to their success in that phase of the game.
Though he sees action in nearly every game that the Bears play, Scales is one of the lesser-known players on the roster. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he went to high school in Pleasant View, Utah before playing his college ball at Utah State University. Scales bounced around between several teams early in his NFL career, playing initially for the Baltimore Ravens from 2011 to 2012.
He would go on to play for the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013 and 2014 before re-signing with the Ravens during his last stint before he signed with the Bears in 2015. The only team that he saw the field for outside of his career in Chicago was the Ravens, who tapped him as their long-snapper for two games in 2014.
Scales may not be the Bears’ most recognized player on their 2022 roster, but the raw scale of his contributions over the years would be hard for any other contributor to match. Since 2016 when he took over at the long snapper position full-time, he has never missed a single game and is on pace to keep that streak going through the end of the season.
One thing is certain; Chicago’s special teams unit wouldn’t be what it is today without Scales’ steady hands when he sees action on Sundays.
