Tag: Bourbonnais

Remembering 10 favorite Bears training camp players

With Bears training camp 2023 well underway, let’s remember some former standouts that became fan favorites in previous years.

Chicago Bears training camp is well underway and fans are getting a close look at the team as they prepare for the upcoming 2023 season. Star players like Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, and Jaylon Johnson are of course the focus as the team looks to improve upon its dismal 3-14 record from a year ago, but camp is also about finding those undrafted players near the bottom of the roster that can turn heads.

Guys like Terrell Lewis, Aron Cruickshank, and Buddy Johnson have stood out at different times already. Camp is a prime opportunity for players to make a name for themselves, which in turn gets fans excited about what they’re seeing on the field. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some former Bears training camp and preseason standouts who may not have been household names.

Twitter reacts to Bears leaving Bourbonnais for training camp

The Bears announced that they were moving training camp back to Halas Hall, which left many fans disappointed as it moves from Bourbonnais.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Bears announced that they would be moving their training camp back to Halas Hall for the foreseeable future. Halas Hall is home to a new state-of-the-art facility that will give the team access to everything it needs as it prepares for the 2020 season.

That marks the end of the “Bearbonnais” era for the team, which called Bourbonnais and Olivet Nazarene University their summer home for the last 18 years.

There were mixed reactions about the news, but most of it was disappointment at taking away a valuable fan experience that many people have embraced over the years.

Players practically rejoiced at the news.

Some fans were excited about the move.

Other fans didn’t have the same reaction. A majority were disappointed on missing out on the fan experience.

But Bourbonnais made it be known the Bears are always welcome.

The Bears will kick off training camp at Halas Hall in late July.

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Bears moving training camp from Bourbonnais to Halas Hall

The Bears have announced that they’re leaving Bourbonnais after 18 years of training camp and moving practices to Halas Hall starting 2020.

“Bearbonnais” is officially over for the Chicago Bears, as the team announced their plans to move their training camp practices from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais to their headquarters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Tuesday afternoon.

The move marks the end of an era for both the Bears and their fans, as the team has called ONU home for 18 years, making the move from Platteville, WI after practicing at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from 1984-2001.

“We will host training camp practices at Halas Hall in 2020, while maintaining a public component to many of the sessions to incorporate our loyal and passionate fans,” said Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips.

The move coincides with the recent renovations at Halas Hall that were completed in August 2019.

While the Bears will continue to hold public practices, the amount of tickets will be “limited” and crowds are not likely to reach the size of those in attendance at ONU, reaching as high as 9,000 over the last five years. Additional details will be released later this spring following the regular season schedule.

With the announcement, the Bears also thanked ONU, the village of Bourbonnais and the surrounding cities for all of their support over the years.

The Bears will hold training camp practices in late July.

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