The introduction
On Khalil Mack’s first day as a Bear, he flew from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to O’Hare and, in a typical welcome-to-Chicago moment, sat on the runway for close to 90 minutes. The Bears had car service arranged to get Mack from the airport to the Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest. But with the runway delay, coach Matt Nagy knew he had to take extra measures to keep his new star comfortable. So Nagy sent Mack a text encouraging him to expedite his dinner order.
Mack responded with a request for a double chicken breast, grilled, with a side of rice and vegetables. And Nagy had yet another epiphany on what already had been an enchanted Saturday. That, the new head coach thought to himself, was similar to the order linebacker Roquan Smith had placed during his April pre-draft dinner with the Bears at Maevery in Lake Bluff.
Solid, healthy choice. This had to be another small meant-to-be sign.
Then came the fun part, with Nagy assembling the greeting party for Mack. First, he found his boys — 14-year-old Brayden; Tate, 12; and 10-year-old twins Jaxon and Jett.
“What do you guys think about going to meet one of our new players?” Nagy asked.
The boys needed more specifics. Who exactly?
“I told them,” Nagy said. “And they just lost their minds.”
Nagy was aware he was about to oversee one of the coolest “Take your kids to work” excursions imaginable. All four boys packed into dad’s 2018 BMW 750 Series and set off for their first stop, scooping up the man who had pulled off the most eye-popping NFL trade of the year.
When Pace jumped into shotgun in the black Beamer, the Nagy boys plugged an iPhone into the sound system and cranked up the Mark Morrison. Retuuurn of the Mack. Yes it is. Retuuurn of the Mack. Come on. Retuuurn of the Mack. Oh, my God.
On a 10-minute drive from Pace’s Lake Bluff house to Mack’s temporary residence, the giddiness of the boys in the back seat was surpassed by the two NFL bigwigs up front. For 10 minutes, the general manager and coach of one of the league’s charter franchises were little kids themselves, astonished at what they had pulled off.
Just like that, the Bears had filled one of their biggest needs with one of the game’s most feared pass rushers. Pace and Nagy couldn’t wait to unwrap their new toy.
The initial after-dark introductions in the hotel lobby were to the point. Mack had had a long day. And a long week was ahead. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio also had come to say hello and was struck by Mack’s relaxed demeanor.
With direction finally set for his 2018 season, Mack was excited, relieved and eager to get started.
Thus, in addition to that chicken dinner, he asked for and received his Bears playbook with Fangio struck by the star edge rusher’s purpose.
“I just sensed that he was happy to be here,” Fangio said. “I don’t know why. I could just sense that he was.”
Within four weeks, Mack had a major impact on enlivening the Bears season. In the first half of his first game, he delivered a cartoonish strip-sack of Packers quarterback DeShone Kizer then followed on the next possession with an interception and a 27-yard return for a touchdown.
In the middle of an end-zone dogpile, Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara felt an adrenaline rush he knew was significant.
“That ignited me,” Amukamara said. “That set the steps for our season and what was to come. … I don’t want to say he put us on the map, because I feel like our defense was already there. But he brought a whole new dynamic to our team.”
Yes, the Bears lost that season opener, victimized by a ridiculous Aaron Rodgers rally and squandering a 20-point secondhalf lead in a 24-23 road loss. But for players on defense, that sting was accompanied by a powerful belief of what was ahead. They had just witnessed firsthand what Mack could mean.
Months later, when a reporter asked linebacker Danny Trevathan to describe the spark Mack provided that night, his eyes bugged.
“You were there,” Trevathan said. “You felt it like I felt it. He was everywhere. The man absolutely changed the face of our defense. We carried that momentum like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got some dawgs now. Let’s go!’ ”
By the end of September, Mack had helped the Bears to a 3-1 start and earned NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors. He had a strip-sack in each of the first four games. He made believers of everyone.
At halftime of the Bears’ Week 2 Monday night game against the Seahawks, Brian Urlacher turned into a little kid when talking about Mack.
“He’s a bad dude, man,” Urlacher said. “I don’t understand how you give up a guy who’s that good. I’m still baffled how we got him.”
Six days later, Mack’s fourth-quarter strip-sack of Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford in the red zone allowed the Bears to march the other way for a go-ahead field goal and an important 16-14 win.
The Bears knew how enormous the