There are not that many Jews competing in professional sports in the United States (Israel is obviously different in this regard), but among the various major sports, football probably has the fewest. That is not to say there aren't any, or have not been any, but they are not common.

The Chicago Bears have had a few Jews on the roster in recent years for short periods of time, and now they have another.

In the NFL Draft this past week, the Bears drafted fellow yid, Member of the Tribe, Daniel Braverman, a proud Jew.


and this picture must have been taken during sefiras haomer..


Good luck to Da Bears and to Daniel Braverman in the coming years... maybe we will see the shadchanim, and Chabad, will be especially active in the coming years in Soldier Field...

SI and Michigan Live on Daniel Braverman

an amazing statement at the end of this promo clip, made by Mike Ditka, of all people.

The Chicago Bears won their first game of the season on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons very decisively.

I would like to say their success is the result of the two new Jews on the team, Offensive Tackle Gabe Carimi (72), a.k.a the Bear Jew, and Punter Adam Podlesh (8).

The last Chicago Bear I remember (without looking up the information) wearing jersey number 72 was William "Refrigerator" Perry. Now Gabe Carimi is wearing number 72.

72 is one of the gematriyas of Hashem's name. As well, a gematriya of 72 is the word ne'echazu which they were held, which seems appropriate for an offensive tackle.

Anyway, here are a couple images of our Member of the Tribe Tackle Gabe Carimi in action on Sunday...



and here is an image of the other MOT Punter Adam Podlesh..


I know in truth the success was the result of great play and hard work all around, especially by team leaders Jay Cutler, Brian Urlacher, Julius peppers, Matt Forte and others along with Gabe Carimi and Adam Podlesh.

Jewish Chicago is becoming familiar with the Chicago Bears 2011 first-round draft pick, Gabe Carimi a.k.a. The Jewish Hammer, a.k.a. The Bear Jew.

Gabe Carimi is taking Jewish Chicago by storm. While growing up Reform, Carimi remains a Jew with a strong identity and is willing and seemingly happy to get involved in Jewish events and with Jewish organizations of all denominations.

The Chicago Tribune has the story:

The prospect of meeting Chicago Bears rookie tackle Gabe Carimi at the Great Jewish Family Festival on Sunday was a mixed blessing for Dovid Weingrow, 11. He is a boy of divided faiths: a Chicago-area Jew, a New York Jets fan.


Still, the anticipation that Carimi could be the best Jewish Bears player since quarterback Sid Luckman is a source of pride for Dovid.


"It shows that Jews are not just scrawny little people," he said. "Jews can go far (in sports)."


Carimi was the featured leader of the festival's kickoff parade. His pick by the Bears has been big news in the Jewish community and the subject of rapturous blog posts. Sunday, in the parking lot of Westfield Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie, local fans had their first chance to take in, in person, the 6-foot-7 player whose latest nickname was inspired by the Nazi-clubbing character in Quentin Tarantino's WWII adventure "Inglourious Basterds."


Chicagoland, meet "Bear Jew." "Bear Jew," meet Chicagoland.

The Great Jewish Family Festival, sponsored by Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois to mark the observance of Lag B'Omer, a Jewish day of celebration, also marked Carimi's first public event since the Bears drafted him in the first round last month. It was something of a coup for the festival, said Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz, the organization's regional director.


"I think it's wonderful when any (Jewish) celebrity comes and participates with the community," Moscowitz said. "It's always important for people to have pride, and this is a way to do it."


Is the rabbi a football fan?

"I am today," he said, laughing.


"It has been a while since any Chicago team has had a great Jewish athlete," Jeremy Fine, a blogger for Oychicago.com, recently noted.


Outreach to the Jewish community is important, Carimi said in an interview before the parade, which just beat out a sudden downpour that scattered participants.


"I've been in the same community in Madison, Wis. (where he was raised and attended the University of Wisconsin), and am looking forward to branching out to a new Jewish community and setting up friendships here," he said.


Carimi, winner of the 2010 Outland Trophy, awarded to college football's best interior lineman, represents the Great Jewish Hope, especially for older Jewish sports fans who remember rallying around the Bears' Luckman, the Cubs' Ken Holtzman and Steve Stone, and the Detroit Tigers' Hank Greenberg.

Jewish Chicago is looking forward to following Gabe Carimi's career from so close, and we expect Carimi will make us proud, both on the field and off.

It is always exciting when my team is picked to go all the way.

Sports Illustrated Peter King has made his predictions for the upcoming NFL season. He picks the Bears to make it to the Superbowl. Unfortunately he thinks they will lose to the Patriots...

Well, he can't be right about everything...

This morning on the train to work I was thinking about the Superbowl from last night.

I figured if the Bears lost and played so poorly, I at least have to come up with something profound to take away from the game. Some sort of lesson to make staying up all night worthwhile.

The game started off with an absolutely amazing play by Chicago Bear Devin Hester. He ran the first kickoff back 92 yards for a touchdown. The first play of the game. If you blinked you would have missed it. After that they played pretty poorly and ended up losing the game.

Sometimes we think that we need some big event, something extremely inspiring, to get us moving. The big play is the important one.

It is not true. It is not the case. The big play is great. It can inspire and motivate. But it is not the most important. The most important is the daily grind. Making the normal plays with consistency (which the Bears did not so last night). Being diligent in the normal routines. That is what brings a person to success.

The Bears made a great play right away. Very inspiring. But they did not cash in. They did not make the regular routine plays. You cannot win without succeeding in the routine plays.

We have to be more diligent in completing our normal, daily routines and activities and not be so worried about the big splashy public things we do. Those are what will bring us our success.

Today is the day! Go Bears!!

I will predict a Bears victory by a score of 27-21. I made up that score. I have no idea how to predict a score and just assume everybody else also make up the scores they predict.

My stats: I always predict the Bears to win. That means, the Bears went 13-3 in the regular season and are now 2-0 in the playoffs, making them 17-3 so far for the season. That means I have been wrong three times and right 17 times.
That is a much higher percentage than the experts who have predicted the Bears to lose nearly every game this season. So, if you are betting on the game tonight, your chances are better betting in line with me than with the experts. But I take no responibility for your bet (just like they don't).

Rex started the 4th quarter with a big play to give Da Bears some breathing space. Hopefully he will finish strong...

A sack, a fumble, Bears recover, Touchdown!!!!

They gave us a scare for a bit but they have pulled away now. Hopefully it will hold.

39-14. They played a great 4th quarter to make up for the horrible 2nd and 3rd...

Superbowl here we come!!!

And speaking of Da Bears, this is a real Bears fan

With the Colts having won their game, we do not get to repeat the decimation of the Patriots from 1985, but it will be a Midwestern Superbowl. Hmmm, I wonder if that ever happened before...

Time to bring back the Shuffle..

DA BEARS did it! Looks like Rex turned up something as a combo of Jeckyl and Hyde and played well enough to not lose the game.
DA BEARS!! DA BEARS!!

Which one of the two personalities will show up today to play ball? The Dr. Jeckyl edition of Rex Grossman or the Mr. Hyde version?

Will the good Rex or the lousy stinking Rex show up? Sorry to pound on a Jew, but Rex really needs to pull his act together today.
That will likely be the key to whether the Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks today in the first round of NFL playoffs.

Go BEARS!!

Way to go Bears! 41-10. I was kind of hoping (and even expecting) them to beat the 49ers by 49 points today, but it was not meant to be. Only by 31.

Way to go! I actually woke up in the middle of the night and checked the score and "watched" some play by play. I watched the score go to 17-o (Bears down) and figured it is not worth staying up for that kind of a beating. It looked like their time to lose had arrived.

Little did I know. I woke up again and saw the Bears had displayed amazing defense in the last minutes of the game and went on to win 24-23. I had to make do with the highlight clips....