Chicago Bears

Lovie Smith has no bitterness toward the Bears ... in fact, the ex-Chicago head man is STOKED for the team -- telling TMZ Sports, "The Bears are back!"

Remember, Lovie and Chicago didn't leave on the best of terms in 2012 ... with Lovie getting canned despite a Super Bowl appearance AND an 81-63 record in 9 seasons.

But, Smith's clearly let any bitterness he had go -- 'cause when we got the current University of Illinois coach out at LAX ... he told us he's fired up for his former team!

"I know they're pretty good. I think the Bears are back!" Lovie says ... "Matt Nagy is doing a heck of a job with them."

Chicago's got a key game coming up Sunday night, playing the top-seeded Rams ... and Smith tells us he's "anxious" to watch them play -- and thinks they've got a shot at an upset!!

Josh Gordon is getting used to this whole "winning" thing ... bragging about a Patriots W with fans at an NBA game over the weekend ... and TMZ Sports has the vid!!

The New England receiver hit up the Orlando Magic and L.A. Lakers game on Saturday ... and we're told the guy couldn't have been nicer -- interacting with fans nearby and posing for pics.

Flash even gave a private smack talk sesh to a Bears fan ... reminding him about the 38-31 loss the Pats handed Chicago in week 7.

Forget the records ... the Bears are better than the Rams, Chiefs AND Patriots -- so says legendary coach Mike Ditka.

Of course, Mike's biased ... dude played for Chicago and then coached the Bears -- but he tells TMZ Sports there's MAYBE only one team in the league better than them right now.

"I look at this team and I look at the Saints, and these are the two best teams I've watched this year."

That means Mike's got the 7-3 Bears over the 9-1 Rams, the 9-1 Chiefs, the 7-3 Pats and even the 7-2-1 Steelers.

"People who say it's fool's gold, I mean, what's it going to take?"

Now, Mike's not going crazy with this squad ... he still doesn't believe the defense compares to the legendary one he coached back in '85 -- but he is saying they've got a real shot at a ring this season.

"Barring injuries, they certainly have the talent on that football team to go on to the Super Bowl and win it."

Lawrence Taylor says Bill Belichick is absolutely correct ... Khalil Mack ain't NOWHERE near his level -- and neither is anybody else!!!

Of course, the reason we're even talking about this is 'cause a reporter had the onions to ask The Hoody -- who coached L.T. in NY -- if Mack was on the same level as the Giants legend.

"We're talking about Lawrence Taylor now," Bill said Wednesday morning, stone-faced and kinda pissed.

"I'm not putting anybody in Lawrence Taylor's class. So, put everybody down below that."

L.T. didn't take long to agree ...

"What he said!! The mold was made never to be duplicated!!!"

FYI ... L.T. was the NFL's 1986 MVP (the last defensive player to win the award), a 10-time Pro Bowler, an 8-time First-Team All-Pro member AND a 2-time Super Bowl winner.

As for Mack, he does have a Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt and 3 Pro Bowls in his 4-plus seasons ... but yeah, he ain't no L.T.

George Taliaferro -- known as the "Jackie Robinson of Football" after becoming the 1st black player drafted by an NFL team -- died Monday ... his alma mater, Indiana University, confirmed.

He was 91 years old.

Taliaferro was a superstar at IU back in the late 1940s ... playing running back, quarterback and punter -- and garnering All-American honors three times.

When he left the school in 1949, the Chicago Bears picked him in the 13th round ... becoming the first-ever black man to be drafted into the league.

Taliaferro made three Pro Bowls in 1951, 1952 and 1953 ... and finished his career with 1,300 receiving yards, more than 2,000 rushing yards and 1,633 passing yards.

"All of us at Indiana University are deeply saddened by the passing of George Taliaferro," IU said in a statement.

"The 'Jackie Robinson of football,' he went on to become the first African-American player to be drafted by the National Football League, where he excelled at a remarkable seven positions and earned Pro Bowl honors in three of his six seasons."

"A man of enormous talent, courage and determination that helped him shatter racial barriers and earn a special place in the annals of our state and its flagship public university."

Sorry, Aaron Rodgers ... your reign as King in the NFC North is over -- 'cause the Bears are the best team there now -- so says Chicago legend Mike Singletary.

Da Bears just waxed the Bucs 48-10 ... and when the greatest LB in Chicago history spoke with TMZ Sports about the W -- he told us he's convinced they're better than the Packers AND the Vikings.

"At the end of the day, I think the Bears are the most COMPLETE team in that division," Mike says.

Of course ... Detroit's also in the North -- but after their loss to the Cowboys on Sunday ... Mike didn't even bother to mention them in the same conversation.

Big win means big dance party for the Chicago Bears -- who broke out the disco ball in the team locker room after beating the brakes off the Bucs ... and TURNED UP!!!

It's become a tradition for the Bears -- with head coach Matt Nagy believing his players should be able to celebrate the hell out of every victory.

So, after Mitch Trubisky and company dominated Tampa Bay in a 48-10 ass whooping at Soldier Field ... the ball came out and the music got loud!

The song -- "My Dawg" by Lil Baby.

"Great team victory. Unbelievable team victory," Nagy told the team after the game.

"That's a full team win right now and we protected Soldier Field."

Sorry, Khalil Mack ... Mike Ditka thinks you got a great shot at an NFC North title -- but he's telling TMZ Sports it's time to slow the roll on the '85 comparisons.

ICYMI ... Chicago beat up Arizona on Sunday and is one Aaron Rodgers-led miracle away from being 3-0 -- leading some to call this Chicago's best squad since 1985.

But Ditka -- who coached that historic Super Bowl team 33 years ago -- says let's all calm down with that talk.

"I don't know if the talent level on this defense is near what it was on our defense," Iron Mike tells us.

Don't get it twisted ... Ditka's still in love with this team -- saying they do at least hustle and pursue like Mike Singletary and William Perry used to.

Trey Burton had to pay money to catch passes for the Bears on Monday ... and he couldn't have been happier -- telling TMZ Sports he's donating tons of cash to a great cause this season!!

The ex-Eagle (and Philly Special star) says for every reception this year he'll give $1,000 ... and for every score, he'll shell out $2,500.

The cause?? Burton says it's all going to the International Justice Mission -- a global org aiming to stop the slave trade and sex trafficking everywhere.

Soooo ... with his performance Monday night against the Seahawks -- Burton had to pony up $5,500 ... and he couldn't have been more pleased to do it.

"The best $5,500 I've ever spent," he says. "Hopefully we can do a lot more!"

Trey tells us his season-long goal is to give out around $60,000-$90,000 -- and he hopes it inspires others to dip into their pockets to help as well.

NFL legend Willie McGinest is confused by the whole Raiders-Khalil Mack drama ... and is seemingly placing most of the blame for the superstar's departure on Jon Gruden's shoulders.

"If you're a coach coming into a new situation and this is a player that you covet and you really want on your team, there's no egos in this," the ex-Patriot tells TMZ Sports.

"I think you call the player and express your feelings and what you expect and what you need."

Remember ... Mack's whole issue with the Raiders stems from the fact that he and Jon NEVER spoke after Gruden got the head gig.

Willie -- a former stud pass rusher himself -- is perplexed by Gruden and the Raiders' role in the situation ... especially after the new Chicago Bear BEASTED in his first game Sunday.

"I understand there's two sides to the business," McGinest says.

"But, Khalil Mack, in my opinion, is a generational player that can control and impact the game."

For Gruden's part ... he tells ESPN the trade had to go down because, "Obviously, Khalil Mack didn't want to play here."

Chicago Bears star Tarik Cohen says despite his last name -- he's NOT a Jew, but says he's gotten so much love from his Hebrew fans that he's ready to finally try out a Jewish deli!

When Tarik blew up this past season ... the Jewish community went crazy trying to find out if the star running back with the traditionally Jewish last name was really a member of the tribe.

Turns out, Cohen is not a jew -- but he feels it's an honor to get so warmly embraced by his Semitic fans.

"I'm not Jewish necessarily, but I do feel accepted ... by the Jewish community."

And get this, Cohen says he's never even been to a Jewish deli before -- but REALLY wants to go, especially since our Jewish camera guy told him he'd probably get a discount.

Dry your tears, Patriots fans ... if Chicago Bears star Kyle Long is right, Rob Gronkowski isn't going anywhere anytime soon, 'cause Long tells TMZ Sports all the retirement talk is just that ... talk.

After the Super Bowl, Gronk said he was pondering his future in football -- some think he'll actually retire.

But not Long -- who strongly believes Gronk has a lot of football left in him and will return to the Patriots next year.

A company that sells stock in professional athletes claims Chicago Bears WR Kendall Wright is a bad investment ... because he's allegedly screwing the company out of a ton of cash.

Wright is being sued by Fantex, Inc. -- which has made headlines for making deals with professional athletes so they could sell "shares" to fans who believe the athletes are destined for big paydays.

For example, Fantex would pay athletes a signing bonus and in exchange they could get a piece of the athlete's future income on and off the field. Stock holders would participate in the profits.

Fantex reportedly signed a deal with Wright back in 2015 -- offering him $3.125 mil for 10% of his future earnings. Since then, Wright reportedly made $7.3 mil with the Titans in 2016 and and $4 mil with the Bears in 2017.

He'll probably sign another big contract in 2018.

But the problem, according to Fantex, is Wright stopped paying the company their cut in March 2017 and now owes them $288k in back payments plus interest ... totaling $312,715.25.

Fantex says it's tried to contact Wright for the money, but he's basically blown them off.

Don't worry about how Devin Hester will stay busy in retirement ... the NFL legend tells TMZ Sports his wife is pregnant with a baby boy!

After Hester announced his retirement from the NFL early Tuesday morning -- capping off a career as arguably the greatest return man of all time -- we reached out to see what his post-NFL plans are.

"Family time!!!!!!" Hester said ... "A lovely wife with 2 boys and one more boy on the way!!"

Congrats!!

As for Hester's football future, the 4-time Pro Bowler says he plans on coaching his sons -- who are already killing it in flag leagues!!!

Bears TE Zach Miller is finally opening up about the gruesome injury that nearly cost him his left leg ... tearing up as he describes all that's gone down in the aftermath.

Miller says he knew the injury was "pretty severe" ... so when he made it to a trauma center in New Orleans, he had a simple message for the surgeons -- "Save my leg, please."

Zach credits Chicago's training staff, too -- calling one assistant trainer, Sid Dreyer, his "hero" for taking charge of the situation ... 'cause losing his leg could've been a matter of minutes, not hours.

But the Bears star was most affected by the outpouring of support after the incident ... which includes a bond with an inspirational teenage QB -- who lost his leg from a similar injury.

"That could be me ... if I didn't have the care that I had," Miller said.

"He's a special kid -- he gets me through every day."

Good news for Zach Miller ... the emergency surgery to repair an artery in his left leg was successful -- and it seems like his leg will be saved.

The Chicago Bears tight end damaged an artery when he badly dislocated his left knee during Sunday's game against the Saints. It was so bad, ESPN says he was in danger of losing his leg.

But now the Bears have issued a statement implying Miller is out of the danger zone.

"Miller sustained a serious injury to his left knee and immediate evaluation from our medical team on site rushed him to nearby University Medical Center New Orleans (UMC) for urgent vascular surgery to repair a torn popliteal artery."

"Successful surgery was performed immediately on Sunday by the UMC vascular surgeons to stabilize his injury."

"Zach remains at UMC, along with Bears medical personnel, where he will stay under further evaluation."