Rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent, undrafted from Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia, made the start on Sunday for the Bears. He led Chicago to its second win of the season.
After the game, I asked Bagent when he knew he could make it in the NFL.
“I don’t know if I ever really knew.” Bagent said by phone. “I just kind of knew that it’s what I wanted to do. So I just really worked really hard, knew what I had to be able to do physically in order to play at this level. And then just kind of took it from there and tried to put up the best numbers I could since I was at such a low-level school, just so I could get some eyes on me and then kind of just took it from there.”
Bagent got enough eyes on him to make it to the Senior Bowl. That’s where he realized he truly had a chance.
“I was around that level of competition for the first time with all dudes that I knew were going to go to the NFL,” Bagent said. “The success I had at the Senior Bowl really helped me out confidence-wise because I felt like I had a lot of the abilities that I needed. Just needed that confidence and just being sure of myself going forward and I feel like that helped me a lot and gave me the confidence I needed to really make this thing a reality.”
This thing is definitely a reality for Bagent, and for the Bears. If starter Justin Fields can’t play next week due to a thumb injury, we’ll see Bagent make his second career start in prime time on NBC.
