A quarter-century later, Willie Young Sr. still has the letter from his oldest son and namesake. The message is still there on the page torn from a spiral notebook. The innocent misspellings and natural discolorations are preserved within a black frame that Willie Sr. occasionally pulls out.
He'll read the words, digest the gratitude within and choke up when his son's thanks _ for toys, for a bike, for a football _ become a written childhood promise.
"I am going to be a pro football player when I grow up. To pay you back. Becucause I love you Dad. And this is how much I appreciate you for buying all this stuff for. But think you dad for not letting me down."
Willie Sr. can't pinpoint why the emotion and pride swells within him every time he reads that letter. The simplest explanation is that a son's love and ambition never gets old. But on top of that, all these years later, his son is 31 and in his seventh NFL season, again leading the Bears in sacks and still never taking a day in his profession for granted.
"For my son to be wearing my name and to do all this, to go further than I ever went, it's an honor," Willie Sr. said. "It truly is. Because I know the kind of work he's put in."
Willie Jr. still has the same passion for football he had when he wrote that letter. That drive to improve still pulses.
He knows so much of it was learned behavior, growing up in Florida and appreciating the work ethic his dad embodied as a truck driver. From a young age, Willie Jr. always appreciated his dad's sacrifice and dedication to being reliable to those who counted on him.
Through that prism, it's easy to understand why Young continues to do whatever's asked of him in his own career.
He hopes teammates notice his daily investments in learning his craft. He wants his own two sons _ 10-year-old Willie III and 5-year old Warren _ to understand the values of passion and persistence.
In a Bears season flooded with defeats and plagued by injuries, Young has fought through his pain _ in his knee, his ankle, his elbow. He has missed only one practice. His 7 { sacks lead the team.
Young's most recent sack came Sunday against the 49ers, a first-quarter rush on which he kept powering through right tackle Trent Brown until nose tackle Eddie Goldman flushed Colin Kaepernick right into his grasp.
And yes, after smothering Kaepernick, Young instantly cast his imaginary fishing rod toward the north end zone and began reeling.
