Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had some lucrative offers in free agency. Teams that were willing to pay big money. But the 24-year old safety chose to forgo money for opportunity when he signed with the Chicago Bears on March 14.
Someone that played in integral role of recruiting Clinton-Dix was former Alabama teammate Eddie Jackson, who raved about the culture that they were establishing in the organization with GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy at the helm.
But someone else that also played a role was Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
“He’s one of the leaders of the team,” Clinton-Dix said on Bears All-Access radio. “I’ve had the chance to play against him. When you have a quarterback who comes over and tells you how much of a great player you are because he sees us a lot on tape, that just really meant a lot to me and it just shows that my play style doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Now that Clinton-Dix has had some time to get to know his new teammates during the Bears’ offseason program, he sees “something special” with this group of guys.
“In the locker room there are so many great guys who are down to earth and funny,” Clinton-Dix said. “All have the same passion and also want to win ballgames, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Clinton-Dix joins a Bears defense that returns all but one defensive starter from a season ago. While they lost defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to a head coaching job in Denver, they’ve added former Colts’ head coach Chuck Pagano as Fangio’s replacement.
While there are some natural concerns about repeated production with Fangio gone, the Bears’ talent and hunger on defense speaks for itself.
