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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- While complimentary overall of the Dallas Cowboys, three former members of that organization now with the Chicago Bears considered the atmosphere there "Hollywood" compared to their current locale.
[+] EnlargeMartellus Bennett
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Martellus Bennett said everything in Chicago is based on football, and there's a different type of chemistry.
Bears special teams coach and assistant head coach Joe DeCamillis spent four years with the Cowboys (2009-12) and said "there can't be two (more contrasting) spectrums." Two more former Cowboys -- Bears defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff and tight end Martellus Bennett -- agreed as the teams prepare to face each other Monday night at Soldier Field.
Asked about the biggest difference between the Bears and Cowboys, Ratliff didn't hesitate.
"Football, first-class organization," he said of the Bears. "Just to put it bluntly, and it's not a shot -- if they take it like that, so be it. Here, it is all about football. You can really just focus on your craft. Focus on what it is you do. And no matter what's going on, you never forget what you're here for. That's a good thing."
A four-time Pro-Bowler, Ratliff was picked by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, but he was released by the club on Oct. 13 and signed by the Bears on Nov. 2. Ratliff made his Bears debut Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, participating in 23 snaps, and his workload will increase Monday night against his former team.
Ratliff said earlier in the week that Monday's matchup is "just another game," but that isn't the case for DeCamillis.
"I'm not going to lie to you and say it's like Ratliff and say it's like any other game," DeCamillis said. "Anytime you leave some place you always have a little bit more juice going back against them."
As for the differences between the Bears and Cowboys organizations, DeCamillis said "there, it's a lot different from the standpoint of just the things that go on. It's a little bit more like Hollywood, and here it's a little bit more, probably a little tamer. But they're both great organizations, and both have had a lot of storied tradition and championships. That's the main thing."
A second-round pick of Dallas in 2008, Bennett spent his tenure with the Cowboys as a backup before leaving in 2011 to take a free-agent deal with the New York Giants. Coming off a breakout season in 2012, in which he caught 55 passes for 626 yards and five touchdowns, Bennett signed with the Bears in free agency.
Bennett is currently on pace to better those marks, and apparently Chicago's atmosphere is more conducive for him to do it.
"I mean, I'm a Hollywood person. I would agree with [DeCamillis and Ratliff]," Bennett said. "Since I've been born, I've been meant to be on Disney. But they don't really like to take too many kids from the 'hood and put them on Disney nowadays. But for the most part, it's different. Everything here is based on football, and [there's] just a different type of chemistry with this team. Everybody is just about football all the time. We have our relationships and we have fun; there's not really any cliques or anything. It's just a bunch of guys who come together every week, play football, and tell jokes."
[+] EnlargeMartellus Bennett
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Martellus Bennett said everything in Chicago is based on football, and there's a different type of chemistry.
Bears special teams coach and assistant head coach Joe DeCamillis spent four years with the Cowboys (2009-12) and said "there can't be two (more contrasting) spectrums." Two more former Cowboys -- Bears defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff and tight end Martellus Bennett -- agreed as the teams prepare to face each other Monday night at Soldier Field.
Asked about the biggest difference between the Bears and Cowboys, Ratliff didn't hesitate.
"Football, first-class organization," he said of the Bears. "Just to put it bluntly, and it's not a shot -- if they take it like that, so be it. Here, it is all about football. You can really just focus on your craft. Focus on what it is you do. And no matter what's going on, you never forget what you're here for. That's a good thing."
A four-time Pro-Bowler, Ratliff was picked by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, but he was released by the club on Oct. 13 and signed by the Bears on Nov. 2. Ratliff made his Bears debut Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, participating in 23 snaps, and his workload will increase Monday night against his former team.
Ratliff said earlier in the week that Monday's matchup is "just another game," but that isn't the case for DeCamillis.
"I'm not going to lie to you and say it's like Ratliff and say it's like any other game," DeCamillis said. "Anytime you leave some place you always have a little bit more juice going back against them."
As for the differences between the Bears and Cowboys organizations, DeCamillis said "there, it's a lot different from the standpoint of just the things that go on. It's a little bit more like Hollywood, and here it's a little bit more, probably a little tamer. But they're both great organizations, and both have had a lot of storied tradition and championships. That's the main thing."
A second-round pick of Dallas in 2008, Bennett spent his tenure with the Cowboys as a backup before leaving in 2011 to take a free-agent deal with the New York Giants. Coming off a breakout season in 2012, in which he caught 55 passes for 626 yards and five touchdowns, Bennett signed with the Bears in free agency.
Bennett is currently on pace to better those marks, and apparently Chicago's atmosphere is more conducive for him to do it.
"I mean, I'm a Hollywood person. I would agree with [DeCamillis and Ratliff]," Bennett said. "Since I've been born, I've been meant to be on Disney. But they don't really like to take too many kids from the 'hood and put them on Disney nowadays. But for the most part, it's different. Everything here is based on football, and [there's] just a different type of chemistry with this team. Everybody is just about football all the time. We have our relationships and we have fun; there's not really any cliques or anything. It's just a bunch of guys who come together every week, play football, and tell jokes."
