The Bears equipment staff received the prestigious Whitey Zimmerman Award, an annual accolade awarded to an NFL equipment manager and their staff to honor their excellence from the previous season.
Longtime Bears director of equipment Tony Medlin and his full-time staff — assistant director Tyler Glende, administrative coordinator Cameron Reed and assistant managers Thomas Woody, Gary Faulcon and Nick Cooks — accepted the award last week at the annual NFL Player Health and Safety Summit, where the group received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Medlin, who is entering his 38th season with the Bears, brought his entire staff on stage, a moment that he described as "fulfilling."
"It just felt like, 'wow, we've arrived. We've gotten here; we're moving forward. Things are going great,'" Medlin told ChicagoBears.com. "When you see people recognize you, you just appreciate what you have done and what you're doing and what you're about to do. It makes you feel so much more comfortable moving forward.
"I often say it's not about me, it's about the group, and to me, when one is down, we pick the other one up, and we just keep moving. That's what a team does and that's what makes it so special."
The award was created in 1994 in remembrance of the late Whitey Zimmerman, a longtime beloved equipment manager for the Atlanta Falcons. Medlin, who knew Zimmerman prior to his passing, said having his team associated with one of the field's all-time greats felt "pretty special."
"Whitey was one of the ones that paved the way for a lot of the equipment managers," Medlin said. "I use the word "founder" to describe him. He was a great leader and he helped a lot of the younger guys.
"The award stands for hard work, togetherness, dedication. All of those great adjectives, you can put above his name. That's who he was, and that's what he stood for."
As a crucial part of the Bears' day-to-day support staff, the equipment team embodies all three of those traits and have for a long time. Medlin and the Bears were named winners of the award back in 2000 and in 2020, when all NFL equipment teams shared the honor due to the challenges they overcame due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the equipment staff’s day-to-day jobs change on a daily basis, their typical responsibilities include learning and employing player safety procedures, preparing helmets and cleats for practice, packing and transporting all gameday equipment, assisting with practice drills and any other team needs that pop up.
Through a robust internship program, which employs both season-long and training camp-only interns, the equipment staff is constantly evolving and teaching the younger generation.
"The equipment staff are the unsung heroes of our team," general manager Ryan Poles said. "Rarely do they get acknowledged for the work they do, but Tony and his staff do an amazing job and they are more than deserving of this award."
Assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who works closest with Medlin's team on a daily basis, also expressed his excitement for the group earning the league's recognition.
Through their ability to foster growth within their department, promote player safety and provide a welcoming environment in the locker room, Cunningham believes the equipment staff is deserving of the honor.
"Tony and his staff aren't afraid to stretch and grow, they have a great grasp on trends in the industry and they're willing to tweak processes and implement new tools — all to help them be more efficient in serving the organization," Cunningham said. "The internship program that they have developed is one of the best in the league, and they're intentional about growing the younger generation of aspiring equipment managers.
"Tony and the staff are selfless people who are always looking to help. Their dedication to help build a winning culture is on display every day and I've never heard of a time where they said 'no' to a player or a staff member."
Medlin credits his "balanced" staff — who have a variety of experience levels — for earning the award, noting that the group enjoys working with each other, shares the same goals and understands why they do what they do.
Having been in the industry since 1987, Medlin knows how long it can take to form a close-knit staff that looks out for each other and commits to a common purpose. Now having built that type of department while getting support from both the front office and the locker room, Medlin feels honored to continue representing the Bears in his role.
"With the expectations of Ryan, Ian and the front office staff that we work with, we are all held to a certain standard," Medlin said. "We just want to represent them to the highest level we can. We want to represent the Chicago Bears, the McCaskey family, anybody in the organization with class. That's all we know. We couldn't do this without Ryan. We couldn't do this without Ian. We couldn't do this without other departments around us.
"The way we are able to work with other departments to collaborate together and do whatever we need to do to support our players is special, because the players appreciate what we do. When you know a player appreciates you, when they tell you they appreciate you, that means more than anything. At the end of the day, it's about them. So whatever our part is in helping the team win, that's all we care about."
