Bears coach John Fox got a pet monkey named Gidget for Christmas when he was a kid

Chicago Bears coach John Fox is known to not reveal much during press conferences, but that was before he told reporters he had a pet monkey when he was a kid.

In a video with the team’s website, Fox was asked about the most unique Christmas gift he ever got. That turned into the best story you’ll see from the NFL on this Friday of Week 16, because Fox told the story about Gidget the monkey, which he got when he was 11 or 12, by his recollection.

“It was a little woolly monkey,” Fox told host Lauren Screeden. “Her name was Gidget. She was like part of the family. She wore pampers and she would swing around. She was like part of the family. Swear to God.”

OK, that has to be a lie, right?

“That’s a real story,” Fox told reporters at his press conference later on Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “I actually have pictures to prove it. … One year we had gone down to my grandparents’. They had a home down in Marathon Key, Fla. So on the way back up from that we happened to stop at a pet store. In those days, that was all legal. It was above board. I don’t think they’re selling too many of those things now.

“But, yeah, she was a great pet.”

And if a pet monkey that wore diapers and swung around the house wasn’t weird enough, oh you wait. Gidget was Fox’s pet for about three years, before it died from sunstroke when Fox was off at camp.

“My brother had a little mishap and tied her up,” Fox said. “But she got wrapped up and she actually got sunstroke. Believe it or not. You’d think a monkey in a tropical land would be fine. But that didn’t work out so well.”

I don’t know if any NFL coach can top that story before the end of the season, but I’d sure like to see them try.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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