Bears NT Eddie Goldman said being away from football ‘really took a toll on me’
The Chicago Bears are getting back an integral member of their defensive line as nose tackle Eddie Goldman has officially returned to the team after opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.
Goldman met with the media for the first time since he opted out, where he explained how being away from football really took a toll on him. Instead of being out there on the field with his teammates, he watched the games from afar.
“It was really challenging,” Goldman told reporters at Wednesday’s training camp practice. “When I made the decision, I weighed all of my options and just thinking I would be away from the game for a year, it was just, it really took a toll on me.
“It was kind of painful because when you’re used to the routine, it’s like you know what times they’re hitting the field. At this time, they’re warming up. All right, around this time, they’re having the locker room speech.
“All of that and just being away from it just kind of killed me.”
Goldman’s status remained uncertain throughout the offseason, which had a lot to do with Goldman skipping mandatory minicamp. Matt Nagy called Goldman’s absence “unexcused” last month. And while Nagy was confident Goldman would report to training camp, it wasn’t until Nagy got confirmation he was in the building that he could let out a sigh of relief.
“I did the emoji thing with the thumbs up,” Nagy said. “And so I was ready to go. Then I hit it back with the exclamation point, the double whammy exclamation point, so I was good. We like having good players show up and good people, and Eddie’s a huge part of this defense.”
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