Bears Draft Prospect Video: Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU
He’s worked with Mike Nichols. (Image 1, Charlie Wilson’s War.)
He’s been in a Best Picture. (Image 2, Argo.)
He’s done a Broadway two-hander with Al Pacino. (Image 3, China Doll.)
But now his career reaches a new height as he’ll answer three questions on a blog.
I used to admire Chris Denham from afar, as a fan who’d seen his work on the stage in New York. Then he married one of my best friends – marrying into one of my favorite families on earth – and now I get to admire him off-stage as well. He’s a great dude, a mediocre husband and I’m sure he’s a good father but I’m not qualified to make that judgement.
DBB: You did Charlie Wilson’s War with Mike Nichols and Shutter Island with Martin Scorsese (who I assume you can now call “Marty”). I assume those were very different kinds of sets. So stylistically, what kind of football coaches would those two guys be?
Denham: Nichols and Scorsese were more similar than different. They were both storytellers on set – raconteurs. Lou Holtz comes to mind. Neither was a screamer. Both of them dressed impeccably. Does that make them the Tom Landrys of cinema? Both men were cerebral. Well prepared. Storyboarding the shots (game-planning) but allowing the actors to call audibles and scramble. I’m stretching this metaphor too far.
DBB: I first became aware of you when I saw you in Master Harold and the Boys on Broadway in 2003. (When I do my South African accent I’m still doing your South African accent from that shows.) I have argued Broadway theatre – with the huge crowds, celebrities in audience, stage door experience – is the closest the arts come to professional sports. Was that your experience at all?
Denham: Yes, doing a Broadway show approximates the adrenaline, the sheer rush of live sports. I mean, anything can happen. It happens right in front of you. Right in your face. Literally. Doing that play with Danny Glover, I accidentally threw a wet rag into the first row, into the face of an unsuspecting old lady. It was such a big rag. It completely covered her face. The best part was she just threw it back on stage and everyone clapped. I did Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore and this damn cat is supposed to walk onstage at the end. Occasionally (it tended to be Wednesday matinees), the cat would just saunter offstage and walk into the audience. People would just go nuts and start clapping and cheering insanely. It was amazing actually. It reminded us what theater can do that film and TV can’t do. It’s participatory.
These are difficult times for a lot of people.
But you can do things.
Here are three.
(1) Support the brilliant work of Del Reid and the folks at 26Shirts.
Every two weeks, the shirt changes. And a large percentage of the sales go to a worthy cause. This shirt’s cause:
Lucky McMahon is a wonderful 5 year old boy who was born premature at 33 weeks. So far in his life Lucky has required over 15 surgeries, and struggles with a complex medical history as a result. Lucky suffers from Hydrocephalus and Chiari Malformation, but what he really needs help with are his teeth. Lucky requires multiple teeth removed, crowns places, and cavities filled. Without the procedures Lucky’s current infection could worsen and prove fatal. Due to Lucky’s unique diagnoses, he requires anesthesia during his multiple procedures, and a dentist who is able to work with Lucky’s needs. Lucky’s mom Paula is fighting hard for her little boy, and has found a dentist to do his procedures, but she needs financial help to cover the cost. She thanks anyone who purchases a shirt to help her and her little boy!
(2) Give a few dollars to the Windy Kitty Cafe (or whatever animal shelter you support).
If you love cats, and I do, Windy Kitty Cafe is one of the most glorious places on earth. They recently established a kitten nursery and I got to watch about 8 kittens climb on my lady friend Sarah for a half hour. (See directly below.)
They are operating on a shoestring budget right now because they can’t get visitors in the door to help supplement their costs. But you can help. By CLICKING HERE. By giving them a few bucks.
For those of you who don’t know, I live in Woodside, Queens (NY). That’s less than a mile from Elmhurst Hospital, the current epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. This thing has pretty much consumed my brain and kept me from seriously sleeping for weeks. Thankfully, I have this site. So here’s what all this craziness could mean to the NFL season.
I first met Noah Brier in the fall of 2000. And then a bunch of stuff happened in the 20 years since, including him starting this site to stop me from ranting and raving. He drunkenly proclaimed a bathroom was “through the bookcase” in London. We shared a Honeymoon Suite for the Oscars in Frankfurt (because he booked the wrong flight home). We were on a train that split in half in Poland, and ended up befriending the drunkest bowling alley proprietor in Eastern Europe. In Dublin we learned one of life’s great traveling lessons: never start with a finale.
He has a new company.
He has a blog.
He has a newsletter.
He has a Twitter feed that’s become very Coronavirus-specific these days.
DBB: December 2nd 2001. Bears/Lions. Your first experience as a Bears fan. (And one of the great sessions in the history of Ditka’s Restaurant.) I know I feel like I was born into this life but you made the conscious choice as an adult to join the Bears fan parade. Do you regret that decision? If not, what’s been the best part of being a born again Bears fan?
Noah: Well, I can’t say there aren’t moments where I think I should have just become a Giants or Pats fan (growing up in Connecticut both were reasonable options). They’ve put away a collective eight Super Bowls since 2001. But that just seems … boring? Also, compared to the Knicks, who are my only other serious rooting interest, the Bears are a model franchise. So do I regret it? No, not at all. I think the only way to be a sports fan is to believe that all the agony will only make the victory that much sweeter. Plus, I’ve collected some completely absurd memories on trips to Chicago over the last 20 years with you (watching the Bears get destroyed in a literal blizzard, the guy sitting behind us at the playoff game last year giving the worst commentary any person has ever given during a football game, and Joey Harrington—JOEY HARRINGTON!—beating us at Soldier Field in 2006) and there’s no way I would have more fun road-tripping to Foxboro.
DBB: Our seats for the Cody Parkey game were basically at the exact spot of his double doink. We then went to Lou Malnati’s for dinner and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you that depressed. Where does that experience sit on your depression landscape?
For those of you who don’t know, Nick Foles is rumored to have a particularly large phallus. You can read about the lore by CLICKING HERE.
