Seats are filling up. Advertisements are playing. Horns are blaring. Drums are snaring.
It’s another Saturday at Memorial Stadium, and kickoff is in less than an hour.
Behind all the pregame noise outside, inside the Bears’ locker room and in front of locker No. 8 sits linebacker Michael Barton. With his pads on and his helmet next to him, Barton calmly has his head down in prayer. After a few moments to himself, Barton gets up, puts his helmet on and gets ready to run onto the gridiron.
“I had a young man that I had to raise, so I didn’t beat around the bush with him.