Bears Rookie Left South Africa To Pursue Football Thanks to Two Movies
Easily the most interesting rookie of the Chicago Bears 2020 class is Dieter Eiselen. Here’s a kid who hails from South Africa and made his name as a rugby player and Olympic weightlifter. What could possibly have convinced him that American football was the thing he wanted to do with his life? Larry Mayer of Chicagobears.com found that out during an interesting interview.
Eiselen was fascinated with football from the start. He enjoyed the intricacies of team play the game provided. Something he didn’t really see in most sports his country loved including rugby. The more information about it he absorbed, the more interested he became. Apparently it started in large part thanks to Hollywood as two notable football movies helped capture his imagine. Two movies that couldn’t be more different.
Growing up in South Africa, Eiselen was an acclaimed rugby player and Olympic weightlifter who wasn’t very familiar with American football.
“My knowledge of football was just from things that I had got exposed to like ‘Friday Night Lights‘ and the ‘Water Boy‘ and stuff like that,” Eiselen said.
Not that Boobie Miles and Bobby Boucher didn’t provide inspiration. But Eiselen’s love affair with American football actually began in 2012 when he watched Notre Dame defeat Stanford 20-13 in an overtime thriller.
“It was the first time that I really sat down and watched a game,” Eiselen said. “It really captivated me. I was just enthralled with that first game. That really kind of sparked my interest.”
Dieter Eiselen found the Chicago Bears by taking a chance on a dream
It can’t be easy flying 8,000 miles from home to pursue a profession he knew little about. It took guts to take that chance and he was quickly rewarded by earning a scholarship to Yale. There he became their starting left guard as a freshman and remained there for the rest of his college career. When the Bears came calling with an offer, he was all too happy to accept.
One additional part of all this is this isn’t the first time the Bears have dipped into the Yale pool. Gary Fencik, one of their all-time best defensive backs attended that school. So did former head coach Dick Jauron who led them to a division title in 2001. Theo Epstein, the architect of the 2016 champion Chicago Cubs also went there. So this city tends to benefit from Yale grads. A welcome sign that Eiselen might have a bright future.