Bears assistant shares special moment with son

Staley Da Bear

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Mar 16, 2019
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Rumph II watched the draft with his parents, 15-year-old brother Elijah, and a childhood friend. After being selected, the Duke product signed autographs for the neighborhood kids who had flocked to the home after hearing the news.


Rumph II appeared in 35 games over the past three seasons for the Blue Devils, registering 124 tackles, 17.5 sacks and 33.0 tackles-for-loss. Last year the 6-3, 235-pounder established career highs with 52 tackles and 8.0 sacks while also recording 11.5 tackles-for-loss.


Most NFL analysts predicted that Rumph would be selected on the second or third day of the draft. But when Day 2 ended Friday night with him still on the board, there was no sulking.


"That wasn't a problem," Rumph Sr. said. "After the third round was over, we basically said, 'Hey, look, don't worry about it. It's going to be a blessing regardless of where you go. It's not if you go, it's when you go. We didn't get drafted today, but we will get drafted tomorrow.'"


The Bears defensive line coach proved to be correct; his son was chosen with the 13th pick in the fourth round by the Chargers. Chris II was upstairs in his room when he received the call from Los Angeles.


"When the call came through, he came running out of the room and running downstairs," Rumph Sr. said. "That was it. You could hear him talking and answering questions, so it was really good."


Having no idea which team would select his son, the Bears defensive line coach didn't waste much time fretting about where Chris II would go.


"My prayer the whole time was that he got around good people and a good system that was good for him, that's going to bring out the best in him," Rumph Sr. said. "That's all I was worried about. I just wanted him to go to a place that he can grow and continue to mature and gives him the best opportunity to display his abilities."
 
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