Bears went to great lengths to keep their interest in Mitchell Trubisky a secret

The Chicago Bears surprised us all during the NFL draft by moving up one spot to No. 2 overall to select North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Yet the Bears had an idea of drafting him all along, but carried out measures to keep it a secret.

Five members of the Bears — GM Ryan Pace, head coach John Fox, director of player personnel Josh Lucas, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, and quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone — made the trip to Chapel Hill to evaluate Trubisky, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Pace asked Trubisky to select a place for dinner so they could get to know him. Pace’s only request was that the meeting was a secret. Trubisky did that, making a reservation at a steakhouse called Bin 54. The best part was how Trubisky put it under the alias “James McMahon,” (better known as Jim) the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl for the Bears.

The Bears seemed to really appreciate that touch he put on the reservation. “I thought that was cool,” Pace told the Tribune.

“That told me he was prepared, that he did his homework,” Loggains said. “You knew this moment wasn’t too big for him. He still was having fun with it.”

When the dinner ended, everybody made their way to the parking lot. That’s where they saw Trubisky driving his 1997 Toyota Camry, previously owned by his grandma.

“Keep that thing, man,” Pace told Trubisky. “Seriously. Don’t ever change. Stay true to who you are.” Sure enough, Trubisky showed up to camp in the car after being drafted.

The next morning, a private workout was held. At this point, the Bears still kept their presence unknown to the UNC football program. The workout was at Ehringhaus Field, a public intramural complex near the UNC baseball stadium.

A man who noticed the workout asked if Pace and company were with the Cowboys. To throw the man off the scent, Pace said that they were. “I didn’t lie to the dude,” Pace said. “I just went with what he thought.”

The Bears went through a whole lot of effort to keep things under wraps, and it worked. They also learned the detail that Trubisky will put into things. While he likely won’t be the starter immediately because of veteran Mike Glennon, the rookie will have time to continue to grow.

We don’t know yet if Trubisky can follow in McMahon’s footsteps, but if he does, he might have to break out this look.