Daniel's first ever guest on the debut show Monday night was none other than newly acquired Bears quarterback Nick Foles, whom Chicago acquired in a trade agreement with Jacksonville on March 18.
Daniel didn't ask about Foles being traded to the Bears or dive into the football side, noting that "there's probably some PR departments from the Bears, the Lions" watching the show. The football questions for Foles will have to wait until his deal in Chicago becomes official.
But Daniel's conversation with the 31-year-old Foles did provide a glimpse into his interesting background. Here are five details about the Bears' new quarterback.
Related
In all likelihood, Foles won't take the practice field with the Bears until sometime this summer -- and perhaps not until training camp. The coronavirus outbreak has postponed offseason programs across the NFL, which means the start of the Bears' quarterback competition will be delayed.
In the meantime, Foles is participating in an intense training regimen. He spent the last two months preparing himself as if he's running an Ironman race.
"I've always wanted to do an Ironman," Foles said. "I won't probably do it because I'm playing, because we obviously sign our lives away in the contract. But I've approached my training like Ironman training. So, I've developed a plan, and it got to a point where one of my last workouts I'm doing in this training was like a 9.8-mile run, a 33,000-yard swim and probably an hour-and-a-half on the bike.
"It's not (easy). And that's the reason I'm so intrigued by it."
During this offseason, Foles took a class in theological studies at Liberty University. He hopes to someday pursue vocational ministry.
"I can't believe I decided to go back to school, but it's for a great foundation in that," Foles said.
Foles is also setting up the Foles Believe It Foundation, with the goal of uplifting communities in positive ways through Jesus's name, whether it be with youth initiatives, family crisis counseling, homelessness programs or the promotion of health.
"We want to make sure it's something where we can really make an impact and it's not another foundation by an athlete," Foles said. "We want to make a difference. That's our point. That's why I want to get into vocational ministry some day. That's where my heart is."
Foles is a partner with Bulletproof 360 coffee, a company that sells product that claims to enhance brain and energy performance. It's something Foles has shared with teammates.
When Foles was with the Eagles, he would brew coffee for the quarterbacks ahead of their 6 a.m. film studies.
"You need coffee to roll with a 6 a.m. meeting," Foles said to Daniel.
Daniel turned Foles to a coffeemaker called Jura and said his former teammates Drew Brees and Mitchell Trubisky followed his lead. Trubisky even bought a Jura for the Bears' quarterback room at Halas Hall.
"You are going to get to enjoy that when you get in that quarterback room at some point," Daniel said to Foles.
Foles' father, Larry, is a restaurateur who owns a number of dining businesses in Texas, Arizona and California.
With the coronavirus outbreak forcing restaurants to close to dine-in customers, Larry has had to adjust the plan for his restaurants, Foles said.
"This is obviously a challenge for the hospitality business right now," Foles said. "A lot of people are suffering. A lot of it's turning into to-go orders. It's really the sitdown industry. It's been fascinating hearing what he's been doing to help the employees and create something that works. It's a challenge right now with the coronavirus."
At the request of Daniel, he and Foles didn't discuss football. But there was a brief mention of the Bears when Foles reminded his alma mater of Arizona shares a slogan with his new team.
"Arizona also says 'Bear Down,' so I get to say 'Bear Down' once again," Foles said. "That's pretty exciting."