Robert Quinn calls Roquan Smith a 'little brother' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
On Wednesday, Roquan Smith broke into tears during his media session as he found out the Bears would be trading Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
To Smith, Quinn meant a lot to him. Quinn was a respected leader in the locker room, and was voted a captain of this year's team by the players.
To Quinn, Smith means equally the same to him.
"That's my guy," Quinn said during his first press conference with the Eagles. "Ro [Roquan] you could say is like a little brother, you know? We became pretty tight as friends. To see that reaction, it really just shows the love that we have.
"To take a teammate and turn him into a brother? You don't get to do that too often."
The move was an effective step in the right direction for a rebuilding Bears team. Quinn's timeline doesn't fit the Bears' anymore, and his contract is an unattractive number to pay for a team looking to rebuild with younger players.
Nonetheless, the trade wasn't an easy one to make by rookie general manager Ryan Poles. Poles was empathetic to how the move would affect the locker room, and shared his emotions the same day as the trade.
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“You know that you’re tweaking the fibers of your locker room, and that’s a big deal too,” Poles said. “It sucks to mess with that, to be completely honest with you.”
For players like Smith, who had a relationship with Quinn beyond football, it will be difficult to go about business as usual.
But, it's something the team will have to learn to do starting Sunday, when the Bears play the Dallas Cowboys.
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