As Chicago and the NFL world slowly gets to know Tyson Bagent, people are starting to realize the undrafted free agent rookie quarterback has a bit of swag to him. Bagent showed poise earlier in the preseason, and again during the Bears’ Week 6 loss to the Vikings.
The emergence of a swaggy QB2 from Shepherd University was a surprise to some. After all, not many expect UDFA QBs from D-II schools to make much noise in the NFL. It was no surprise to the Bears, though. They’ve known about Bagent’s moxie for quite some time.
“You could see it when he first walked in, he’s just real cool,” said fellow rookie Tyler Scott. “He’s got the arm sleeve, the hair, he’s got the backwards hat with the hair hanging out, got the Dan Marino look. He’s just got that ‘it’ to him in terms of his personality, he’s got that swagger that he walks around with. I could see it when I first met him. I saw him walk through the door and was like, ‘This dude, he’s cool. I can have a real conversation with him.’”
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“Everybody’s got their own little drip, you know what I mean?” said Darnell Wright. “He’s got his own little drip. He do what he do, he’s a pretty cool cat.”
The Internet got a taste of that swag on Monday when “Highly Disputed,” a podcast that focuses on Shepherd athletics, posted this video purportedly showing Bagent rapping at a karaoke bar.
Note, the video has explicit lyrics.
NFL
For what it’s worth, when Bagent was shown the video after practice on Wednesday he cracked a smile and said it wasn’t him. His teammates were split between, “Yeah, that’s definitely him,” and, “I don’t know, the video’s kinda blurry but it for sure looks like him.”
Velus Jones might have said it best though: “Get outta here. Oh snap! That’s Emimen’s brother, they got separated at birth. I didn’t know Tyson was related to Eminem, that’s crazy.”
Again, if that was in fact Bagent in the video, his Bears teammates aren’t surprised. Again, they’ve seen it before. Throughout the Bears locker room, players recalled Bagent bringing the house down with a rap during the rookie talent show back in training camp. According to Scott, there was a standing ovation after the performance.
“Everybody was, ‘Ok, he’s actually got some bars. He got a little something to him,’” Scott said.
“A couple people were yelling ‘B-Rabbit,’” said Tyrique Stevenson, in reference to Eminem’s character in the movie “8 Mile.”
“Tyson had some ill rhymes,” said Jones.
Wright claimed he stole the rookie talent show and seems to have a more discerning taste in rappers. He was the only person to offer any critiques for Bagent’s performance.
“You know the delivery could’ve been a little better, but he got the words down. He did good. I’m not hating.”
That swag gives the Bears confidence that Bagent will have no problems handling the pressure that comes with a first NFL start.
Stevenson noticed Bagent’s confidence before the two became teammates, at the Senior Bowl. Stevenson wanted jersey No. 7 but Bagent got it, which left Stevenson with No. 8. So Stevenson tuned in to see what Bagent could do in the jersey that he wanted to wear.
“His throws was pretty much great. In one-on-ones he was making a lot of throws. When he went out there and played against us he was calm, cool and collected just like he is now. It really seems like nothing fazes him.”
Bagent says that confidence comes from the preparation he puts in to continue improving as a quarterback and from his family’s support. If Justin Fields can’t play against the Raiders due to his dislocated thumb, we’ll get to see how that confidence translates to the Bears offense for a full 60 minutes.