Rookies at Wrigley: Behind the Scenes with Shemar Turner

As told to Gabby Hajduk

The Bears rookie class took its annual trip to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field last Friday. ChicagoBears.com gave defensive lineman Shemar Turner a disposable camera to document his first time at an MLB game, teammate Ozzy Trapilo's first pitch experience and much more.

I didn't really know what to expect from our rookie outing to the Cubs game, but I honestly had a really fun time. It was the first time I've seen an MLB game in person or even been to a professional baseball stadium.

I've always tried to watch baseball on TV, but have never been able to get into it. Actually seeing it live changed my perspective. I captured my day at Wrigley Field with a little disposable camera, so I'm here to show y'all how it went.

The whole rookie class made the trip down to Wrigleyville around noon. We started in the lobby and each got our own Cubs jersey to wear for the day, which was pretty cool.

A couple people from the Cubs walked us around the stadium and onto the field while the players were warming up. It was exciting to see the guys getting into their own gameday routines.

I was honestly surprised by how big the stadium was. The fields look a lot smaller on TV and I didn't know the stands go entirely around the field. It was super cool to see how it all works.

Of course I had to get some shots of my guys. I knew my photo-taking skills were gonna be a 10. I can't lie, I think I earned the 10. I mean, I'm always gonna try and be great at everything I do and I definitely didn't want to mess this up, so I put all my effort in here.

We spent a little time just hanging out on the field, chopping it up, meeting some people from the Cubs and having a good time.

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and Colston Loveland Clark the Cub and Ozzy Trapilo

The guys had to put some work in while we were out there, so Colston got out on the field and helped some of the staff spray paint the third base foul line. What isn't pictured is him dropping and breaking the top of the can off afterward.

An obvious highlight of the day came from Ozzy. He was scheduled to throw out the first pitch and we were all excited to see what he could do. First of all, I didn't know multiple people threw out the first pitch at games. Second of all, Ozzy did great. I'd rate his pitch an 8.5 out of 10.

I'm a big Ozzy fan so I was pretty high on his talent before he even threw the ball. He's a big dude so I felt like it wouldn't be hard for him to get it to the plate. Now if I would've thrown the first pitch, I probably would've tried to do too much. The ball would've gone a little wild.

By the way, I think this is the best picture of the day. I was locked in for this shot.

Before we left the field, I obviously had to get in a couple pictures. A few people got cut off in the selfie, but you see the vision.

The game was about to start so we made our way off the field and headed up to our suite, which was awesome. Everyone immediately grabbed some food and sat down to watch the game.

I had to make myself a Chicago-style hot dog and I can't lie, it was a 10 out of 10. The green relish was something I've never had before on my hot dog. I thought it was going to taste weird, but I actually liked it. I made sure to show off my picture-perfect Chicago meal.

We had a great time watching the game and we had such a good view. It ended up being a really close game too, so it was exciting to be a part of it.

Another highlight of the day was when the dessert cart came around. There's no way dessert carts like that should be allowed. It's like diabetes on wheels, but man, it was so good. The cheesecake and ice cream combo went crazy. I didn't even take the time to snap a picture of that. I also took some candy for the trip home because why not?

There were so many great moments from the day, but really the best was just kicking it with the guys in the suite. Having that time outside the building actually helps us a lot, more than people would think.

When we're at Halas Hall, we're all locked in on football and trying to learn as much as we can, so it's cool when we're able to step outside that and experience some new things together. We can really just let loose and have fun and build that close bond throughout the group.

I appreciate all the Bears fans out there for following along and just supporting us rookies as a whole. Bear Down, and now, Go Cubs Go!

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