A pivotal meeting and a confident comparison revealed Colston Loveland's immediate impact, even before his rookie season with the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears took a gamble in the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting tight end Colston Loveland out of Michigan with the 10th overall pick.
The decision to pick Loveland as high as they did paid off.
He led the team in receiving yards in his first season with 713. He had 100-yard games in the regular season and playoffs. The first came in the wild 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Loveland caught a go-ahead touchdown pass with under 30 seconds left to secure the win for Chicago. Then, he had 137 receiving yards in the 31-27 comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round.
The tight end discussed what it was like meeting head coach Ben Johnson and General Manager Ryan Poles ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. Loveland shared that he wasn't doing drills at Michigan's Pro Day and that he had just had a meeting with the head coach.
Loveland revealed that Johnson asked him if there was an NFL player that he plays like. The tight end answered Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions, and Johnson agreed. Loveland must've known about Johnson's background.
"I met with him at the combine, but Pro Day, him, Poles, the whole staff, they came, and then I had a formal meeting with him," Loveland said. "It was a long meeting, a tough meeting, getting on the board. I walked out of that thinking I killed it, too. I was like, ok, I did a good job here. I was like, ok, they definitely have some interest. They brought everyone here to Pro Day. I wasn't doing anything at Pro Day, just an interview. I think there was one thing. I was on the board, saying or maybe Coach Johnson asked who do you compare your game to or whatever. I said, I think I play a lot like Sam LaPorta, and he said 'I agree.'"
It's no wonder Loveland has been an adored figure in Chicago.
Even his teammates came up with a nickname for him before the regular season kicked off. Kevin Byard shared that he started calling the rookie "Third and Colston" because he was always open when the team needed a big third-down conversion.
Loveland made his mark on the Bears in year one, and fans should be very excited for what's to come in the promising NFL career of the young tight end.