If there is one thing you can say about Marcedes Lewis, it’s that he has seen many different team cultures in his previous 17 seasons as an NFL tight end. That is the byproduct of playing under six different head coaches across two different organizations. Some were successful. Some were colossal busts. Lewis has a firm grasp of what healthy cultures look like. He experienced one in Green Bay over the past four seasons as they reached the NFC championship twice. So it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the Chicago Bears after signing with them.
Lewis credited Robert Tonyan and Luke Getsy with recruiting him over the past several weeks. Getsy championed the locker room as a huge selling point. Head coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles had fostered a young, hungry, and inclusive culture that needed a veteran presence to help guide it. Lewis was asked at his opening press conference if there were any similarities between the Bears’ culture and what he’d experienced in Green Bay. There were some, but the tight end actually saw more parallels between his new team and one he briefly joined a few years ago.
Marcedes Lewis recognizes the potential benefits.
Google is the third-most prestigious tech company in the world, with a market cap of $1.629 trillion. Only Apple and Microsoft have more. They did this with many successful technological breakthroughs, but one thing the owners have always championed is their ability to foster a positive culture. One based on learning and knowledge-sharing. That means giving everybody in the building a voice to be heard. This is a philosophy shared by the new Bears team president, Kevin Warren. One of his first goals when taking over was to interview every single employee at Halas Hall, giving them a chance to express their thoughts on the organization.
The idea is that when everyone feels they have a voice in the organization, everybody also feels they have a stake in making it successful. That is what Marcedes Lewis is getting at. Every single coach and player in that locker room has the same desire. They want to win. It’s a matter of figuring out how. This is a classic challenge for a young team. Lewis is exactly the person who can help. His wisdom and experience can be invaluable, and he’s ready to foster the culture with both.
