New England Patriots

Five Questions with Shea McClellin

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:35 p.m. ET

Fansided, Bill Zimmerman/FanSided via Bear Goggles On

After a rocky four seasons, Shea McClellin finds himself with the New England Patriots and in the Super Bowl. Bear Goggles On chats with the former Chicago Bears Linebacker.

As the New England Patriots’ players filtered out from the stage after introductions at Super Bowl Opening Night. The media bolted for certain individuals. Obviously, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick received all the attention, but guys like Martellus Bennett had quite the crowd as well. But after the initial media surge, the “rest” of the Patriots found spots to hang out and wait to be bombarded by media questions.

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One player, wearing a hoodie joked around with a couple other players. No one approached him initially. Had he not been wearing his ID badge, media members may not have realized they were blowing past Belichick’s latest successful project.

Shea McClellin waited for the media to surround him, which they finally did. After four rocky seasons with the Chicago Bears, McClellin has found a home with the Patriots and is thriving. That’s nothing new for Belichick’s Patriots. There is no team in the league that is better at finding other team’s garbage and making it their treasure. Bear Goggles On was on site and spoke with the former Chicago linebacker about his first year in New England compared to his first four years in Chicago.

Hey #Bears fans… someone had a better year than us… pic.twitter.com/vq8GeO9wkC

— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) January 31, 2017

1. One year ago you had just wrapped up a disappointing season with Chicago and you weren’t even sure where you would be playing in 2016. Now you are preparing for the Super Bowl, how amazing have the last 52 weeks been for you?

I’m just blessed that I’ve had the opportunity. Just from the offseason and how my career is gone, I’m blessed to be a part of this organization and get the opportunity to play. I can’t say it any other way than that, just blessed to be here.

2. During your four years in Chicago, you were asked to play a lot of different positions as the Bears tried to find the best fit for you. How has that helped you this season in New England?

I think I bounced around a lot, but I think ultimately that actually helped me more than hurt me. I did a lot of different things there and I think the Patriots were able to see what I was capable of doing and now they, with how they use players, I think it works to my advantage as well as other guys on the team as well.

3. The Bears had a rather rough season. Did you pay attention to them at all this year or were you just focused on winning games with the Patriots?

I watch them [the Bears] all the time. I have a lot of friends on the team still and talk to them here or there. They had a lot of injuries and that’s unfortunate. Sometimes that happens, they had a lot of guys go down and that’s unfortunate.

4. We always hear about “the Patriot Way” when hearing about how New England runs their franchise. What have you seen were some of the differences with how the Patriots do things vs your years in Chicago?

Every team has their differences. Every team runs their organization differently. But I don’t really want to get into specific differences.

5. Finally, you had some moments in Chicago, like the Packers game, but overall, there were definitely some struggles and the fans got on you at times. Chris Conte still seems to be holding a grudge against Chicago fans’ do you have one as well or is that in the past?

That’s in the past. I had my opportunity to do what I could. It didn’t work out, but I tried my best, and gave 100% all the time and at the end of the day, that’s all I can do.

Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.