Kevin Warren has refused to drink from a straw ever since the accident.
A 10-year-old Warren was riding his bicycle to meet friends to play pick-up basketball in Tempe, Ariz., in the summer of 1974 when he was hit from behind by a woman driving a car. He flew 30 feet through the air and landed on a small patch of grass, which probably saved his life.
Warren was put in traction, and then a body cast up to his chest, as he waited on a compound fracture of his leg to heal. He laid flat on his back for almost a year even as he grew too large for his cast, using a bedpan and eating his meals through a straw.
“It was an awful experience, but it was the greatest experience of my life,” he said. “It gave me resolve.”
Warren spent months in the hospital. When he got home, the youngest of seven children would occasionally be by himself, unable to move, wondering what would happen if a fire broke out or if he choked.
“I think I had a mental breakdown,” he said. “I had to re-wire myself.”
Doctors said swimming would help, so Warren used part of a $30,000 settlement to build one in his family’s backyard. He learned how to walk again. That goal-setting helped him develop into a college basketball star — he’s in the Grand Canyon University Hall of Fame — and then into an agent, executive and Big Ten commissioner.
The Bears named Warren their president/CEO on Tuesday, what they hope will be progress in a pivotal time for the franchise. They have a stadium to build in Arlington Heights, a No. 1 overall draft pick and the most free-agent money to spend.
Warren, the first black Power 5 commissioner, is the second person not related to founder George Halas to hold the position, and the first to ever get it without working inside Halas Hall first.
“The whole idea is to have fresh and new ideas,” said chairman George McCaskey, who interviewed more than 20 candidates. “But I don’t think he feels differently than the rest of the people in this building. We all want to win. We want championships.”
McCaskey said his mother Virginia — who turned 100 earlier this month — congratulated him on the Warren hire, and that he reciprocated. Both McCaskeys were relieved to have chosen a replacement for Ted Phillips, who is retiring after 24 years as president/CEO.
“Papa Bear is smiling today,” McCaskey said.
Being new is both beneficial and a challenge. Warren doesn’t distinguish between the two.
“It wasn’t a priority when we did the search — but the fact that he is from the outside definitely gives us the benefit of diversity of thought,” Phillips said. “It’s a new, fresh perspective.”
In December, Warren attended the Bears-Eagles game as a fan — he bought a ticket online — to scout out the Soldier Field experience. In October, he watched the Bears play at U.S. Bank Stadium, the palace he helped build as Vikings COO. Afterward, he went to the Bears locker room to greet Justin Fields, who just three years ago had been a thorn in his side. While at Ohio State in 2020, the quarterback protested Warren’s short-lived idea to suspend all fall sports because of the coronavirus. The two, Warren said, have since developed a strong personal relationship.
“I would’ve done the same thing,” he said. “What that told me about Justin is that he’s passionate. My whole goal was trying to keep players safe. I appreciated him being able to take that leadership role. I called him on draft day and I was ecstatic that he got drafted by the Bears — because that’s what you need from a leadership standpoint.”
The Bears feel the same way about Warren, who has a lot of work to do.
“This is a special time in the NFL, but most of all, it’s a special time for the Chicago Bears,” Warren said. “Everything is ahead of us.”
