A person dressed in a gorilla suit ran onto the Soldier Field turf during the Bears game Sunday wearing a t-shirt that said “All Lives Matter” on the front and “Put the Guns Down” on the back.
During a television timeout in the fourth quarter, the gorilla snuck onto the field, but was eventually tackled and arrested.
Bears players noticed the incident, but not the shirt — or its political overtones.
“He actually ran right past me,” receiver Eddie Royal said. “I thought it was the mascot at first. I didn’t see the T-shirt.”
Receiver Alshon Jeffery interjected said he didn’t see the shirt. Neither did linebacker Sam Acho, who noticed Willie Young looking away while they were trying to have a conversation during the timeout.
”He’s like, ‘There’s a monkey jumping on the field,’” Acho said. “I thought it was a real live monkey. So I was getting ready to run away. It’s a monkey, right? You should see some chimpanzees out there. They’re vicious. ….
“Thankfully our (director of safety and security) John Tarpey was unbelievable. He went and chased them down. I think we got that taken care of.”
Linebacker Jerrell Freeman joked that Tarpey needed cleats.
“RIP to his hamstrings,” he said. “I thought he was going to pull something out there. We gotta put him out there. He needs a little work on a couple things.”
Acho said the costumed fan could run.
“That dude is a good athlete, whoever that monkey is,” he said. “He’s probably in jail now.”
