For Bears’ Matt Nagy, attending funeral for firefighter was right thing to do

On Monday, Bears coach Matt Nagy attended the funeral for Juan Bucio, the Chicago Fire Department diver who died while searching for a man — Alberto Lopez — who fell into the Chicago River.

“You remind your players every day of the sacrifice that they’re going through as players,” Nagy said Tuesday after the first day of minicamp.

“It’s a lot of energy. There’s tiredness. There’s feeling sorry for yourself at times. And then you talk about a guy like Zach Miller, a guy that almost loses his leg. There’s sacrifices. So I’m not taking anything away from our players at all.

“But at the same time, you try to put it into perspective into somebody that loses their life trying to save somebody else. That’s real. That’s just the human element, the human side of it. There’s a lot of guys on our team that we talked about that situation, and it’s hard.”

After seeing the support that Bucio’s family received, Nagy said attending the funeral at St. Rita of Cascia High School on the South Side was a moment that he’ll never forget.

Several firefighters stopped Nagy, who wore a blue suit with an orange tie, to thank him for attending the funeral.

“I just felt it was important to show support from this organization,” Nagy said. “It just goes to show you what this city is all about, everybody and how much they care for each other, and how we’re all here for one another. I just felt that was the right thing to do, and I’m very glad I did it.”