Having an even personality is something Tonyan and Fields share. For Tonyan, that calm presence comes from his non-traditional journey to being an NFL tight end, as he’s learned to always “just keep going.”
When Tonyan was in high school at McHenry Community, he seemed to have a future as a quarterback as he set the school record with 5,000 passing yards and earned all conference honors as a junior and senior.
Tonyan then became a quarterback for Indiana State in 2013, appearing in 11 games, before moving up to wide receiver the following season and remaining at that position for the rest of his college career. After not being called up again in 2017, Tonyan moved to the tight end, was picked up by the Lions and cut after a training camp.
While Tonyan didn’t always know how his football career would turn out, he never lost faith that he would make his way into the league and eventually end up back in Chicago.
“I had no idea where I was going to be, how I was going to get there, anything,” said Tonyan, “I just knew I was going to be in the NFL and wherever that journey took me or whatever I had to do. to get there, change from quarterback to receiver now to tight end, just playing football is my dream and my life.
“It does so much for my friends and family, it just gives opportunities across the board to just live a great life and a blessed life. Did I think I’d be a tight end for the Bears? No. But did I think that I’d play for the Bears? Yeah, absolutely. In my head, I’ve played for the Bears my whole life. I’m just super excited to be here.”