Robbie Gould reflects on past experience of playing in London and what lies in store for Bears
The Bears will be the home team for their Week 6 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their home field will not be at Soldier Field, however – it will be across the pond at Tottenham Hotspur New Stadium in London.
This will be the 4th time the Bears will play a game in London as well as the 2nd time the Bears will play in Tottenham. They last played there in 2019 against the Oakland Raiders.
As former Bears kicker Robbie Gould explained on a recent episode of Bears Den, the travel will be a unique and interesting experience for the team as they travel and prepare for a football game.
[MORE: Why Bears are spending a full practice week in London]
“It will be interesting. This year they went on Monday, land on Tuesday and then they’re going to go through their normal protocol of practice,” Gould said on Bears Den. “What will be interesting is what they do from a body regeneration maintenance. Are they going to have their massage therapies? Are they going to have their acupuncture? Are they going to have their foam rolling, cold tubs? Normally teams that have left on Thursday have predominantly won this football game. For me, it’ll be interesting to see how the Bears handle being there for the week, sight seeing as well as what their normal routine would be.”
Gould has played in two London games. One as a member of the Bears in 2011 and another as a member of the New York Giants in 2016. During his time, Gould’s shares some special places he visited during his trips to London.
“We landed on Friday afternoon, went straight to practice at The Oval, which was incredible. It’s one of the most renowned cricket stadiums there are. Then I went to visit Wimbledon, my brother came over and was hanging out with me. We went all over the city,” Gould recalled from his time in London. “What was unique to me about the experience was if you were there early in the week like Tampa Bay [Buccaneers] was, they went across the bullet train to France and visited Paris. It is kind of unique for different opportunities that will arise for these players. But remember, there is a game on Sunday.”