Jim Covert: Untold Stories of Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, Walter Payton's best pranks, Journey to Healthcare CEO
NFL: Good Morning Football
iHeartPodcasts and NFL
4.3 • 655 Ratings
🗓️ 5 November 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, Hall of Famer Jim Covert joins Peanut Tillman and Roman Harper to reflect on his incredible journey from anchoring the ’85 Chicago Bears offensive line to leading in the healthcare industry after football.
Jim shares untold stories from his playing days — including his famous fight with Steve McMichael, blocking for Walter Payton, and what it was like facing that dominant Bears defense every day in practice. He also opens up about the injury that ended his career, his transition from the NFL to the boardroom, and how his daughter’s fight with spina bifida changed his perspective on leadership, resilience, and purpose. It’s an inspiring conversation about toughness, legacy, and the power of reinvention — on and off the field.
The NFL Players: Second Acts podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Media.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:04.1 | He's a pain in the ass. |
| 0:06.3 | I appreciate you being so honest. |
| 0:07.9 | He's a pain in the ass. |
| 0:09.5 | And so I'm blocking Richard. |
| 0:12.9 | And boom, I get run into behind, you know, by McMichael. |
| 0:17.3 | And I go, what's your problem, man? |
| 0:19.2 | He goes, your damn buddy pushed you into me. What the fuck you're going to do about it anyway, you know? And that's all what's your problem, man? He goes, your damn buddy pushed you into me. |
| 0:21.8 | What the fuck you're going to do about it anyway, you know? |
| 0:24.1 | And that's how the thing started, you know. |
| 0:25.9 | And so I just, I don't know, I mean, I just grabbed him and I, you know, I was wrestled, you know. |
| 0:31.5 | So I just did kind of lateral drop on them and, you know, I got them down and I got them pretty good. |
| 0:43.6 | What's up, everybody? |
| 0:44.7 | I'm Peanut Tillman, and this is the NFL player second X podcast with me as always. |
| 0:50.1 | My trusty co-host, Roman, I cannot golf Harper. |
| 0:54.2 | Well, now you're just telling lies, so we're going to move on and get straight to our guests. |
| 0:58.8 | This guy is a Hall of Fame tackle, two-time first team all-pro, two-time pro bowler, |
| 1:04.4 | Super Bowl winning champion with the Chicago Bears in 1985. |
| 1:08.1 | He is a health care executive. |
| 1:10.3 | Please welcome to the pot. Mr. Jim Covert to the pot. |
| 1:14.9 | Welcome to the pot. Thank you. A lot of energy going on here. I like it. |
| 1:20.3 | It's all trying to bring it. I know. Day one a podcast. Day one. Peanuts not on hour five. |
... |
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