Bears 1st-rounder Dillon Thieneman's favorite college moment? Silencing Penn State

Dillon Thieneman has been cheered his whole life.

His best college memory, though, might have been the silence he caused.

As Oregon’s star safety, the Bears’ first-round draft pick intercepted Drew Allar in double overtime to clinch a 30-24 win on Sept. 27 at Penn State. The crowd, which arrived at the prime-time game wearing all white, was stunned.

“It’s a white-out game, [ESPN’s] ‘College GameDay,’ the stadium’s super loud, double overtime,” Thieneman said Friday at Halas Hall. “To get the pick — and everything just goes silent. I could hear all the Oregon fans and my family yelling up in the stands.

“That moment was awesome.”

On first-and-10 from the Ducks’ 25, Thieneman started in the middle of the field and ran to his left to cover the running back coming out of the backfield. When he realized the running back was starting a wheel route, he backpedaled, looked for the ball — and leapt.

His risk paid off.

“That just comes more with experience,” he said. “Experience watching the game, experience going against certain teams, certain offenses and playing different defensive schemes and trusting your guys around you.”

Bears college scouting director Breck Ackley was impressed by how he met the occasion when the No. 6 Ducks faced the No. 3 Nittany Lions.

“You’re watching him in a big-time game and a pressure moment,” Ackley said. “It was an instinctual play where he drops. That’s a guy going to win a ball game for his team and is relying on his instincts.”

It was the first of Thieneman’s two interceptions last year; the other sealed a 26-14 win against rival Washington with 1:20 to play in their regular-season finale.

Thieneman flew to Halas Hall on Friday after attending the draft in Pittsburgh, meeting with general manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson.

“I understand this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” he said. “So you’ve just got to take it all in and just enjoy it.”

Colston quick with a greeting

The first Bears player Thieneman heard from when he was drafted 25th overall was the Bears’ previous first-round pick — tight end Colston Loveland.

“He was like, ‘Glad to have you on the team, can’t wait to get to work, let me know if you need anything,’” the former Oregon safety said.

The two faced off against each other in 2023, when Loveland had four catches for 55 yards for Michigan while playing alongside future Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Thieneman, who had six interceptions in his first year at Purdue en route to Freshman All-American and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, had one pass deflection and five tackles in a 41-13 loss to the Wolverines.

“I know that [Michigan] won — they won a lot of games,” Thieneman said with a smile.

“He’s an extremely talented player. I didn’t get to match up with him specifically in that game because of our defensive scheme, but I know that he’s a good player.”

Another honor for Mongo

Former Bears defensive lineman Steve “Mongo” McMichael was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday in Waco.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer, who died of ALS a year ago this week, was a Houston native who attended the University of Texas, where he set school records for both sacks and tackles.

He was joined in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame by soccer star Clint Dempsey, football players Zack Martin and Von Miller, former TCU coach Gary Patterson, former Negro League player Louis Santop, rodeo star Charmayne James, speed skater Chad Hedrick and members of the 1966 Texas Western basketball team.