Chicago Bears rookie first-round pick Colston Loveland expects to be back on the field for training camp, which opens for him and the team’s other rookies on July 19. He was unable to work on the field with the team in the offseason program and remains anxious to participate.
The No. 10 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Loveland was also the first tight end off the board in the class, adding to the anticipation of seeing him on the field.
Loveland admitted that his extended stint on the sidelines has left him longing, but he is making good use of his time.
Colston Loveland Giving Back Before Bears Training Camp
Bears Rookie Colston Loveland Eager to Get Back on the Field
“Looking forward to a lot,” Loveland said during the event on Tuesday, July 15. “Continuing to build a bond within the team, within the staff, the coaches. I’m looking forward to playing football. It’s been a while since I’ve been out there on the field playing football. So, I’m just looking forward to get back out there, and just continue to grind, work, and go win games.”
Loveland is recovering from surgery in January to repair a shoulder issue he suffered during his final season at Michigan. He could sometimes be seen leaving the practice field to open the offseason program sessions.
He has maintained that he was eager to get back to the more “physical” aspects of the game, though Bears head coach Ben Johnson has taken an even more prudent approach.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is certainly looking forward to working with Loveland.
“Hitting bags,” Loveland told Clocker Sports in May when asked if there was something he was looking forward to doing once cleared. “Once we can actually hit each other, doing that. Just getting back into playing football. [It] has been a while. So, yeah. I’m just excited to be more hands-on and start getting out there. I’m itching to go out there for sure.”
Before that, though, Loveland is already making his mark in the community.
Colston Loveland Raises $7,500 in Charity Challenge
Loveland visited Great Wolf Lodge Illinois in Gurnee with several families from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital for a charity challenge. Children from the hospital passed footballs to Loveland as the Bears’ rookie floated along the Great Wolf’s lazy river in a pool lounger.
For every pass Loveland caught, Great Wolf donated $250 to the hospital. Loveland caught 30 passes for a total of $7,500 in donations.
Loveland called it a “great time.”
“Always a good time to be around the kids; see smiles, laughs, and it’s hard not to have fun when you go to a water park. So, it was a good time. These kids go through a lot, and the fact that the hospital supports them, a lot of people are supporting them, I want to do what I can to support them,” Loveland said.
“That means me coming out here, hanging out, just talking with kids, chatting with kids, raising money. [It] means a lot, and that’s definitely something I want to do. So, that means a lot, just to know that I could be a role model, and me doing that, or me saying, ‘Hi,’ me waving, the littlest thing maybe, it seems, could make a kid’s day or make kids year. And they’ll remember that forever. So, yeah. That’s something that I know I value, and I want to make sure I continue to do that, and I’m always doing that.”
Loveland said he enjoyed seeing the kids have fun and interacting with them. He noted it was his first trip to a water park in eight years and that it made him “feel like I was a kid again out here.”
After the challenge, the Bears’ rookie, Loveland, and the children rode a water slide together.
Colston Loveland Praised After Charity Challenge
“It was an amazing day for our patients and families from Lurie Children’s,” Deana Kerns, the hospital’s director of corporate partnerships, said. “We are so grateful to community partners like Great Wolf Lodge and also Coleston for being a member of the community, coming together to support Lurie Children’s Hospital. The work that we do isn’t possible without the philanthropic dollars and the community coming together to raise funds for important work like research, education, advocacy, and being able to provide the best care here, locally, for all of Chicago’s kids and beyond.”
Great Wolf Lodge Illinois general manager Brieanna Ruggia said Loveland “really brought the energy.”
“Somebody like Colston, rising star athlete for Chicago, he was filled with excitement. The joy that he brought to those children’s faces today will never be forgotten,” Great Wolf Lodge Illinois general manager Brieanna Ruggia said. “We have a responsibility to give back to the community that we serve, and Lurie Children’s Hospital really is a huge sponsor for families in the Chicagoland area. So it feels really great to give back.”