Sam Mustipher — trained by Olin Kreutz and fueled by Lou Malnati’s — hopes added strength and experience will lead to more success as the Chicago Bears center

Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune
·5 min read

Sam Mustipher paused for a moment when considering how to detail his offseason weight-gain plan and then made his pitch.

“If I play my cards right, I’ll probably get a sponsorship out of this,” he said. “Chicago has a lot of good food. I love Lou’s — thin crust, deep dish, whatever, it’s all good.”

The secret to the Chicago Bears center’s bid to get bigger and stronger this offseason was Lou Malnati’s. Well, that and some serious training that required some weeks with 10-plus workouts.

Mustipher entered camp at 332 pounds and was a bit heavier at offseason workouts before focusing on cutting down his fat in the six weeks before training camp. The goal was to add more muscle as he entered camp as the starter for the first time, and that also required consuming the right amount of calories — “an offensive lineman’s dream,” he said.

“My strength numbers went up,” Mustipher said. “That was the critical thing. You can get big and just get fat and slow. I wanted to get strong and explosive. And so I feel like that’s where I put the weight on. And then these last few weeks, (I was) just trimming off some of that fat.”

On Friday, Bears coach Matt Nagy called Mustipher a “pretty cool story.”

After starting 37 games at center for Notre Dame, Mustipher signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He spent that year on the practice squad and entered the 2020 season as a backup before injuries to James Daniels and Cody Whitehair paved the way to start at center in Week 8.

The Bears were pleased enough with his play that he started seven regular-season games at center, with Whitehair moving over to left guard, as the offense made a late-season surge. That included 144 rushing yards per game over the final six regular-season games, though some of that production came against struggling defenses.

But while the Bears have questions at both tackle positions, they seem solid on the interior with Mustipher set to start between Whitehair and Daniels this year.

“He leads by his actions,” Nagy said. “Last year, the chance he had to get in there and play, he took advantage of it. The game means a lot to him. The guys look to him as a leader. He’s super smart. He’s a quarterback’s best friend, which is neat.

“He went ahead this offseason and put on some weight — some good weight — and now to really be able to anchor in there at that position, making Mike ID calls in the run game and pass game and the different things he does, that’s simple to him. Now it’s just communicating with the new guys on the line and building that rapport. How do you not like a success story like that of a guy that was not drafted to be able to come in here and do that?”

Mustipher has had a good tutor and trainer the last two offseasons: former Bears center Olin Kreutz, an All-Pro and who made six Pro Bowls in his 13 years with Chicago.

Mustipher places a high value on Kreutz’s experience and knowledge and said Kreutz still demonstrates the type of daily intensity that is needed to be successful.

“Being around that all the time, it changes your mentality and your focus and your understanding of exactly what it takes to be successful at really anything that you want to do,” Mustipher said. “But right now all I want to do is football and it’s my passion. It was his passion. And you know, you see the fire that he has for it and getting better and pushing us to be the best that we can be.”

At Halas Hall, Mustipher has Whitehair to lend advice, and the sixth-year NFL veteran said he has been impressed with Mustipher’s work ethic and growth.

“Just the amount of knowledge that he has for the game and the way he sees things, it’s something special,” Whitehair said. “… The sky is the limit for the kid. I just love the mentality he comes with every day. He comes in ready to work. He’s one of the first guys in the building. He’s always studying his iPad every time you see him at his locker. He’s always trying to perfect his game. And that’s helped him get to where he’s at today, and he’s only going to get better.”

Mustipher said not much has changed in his approach this training camp even though it’s his first as the presumptive starter.

He’s excited to get to work against defensive linemen such as Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks and Bilal Nichols, especially as they put on pads for the first time Tuesday. He’ll use film to determine where his body still needs work to achieve optimal strength, speed and mobility.

And while his circumstances are different, he will maintain the same attitude he had the last two seasons.

“Every day that I come in, it’s the same hunger and passion and love and energy that I have for the game when I was an undrafted guy,” Mustipher said. “I feel like I have a little bit more experience about the schedule, how to prep, what times I need to be doing certain things. I feel like that’s where the experience comes in, but my mindset is still the same, still fighting and scratching and clawing because as quick as I got it is as quick it can go.”