NFL Draft 2020: Cole Kmet says playing for Bears would be ‘a dream come true’

Cole Kmet is well aware that the Bears released Trey Burton last week. He knows they could be looking for a tight end like him in the NFL Draft.

“I've had quite a bit of contact with the Bears,” Kmet said on the "Hoge & Jahns” podcast on Tuesday. “I know that they're potentially in the market for a tight end in this draft. Obviously, that would be very exciting for me as a hometown kid being able to play there. That would just be a childhood dream come true.”

Kmet is a Lake Barrington native and was a superstar baseball and football player at St. Viator High School before going to Notre Dame, where he was a two-sport athlete.

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Last year, he decided to concentrate on football, and after a big junior season, he entered the NFL Draft. Some consider him to be the No. 1 tight end in the draft, and he could still be on the board when the Bears pick at No. 43 in the second round.

“Everything has been over Zoom,” Kmet said when asked if he made it to Halas Hall for a visit before pre-draft visits were shut down. “I know that they were trying to get me there, but with everything going on, that wasn't able to happen. I had a late Pro Day scheduled, so I was actually in Los Angeles training for quite a while until this all kind of happened, so I wasn't able to get on any of the top 30 visits. But it's been good. I've talked to (the Bears) over Zoom, and it all seems to go really well.”

Kmet grew up a Bears fan and was even drafted by the White Sox in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He turned down a contract from the White Sox because he wanted to play both sports at Notre Dame. That gamble as paid off, and he still has a chance to play for a professional team in Chicago.

“I always loved Greg Olsen when he was on the Bears. That was a lot of fun to watch,” Kmet said. “Obviously, a player that you just love watching as a football guy is Brian Urlacher. That was a lot of fun, especially the year they went to the Super Bowl. So yeah, it's just been a childhood dream of mine to play for the Bears. That would be awesome and, obviously, really exciting if they decided to pick me on draft day.”