CATCH-22: Bears TE Sam Roush hoping to make a world of difference

Analyzing the Bears with the help of 22 names, starting with …

Sam Roush (1), the rookie tight end who played a whopping 53% of the Bears’ snaps Monday in place of Cole Kmet (2). The third-round rookie has just three catches this year for 33 yards this year.

“He's done a good job with what we've asked him to do ...” offensive coordinator Press Taylor (3) said. “We have a lot of mouths to feed.”

Roush spent ages 9-12 halfway across the world. His father’s business took their family to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for six months and then Jakarta, Indonesia, for about three years.

Roush kept himself entertained by chasing bugs and lizards outside his home.

“Like any 10-year old boy,” he said, “that was kinda my thing.”

He can still detail his favorite finds: a lizard that expanded its arms to glide and a tailless whip scorpion that he later saw in a “Harry Potter” (4) movie. He had to be careful to avoid venomous snakes.

“You don’t wanna go wandering into a grassy field,” he said.

Roush has made his living running in one. At first, though, he played rugby in southeast Asia. When he returned home, he realized he didn’t know the same rock bands his American friends did.

“I missed out on a couple years of culture,” he said. “I was a little bit of a weird kid.”

Trent Dilfer (5), the former NFL quarterback and ESPN personality who coached Roush at Lipscomb Academy, uses a different descriptor.

“He’s just different than 99 percent of the kids his age,” Dilfer told me. “He’s more cultured, more mature and, I think, tougher … mentally and physically.”

When he moved to Nashville before his senior high school season, Roush had already committed to play for David Shaw (6) — he was Stanford’s second-ranked recruit, behind future No. 2 overall pick David Bailey (7). Dilfer convinced him to play defensive line to improve his physicality and was delighted by his “lack of entitlement.”

He’s comfortable in his own skin, too, something Roush attributes that to moving seven times — from coast-to-coast and overseas — before attending college. He can be goofy. He wore glasses with tape on the bridge for his senior mug shot, a Stanford tight end tradition.

“Stanford men are comfortable with the rigors of life,” Dilfer said. “And free spirits.”

Roush’s best advice has come from …

Phil Olsen (8), his maternal grandfather, who was drafted fourth overall in 1970 and played six NFL seasons. When Roush made mistakes earlier this season — he dropped a touchdown and whiffed on a blocked field goal in the final minutes of the Bears’ Week 2 loss to the Vikings, and botched punt coverage in Week 3 — his grandfather told him to take the outside pressure in stride.

“Obviously it’s more than it was in college,” Roush said, “but it really shouldn’t impact my process at all.”

Roush bought a Brick, a device that limits screen time on his phone. That helped.

“I just locked all my social media,” he said.

Football runs in Roush’s family. Phil’s brother Merlin (9) went to 14 Pro Bowls and later starred in “Little House on the Prairie” and on NFL and college football broadcasts. Phil’s other brother Orrin (10) played for the Chiefs.

Roush’s dad Luke (11) played defensive back at Duke. John Roush (12), Sam’s paternal grandfather, played running back at Ohio, while uncle Mark Roush (13) played safety at Northwestern. He has family members who have played linebacker at Stanford and defensive tackle at BYU, too.

Playing 14% of the tight end snaps Monday was …

Stephen Carlson (14), who was promoted from the practice squad as part of the league’s one-day-only standard elevation program. On Wednesday, he was put on the 53-man roster for just the second time in his four years with the Bears. The first time it happened, in 2024, he broke his collarbone in practice two days later and never made it to Sunday.

Looking back, Carlson said, it’s remarkable how healthy the tight ends have been since he joined the Bears’ practice squad in 2023. Carlson, who turns 30 next month, has played in only four games for the Bears.

“I’ve been working hard the past couple years and patiently waiting,” he said.

Kmet once joked the tight end room “displays as a smarter room than it actually is,” given that he went to Notre Dame, Roush to Stanford and Colston Loveland (15) to Michigan. Tight ends coach Jim Dray (16) is a Stanford alum, while practice-squadder Qadir Ismail (17) — son of Qadry “The Missile” Ismail (18) and nephew of Raghib “Rocket” Ismail (19), both college stars — went to Villanova and Samford.

Carlson might have them all beat — he played wide receiver at Princeton. He’s from small Jamestown, N.Y. — as was Lucille Ball (20) — which is so far west that a drive to Chicago is roughly as the same distance as one to the Hamptons. He said he had “no expectations” of a pro career — through his first two Princeton seasons, he caught two passes.

Carlson was convinced by his agent to add 20 pounds between the end of his senior year and his pro day and try out as a tight end. Former Bear Jesper Horsted (21), his fellow Princeton receiver, made the same switch at the same time.

Carlson majored in Ecology and Evolution Biology. One summer, he’d work out at dawn and spend the rest of the morning shirtless and on a kayak in Carnegie Lake near campus, dropping probes in the water to measure oxygen levels.

“Econ majors and political science majors are doing anything like that,” he said with a smile.

An honorary tight end — and genuine CFL fan — is …

Tackle Theo Benedet (22), who was used as an extra blocker 13 times last year. He grew up in Vancouver, Canada, but wasn’t a Seahawks fan.

He liked the Lions.

Detroit, really?

“BC,” he said.