Bears LB Ruben Hyppolite II heard his critics and has an answer

"You just look at my story, not going to the combine, not going to the Senior Bowl, the Shrine Bowl. I went to the Hula Bowl–which I give a lot of credit to (Hula Bowl owner) Nick Logan for trusting in me to play in that game. I called the NFS twice to see if I had a combine invite. They said no."


Hyppolite showed up biggest at the pro day after he had worked in an extensive speed improvement program, and aced the test in the eyes of the Bears.

"So going through that and then just going through training the whole combine season, chopping wood, carrying water, going through it every day and then having my opportunity, my one opportunity at pro day doing that, " Hyppolite said. "And then I went on like 15 visits took 30 flights in two weeks, back and forth across the country, doing my meetings and stuff with like that.

"All of that is just a combination of me getting the opportunity now. I definitely don't take it for granted."

Hyppolite ran 4.39 seconds, which would have been fastest at the combine among linebackers if he had run it there.

"The No. 1 thing is he can run, and the things that we're going to ask our backers to have to do, you know, they've got to be able to match up with tight ends, running backs at times," defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "They've got to be able to match up with wide receivers.

"Sometimes that's carrying things vertical down the field, so we we're looking for guys that can run. And then we're looking for guys that have a physical mentality and a physical demeanor. I felt like he exhibited those things on tape.”

Allen also likes Hyppolite's stability.

“I'll tell you what I did learn: He’s very business-oriented," Allen said. "He’s got his life together off the field, which is going to allow him to be able to focus on the field with the football.

"So there's not going to be a lot of outside distractions with this guy. And I think that’s a positive. I think that he's going to be a guy that's going to learn how to be a pro really quickly because of that maturity level.”

To Hyppolite, speed doesn't just show on a stopwatch. It's in his time to diagnose and react, too.

"It's all about knowing where I'm supposed to be and then what I'm supposed to do when, and the speed comes after that," Hyppolite said. "I feel like I have a great ability to react before everyone else on the field.

"So that's where the speed comes into play. It all comes by knowing what to do first and then everything else comes after that."

The opening at strongside linebacker is enticing and he said he'll get to learn all three positions but has been playing middle in rookie camp.

"I'm very grateful to everybody upstairs for believing in me and in my ability," Hyppolite said. "It's time for me to put it together. I love my story. For anyone who's out there who thinks that they need things like the combine, an invite the Senior Bowl, who thinks that they need that to get drafted, you don't.

"You’ve just got to put your best foot forward. You’ve got to run fast and be your best self every day. I feel like I'm showing that. I got a lot of messages, a lot of love, a lot of hate too, but that's what comes with it. So I'm all for it.”