Vikes, my name is Bear Handlon.

I am a 2006 graduate Valpo High School. My senior year I was team captain and had the privilege of being a Viking just like you are. After I graduated I was able to play at Yale University as a linebacker. And after college I was able to do eight years in the SEAL team.

So Coach Marshall reached out to me, asked me to say something about Patriot Night and what it means. I think it's really cool that you guys do this.

First I want to talk about service. I want to tell you a quick story, something I was able to do this June. Some of you might be aware, but the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy was this June. I had the opportunity to go out with about 60 World War II veterans and see what it was like for them to return to the battlefield. Some of them had not been there since they were kids. The last time they landed on that beach was in a combat zone in chaos that we can't even imagine. That provided a lot of perspective for me on the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans and the men and women who have gone before us to give us the lives and the opportunities that we have today. We cannot squander those freedoms. We cannot squander those opportunities. There is a cemetery there that has about 10,000 American graves. It's right on the cliffs. It's absolutely beautiful. It's also a very solemn reminder as to the sacrifice. I got to walk around and see some of these headstones with some of these vets. Some of these guys had never been back to the grave sites of some of their best friends who were killed next to them on Omaha Beach and were seeing it for the first time. Just to be a part of that moment really put things in perspective. There was another individual. There was a giant boulder on Omaha Beach. This is an area where this guy took cover behind and his best friend was shot through the head next to him because there wasn't enough room behind the rock as these guys were running into enemy machine gun fire, entrenched positions, horrible weather, about 300-yard run from where they got out of the ram. It was absolutely insane. I hope you guys have the opportunity to get there. One of many historical examples of things that people that went before us did to give us the freedoms we have today.

I want to segue that into brotherhood because I got to witness that firsthand in Normandy. While sports is to a lesser extent than to what guys might experience in the military and other units, there absolutely is brotherhood attached to what you guys are doing. It is something very special. As you guys get older, you will realize that it is very hard to find elsewhere, particularly as you get out of college and you're not on teams anymore. You are going to seek that out everywhere you can find it. You're probably not going to have much luck doing that. What you guys are experiencing right now as a team, as the 2024 Vikings, is absolutely special. I have fond memories of those days. I still have the helmet here with all the scuff marks and all the Viking marks from me making a play or two. I still stay in touch with those guys. I still remember tackles that I missed. I still remember sitting at my locker after my last game and refusing to take my helmet and shoulder pads off. What that felt like in that moment, that chapter in my life that I had put so much into was coming to an end.

For a lot of you guys, you will experience that perspective here in a few months.

Give it everything you've got. Don't have any regrets. It's not about you. It's about the guy next to you. You want to make sure that when the dust settles, you say, I put every ounce of everything in my being into that game, into the workouts, into the practice. The success actually happens outside of those big moments on the field. Make sure you take that seriously. You guys are in great hands with your coaching staff. I know Coach Marshall and the crew, you guys get after it. I'm really excited to see how this season plays out. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you guys, Coach Marshall and the staff. Thank you so much for doing Patriot Night. I think it is a great message to our youth and a reminder of how lucky we all have it. We live in the greatest country on the planet. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Our freedoms are worth defending and it's on us and it's going to be on you guys now, you young guys, to step up because you're the next generation. Now it's in your hands and you're going to have to defend it. So thank you so much, everybody. Good luck against the Slicers tomorrow night. Get after it. Thanks.