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In 1998, at the age of 10, Cousins lived in Barrington, a suburb of Chicago, and was an unconditional fan of the Bears. He was happy to announce one day that the assistant coach of his pee-wee team, the Barrington Bears, would be legendary linebacker Mike Singletary.
Singletary was head coach Don Cousins, Kirk's father, for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Don Cousins was an assistant pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and had come to know Singletary. Singletary's son, Matt, was the Cousins' teammate.
"It was unique," said Cousins. "Many parents came to the games and brought souvenirs to sign. Many parents wanted their children to be part of his team. He would bring models to practice and demonstrate the exercises in perfect shape. I do not think the other fathers in the training league offered the same level of expertise. "
The cousins played a number of positions on the Barrington Bears, both on offense and in defense. He is now in the first year of a three-year $ 84 million deal with the Vikings.
Sunday night, the Vikings will play in Chicago. Singletary, who played for the Bears from 1981 to 1992 and was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1998, will be present.
"I am very excited for him how much he has come," said Singletary, now Memphis Express coach of the Alliance of America football league, which will begin next year. "What he has accomplished could not happen to a better person."
Singletary said he had not thought Cousins would become an NFL player, but that he was nonetheless impressed.
"At this age, children are so young that you do not know how good they are," Singletary said. "But Kirk was very focused. He was intense and very goal-oriented. If you tell him to do something, he wants to do it right.
"I did not know that he was going to use that goal to play football or do anything else, but I knew there was a good chance he was succeeding."
With the Barrington Bears, Don Cousins led the offense and Singletary, the defense. The team won the championship title in 1998 and the Cousins still have the trophy they received.
"Mike is not just a great athlete, he's a great person. You can see his attention and concern (for the players), "said Cousins, who still receives Christmas cards from Singletary's family. "But he was intense. He brought the mannequins and he demonstrated, not only by attacking, but by blocking, coming out of the blocks. It was the real deal. "
Singletary was not very interested in the offense. This became evident once Cousins' father had to miss a match and Cousins had to play in the first half at shift before moving on to another position.
"He was smart enough to do it, so I just told him to call the plays," Singletary said. "Don had taught him the offense, so I told the team," Kirk can handle it. "
The Bears beat their rivals Barrington Packers. Cousins joked. It was his first big win as a quarterback.
Singletary was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2008 to 2010. When he was assistant to the Vikings (2011-13), he was coach at the 2012 Senior Bowl. The cousins, who had just left the Michigan State, were also part of this team.
"It was cool to be coached by him to elementary school, then to do a full lap and I'm part of the same team he coaches at the Senior Bowl," said Cousins. "It's a moment when you say," Look where we are. "
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