NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Whenever Bears linebacker Jon Rhattigan’s NFL career ends, he owes his country five years of military service.
The West Point graduate doesn’t know when that day will come — or what it will look like. He’s willing to do whatever is asked. He’s 27 and has a body beaten up by six years of the NFL. A geospatial information science major, Rhattigan could end up on the front lines — or not.
“People look at different movies and think it’s all infantry, but there’s truly so many pieces to that puzzle,” he said recently.
He keeps up on current events, but tries not to think too far ahead.
“In the meantime,” he said, “it’s really, represent as best as you can.”
When the Bears take the field Saturday night for their preseason finale against the Titans, Rhattigan will have one last chance to make an impression on his new bosses. Cuts are due the next day, and the Bears will need to whittle their roster from 90 to 53 players — plus another 16 for the practice squad.
Bears coach Ben Johnson has been coy about whether he’ll play his starters Saturday after working them hard in Thursday’s joint practice. Even if they play briefly, Saturday’s game will be more about the players at the back end of the roster.
“We got 90 guys on the roster right now, a lot of which are fighting for their professional lives …” Ben Johnson said Thursday. “And their stories are incredible.”
None more so than Rhattigan, who graduated from Nequa Valley High School in Naperville before being accepted to West Point. He spent his freshman year on the scout team and didn’t play as a sophomore until a blowout bowl game victory. As a junior, he was a third-stringer. He had six tackles in three years.
He didn’t start until his senior year, when he made one of the season’s highlight plays, stopping Navy’s Xavier Arline at the goal line in a rivalry victory. He was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player in college football. The Seahawks signed him as an undrafted free agent. When he eventually stuck on the roster as a practice squad player, his mandatory five years’ service was postponed.
He spent three seasons in Seattle as a special teams stalwart before going to Carolina in 2024. Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll plucked him off the Steelers practice squad last year to sign with the Raiders.
Rhattigan went to the Bears’ May rookie minicamp as a veteran tryout player and was signed the next day. It was a surreal moment for someone who grew up with photos of Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs on his wall.
“It’s a 1-in-32 chance — and something early in my career I never saw coming to fruition. …” he said. “ It’s awesome that it’s being lived out.”
If Rhattigan makes the team, it will be because of his special teams play. At linebacker, he’s behind the Bears’ three starters — and perhaps Jack Sanborn and Ruben Hyppolite, too. It’s unclear what the Bears will do with rookie Keyshaun Elliott, who didn’t start practicing until Wednesday.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower can tell he’s an Army grad.
“Just the way he goes about his business,” Hightower said. “Detail-oriented, serious, loves what he does. And cares deeply for others.”
Rhattigan knows the difference between football and the military — one is entertainment and the other is life and death. But there are similarities, too.
“There’s so many parallels — facing adversity, dealing with hardships, having to be disciplined, understanding that there’s hard work in front of you and there’s no way around it … “ he said. “It shapes you mentally to be someone who can deal with adversity. Keep my head down and go to work.”