When Ryan Pace returned home on the final night of August, he was drained. The Bears general manager was in the middle of a taxing weekend of roster cuts and felt the pressure of another regular season closing in. Now though, as he walked into his house late on a Friday night, he had news to share.

Pace's wife, Stephanie, lobbed the obligatory "How was your day?" query.

"It was OK," Pace deadpanned. "Nothing major. We just traded for Khalil Mack."

Wait ... WHAT?!?!

A day earlier, as the Bears prepared for their preseason finale against the Bills, Pace's talks with the Oakland Raiders had grown serious. Suddenly, the pipe dream of making Mack a Bear felt realistic. Then, at 9:22 p.m. on that Friday, the Raiders agreed to Pace's trade offer, simultaneously offering permission for the Bears to contact Mack's agent, Joel Segal, about a contract extension.

Pace offered four draft picks to the Raiders -- a 2019 first-rounder, a 2020 first-rounder, a third-rounder in 2020 and a sixth in 2019. In return, the Bears received Mack, a 2020 second-round pick, a conditional 2020 fifth-rounder and the blowtorch that lit the wick for a surprising playoff run.

Those who, at the time, questioned the practicality of such a trade -- and the six-year, $141 million extension the Bears gave their new star -- have since seen the payoff. Mack's arrival and consistent production have helped push the Bears back onto the postseason stage and, yes, back into the Super Bowl conversation.

Over four magical months, Mack has become the face of this surprising resurgence.

September The introduction Khalil Mack speaks at his introductory press conference (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) On Khalil Mack's first day as a Bear, he flew from New York's LaGuardia Airport to O'Hare and, in a typical welcome-to-Chicago moment, sat on the runway for close to 90 minutes. The Bears had car service arranged to get Mack from the airport to the Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest. But with the runway delay, coach Matt Nagy knew he had to take extra measures to keep his new star comfortable. So Nagy sent Mack a text encouraging him to expedite his dinner order. Mack responded with a request for a double chicken breast, grilled, with a side of rice and vegetables. And Nagy had yet another epiphany on what already had been an enchanted Saturday. That, the new head coach thought to himself, was similar to the order linebacker Roquan Smith had placed during his April pre-draft dinner with the Bears at Maevery in Lake Bluff. Solid, healthy choice. This had to be another small meant-to-be sign. Then came the fun part, with Nagy assembling the greeting party for Mack. First, he found his boys -- 14-year-old Brayden; Tate, 12; and 10-year-old twins Jaxon and Jett. "What do you guys think about going to meet one of our new players?" Nagy asked. The boys needed more specifics. Who exactly? "I told them," Nagy said. "And they just lost their minds." Nagy was aware he was about to oversee one of the coolest "Take your kids to work" excursions imaginable. All four boys packed into dad's 2018 BMW 750 Series and set off for their first stop, scooping up the man who had pulled off the most eye-popping NFL trade of the year. When Pace jumped into shotgun in the black Beamer, the Nagy boys plugged an iPhone into the sound system and cranked up the Mark Morrison. Retuuurn of the Mack. Yes it is. Retuuurn of the Mack. Come on. Retuuurn of the Mack. Oh my God. On a 10-minute drive from Pace's Lake Bluff house to Mack's temporary residence, the giddiness of the boys in the back seat was surpassed by the two NFL bigwigs up front. For 10 minutes, the general manager and head coach of one of the league's charter franchises were little kids themselves, astonished at what they had pulled off. Just like that, the Bears had filled one of their biggest needs with one of the game's most feared pass rushers. Pace and Nagy couldn't wait to unwrap their new toy. The initial after-dark introductions in the hotel lobby were to the point. Mack had had a long day. And a long week was ahead. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio also had come to say hello and was struck by Mack's relaxed demeanor. With direction finally set for his 2018 season, Mack was excited, relieved and eager to get started. Thus, in addition to that chicken dinner, he asked for and received his Bears playbook with Fangio struck by the star edge rusher's purpose. "I just sensed that he was happy to be here," Fangio said. "I don't know why. I could just sense that he was." Within four weeks, Mack had a major impact on enlivening the Bears season. In the first half of his first game, he delivered a cartoonish strip-sack of Packers quarterback DeShone Kizer then followed on the next possession with an interception and a 27-yard return for a touchdown. "That ignited me. That set the steps for our season and what was to come. ... I don't want to say he put us on the map, because I feel like our defense was already there. But he brought a whole new dynamic to our team." Defensive back Prince Amukamara Khalil Mack strips the ball away from Packers quarterback DeShone Kizer. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune) In the middle of an end-zone dogpile, Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara felt an adrenaline rush he knew was significant. "That ignited me," Amukamara said. "That set the steps for our season and what was to come. ... I don't want to say he put us on the map, because I feel like our defense was already there. But he brought a whole new dynamic to our team." Yes, the Bears lost that season opener, victimized by a ridiculous Aaron Rodgers rally and squandering a 20-point second-half lead in a 24-23 road loss. But for players on defense, that sting was accompanied by a powerful belief of what was ahead. They had just witnessed firsthand what Mack could mean. Months later, when a reporter asked linebacker Danny Trevathan to describe the spark Mack provided that night, his eyes bugged. "You were there," Trevathan said. "You felt it like I felt it. He was everywhere. ... The man absolutely changed the face of our defense. We carried that momentum like, 'Yeah, we've got some dawgs now. Let's go!' " By the end of September, Mack had helped the Bears to a 3-1 start and earned NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors. He had a strip-sack in each of the first four games. He made believers of everyone. At halftime of the Bears' Week 2 Monday night game against the Seahawks, Brian Urlacher turned into a little kid when talking about Mack. "He's a bad dude, man," Urlacher said. "I don't understand how you give up a guy who's that good. I'm still baffled how we got him." Six days later, Mack's fourth-quarter strip-sack of Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford in the red zone allowed the Bears to march the other way for a go-ahead field goal and an important 16-14 win. The Bears knew how enormous the difference was between a 2-1 start and a 1-2 stumble. In the postgame locker room, Amukamara likened Mack to LeBron James. Trevathan offered a Michael Jordan comparison. Neither seemed like hyperbole. Still, amid the hype and excitement, Mack offered a revelation into his own mindset. Asked how it felt to join a hungry defense with enough talent and chemistry to fully capitalize on his arrival, Mack smirked. "Man," he said. "I'm thrilled as a (expletive). It's very gratifying to have these guys, man. I'm blessed to be in the position I'm in." That became the recurring theme, the new superstar engulfed with praise but constantly reiterating how thrilled he was to have the opportunity to play with this group. "It's a real pleasure to be around these dudes," Mack said after the Bears hammered the Buccaneers 48-10 in Week 4. "This has been a delight for me. We have the potential to do something special."

October The injury Khalil Mack stays busy before the Jets game -- a game he sat out. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) On Khalil Mack's 58th day as a Bear he went for a jog near Lake Michigan. Inside Soldier Field actually. A hundred yards south, a hundred yards back north. Goal line to goal line and that was it. For the first time in Mack's five NFL seasons he was going to be inactive, left with an awkward Sunday morning. Mack had sprained his right ankle two weeks earlier in the Bears' overtime loss to the Dolphins and struggled to make much impact the rest of the day. The next week against the Patriots, with the ankle still swollen, Mack made one tackle and never touched Tom Brady in a 38-31 loss. Opting to take a cautious approach, the Bears shut him down temporarily. There was no point forcing the issue. "I said, 'Listen, dude. This is a decision that has been well-thought-out,' " Nagy said. " 'We appreciate your desire and your want and all that. But this is what we're doing.' "He's a competitor. So there was a little pushback. But Khalil is a big-time investment now. We had to be able to step back out of the trees and ask, what's the best for him? What's the best for us?" In the lead up to kickoff against the Jets in Week 8, Mack found acceptance as best he could. When he finished his casual jog, he found offensive lineman Bradley Sowell and asked to play catch. "You could tell he was antsy," Sowell said. "Khalil's one of those dudes you have to keep from himself. He's a guy who has that feeling of being invincible." Mack was restless that afternoon in a 24-10 Bears win and again the next week at Buffalo when he was confined to the sideline for a 41-9 victory. "He's a freak, dude. I truly believe he could play any position on offense. He catches so naturally. Big old hands. And he throws a good long ball. He'll roll out and throw it 50, 60 yards on the run. Tight spiral." Offensive lineman Bradley Sowell That damn ankle. Ineffective for two games, inactive for the next two. That surge of September momentum had been slowed. Mack had to convince himself this was all for the best. Better for the team, he said. "So I bit my tongue and sat back and listened." And during warmups before the Jets game, Mack used Sowell to help release some of his pent-up energy. Through much of this season, Sowell and Mack have developed an unexpected but significant bond playing catch. Friday mornings, before the week's last practice begins, both big men scratch their quarterback-receiver itches. Mack, Sowell says, could probably be effective at either position. "He's a freak, dude," Sowell said. "I truly believe he could play any position on offense. He catches so naturally. Big old hands. And he throws a good long ball. He'll roll out and throw it 50, 60 yards on the run. Tight spiral." It's a skill set a creative play-caller like Nagy should keep in mind. Another potential way to use Mack as a spark, to set a tone. Sowell knows the tone Mack set from his first practice, a Wednesday in September when Mack continually blew past Sowell and Rashaad Coward. With wide eyes and a wider smile, Nagy looked at his backup offensive linemen. "You guys good?" the Bears coach asked. Sowell shrugged. "I'm thinking, 'Whoa, boy. This is a different animal right here.' It was an immediate reminder that you better come to practice at full speed with full focus. He will destroy you if you don't. He's going to beat you like it's a game. That's the way he works on his craft."

November The power Khalil Mack tosses Riley Reiff like he's a feather



(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/R2ILWYloVL — Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 19, 2018 On Khalil Mack's 79th day as a Bear, he took a 305-pound offensive lineman and chucked him to the Soldier Field grass with just his left hand. The Bears were in the process of drumming the Vikings on "Sunday Night Football" and Mack was in the process of letting the football world know he was back at full strength. Or back at superhuman strength perhaps? By halftime, the video clip was sweeping across social media, an isolation on Mack rushing against left tackle Riley Reiff. The sequence lasts only six seconds, part of it in slo-mo. But that's more than enough time to behold Mack's astonishing athleticism. His explosiveness off the snap. His ability to get Reiff slightly off balance. His strength to take a massive man and send him tumbling using one hand. And this on a play in which Mack wasn't even part of the primary action. Could there be any more fitting microcosm of what the Bears did to the Vikings in that attention-grabbing 25-20 victory? Mack was asked afterward if he could sense how moments like that could affect the psyche of an opposing offense. He smirked ever so slightly. "You might want to ask them that," he said in his quiet, baritone voice. "But I know what it does for me. Just understand that I'm trying to get to the quarterback by any means necessary. And if I have to throw somebody out of the way to do it, it is what it is." None of it surprised Bears outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley. "I've seen that movie before," Staley said. Staley had seen it even before Mack had become a Bear. And he saw it again two Sundays later when Mack was similarly abusive to Giants right tackle Nate Solder. Just another left-handed toss that sent the NFL's second-highest-paid offensive lineman spilling into Eli Manning. Said Staley: "That move doesn't happen right away. Khalil does that after he has set a guy up. He's just using his leverage. It's not that he possesses some superhuman trait. It's just great setup as a rusher. He plays with great leverage, great pad level. And then he just has really good instincts. Knowing the feel, the set and when to translate that move." As a teammate, Sowell feels a huge sense of satisfaction when Mack manhandles an opponent. As an offensive lineman, he feels a deep empathy for the poor dude on the other side. "The tackle will take a perfect set," Sowell said. "He does nothing wrong. And literally that dude is just that much better. "I've experienced it. You can take a perfect set. You can punch him. And all of a sudden he's lifting you up and you're just along for the ride."

December The spotlight Deion Sanders interviews Khalil Mack. Click on image to see the interview. On his 107th day as a Bear, Khalil Mack FaceTimed with Deion Sanders. You ball, you get the call. That's what Sanders' weekly Sunday segment on NFL Network promises. And on Dec. 16, Mack certainly had balled, recording 2 1/2 sacks on Aaron Rodgers in a 24-17 Bears victory that clinched the NFC North title. There was the "Back Sack" with Mack helping smother Aaron Rodgers by spinning into him and thrusting his back and butt weight into him until the Packers quarterback fell. And there was another display of Mack's quickness and aggressiveness in the fourth quarter when he blurred past right tackle Jason Spriggs and dived to bury Rodgers again. Khalil Mack makes the infamous back sack. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) "I love the way he carries himself. He's a guy who does it all with his actions. He doesn't need to be all rah-rah." Coach Matt Nagy What a fitting way to seal the division championship, with the Bears' new star mauling the two-time MVP quarterback who had spent the last decade giving Chicago recurring nightmares. Still, if Mack was in the mood for a raucous celebration, he certainly wasn't letting on. First, in a five-minute interview scrum, he downplayed his championship satisfaction, insisting there were far bigger goals to chase. Then he sat down and somewhat reluctantly chatted with Sanders. Wearing a white T-shirt with a brown knit cap pulled over his ears, Mack didn't want the praise Sanders was determined to shower on him. Sanders: Khalil Mack, baby. I'm only calling you because you ballin'. It has to feel good knowing that you come over there and change the whole thought process not only of this team but of this defense, man. Mack: Man. You could say that, man. But these guys have been putting in work. Just coming in I wanted to be a part of greatness. And that's what it's been. ... Sanders: How far can this team go, man, right now -- this Bears team, offensively as well as defensively? Mack: Everybody gets on here and says sky's the limit, man. But we've got to just keep stacking these wins. Learning from wins. And yeah, you'll see it down the stretch. We're not really gonna talk about it. We want to be about it. And that's what it really is for me. One day, Sanders and Mack may be fraternity brothers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But their deportment couldn't be any more different. Sanders always has been a marquee on the Vegas strip, flashy and loud and all about the glitz. As an eight-time All-Pro cornerback, he tormented receivers and quarterbacks then danced and trash-talked excessively to commemorate the big moments. Mack? He's more like a UPS driver, determined to get his job done efficiently and methodically without needing any fanfare. "I love the way he carries himself," Nagy said. "He's a guy who does it all with his actions. He doesn't need to be all rah-rah." "If you get caught up in people saying you're good and people saying this or that, good or bad, it can kind of wear on you. Or it'll make you feel like you're better than what you are." Khalil Mack All season, Mack has seemed somewhere between annoyed and embarrassed with the increased spotlight. Chicago is new turf with a much larger media horde than Oakland ever had, with a brightly lit stage that Mack never experienced at the University at Buffalo. That has created an odd dynamic with one of the league's most exciting stars not wanting to be the face or the voice of this fun-filled Bears renaissance. The accolades. The praise. It all makes Mack fidgety. "You've got to shake it off," he said. He shimmied his shoulders, as if every bit of media attention makes him feel like he's walking into a spider web. "I don't like it," he said. "It's just being me, man. ... If you get caught up in people saying you're good and people saying this or that, good or bad, it can kind of wear on you. Or it'll make you feel like you're better than what you are." As interview obligations go, Mack prefers to do the bare minimum required by league policy -- a once-a-week demand that the Bears edge rusher prefers to fulfill on Friday afternoons when the media crowd is thinnest. And occasionally the 27-year-old superstar makes a concerted effort to avoid even that. "I do know his reluctance," Nagy said. "I also know that none of it is malicious. He just doesn't like the attention. He doesn't want it. There are a lot of people who don't like the light shined on them. "Unfortunately, when you're that good of a player like he is, people want to know more about you. That comes with the territory. And I think he understands that and is getting better with that." Teammates describe Mack as an alpha. But they've also been struck by how modest he can be, how he seems somewhat shy when it comes to outside attention. "Humble dude," Trevathan said. "Being around the league, you see other guys of that stature who hold themselves in high regard. Khalil doesn't. Work-wise, he has that high standard. But being around the guys, he fits right in. His fellowship has been impressive. And he truly wants to share his accolades with us. He wants us to be involved." In early October, when the Fox pregame show sent Charissa Thompson to Lake Forest to do a feature on Mack's instant impact, the outside linebacker wouldn't agree to a sitdown unless teammates Trevathan, Akiem Hicks and Kyle Fuller could join him. "That's him being Khalil Mack," Trevathan said. "And that's all he has to be for us. Now the young guys can see a guy who has so much pressure on him, who is held to higher expectations but is always so humble and so hard-working."