Thomas Jones (Bears running back, 2004-06): In the locker room, he was hilarious. We were a very, very close team in Chicago. Like brothers, like a family. We were together all the time. And ’Lach was one of the ringleaders. We had this game where we had this ball made out of the tape that you wrap your ankles with and we’d shoot this huge ball into the laundry basket. Guys would get crazy. Double or nothing. You name it. It turned into this whole event at lunchtime. And ’Lach was the main ringleader. It would piss (equipment manager) Tony Medlin off because he’s trying to get clothes out of the laundry basket and as he’s standing there he’s ducking as this big ball comes flying at the basket. And Brian was the ringleader of all of this. That was ’Lach. On the field, he was always goofing around. Stuffing grass in people’s helmets. It was like you took kids from Pop Warner and you fast-forwarded 20 years later and they were doing the exact same things. That’s why people loved him so much. Because as big of a star as Brian was, he was one of the most humble guys you’ll ever meet. And he was very, very approachable. … Brian just had this mystique, man. A presence. It was a quiet confidence. He never bragged. He never talked about himself. He was a big kid. All he did was laugh and joke around. And even in practice, he was still always happy-go-lucky. So I never really saw that other side of him until game time. And then it was like he became another person. I don’t know, man. It was like he got this crazy mean streak about him. I was like that in practice. Everything I did was intense. I didn’t know how to do anything different. Out on the field, in the weight room, watching film, everything I did was very intense and serious. No games. But then you see someone like Brian who is playing at such a high level. He’s literally chasing down quarterbacks, chasing down running backs, knocking the crap out of fullbacks and linemen. Always around the ball. Always making plays. And it was crazy to see him go from being this happy-go-lucky guy who is always laughing and joking and then he turns into this kind of savage of a player. It was like a magic trick.