A rising North Vancouver football star has joined a select few Canadian players to earn a spot on an NFL team this season.
On Tuesday, the Chicago Bears announced that Theo Benedet had made the team’s 53-man active roster. What’s more, he has a chance to be the Bears’ starting left tackle in the first week of the regular season.
It’s a stunning achievement for the 23-year-old, six-foot-seven, 304-pound pound left tackle, who has battled through setbacks since being signed as an undrafted free agent last year.
As documented in Episode 1 of the 2024 version of HBO’s Hard Knocks, a docuseries about the Bears’ training camp, Benedet suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his left hamstring while blocking for a field goal attempt during the preseason opener last year.
While his injury would tragically cost him the upcoming football season, Benedet left a lasting impression on the show’s audience, especially for his karaoke rendition of “God Bless the USA” during rookie initiation – which he sang wearing a Speedo with a bald eagle on it.
Back at this year’s training camp, Benedet may have been overlooked at first in the fight for the left tackle position. But he’s since impressed the coaching staff, and has received praise for his mature response to the situation.
“It’s nobody’s fault. There was just no film on me,” Benedet told reporters following a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 17. “I got hurt last year, so it was kind of audition on the run there at the start of [organized team activities], but I am glad that they have noticed.”
Benedet may have the unique opportunity to play against his former teammate Giovanni Manu in the NFL. The pair were fellow linemen with the UBC Thunderbirds. Manu was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2024.
If they both play this year, they would become the fourth and fifth UBC players to ever appear in a regular season NFL game.
In 2023, Benedet made history by winning the J.P. Metras Trophy for the second-straight year, marking his achievement of being the top lineman in Canadian university football.
In the same year, the Handsworth Secondary grad got the chance to play in the prestigious ’23 East-West Shrine Bowl, putting him in the sights of NFL scouts.
Watch for Benedet in the Chicago Bears' regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8, at 5:15 p.m. PT.
Just wanted to give some thoughts on two plays by Theo Benedet, I love how he baits the hammerfist here in the first play. you can see slight movements that he could punch forward but instead holds back and the guy hits nothing but air.
— The Bear Review (@The_Bear_Review) August 13, 2025
play 2 - cont pic.twitter.com/MRrusdY8WL
