Ex-Jayhawk Jake Laptad signs with Bears

By Matt Tait     Oct 13, 2011

Former Kansas University defensive lineman Jake Laptad has been signed by the Chicago Bears. Laptad, an undrafted free agent who graduated from KU in 2011, joined the team Wednesday in Chicago.

The three-time honorable mention All-Big 12 defensive end, who ranks second on KU’s all-time sacks list with 21, spent part of the summer in Chicago’s training camp. He was cut just before the start of the regular season and was added to the Bears’ practice squad Tuesday.

According to his Twitter page, @Lapteezy91, the former Jayhawk is more than a little excited.

“I’m having a really good day,” Laptad wrote Tuesday. “Flying back to Chicago tonight. Gonna be on da Bears again!!”

Laptad is the eighth former Jayhawk currently listed an NFL roster. He joins Dezmon Briscoe (Tampa Bay), Anthony Collins (Cincinnati), Chris Harris (Denver), Kerry Meier (Atlanta), Moran Norris (San Francisco), Darrell Stuckey (San Diego) and Aqib Talib (Tampa Bay).

Gill recalls rivalry

For a few years in the early 1980s, KU coach Turner Gill played in one of the most intense rivalries in college football. Nebraska-Oklahoma, old Big Eight rivals no longer in the same conference, delivered some of the best games in college history, frequently meeting with both teams ranked near the top of the polls.

The rivalry began Nov. 23, 1912, and continued until 2010, when OU topped NU, 23-20, in last year’s Big 12 championship game.

With Nebraska now in the Big Ten, it’s hard to say when, if ever, these two will play again.

“It’s a little biased for me, because I had a chance to play in it and coach in it,” said Gill, recalling the NU-OU battles. “It was an outstanding rivalry. It was fun to play in it. It was fun to coach it and be around it on both sides. It was a great experience.”

Series history

The KU-OU series is the third-most-played in Oklahoma history.

The Jayhawks and Sooners are set to meet for the 102nd time, ranking only behind OU’s 106 meetings with Texas and 105 against Oklahoma State.

OU leads the all-time series with KU, 68-27-6, and has won six straight in the series, including the last two meetings in Lawrence.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.