How all kinds of familiarity helps Chicago Bears long snapper Scott Daly fit onto his hometown team

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Scott Daly isn't any stranger to Halas Hall or the Chicago Bears. He's no stranger to the suburbs, either.

This is all familiar to the Notre Dame alum and Downers Grove native. Still, he's content if you mistake him for someone else.

"The biggest thing is just stay under the radar," Daly said. "If no one knows who you are, and if people still think that Patrick Scales is still snapping, then that's probably the biggest compliment that I can receive."

Daly is the Bears' long snapper this season until further notice. Scales is on injured reserve, meaning the Bears needed someone to fill one of the most unsung positions in football.

The bottom line with long snapping usually revolves around being a relative unknown, unless you make yourself known for all the wrong reasons.

Scales has been the Bears' full-time long snapper since 2016. He missed his first game in the last seven seasons on Sunday with a back injury, and Daly filled in.

The Downers Grove South High School alum fit in flawlessly. There were no issues with field goals or punts, especially on a day when the Bears punted six times and kicked three field goals.

It's an opportunity Daly isn't overlooking.

"God opened another door for us and better than we could have possibly imagined," he said, "to be able to come back home, to play for the orange and blue."

Daly isn't just familiar with the Bears. He's familiar with the Bears' personnel.

Before signing with the Bears, he was the Detroit Lions' long snapper. He has snapped 42 games in the last three seasons for the Lions, including eight last season. He faced the Bears four times total between 2021 and 2022, but didn't see the team in 2023. Still, it's how he knows kicker Cairo Santos.

He also has worked with Bears' rookie punter Tory Taylor in the past year a in San Diego.

"My wife is from out there, we actually trained out there during the offseason, so I got a chance to see him and knew he was going to be a special player just from the first couple punts I saw off his foot," Daly said. "He's a pretty special character."

That all led to a seamless Bears debut for Daly.

"To come into this building and in this room, with those two guys especially, has been really special," Daly said. "For us to be able to go out there on Sunday and be as seamless as possible is awesome. So we're excited for this opportunity this next Sunday. It's a great opponent on prime time."

The Bears were pleased on Sunday and were also pleased before the game. The special teams operations are not easy and they require chemistry.

Daly was gelling with the team well before Sept. 8.

"He’s a really good guy, Scott is a really good guy," Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said on Sept. 5. "He’s a really good teammate with these guys and it could not have been a better fit as far as personalities are concerned."

The Bears' special teams had an up-and-down Week 1 from the new kickoff rules, to the team's first blocked punt for a touchdown since 2012. Those moments grabbed the highlights.

Daly stayed well under the radar. That's how he wants it.

Now, it's about making sure everything is smooth the rest of the way.

"Make sure that I'm just doing my job, just to be a smooth operation and Tory with Cairo and all the guys to make sure that we're as seamless and smooth as possible to make sure we're able to do our job," Daly said. "Help this team win, get some points and, yeah, help us be successful."