The tragic story of Crash the ferret and Chicago Bears' Velus Jones Jr.

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LAKE FOREST, Ill. - If you watched Hard Knocks on Tuesday night, you were introduced to a new facet of Chicago Bears running back Velus Jones Jr.'s life.

He had a ferret, once upon a time.

This was Jones' idea of an exotic pet, and it was caught by the live Hard Knocks mics.

On Wednesday, naturally, Jones was asked about this ferret after practice. Jones regaled the tale of Crash the Ferret. It involves friends, namely now-Colts receiver Michael Pittman, love, harrowing alleyways and tragedy.

It all started before a game against Washington State, where half of the Trojans team went on a tour of the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, close to Pullman, Washington.

"After we got done on walkthrough, some people took a tour," Jones said. "Some people took a tour of the indoor stadium and stuff. So, me and (Pittman), on our spare time, we went to the PetSmart."

Immediately, the ferrets caught Jones and Pittman's attention.

"We walked in and we looked like, what the hell are those things?" Jones said. "I went to put my hand in the tank and it was biting on my hand and stuff, but it was like a cool experience."

Reminder: he had the time to think about it.

"It was just a crazy amount of free time," Jones said.

In that free time, Jones made up his mind when he saw a young ferrret.

"They were just trying to like, grab onto your hand and stuff, but they didn't bite as much," Jones said. "Me and Pit looked at each other and was like, ‘we gonna get one.’"

But, it wasn't in Idaho.

Jones went back to Los Angeles and elicited some help from the internet.

"We actually got on Craiglist List," Jones said. "We got on Craigslist and actually, when we got back to campus, and we found a ferret breeder and it was the sketchiest thing ever."

That's how Jones and Pittman found themselves in South Central in Los Angeles, waiting in an alleyway for a ferret breeder to bring them a ferret that Jones was going to purchase.

The ferret in question cost $350. While looking down the dark alley way, Jones was wary.

"I told him to keep the car running," Jones said.

Undeterred, perhaps by his newfound love of ferrets, Jones waited undauntedly for his ferret.

That was until it almost became too much.

"I see somebody pick their head out like this and go back up like, yeah, bro, we going to get up outta here," Jones said. "And then he actually came out and he had like a small ferret in his head. I'm like, okay, it's good. It's legit."

That's how Crash the Ferret became Jones' ferret, named after the video game Crash Bandicoot.

It was tough love at first. But, Jones was smitten.

"He kept biting me and Pit was like, don't let him fall. You gonna hurt him," Jones said. "Like, but he just kept biting. But no, we fell in love with him."

Crash followed Jones when he left Los Angeles and transferred to Tennessee. Jones was in Knoxville until the 2022 season, where he declared for the NFL Draft and the Bears selected him in the third round.

But, Crash passed away in 2020. CBS Sports did a full-fledged feature on Jones and his ferret – something Jones pulled up on his phone at the podium on Wednesday – and the memory of Crash still remains with Jones today.

"Real men cry, I shed a tear," Jones said. "He was paralyzed from his waist down and I tried to take him to a veterinarian, but I think they finessed me. There was no way they could help him at all. So, he's buried at 303 flats right off by the river, his resting place."

Now, Crash is memorialized enterally by Hard Knocks and NFL Films.

He lives up to the status that Jones has created for him in his mind.

"He's a legend for sure," Jones said.