Larry Mayer

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Few NFL players have a more impressive rsum thanJoe Thuney.

The Bears' new left guard, who was acquired last week in a trade with the Chiefs, has enjoyed almost unparalleled team and individual success.

Selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2016 draft out of North Carolina State, Thuney became the first NFL player to start in the Super Bowl in each of his first three seasons in the league.

"It's awesome," Thuney told ChicagoBears.com. "It's kind of surreal. I'm just fortunate to be part of really good teams. Just humbled by it. It's really cool."

While starting three straight Super Bowls is a rare feat, Thuney repeated the accomplishment over the past three seasons with the Chiefs. As was the case with New England, he won two of three Super Bowls with Kansas City.

Individually, Thuney was named first-team All-Pro each of the past two seasons and was chosen as a Pro Bowler each of the last three years.

Thuney clearly understands what it takes to perform and win at a high level. Asked what the four championship teams he's played on had in common, he said: "It felt like everyone was pulling in the same direction to win. The only thing that mattered was winning, and regardless of personal statistics, everyone cared about the 'W' at the end of the day. It was a very selfless attitude of everybody, and I think that's what was really special."

Thuney intends to help replicate that culture in Chicago, a process that can begin as early as May when the Bears conduct their first offseason practices.

"It can start how teams approach OTAs even, just the focus, the intensity, the attention to detail," he said. "Some teams approach it differently, but just try to take it seriously and get something from each day and then grow through the camp. In camp, you're spending all that time together, so you could start to feel it, and then all of a sudden you start getting some wins and you're like, 'All right, this is real and it's happening.'"

Thuney possesses the type of intelligence the Bears are seeking in their offensive linemen. He was senior class president at Archbishop High School in Kettering, Ohio, the alma mater of former Bears receiver Jeff Graham and former Bulls guard and executive John Paxson.

Thuney recently earned an MBA from Indiana University after spending four straight offseasons taking online classes.

On the field, the 6-4, 305-pounder boasts versatility, having lined up at guard, center and tackle in college and the NFL.

"I was very undersized in high school going to college, so I started my career in college at center and then bumped out to tackle and guard after that," he said. "I tried to remember some of those center movements. Tackle and guard are definitely a little different, but some fundamentals remained throughout the O-line, and I just tried to do whatever I could to be on the field regardless of where it was."

In the NFL, Thuney displayed his selflessness in 2020 when he started at center for the Patriots in place of the injured David Andrews. Midway through last season, Thuney switched from left guard to left tackle. Teammates were so impressed that they voted him the winner of the Derrick Thomas Award as Chiefs MVP.

The Bears no doubt will benefit from Thuney's playing ability and intangibles, most notably the knowledge he gained while spending his first nine NFL seasons with a pair of perennial championship contenders.

"I'm fortunate to have played for some really good coaches, with some really good quarterbacks and some really good offensive lines," Thuney said. "Being part of that and seeing how the day-to-day goes, how certain people approach meetings, what they do between meetings and practice, nutrition, I was so fortunate to witness that and be around it and try to copy what guys were doing in the building."