During the second episode of the Bears' "Hard Knocks" offseason edition, wide receiver/running back Velus Jones Jr. mentioned a funny time in college when he and Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. owned a pet ferret named Crash.
"I had a pet ferret, me and my homeboy Michael Pittman when we were roommates. It was dope though. RIP Crash," Jones said during the show.
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Following the peculiar nugget in the episode, Jones told Crash's story to the media on Wednesday.
During Jones' time at USC, the team played Washington State. After the game, Jones recounts having ample free time to do what they wanted. Jones and Pittman went to a pet store and checked out some ferrets, many of which tried to bite him multiple times. But the older ones grew on them, so Jones and Pittman looked at each other and knew.
"We're gonna get one," Pittman said to Jones.
Jones said the two of them took to Craigslist to find a pet ferret. They came across a ferret breeder in South Central, Los Angeles who was willing to give them a ferret. The two of them drove Pittman's Chevy Camaro to an alleyway in LA.
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Because the encounter with their online ferret breeder was "the sketchiest thing ever," Jones told Pittman to "keep the car running." Despite Jones' heart racing in fear, the breeder was legit. He gave the duo Crash, their new pet ferret. Jones and Pittman paid the breeder $350 for Crash and they took care of the ferret at their house.
Their USC teammates quarterback JT Daniels and kicker Chase McGrath watched after Crash if Jones or Pittman were away. The two did their research about ferrets, feeding Crash the proper food and giving him mice to attack, "kind of like Animal Planet." Jones brought him around campus, recalling his presence at his tutoring sessions.
But after becoming paralyzed from the waist down, and encountering a veterinarian who was unable to help, Jones decided to put Crash to rest. Crash is buried near a river.
"I'm sad to say the ferret passed away," Jones said Wednesday. "It was my 2020 season at the University of Tennessee. Me and Michael Pittman from the Colts, we were roommates, so we got him when I was at USC. He left for the draft in 2019 and then I transferred to Tennessee. Going into that 2020 season, he passed away and you know, I get a little emotional sometimes. I was at my grandmother's house and he was just paralyzed from the waist down, so I had to put him to sleep. ... RIP Crash."
Crash, however, did get his 15 minutes of fame during the 2021 college football season. While USC played against Georgia on CBS nationally, a sideline reporter shared Crash's story with the audience. (Jones played a video of the reporter's live television hit about Crash.)
Jones said he shed a tear or two when Crash died because "real men cry." Crash holds a special place in his and his USC teammates' hearts. And now his story is shared with another part of the world, thanks to "Hard Knocks."
"He's a legend, for sure," Jones said.