Tyler Scott didn’t experience a true high school graduation. Instead of celebrating with his classmates in a stadium packed with family and friends at Norton High School outside Akron, Ohio, he had a set date to go to school alone to pick up his diploma.

When he arrived at college a few months later, all of the courses on Scott’s schedule were online-only. During his entire time at the University of Cincinnati, he never set foot in a classroom or met his professors in person—a reality many of his peers faced during the 2020 freshman year, which was hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These lost experiences were a major catalyst for Scott’s decision to take the graduation stage in Cincinnati last Friday after completing his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Scott, an Ohio native, drove with his family from Canton – where he played in the Bears’ first preseason game last Thursday night – to Cincinnati, graduated at 2 p.m. on Friday and drove six hours back to Chicago that evening to be home in time for practice Saturday morning.

“I wanted to get up there and have that moment and be part of the graduation ceremony,” Scott told ChicagoBears.com. “To be able to have that moment was special. To have my parents, my brother, his daughter and my wife there – to see me walk across the stage, it was really special for them.

“When you get drafted, that’s all great and things like that, but for them to see me grow up meant as much to them as it did to me. I just felt like it was important to be there and have the opportunity.”