It’s always nice to discover that another notable professional athlete outside of pickleball has a genuine appreciation for America’s fastest-growing sport.

Enter Chicago Bears offensive lineman Drew Dalman, who revealed that information on the latest episode of "Sippin' with Screeden" with Bears TV host and sideline reporter Lauren Screeden.

“Besides football, what’s your next favorite sport?” asked Screeden in the latter stages of the interview.

“Right now, it’s probably pickleball. That’s been kind of the flavor of the year the last year or two for me in the offseason,” replied Dalman, who signed a three-year contract with Chicago in March. “I like messing around with everything that’s got a ball and a racquet or something like that. I think I’ll have fun playing it with friends.”

That answer immediately caught Screeden's attention, and she dug a little deeper.

"I feel like pickleball can get intense, and you’re a competitive guy. So this is intense pickleball or this is like we’ll just pick it up and play once in a while?" she inquired.

"It usually starts as like very laughy, jokey fun, and then kind of gets more serious and people start sweating and all that. It’s fun," answered Dalman. "I've got a few buddies that I like to play with, and we all kind of match on like the competitive enough to have fun, but not so competitive that we’re going to like spike a paddle or anything like that."

"We’ll get you in a league here. No worries," mentioned Screeden. 

"No doubt," concluded Dalman.

Get this man some Chicago Slice merch ASAP.

James Ignatowich, Max Freeman, Callie Smith, Carlos Di Laura, Vivienne David and Pierina Imparato would definitely appreciate his support.