We're Black and Blue All Over:

Make sure you take a moment to check out Jemele Hill's column on the efforts of Chicago Bears linebacker J.T. Thomas to raise awareness for epilepsy.

Thomas, a rookie who spent 2011 on injured reserve, gained notoriety in May when he took an eighth-grade girl with spina bifida to her junior prom, recently met a 14-year-old boy who suffers from epilepsy.

I won't spoil the whole story, but let's just say it ended in Indianapolis a few days ago.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• Tony Dungy doesn't think the Bears are too far away from winning the Super Bowl, he said Monday on ESPN 1000.
• The New York Giants used the same blueprint for success as the Detroit Lions are attempting to use, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
• Quarterback Matthew Stafford was one of several Lions players who earned bumps in their 2012 base salaries, according to Birkett.
• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has detailed contract information on the top 51 players on the Green Bay Packers' roster.
• Former Packers and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre told 1340 The Fan in Lubbock, Texas, that he didn't miss football in 2011, according to sportsradiointerviews.com.
• Vikings director of player personnel George Paton had a second interview Tuesday for the St. Louis Rams' general manager job. Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has more.
• Michael Rand of the Star Tribune writes on the "Carter conundrum."