When the first Ted Karras got married, Pappa Bear Halas went to the wedding and when he died, the daughter of George Halas came to the funeral to say good-bye.

Which is one of the many reasons when the Bengals play the Bears Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) at Paycor Stadium, it means a special something to the latest Ted Karras besides keeping the playoffs alive. In his 10th year in the league, Karras, the Bengals center, captain and conscience, finally gets a start against his grandfather's team.

He's played one snap against the Bears. And that was seven years ago.

"The whole family is coming in," says Karras of the convergence of the Gary, Ind., (father) side with the Chicago (mother) side.

After practice this week, Karras easily ticks off the names of his boyhood heroes as if they were the multiple fronts the Jets threw at him last Sunday.

"Olin Kreutz," says Karras of the Bears' great center, bracing for a nostalgic breeze through Chicago's rosters of the early 21^st century. "Jim Miller. Marty Booker. I loved Matry Booker. It's almost a cliché to say you liked (Brian) Urlacher. I loved Urlacher. Cedric Benson. A-Train. From Michigan. Anthony … Thomas. Peanut. (Charles Tillman).

"That was back before they put the spaceship at Soldier Field."

Not only that, Joe Thuney, pretty much Karras' best friend in the world, is now on that offensive line.

Thuney, the perennial Pro Bowler and Paycor neighbor from Kettering, just happens to be playing the position for the Bears that the first Ted Karras played after Pappa Bear loaned him to Art Rooney in Pittsburgh.

Halas brought the first Ted Karras back to Chicago in time for the last days of 1963, when the Bears won the NFL title at Soldier Field against the Frank Gifford and Y.A. Title Giants with Ted Karras at left guard.

"We've tailgated many times with the Thuneys," says the next Ted Karras, Karras' dad. "We're going to do it again Sunday and we're looking forward to that. Great family. And Joe's one of the all-time greats. Great athlete. We were at a (Super Bowl) Ring party in New England, and he won the PIG (basketball shooting) against everybody."

They were 2016 draft classmates in New England, where the latest Ted Karras and Thuney oversaw the most famous living arrangement since Animal House. Karras figures during four years at the North Attleboro, Mass., house, they had 19 roommates. But the Patriots were a lot more than a first job.

"He was taught by the best and still carries it with him every single day. He still folds his towel how he was taught with New England," says Dylan Fairchild, the Bengals rookie left guard Karras housed before rookie minicamp to get him in the playbook. "He does that to this day. Everything he's learned over the years, he carries with him."

His lineage stands in Chicago "("Born in Resurrection Hospital downtown," he says), but his roots are in New England. The latest Ted Karras promises to show you how he folds that towel.

Tom Brady taught him how to fold it so he could fit the towel inside his pants against his bottom to prevent moisture. Brady, the Patriot perfectionist, wanted nothing to get between him and a perfect snap.

"They taught me how to play center in the NFL," says Karras of his time with the Patriots revered offensive line coach. "The reason I'm still in the league is Dante Scarnecchia."

Karras gets a lot of ink for his personality, leadership and community service, and rightfully so. The Bengals' Great Communicator.

You can see it when he comes off the field following a Thursday walkthrough, the third-down day heavy with protections, and he's bubbling over a concept with running backs coach Justin Hill as if its Sunday at halftime.

"Everything starts with Ted," Hill says. "Like a coach on the field. He recognizes all the looks, all the fronts and gets everybody aligned and targeted in the right place."

And when he gets mic'd up, as he was for the Thursday night win over the Steelers, it's a social media tsunami.

But, get this. The latest Ted Karras can play.

At 32, Karras is playing his best ball since Scarnecchia found him at Illinois and the Patriots fished him out of the sixth round. He signed his second one-year extension before this season after a year Pro Football Focus graded him the seventh-highest center in the league.

He's coming off that game against the Jets where he coordinated the Bengals' best run game in nearly two years while allowing one pressure. PFF doesn't have him as highly graded this year. But the web site has him coming into this week's games with the same pass-blocking numbers as the Ravens' young two-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, allowing a sack and 13 pressures for the season.

"When I got here (in 2022), it was the first time I ever played just one position," Karras says. "Before that, I played a lot of right guard and left guard, too. Just trying to get better every year."

There are those who believe some of the best centers in the league can't do what Karras does here for a pass-first team when it comes to getting lined up and then blocking.

"A great pass protector," Fairchild says. "He's great at being in the hole and being able to help either guard and he does great in his one-on-ones. He excels in all phases of pass pro."

If anyone knows how he's doing, it's the next Ted Karras. Father and son talk twice a day. Easy to do when your dad is the national title-winning head coach for NAIA Marian University of Indianapolis.

Especially during a week you're preparing for the Bears and he's preparing for a team from Joliet. St. Francis.

"Good team. Tough game on the west side of Indianapolis," says Ted Karras' dad.

Just another weekend for the Karras football family. After his game on Saturday, the next Ted Karras and wife Jennifer head to Paycor for that tailgate with the Thuneys. They're hoping they'll follow them to their son's open house that the latest Ted Karras has after every Paycor game.

After the crowd disperses, father and son watch the tape, a ritual they've been doing following home games since the first Ted Karras was taking them to Bears games.

"I have to get back for that Monday morning meeting, so it will be a little late, but that's OK," the next Ted Karras says. "Last week I thought his run-blocking was better. The whole offensive line. Gash plays. That's powerful. That's good stuff. I thought his pass pro was spot on.

"And his leadership during the week in that group has been helpful. He's on people all the time. That's a big deal in football. I feel the same way as a coach. We've got a task at hand and we do everything we can do to get a W on the weekend."

This runs in the family. If the latest Ted Karras gets on Fairchild, then the first Ted Karras got on a Bears rookie named Mike Ditka. That Mike Ditka, who made his Bears coaching legend getting on everybody and anybody.

"My dad got on Ditka as a rookie and Ditka would get mad once in a while," the next Ted Karras says. "That's what veterans sometimes do to rookies. You've got to keep them in line."

Stories? Father and son have a huddle of them.

The next Ted Karras' favorite is when his grandfather and his uncle, the great Lions linebacker Alex Karras, were in an elevator in Baltimore. They realized the very large man in there with them was Big Daddy Lipscomb, the Pro Bowl defensive tackle who hated the Karras brothers.

"My grandfather says to Alex, let's slip out of here," Karras says. "Just as the door closes, Big Daddy says, 'Don't think I don't know that's you Karrases.' Boom. Mini brawl in the elevator in Baltimore."

The next Ted Karras remembers a story about the first Ted Karras playing his brother Alex.

"Alex steps on my dad's hand," Karras says, "and he's screaming, 'Alex, what are you doing? It's me.' And Alex says, 'Sorry, I couldn't see.'"

Old-time football. There's a lot of that Sunday with families and stories and 60 minutes draping it all. For the next Ted Karras, it really is a simple game.

"One thing Scar told me. Know who you are," Karras says. "I think I've been true to that. Solid. Solid-plus. A grinder. A grunt. Just an NFL offensive lineman."

Pretty good match on a throwback tailgate of a Sunday.