motife
03-25-2007, 05:02 PM
Expert: Bears feeling the blues this spring
From Smith to Rivera to Briggs, Super Bowl runners-up making missteps
ASK THE NFL EXPERT
By Don Pierson
Updated: 5:13 p.m. CT March 21, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17725239/
Super Bowl losers have a tendency toward nasty hangovers, but usually they are the delayed variety. The Chicago Bears have become the victims of an instant headache.
Most teams that come up short in the biggest game of all have trouble reorganizing their efforts the following season, but at least they wait until then to put their problems on public display.
The Bears started to backslide as soon as Rex Grossman threw that horrible interception Kelvin Hayden ran back for a touchdown, clinching Super Bowl XLI for the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears haven’t stopped retreating since.
First, they allowed Grossman to ride back home with them on the team plane. Then things really started degenerating. :P :twisted: :)
Lovie Smith refused to rehire defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, whose eight interviews for head coaching jobs in 13 months did no more than land him out of work for a few hours until new San Diego coach Norv Turner jumped at him.
Smith’s only explanation was that he and Rivera were going in different directions, surprising for a team that was 11-5 and 13-3 the past two seasons. Think if they had been on the same page.
General manager Jerry Angelo decided to use the dreaded “franchise†tag for the first time, slapping it on free agent Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs. Briggs soon made his feelings known nationally. Somehow, the promise of $7.2 million guaranteed for the 2007 season did not make him feel honored. Briggs grabbed every microphone available and claimed he will never again play for the Bears.
It was a 1,000 percent raise that was met with 1,000 percent rejection.
Meanwhile, the Bears made Smith stew about a contract renegotiation that Smith thought was already a year overdue.
After he was voted coach-of-the-year in 2005, Smith reluctantly worked the 2006 season as the lowest-paid head coach in the league. His $1.35 million salary was lower than some coordinators. But he guided the Bears to a 13-3 season and tried before the Super Bowl to get his deal extended beyond 2007.
The Bears decided to wait until after the Super Bowl. Then they waited until after the Scouting Combine, so Smith had to answer questions again in front of a national media asking about his contract.
Only one coach in the NFL had a better record than Smith over the past two seasons and that was the Colts’ Tony Dungy. Finally, Smith got a new deal, but not for as much as the Atlanta Falcons gave college coach Bobby Petrino.
Next, the Bears traded running back Thomas Jones to the New York Jets for less than a back-to-back 1,300-yard rusher would seem to warrant: a move up 26 places in the second round of the draft. It turned out to be market value, but it didn’t leave Bears fans comforted to know the team has put all its hopes on Cedric Benson.
So far, Benson’s main claim to fame is he was the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. His contribution to the Super Bowl effort was two carries, one fumble, one twisted knee.
Just when the offseason sideshows were beginning to quiet down, defensive tackle Tank Johnson was ordered to spend 120 days in jail for violating probation by harboring enough guns and ammo in his home to invade Wisconsin.
The pleas of teammate Brian Urlacher that Johnson was a good guy and the warning by Smith that jail would be devastating fell on the judge’s deaf ears. Smith was referring to Johnson’s state of mind more than to his defense’s state of deterioration, although Johnson surely will be suspended for part of the upcoming season.
During the first three weeks of the free agent free-for-all, the Bears added exactly one player: They traded for safety Adam Archuleta, an expensive flop with the Washington Redskins after starring for Smith with the St. Louis Rams.
“I am not one to confuse activity with achievement,†Angelo said, without fear of misunderstanding.
Briggs’ challenge represents the stickiest issue. A year ago, the Bears made him an offer of $33 million over seven years, which Briggs turned down. The Bears thought it was fair at the time and have been unwilling to upgrade it despite the Super Bowl season. With Urlacher already on the payroll, the Bears feel no need to employ two highly paid linebackers, just as they didn’t want to pay two expensive running backs in Jones and Benson.
But unlike Jones, who saw the handwriting on the wall a year ago and quietly solicited a promise from Angelo for a trade, Briggs took a different approach.
The Bears and Briggs are engaged in a game of poker. The Bears knew a franchise tag was like a red flag waved in the face of Briggs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, yet they used it anyway. Rosenhaus has responded with an all-out assault by his client against the Bears, the Chicago media and the fans to drive an irreparable wedge between the linebacker and the team.
Briggs’ next target might be his teammates. Already, he has admitted that he’s jealous of playing Robin to Urlacher’s Batman, saying he wants to go to a team where he can be The Star.
The two sides appear cornered, although the Bears certainly have time and tradition at their end.
It will be hard for Briggs to start missing a weekly paycheck of $450,375, not to mention start paying fines of up to $14,000 for each day he stays away from training camp.
But it also will be hard for the Bears to allow him to sit, which is their only recourse short of setting dangerous precedent. If Angelo caves, he might as well hand over his own new contract extension to Rosenhaus.
Johnson might get out of jail in time for the May minicamps if he’s inclined toward good behavior. His track record would not encourage optimism, but for Bears fans, nothing about this offseason so far has encouraged anything except regret.
From Smith to Rivera to Briggs, Super Bowl runners-up making missteps
ASK THE NFL EXPERT
By Don Pierson
Updated: 5:13 p.m. CT March 21, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17725239/
Super Bowl losers have a tendency toward nasty hangovers, but usually they are the delayed variety. The Chicago Bears have become the victims of an instant headache.
Most teams that come up short in the biggest game of all have trouble reorganizing their efforts the following season, but at least they wait until then to put their problems on public display.
The Bears started to backslide as soon as Rex Grossman threw that horrible interception Kelvin Hayden ran back for a touchdown, clinching Super Bowl XLI for the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears haven’t stopped retreating since.
First, they allowed Grossman to ride back home with them on the team plane. Then things really started degenerating. :P :twisted: :)
Lovie Smith refused to rehire defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, whose eight interviews for head coaching jobs in 13 months did no more than land him out of work for a few hours until new San Diego coach Norv Turner jumped at him.
Smith’s only explanation was that he and Rivera were going in different directions, surprising for a team that was 11-5 and 13-3 the past two seasons. Think if they had been on the same page.
General manager Jerry Angelo decided to use the dreaded “franchise†tag for the first time, slapping it on free agent Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs. Briggs soon made his feelings known nationally. Somehow, the promise of $7.2 million guaranteed for the 2007 season did not make him feel honored. Briggs grabbed every microphone available and claimed he will never again play for the Bears.
It was a 1,000 percent raise that was met with 1,000 percent rejection.
Meanwhile, the Bears made Smith stew about a contract renegotiation that Smith thought was already a year overdue.
After he was voted coach-of-the-year in 2005, Smith reluctantly worked the 2006 season as the lowest-paid head coach in the league. His $1.35 million salary was lower than some coordinators. But he guided the Bears to a 13-3 season and tried before the Super Bowl to get his deal extended beyond 2007.
The Bears decided to wait until after the Super Bowl. Then they waited until after the Scouting Combine, so Smith had to answer questions again in front of a national media asking about his contract.
Only one coach in the NFL had a better record than Smith over the past two seasons and that was the Colts’ Tony Dungy. Finally, Smith got a new deal, but not for as much as the Atlanta Falcons gave college coach Bobby Petrino.
Next, the Bears traded running back Thomas Jones to the New York Jets for less than a back-to-back 1,300-yard rusher would seem to warrant: a move up 26 places in the second round of the draft. It turned out to be market value, but it didn’t leave Bears fans comforted to know the team has put all its hopes on Cedric Benson.
So far, Benson’s main claim to fame is he was the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. His contribution to the Super Bowl effort was two carries, one fumble, one twisted knee.
Just when the offseason sideshows were beginning to quiet down, defensive tackle Tank Johnson was ordered to spend 120 days in jail for violating probation by harboring enough guns and ammo in his home to invade Wisconsin.
The pleas of teammate Brian Urlacher that Johnson was a good guy and the warning by Smith that jail would be devastating fell on the judge’s deaf ears. Smith was referring to Johnson’s state of mind more than to his defense’s state of deterioration, although Johnson surely will be suspended for part of the upcoming season.
During the first three weeks of the free agent free-for-all, the Bears added exactly one player: They traded for safety Adam Archuleta, an expensive flop with the Washington Redskins after starring for Smith with the St. Louis Rams.
“I am not one to confuse activity with achievement,†Angelo said, without fear of misunderstanding.
Briggs’ challenge represents the stickiest issue. A year ago, the Bears made him an offer of $33 million over seven years, which Briggs turned down. The Bears thought it was fair at the time and have been unwilling to upgrade it despite the Super Bowl season. With Urlacher already on the payroll, the Bears feel no need to employ two highly paid linebackers, just as they didn’t want to pay two expensive running backs in Jones and Benson.
But unlike Jones, who saw the handwriting on the wall a year ago and quietly solicited a promise from Angelo for a trade, Briggs took a different approach.
The Bears and Briggs are engaged in a game of poker. The Bears knew a franchise tag was like a red flag waved in the face of Briggs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, yet they used it anyway. Rosenhaus has responded with an all-out assault by his client against the Bears, the Chicago media and the fans to drive an irreparable wedge between the linebacker and the team.
Briggs’ next target might be his teammates. Already, he has admitted that he’s jealous of playing Robin to Urlacher’s Batman, saying he wants to go to a team where he can be The Star.
The two sides appear cornered, although the Bears certainly have time and tradition at their end.
It will be hard for Briggs to start missing a weekly paycheck of $450,375, not to mention start paying fines of up to $14,000 for each day he stays away from training camp.
But it also will be hard for the Bears to allow him to sit, which is their only recourse short of setting dangerous precedent. If Angelo caves, he might as well hand over his own new contract extension to Rosenhaus.
Johnson might get out of jail in time for the May minicamps if he’s inclined toward good behavior. His track record would not encourage optimism, but for Bears fans, nothing about this offseason so far has encouraged anything except regret.