Tweet
Did you think I'd leave Sex Cannon out of it???
-
sigpic -
Comment
-
Those guys drinking whisky don't look 21 years old to me.
This is shocking! What is happening to young people today?Comment
-
Again, some things never get old.......
sigpicComment
-
Is he leaning over a big pile of white powder?Originally posted by Iron Mike
Comment
-
I didn't know both Wrexy and Orton were gay!
Signing Grossman was a smart move by the Bears. What other options do they have? Seriously? It's good for the Pack though.Comment
-
Hope springs eternal!
With all the verbal abuse Grossman has endured from the press and Bears fans, part of me wonders why the guy just doesn't quit. but then I remember the guy is still making millions of dollars...Comment
-
THE PACKERS ARE DOOMED!!!!
Not only are the Bears bringing back Sexy Rexy..........Orton too!!!
Competition????????? lolCHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Bears and quarterback Kyle Orton agreed Monday on a one-year contract extension that runs through the 2009 season, setting up a competition between him and Rex Grossman.
The deal comes two days after Chicago re-signed Grossman to a one-year contract and said he would compete for the starting quarterback job with Orton.
Comment
-
I welcome these moves.
It keeps the Bears mired in the mediocrity that is most their element.Who Knows? The Shadow knows!Comment
-
By Dennis Dillon
updated 11:29 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 25, 2008
So Rex Grossman is coming back to Chicago for another season. That news must have inspired the Windy City's football faithful to toot their horns and whistle "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" as they drove up and down Lakeshore Drive.
Would someone please explain to me the Bears' fascination with this guy?
Since Chicago drafted Grossman with the 22nd overall pick in the 2003 draft, he has failed to live up to that status. He has been hurt, a lot. And when he has played, his performance generally has ranged from mediocre to miserable.
Yet, the Bears stubbornly continue to give him opportunity after opportunity. Their message seems to be: "He was a first-round draft pick and, by God, we're going to make it work."
So far, it hasn't. Just look at Grossman's numbers through five seasons.
Games/starts: 32/30
Pass attempts: 900
Completions: 489
Completion percentage: 54.3
Passing yards: 5,907
Touchdowns: 31
Interceptions: 33
Passer rating: 70.9
Games missed because of injuries: 29 Last season was a microcosm of Grossman's NFL career. After he completed 47 of 89 passes (52.8 percent) for 500 yards, one touchdown and six interceptions in the first three games, the Bears benched him. He came back six games later after Brian Griese was injured and went 75-for-136 (55.1 percent) for 911 yards, three touchdowns and one interception before hurting his knee and missing the final three games.
I asked an NFL scout who knows the Bears well to describe Grossman's career in one or two words. He said, "Inconsistent. Erratic. Injured. I guess I went past two, huh? He's a strong-armed thrower. He's won some games for them with his ability to throw the ball deep down the field. But for every big play, he makes a bad play. I guess I wouldn't say I'm enamored with him."
Certainly there are Grossman supporters out there. And they will argue that in 2006 he took the Bears to the Super Bowl for the first time in 21 years.
I will argue that the Bears won the NFC championship in '06 in spite of Grossman, not because of him. And when he had a chance in the big dance to prove his skeptics wrong, he tripped up. In a 29-17 Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis, Grossman went 20-of-28 for 165 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions--one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Yes, Grossman has shown some flashes. But they have been overshadowed by his bad moments and inconsistency. Yet the Bears continue to show remarkable patience with him.
Admittedly, quarterback is not a strong position in the 2008 class of free agents. The group includes Mark Brunell, Cleo Lemon, J.T. O'Sullivan, Brian St. Pierre, Marques Tuiasosopo . . . well, you get the picture. So the Bears took a look at the available QBs and chose Grossman, keeping him off the market by signing him to a one-year contract.
"We wanted him because we felt like he gives us the best opportunity to be the best team we can be going into this next season," general manager Jerry Angelo told reporters. "We do know what other players are at the position out there. We did look at those players internally and we felt Rex was the best for us."
One reason the Bears wanted to re-sign Grossman is because he knows their offensive system. But knowing it and executing it are two different things.
The Bears didn't give Grossman a big contract and he's not guaranteed to be the starter in 2008. He'll compete for that role with Kyle Orton, a fourth-round pick in 2005, who started the final three games last season. The team likely will release Griese and draft a quarterback somewhere in the middle rounds.
So maybe this is just a stopgap move that will buy Chicago a year before it can land a better quarterback. But to win a championship, you need a great quarterback, not a mediocre one. And if I'm a Bears fan, I don't have really high expectations for 2008.
Dennis Dillon is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ddillon@sportingnews.com.
© 2008 The Sporting NewsComment
Comment