DrunkBomber

Patriots at 1, no surprise. Were 6th and were the second NFC team behind New Orleans.

I thought I was losing my mind

The best place to get the new authentic Ed Hochuli

Just ordered my Navy blue authentic Greg Olsen jersey. Its satisfying to know Ill have a jersey that should be current for at least five years. The question now is, what to do with my authentic Rex jersey?????

Link of Hester running a kick back in high school

he weighs more, but their NFL profiles say Jones is 6'6" and Olsen is 6'4"

Is he bigger than Matt Jones? I thought he was like 6'7" or something crazy like that.

I have a feeling theyre gonna do a lot of interesting things with Olsen. Maybe similar to how Indy uses Dallas Clark. Olsen sure has the speed for it.

Bears' brass earns high marks for Hester's development By Don Pierson July 3, 2007 When last seen by the general public, Chicago Bears rookie phenom Devin Hester was following the jets screaming over Dolphin Stadium as he returned the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl for a touchdown. It was the highlight of the day for the Bears as they watched the Indianapolis Colts quickly catch up and create a wake of their own. But the Bears are excited about another highlight that has helped them forget their unhappy Super Bowl ending. They have convinced Hester to play offense. Moreover, Hester was spectacular in his minicamp debut. The Bears were happy enough when coach Lovie Smith finally prevailed upon Hester to abandon his dreams of becoming the NFL’s best cornerback. It wasn’t easy because Hester has been befriended by one of his idols, Deion Sanders, who was in frequent contact throughout Hester’s transition from Miami to the NFL. No doubt Sanders provides wise counsel for the kid, but if it included clinging to the idea of playing cornerback, it was advice the Bears didn’t need him to give. Hester never challenged to get onto the field even in nickel or dime situations and never appeared comfortable despite the best intentions and desires. Unlike Sanders, Hester looked more like a longtime project than a natural. As he was returning six kicks, punts and missed field goals for touchdowns, it became clear that Hester needed the ball in his hands as often as possible. The Bears lined him up at receiver in one game and tried to throw him a quick screen pass, but it fell incomplete. Hester remained determined to play defense, but Smith remained determined to change his mind. In March and April, Hester received many phone calls from Smith. “It went from once a month to once a week to every day,” Hester said. “So I said, ‘There’s no “I” in team,’ and if the head coach thinks it’s going to be better for the team …” The final bit of convincing was when Hester joined LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Matt Hasselbeck and others in the Campbell’s Chunky Soup advertising campaign. “As I was telling Devin, he ­didn’t get a chance to do that commercial based on backpedaling,” Smith said. So, by the time of this year’s draft, the Bears were so excited about the position change that they started to say among themselves: “In the first round, the Chicago Bears select Devin Hester, wide receiver, from the University of the Chicago Bears.” Offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who lobbied for Hester’s services last year, started working with Hester on route-running and was happy with what he saw. Then came the minicamp. Hester was simply eye-popping. If he dropped a single pass in either of the first two days — during individual, seven-on-seven or team practices — a witness has yet to come forward. Not only did Hester show exceptional hands, he caught errant balls that wouldn’t have been drops. He made adjustments, came back for balls, created separation and ran every conceivable route, all of them as if he had been doing it for years. Although the original idea was just to get Hester more touches with a few special plays — slip screens, hitches, end-arounds — he was in no way limited to elementary routes in minicamp. On one shallow cross, Hester made so many stunning moves after the catch that he drew oohs and aahs from teammates and a low-five from Smith on his way from the endzone back to the huddle. While it is foolish to pay too much attention to workouts without pads or hitting, it was also impossible to ignore Hester. Because he will be listed as a running back/receiver, Hester will be allowed to keep his No. 23, which holds a special place in Chicago lore with Michael Jordan and Ryne Sandberg. Overburdening Hester was a mistake the University of Miami (Fla.) made, one that the Bears were determined not to repeat. Hester never fully reached his potential at running back, receiver or defensive back. He was deemed a man without a position, a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. The Bears allowed him to compete at cornerback and initially used him only on punt returns. The idea was to let him gain confidence before asking him to branch out. It wasn’t until later in the season that they added kick returns to his plate. Because the results were so immediate, the Bears were second-guessed. After the jaw-dropping minicamp demonstration, the inclination was to second-guess again. Why didn’t the Bears insist Hester play receiver right off the bat? But what if they had force-fed him a position that wasn’t his first love? What if he had dropped a pass or two, run a wrong route, caused an interception? What if his fleet-footed career had started on the wrong foot? Instead, what the Bears saw at the May minicamp was a confident Hester, embracing his new role instead of resigned to his fate. If he’s anywhere near as good come September, the Bears will have something to celebrate again. And they will have Smith to thank. “He was like a father raising a kid up, and once he gets in high school, then guide him to the right college,” Hester said. “That’s the way he is, and I have 100 percent trust in Lovie Smith and the decisions he’s making. I’m just hoping I can live up to it and contribute. “It was more exciting than I really thought it would be. Whenever a player gets his hands on the ball and knows what he can do with it, it’s a lot of fun.” Unless you’re a cornerback trying to catch him.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo always has maintained he and the team have had a good working relationship with agent Drew Rosenhaus, the Lance Briggs franchise-tag impasse notwithstanding. The era of good feelings continued Tuesday when the Bears agreed with Rosenhaus client and first-round NFL draft pick Greg Olsen on a five-year contract. Olsen, the 31st player taken overall, is the first pick in either the first or second rounds of the 2007 draft to come to terms with his team. Rosenhaus, who has been in Chicago the past couple of days, also brought with him several ideas regarding Briggs' contract that he hopes will interest the Bears. "We presented some concepts that we think will work for the Bears and for Lance," Rosenhaus said, declining to elaborate on specifics. Adding urgency to Briggs' situation is that July 16 is the deadline to do long-term contracts with players having the franchise designation. Meanwhile, Rosenhaus and his brother Jason have been working with the Bears on Olsen and were at Halas Hall on Monday and Tuesday to hammer out the deal with contract negotiator Cliff Stein. The contract can be worth up to $10.69 million and includes incentives as well as a creative bonus package on base salaries of $285,000 for 2007, $460,000 for 2008 and 2009, $550,000 in 2010 and $650,000 in 2001. Olsen receives a signing bonus of $250,000 plus a roster bonus of $720,000 this year. He has incentives that will pay him an additional $575,700 in 2007 if he participates in 35 percent of the snaps. In subsequent years the incentive is triggered if he plays in 45 percent of the snaps. Rosenhaus and Stein also spread out the traditional second-year option bonus in a structure that gives the team latitude in later years rather than loading the entire bonus into the second year. Olsen receives a bonus of $3.545 million in 2008, with roster/reporting bonuses of $100,000 in 2009, $140,000 in 2010 and $125,000 in 2011. "I was very confident this would be a smooth process," Rosenhaus said. "We worked well with the Bears and got to a point and a number where both sides were satisfied, which is the sign of a good deal." The Bears have led the NFL in signing draft picks each of the last two seasons and have only No. 2 pick Dan Bazuin, No. 62 overall, unsigned with the start of training camp still more than three weeks away. Last season they had their top pick, safety Danieal Manning, taken in the second round, signed on July 7. Rosenhaus' proposals for Briggs are the first sign of any progress between the two sides after what can be described only as a tense off-season. The Bears, after failing to get a long-term deal worked out, placed the franchise tag on Briggs in March, guaranteeing him $7.2 million for one season. Briggs responded by threatening to sit out the first 10 games of the season. "People are misinterpreting the difference in getting Lance's situation worked out versus other dealings," Rosenhaus said. "It's the franchise tag. That is just very difficult."

This is great. We have a Rosenhaus client locked up for 5 years.

He said hes not really surprised Tank was cut and as a friend he doesnt like it. He thinks Goodell is doing the right thing trying to clean up the NFL. He said Briggs wants to be a Bear, he also pretended like he didnt know how the franchise tag works, he said he doesnt know what Briggs is gonna do. Said TJ was the Bears best offensive player. He thinks theyll be good offensively. Said Rex needs to be more consistent but Super Bowl wasnt his fault because defense gave up too much.

Ill post any interesting stuff.

This is what I was thinking. It seemed like he knew he was close and thats why he opted for the blood test instead of a breathalyser.

Varitek is a hell of a swimmer though, you gotta admit that

at espn.com for the ESPY of best football player. He wont win but lets juice him up.

I may be alone here, but if Briggs does sit out the first ten games of the year I dont want him to play at all. Especially him being a lame duck for the rest of the year.

Rex Grossman will have a very good 2007 campaign and lead the Bears back to the playoffs. I'm being dead serious. I'm not pulling a Tommie Harris and pretending to be Jerry Seinfeld. I believe this. With a pathetic Super Bowl performance fresh on the brain, you would have to think I am nuts to write something like this. But let's keep a few things in mind. He's a former first-round pick with great talent. He is in a contract year. And his work ethic and attention to detail this off-season have been tremendous. The Bears added talent and got injured players healthy in the passing attack this spring. Last year was the first time in his career that Grossman was healthy enough to play a full 16 games. I'd make the case that for a first-time full-time starter, Grossman's 2006 season was actually pretty good. Poll Usually all of the above is a recipe for success. Or at least improvement. Before last year, he started seven times. In essence, Grossman's 2006 season was his rookie campaign. Grossman performed like a neophyte, showing moments of brilliance and sequences of futility. He started out the season white hot. The Bears were 4-0, Grossman had eight touchdowns to just three interceptions and the Bears pounded the Seahawks 37-6 on national television. Grossman tossed two touchdowns and no picks, leading John Madden to compare him to Brett Favre and leading to some very early MVP discussion. Doesn't that feel like a lifetime ago? What marred Grossman's season were his haphazard throws; the interceptions on passes he should've never thrown. And when he made bad decisions, it truly snowballed. Grossman was irresponsible against the Patriots and Vikings down the stretch. His tosses into double coverage nearly cost the Bears on Monday night against the Cardinals. And his play and attitude against the Packers on New Year's Eve in the regular season finale were both something you cannot justify. When you see so many strong moments last year when you dig through the erratic play, you have to believe that experience, coaching and more weapons in the passing attack will help. Bears coach Lovie Smith switched burner Devin Hester to offense, giving Grossman another deep threat. Hester's presence on the field will help keep defenses off balance. First-year tight end Greg Olsen was the ideal pick at the end of Round 1 with his soft hands and attitude. It's exactly what Grossman needs. And finally, former second-round receiver Mark Bradley really seems healthy. Bradley will be a nice fit with Muhsin Muhammad, Bernard Berrian, and Rashied Davis Chicago has a new quarterbacks coach in Pep Hamilton, who has been drilling Grossman all off-season. A good coach and a new voice can pay major dividends. It's mainstream to bash Grossman. Heck, even Harris can't help himself but to day dream about the Bears being quarterbacked by someone other than Rex. But let's remember how truly inexperienced Grossman was last year. I think a lot of Bears fans, and some Bears players, will be pleasantly surprised this time around.

It would be nice to lock them both up and we will also have RMJ for a few more years too. I didnt realize we have Harris signed for 2 more years, that takes away a little of the urgency of resigning him.

Ya, thats true. I dont see them extending him during this offseason, I do however think that they may have plans to make an offer to him sometime during the season if he looks good early on.

IMO, not a chance. They wouldnt want to pay Rex the top 5 average qb salary in the NFL.

Im sure he'll get picked up somewhere.

Dont forget Rex!

I thought I remembered hearing Urlacher say he was on Briggs side and they should trade him so he can get his payday if thats what he wants

Ya I guess I worded that wrong. What I meant, which Im not sure is correct anyway is that for the first 6-8 games Tank will be inactive so we can have 53 players suit up. Then, when his suspension is up someone is going to get deactivated to make room for Tank. Unless he can just replace someone that goes on IR if possible. Either way, we know there are always going to be exactly 53 men suited up.