jason

I love the fluidity of this board sometimes. From Shea signed - ho hum, we knew it would happen - to Forte's contract. Forte is being greedy. Period.

I'll agree it's somewhere in the middle. But an NFL QB garners attention on his own. Adding celebrity girlfriend just makes it worse.

Yes, they were that bad. Please quit with the revisionist history. They had a decent stretch where they played relatively consistent as a unit, but for the most part they were bad. As for the first part, we shall see. People have been saying for years it was a matter of weapons. I've said all along that it doesn't matter how many weapons you have if Cutler is running for his life and has turf stains on his back. This year we will find out if it's because his guys weren't getting open. With Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett, Hester, Davis, Rodriguez, and Forte, there is no way someone can blame the weapons if Cutler continues to get pounded. My true hope is for Williams to move outside, put Webb on the bench, and have someone else fill the LG spot. Ideally it'd be Garza, with Spencer at C, but I just don't see that happening.

See, now this is where I disagree. And since the "pressures" statistic is highly unreliable unless paired with extensive gamefilm study and specific play breakdown, it's difficult to compute. But since I saw all the Bears games last year - most of them more than once - and several of the Packer games last year, I can say without a doubt that Rodgers had a much lower percentage of plays in which he was pressured than Cutler did. Furthermore, Cutler had to predict this so often that he began to move his pocket, roll out, scramble, etc. much more than Rodgers did. It's about consistency, which is where the Bears' OL problems primarily exist. Very rarely did they all get together on the same sheet of music. When Webb didn't suck, Garza did. When Garza didn't, Louis did. When Louis didn't, Williams did. Repeat over and over. Where the Packers differ is they seemed to gel as a unit more often, and while they may have had a similar number of sacks, the percentage of snaps in which Rodgers truly got pressured is, in my opinion, nowhere near as bad as the heat Cutler felt. Combining all the OL stats (i.e. rushing, zero yard plays, pressures, hits, pressures) more accurately tells the story, but it's still not the whole story.

Dude, that is NOT hindsight. That is as foretold and obvious as a sunrise. And it predates the link to celebrity girlfriends. All the girlfriend does is amplify the situation. Become star NFL player = get publicity, get millions of fans, lose privacy in public Become star NFL player who shacks up with a celebrity = See above, and muliply by infinity If he doesn't move, then he has nobody to blame about his lack of privacy other than himself.

I agree completely.

None. Who said he did? I'm not downing Cutler for flipping the bird. I couldn't care less. I'm just pointing out the facts that the photographers in this case also didn't break laws, and if Cutler is that sensitive maybe he should have thought about his desire for privacy before he went ahead with being a professional athlete who shacked up with a celebrity. There are plenty of celebrities who stay off the radar. If Cutler wanted that, he could afford to make it a reality.

Thank you for a common sense reply to the age-old "but the Packers" argument. Cutler was on a treadmill all year, even when the sacks weren't coming so frequently.

No they don't. That's unequivocally false. Check their stats again (make sure you scroll past thier primary accomplishments as returners).

Much better described, and now we're talking about specifics. Your scenarios get the following from me: OK, OK, Bad, OK, Bad/Confusing. The Princess Di thing is a whole ball of yarn that needs to be unraveled. Other factors besides the paparazzi were definitely contributing (e.g. driver was drinking, driver was speeding, lack of seat belt use). Unless the photographers are breaking laws, I don't see much problem with their actions. So, back to Cutler...were they illegally in his neighborhood? That's almost certainly a no. One of the prices of fame is a diminished amount of privacy. If Cutler doesn't like it, he should move into a gated community where the average Joe can't just waltz in with his camera. That's his choice. And his money allows that choice. And his money is derived from his celebrity. Full circle.

Defining "wrong" is subjective. I'm sure there families don't think it's "wrong" when they put food on the table. Again, when they sign they should know. If they don't, they're too ignorant to have that much money and responsibility. That's B,C, and D. As for E, they are responsible...for taking photographs.

The paparazzi vehicle does not drive without the celebrity fuel. You blame the photographer for doing his job - no matter how much you dislike it - but don't really blame Cutler for providing the impetus? If Cutler smiles the entire time or simply ignores the guy, we never see the photos. I don't care what Cutler did, and I obviously don't care if Cutler is a Boy Scout, but I also don't see how someone in his position can get upset about someone wanting to take his photograph because he is in the position. It's circular logic. 1a. Cutler is a celebrity 1b. Cutler married a celebrity 2. Photographer takes photo of celebrity 3. Cutler gets mad at photographer, whose job is to take photos of celebrities (see steps 1a & 1b) Can't be famous without fame.

I'm disagreeing with whether or not Cutler et. al. have a moral justification to flip a photographer when it's the celebrity that causes the photographer, not the other way around. They knew what they were signing up for when they put their John Hancock on the dotted line. And if they didn't realize the price of riches and fame had a few bumps and bruises, then I have even less sympathy for them than I do now (which is already infinitesimal). These people live in fantasy worlds we can only imagine, where nearly everyone around them caters to their needs, gives them freebies at every turn, and there is still the not so minor detail of getting paid millions and millions to either play a game or the oh so difficult task of acting in front of a camera. The lawsuit stuff I agree with; it's pathetic. But I don't agree with the concept the paparazzi deserve derision. This is simply supply and demand, and they are doing a job like any other. If anything I'd say the athletes and celebrities who live in a utopian bubble, where they expect all the good and none of the bad that results from their status, are the people deserving derision. (proverb: have your cake and eat it too) If I were rich I'd be the happiest and most friendly guy you ever met, and I'd probably know most of the paparazzi people by their first name. Then when their presence truly bugged me because I was having a bad day, or whatever, I'd kindly ask them to just give me a little space today for some really cool shots tomorrow. (proverb: more than one way to skin a cat) If they don't like the spotlight, they have plenty of other options out there, and I'm sure the professional sports and Hollywood ranks will have more than a few people who will gladly fill the absence.

Just giving you a hard time. But you're making too much out of the time Thomas spent in NY. He had almost four full years before that in Washington and Carolina where he did squat. And the Falcons weren't exactly stacked during Weems' tenure in Atlanta. He couldn't beat out Jenkins and Finneran; he's not that good. This is 100% about ST, but in a world where MSW is willing to play ST, he's preferred over either Thomas or Weems on a team that already has the greatest return man in NFL history.

I realize that; I was just giving wesson a hard time. If MSW didn't get picked up by a team he may have to bite his tongue and get in on some ST play. If so, he's a better option than Thomas at the very least. But then again, if frogs had wings...

First, you don't want another WR?! Did you know MSW is 6'2"?! C'mon!~!!! Also, MSW has a single year of 63 rec, 869yds, 7 TDs on a bad Jacksonville passing offense. In one season he's done almost exactly (4 less catches, more yards/TDs) what Weems and Thomas have done their entire careers.

I agree with Daventry, and disagree with you, on this one. Cutler may not like it. Celebrities may not like it. But the fact remains that they get paid ridiculous sums of money because people idolize, love, and want to know everything about the richest celebrities and athletes in the world. Marry up a celebrity and athlete and the stakes get higher. Where does this news come from? How do the pictures get taken? What other possible way does the void get filled? The simple answer is, it doesn't. It's part of being a famous and filthy rich celebrity or athlete. Don't like it? Get a job at Wendy's. One can't crave the spotlight while simultaneously shunning attention.

I'll avoid it for now, but somehow the "vet minimum"+"roster bonus" idea seems valid to for nearly every other player and every other position.

I hate Skip Bayless so much that when Jalen Rose - a player/personality I hate - called Bayless out I stopped hating Jalen Rose.

I don't like Hub either, but I respect and like him more than Mayer. I hate brown-nosers. If his job is to report on the Bears, he should do so as impartially as possible, regardless of whether or not the team is signing his paycheck. Tice could start Cutler at LT and Mayer would back it up while touting Tice's abilities as an OL "guru."

Every time I read one of Larry Mayer's pieces on the officials site I get irritated. If there were ever a bigger brown nose I've yet to see it. This guy thinks everything is great all the time, thinks there are no holes on the team, and whenever possible chooses his words in such a way as to give the staff and management a way to weasel out. So, it got me to thinking about other Chicago journalists, and I know a lot of people don't like Mariotti, but which one do you hate reading?

I'm staying out of the "include TE or not"-pissing match, but I would definitely like to address your rookie WR comments. Regardless of how PFW graded these guys, and/or Jeffery, the simple fact is both of the aforementioned WRs fell into a position perfect for rookie success. The Bengals had a garbage WR corp, and it was guaranteed that Green was going to be #1. Add in a rookie gun-slinger who they wanted to get lots of experience, and it's a recipe for rookie WR success. As for Jones, he was virtually guaranteed success for a different reason. With a strong running game, a consistent QB, an all-pro in Roddy White, and one of the best TEs in NFL history, it wasn't like a defense could cover everyone on their team. He was single-covered almost the entire year and their offense is much better than the Bears' offense. Expecting 50,650,8TDs from Jeffery could be possible, but I don't think it's anywhere as likely as the two used for comparison.

It's slightly immature, but I'm sure he's irritated by the paparazzi. Of course, I agree with a poster above: when you are a QB for the Chicago Bears and hook up with the star of the Hills, you can expect paparazzi. You may not like they being outside your house all day, but too bad, it's part of getting paid millions and millions of dollars. Deal with it. Apparently he deals with it with a single finger. It should come as no surprise this doesn't bother me; I'm the one who has been asking for TO and Moss for half a decade. I want players. Period.

I seriously laughed that you, of all people, are sticking up for a short player. Do you know realize your logic in this post is directly contradictory to the "tall WR" tangent you were on for the past month?

Wow. I can't believe I'm reading this. The whole notion of not being a good short yardage back is flawed when we know, for a fact, that the OL is not good. That the OL is in the bottom handful for negative rushes, QB hits, QB sacks, and just about every other OL measurable there is out there. Your scenario of 9 in the box and "get 2 yards" is valid, but that's still something a RB needs help on. If there is a DT or DE in the backfield on a consistent basis, you can't expect the RB to do everything. Even the "short yardage specialists" who are considered elite in that niche role typically get some push from their OL. I put this almost exclusively on the OL.