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Topic subjectNice to see Don Pierson shares my opinion on Grossman
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=21&topic_id=29305&mesg_id=29539
29539, Nice to see Don Pierson shares my opinion on Grossman
Posted by LiquidDope, Sun Aug-14-05 11:47 AM
Anybody that caught his induction speech for Benny Friedman at the HOF ceremonies knows he never passes up a chance to stick it to Bears' QBs.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-050813pierson,1,7477139.column?coll=cs-home-utility

Same old story line at QB
But Bears can't afford to continue waiting on a healthy Grossman

The Bears must find another quarterback, preferably in the draft.

No, that was last year's story. Or was it two years ago? Two decades?

This is beyond unbelievable. The more it happens, the more you think it can't possibly keep happening. Yet it does, year after year, generation after generation.

What can they do about it? There's only one answer: Keep drafting them—year after year, round after round. Kyle Orton was a good idea. Matt Leinart is a better one. Never pass one up. Aaron Rodgers would look a lot better holding out right now than Cedric Benson.

When Rex Grossman comes back this time, the Bears can't be waiting for him.

Life has gone on.

That two-by-four bouncing off general manager Jerry Angelo's forehead should finally get his attention.

Grossman will come back, although three or four months in football talk are more like five or six months in real life. Whenever it is, it is assumed the Bears will have changed their business plan.

Instead of considering themselves unlucky that Grossman keeps getting hurt, they must start considering themselves lucky if he ever plays. That means they have to have somebody else in mind—not as a backup quarterback but as a No. 1 quarterback. Somebody besides Grossman.

That could be Chad Hutchinson or Orton or Leinart or Jon Kitna or Kurt Kittner or some unborn son-of-a-gun. Just so it's not Grossman. That's not to say Grossman can't still be in some future mix. But if the Bears are counting on it, like they were last year and the year before, they're missing the audible.

Right now, Jim McMahon, who never played a full 16-game season, is looking like an iron man. Come to think of it, he's in better shape now than he was when he played.

The Bears liked Hutchinson better than Kurt Warner, Jay Fiedler or Brad Johnson, but know this: Nobody inside or outside the Bears ever thought any of them was Rex Grossman.

Angelo and coach Lovie Smith argued last year that so few backups can win regularly it's hardly worth talking about, let along doing something about it.

Ask Angelo or anyone else what the Bears needed more than anything else this season and the answer was always immediate, loud and unanimous—a healthy Grossman.

Now they need a miracle.

They will hope Hutchinson becomes another Warner, the 1999 phenom who stepped in for injured Trent Green and took the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl. Rams coach Dick Vermeil promised Warner would do well, just as the Bears talk about Hutchinson. But if you recall, Vermeil was crying when he said it, and not just because he is an emotional man.

You can argue that Warner, Fiedler or Johnson would have been better than Hutchinson as a stopgap. The Bears argue rightly that at least Hutchinson has more upside. There is no chance for any of the others to be their starter in five years. The Bears need a starter, not a stopgap.

The best backup in the league might be Cincinnati's Kitna. But he's 33, Hutchinson is 28.

A glance at NFL backups reveals what Angelo and Smith and pro personnel scout Bobby DePaul already know—Hutchinson has more experience and more upside than most—Ken Dorsey, Jamie Martin, Luke McCown, Todd Bouman, Chris Weinke, Matt Schaub, Craig Nall, J.T. O'Sullivan, Drew Henson, Jesse Palmer, Tim Hasselbeck, Mike McMahon, Marques Tuiasosopo, Todd Collins, Danny Kanell, Dave Ragone, Jim Sorgi, Josh Harris, Anthony Wright, Rohan Davey.

Maybe David Garrard? Kelly Holcomb? Tommy Maddox? How about Tony Romo?

If there's a Brett Favre out there, would Ron Wolf please identify him? Favre was languishing on Atlanta's bench as a second-round draft choice known only to Wolf and Mike Holmgren.

Because of Grossman's misfortune and the history of the position in Chicago, Bears fans are often under the misconception that injuries follow quarterbacks like fall follows summer. Remember Erik Kramer? He threw 29 touchdown passes in 1995 and then broke his neck.

But three major injuries in three years is almost as unusual as Favre's 205 consecutive starts. Consider: Peyton Manning has 112 starts in 112 games, Tom Brady 62 straight starts, Daunte Culpepper and Donovan McNabb both 73 of 80 since becoming starters, Jake Plummer 89 of 101, David Carr 43 of 48, Aaron Brooks 64 straight.

Angelo, who studies his NFL history, knows that general managers usually get to hire one coach and draft one franchise quarterback. If it doesn't work out, the next general manager gets his shot.

Jim Finks drafted McMahon (after passing up Joe Montana and trading for Mike Phipps). Jerry Vainisi and Bill Tobin drafted Jim Harbaugh. Rod Graves and Dave Wannstedt traded for Rick Mirer. Mark Hatley drafted Cade McNown.

Angelo drafted Grossman and Orton and right now he's rooting for Orton.