akshaz

Nah dude. You have it wrong. Sorry I wasn't clear. That dude is my guy. Our wives are friends. Our kids play together. I've spoken to him all day today. I had no intention on pawning his stuff. Just wondering how much a rookie of Iron Mike was worth. He had no clue. There are a bunch in there (Griffey rookie, Ripken, Bench, Moss rookie). Some guy gave him a box of cards and some other stuff to pay off a debt.

Hey guys. A guy just got fired here at the job and the boss is going through his stuff. He found a box of old baseball and football cards including Mike Ditka's rookie card. They all have the plastic covers and are in good shape. Any idea how much it is worth?

You may be correct. I'll revise my statement. I don't think that he can/will help us at QB. However, he may be able to provide some playmaking skills at WR because of his speed/athleticism. But like you said, he may have lost a bit while in prison. Plus, there's no telling if he can actually catch.

Agreed! Our run blocking was atrocious. Does anyone remember the Minnesota games where their DL was pushing our linemen into the backfield on almost every play? There were WAAAY too many "Forte for no gain" plays. You guys may disagree. But, I think we may have our complimentary back already on the roster. I don't know why Garrett Wolfe hasn't been able to get ANY snaps. Don't give me that size stuff. When given the chance to play in space, instead of sending him between the guards, he makes plays. I think that Fred Taylor and Duece will both want more carriers than we're willing to give them.

That's where I disagree. Goodell and the league have punished players in the past for actions that didn't end in criminal charges. I would guarantee that the league says they "reserve the right" to punish for almost any negative off-the-field behavior, formal charges or not. Again, I don't really care about that incident. I'm not clearing him to date my daughter. We need a serious WR, and he clearly fits that mold. If he's not about to get suspended, I say bring him in!

Okay. Fair enough. It seems to be a tough standard, especially if he would have paid his debt to society and is tring to get his life back together. However, folks have their issues, yours may be animal cruely. However, that's also a tough one to be consistent on. There are murderers that don't get as much vitriol leveled against them. Personally, I don't want PacMan because I don't think that he can really help us win ball games. Mike Vick can surely help us win games.

The other guy lied. But, so did Marvin. That was his gun. They found it in his trash can. It was a rare brand and used rare shells that were found at the scene. The dude did it. They are just protecting him. Roger Goodell may choose not to punish him. If he does, it surely gives the league a black-eye because Marv was always considered a "nice guy".

Nope. Not necessarily the case. There are still NFL "conduct" requirements that must be honored irrespective of criminal charges.

Okay. Understood. Just for kicks. Does this stance of yours apply to all criminals in society or just football?

Any word if Rogel Goodell is done with the issue?

The Bears sign a player that they think will help the team; but you don't like him. So, you stop watching/supporting? Wow! I'm not a PacMan fan either and would HATE the pick-up. But, to say that you won't watch the team because of it is wild. Thin loyalty. Personally, I'm a BEARS fan. Players come and go. Ditto for coaches. As much as I like Mike Brown, I'm not going to abandon the team because they dropped him. I cannot imagine a Sunday afternoon in October, it's 1pm and the Bears are on. But, I'm not watching because I don't like the new #24?? Gimme a break. Just asking, who would you follow if we did pick up PacMan? Packers? Cowboys? Would you jump on the Steelers wagon?

Not true that Brown is getting no interest. San Diego has had their eyes on him for a while. Their fans have craved for a safety and his name has popped up several times. Plus, they have a Defensive Coordinator that knows what MB can do. He'll get a good, incentive-laden contract from some team. Given our situation at the position, I don't know why it cannot be us.

That's a HUGE chunk to eat. For what? Does cutting Vasher really make us better? Vash was hurt all season last year. When he's healthy, he's one of our best playmakers.

Those examples don't help your case much. Tony Dungy may be quiet sometimes, but he's known to get in a player's butt when necessary. Belicheck, c'mon. That almost goes without saying. Mike Shanahan? I guess you haven't seen him much either. Not even close to Lovie's style. Lovie is softer and quieter than all of those guys except for Wade Phillips; who nobody really wants to emulate. But, overall that's kinda periphial to the overall point of not giving '85 Bears guys shots at positional coaching jobs when their help is needed and others are stinking up the place.

The guys from '85 that are coaching aren't necessarily re-creating the 46 defense. However, the defenses that they do coach, are successful. I'm sure X's and Os are part of it. But, SF didn't hire Singletary because he had more and better tricks than Mike Martz. They hired him because they knew he wouldn't put up with any BS, would be accountable and make his team accountable. You know what? It's not Peanut's 99 yd play that irks me the most about our team. Everyone has occassional lapses. It's coming our flat against Houston when a victory puts us in the playoff. We had everything to play for and still were nonchalant. It's playing with no emotion in the first half of almost every game in the season. That's the stuff that's unbearable. That's what leaves those who watched our team during the Ditka years craving for more from this regime. Win or lose, Lovie Smith seems like he's about to fall asleep at most press conferences. You can imagine what the pre-game talk sounds like. In life, motivation/emotion/attitude plays a MAJOR part in your daily performance. Football, even more so.

Please don't take this as condescending. But, it sounds like you're too young to have seen the '85 Bears play. What the '85 Bears had is what this team is seriously missing. Other teams get it and they bring them in. We don't. Does it really take that much of a genious to realize that Mike Singletary would make a good LB coach? Fisher/Frazier good secondary coaches? They knew how to play the game. It wasn't all about ability, but drive, determination and passion for the game. Again, all qualities that lead to an intensity that our team lacks. When Mike Brown leaves the game, who wants to bet that he'll be one of the better upwardly mobile secondary coaches soon after? That's the point.

Agreed 100%!!

Naw dude. I disagree. BIG TIME! I'm sure he's not saying hire "every" former Bear. But, there are some good ones out there that played for us when we were at our best and almost all of them expressed some interest in coming back to coach. We're scared of them. Those guys from '85 know how to play the game from an agressiveness/intensity/attitude standpoint that is seriously missing around these parts now-a-days. There are several '85 Bears (and coach's sons') coaching in the league now. Most are very successful in what they do. For some reason, the franchise refuses to embrace them. It's tough to say that our team couldn't use these kind of guys and Babich and the gang are better options.

Are you guys forgetting about the original "Bears West" team in San Diego? They have our prized DC over there kicking butt. The word out of San Diego is that Mike Brown will definitely go there. My brother has been clamoring for a safety all year. He called me immediately after hearing they were going to go after him if let go by the Bears. Either case, he'll go to a winning team, make a huge impact, have a chance to play for a ring and make us look stupid for not bringing him back. We'll be stuck with either Manning/Steltz or Manning/Payne which does NOT bring any comfort.

Again, this is the kind of stuff that infuriates me. Mike Brown is about to go on the free agent market and get a good deal. Other teams are just as aware of his injury history and any loss of speed he may have experienced. But, they don't care. They still need a good safety and Mike Brown surely fits that mold. We need a safety as well. But, we're still getting rid of him, irrespective of the fact that we really don't have anyone better to replace him with. Do we think that JA will go try to make a splash by trading/drafting/FA signing a big-time safety? Not a chance. We all know that we'll go with who we already have on the roster. How does letting him go make us any better? It doesn't.

Ohhhh.....and you guys trust that Daniel Manning will make the right calls.......I get it. Look, Mike Brown is not the guy he used to be and he's surely not perfect. But for some reason, nobody has been able to identify a better alternative for us at safety. BTW, check the record, what happened in Atlanta wasn't Mike Brown's fault. He came to try to make up for that kid from Tampa's bad decision to jump the short route instead of covering the deeper receiver.

Okay. Do you remember the countless Daniel Mannning experiments at safety? Obviously Angelo doesn't. I guess 2008 didn't happen. We can look forward to countless breakdowns in coverage and other mental lapses if he's back there with Payne/Steltz. What puzzles me is that Manning has looked his best once he got adjusted to the nickel slot. Why not simply let this guy develop at that position? Oh, I forgot. We don't develop players.

Okay. So what's the alternative? Even with your "smallest midget" point, we'll still have to play someone who's obviously not as good. Are we going to draft/sign a bunch of FA safeties? I don't think so. If we let MB go, more than likely, JA and Lovie will attempt to fill that slot with someone already on the roster. Whoever they chose, they didn't have a good year last year. You just don't let your best player at any position go. I don't care if he's lost 5 steps. If he's our best safety, and he is, then we need to keep him. The other guys can be easily replaced. I don't think there's anyone on this board who would say that for Mike Brown.

You know, this pisses me off!!! Yes, Mike Brown is a step slower. But, he's clearly still our best safety, free or strong. I ask, who will we replace him with that's better? We already know about Daniel Manning, who IMHO should be allowed to continue to get better at nickel. Payne? The kid is a huge liability in coverage and although makes the occassional big hit, misses enough tackles to make me forget about those hits. Craig Steltz? Don't get me started. Brandon McGowen? Okay, now how is his health better than MB's? Worrell? Yeah right. My brother is a Chargers fan and seriously believes they are bringing in Mike Brown. He knows about the loss of speed but doesn't care. He just wants a smart player back there that can make plays and is not a liability in coverage. Does anybody else think that it's a just a coincidence that we has our worse defensive passing game during the only game that Mike Brown didn't play? Mike Brown is one of my all-time favorite Bears. According to the players, he is the real leader in the locker room. Any fan that has watched us can see how he fires up our team. I don't care if he's slower, he still brings it. If we had a real replacement on the roster, I would probably think differently. But, it's obvious that we don't.

Are you kidding me? Did you see that throw he made right off the bench last weekend? We haven't seen a throw like that from a guy in a Bears uniform since the few games that Rexy was playing at a high level. Orton simply doesn't have the skills that Leftwich has. He also cannot make the throws. Byron Leftwich would be no franchise savior. But, he'll be the best quarterback we've had here in a very long while.