BearFan2000

Second that, well thought out and well written it's very true that sometimes what seems like the worst of situations becomes the turning point to bigger better things. The point at which you realize and admit that maintaining the status quo will not get the job done. It takes humility to admit that your philosophy needs to be re-examined and be willing to make major changes. I think you are correct had we hung on and won that game and made it to the playoffs regardless of the results in the postseason it would have likely been enough to justify staying the course. Which would just be rewarding flawed thinking and flawed execution. We as fans may have not thought much of it as we've come to expect this and to an extent bought into the idea that we are only a few minor pieces away. While we'd love to see major moves and wholesale changes in philosophy we would likely be content with the minor upgrades that you mentioned. Problem with that thinking is that for that philosophy to work you need everything to go your way for it to work, the perfect mix of players, and many things need to go your way in games and in the course of the season. Injuries, tough breaks in games, etc. It doesn't take much to poke holes and collapse your plans and what seemed like a good enough plan falls well short. As it turns out we as Bears fans have seen things other franchises have done over the years but have never seen a the Bears do, we had an offseason I don't think many here expected I can still remember when the trade was made thinking holy shnikies, tell me this isn't a sick april fools joke, but it was real we did just go after and acquire a pro bowl QB. We didn't stop there. The Bears were very aggressive and smart with their decisions. Rather than doing just enough to say "we tried" they went all out and were determined to make some things happen. As a fan I'm excited to see how that reflects on the players. If I was on the team I'd be excited and re-energized because we are focused on making the necessary changes to win I'd be motivated to work harder and push higher. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. The Bears were never going to be better than a team with potential who once in a while made some noise with the occasional dream season. Those dream seasons or anomalies were just enough to justify plotting along the same course of action. One could argue that one of these dream seasons could result in a SB win (one of them very well could have). But the chances are higher of ending up with what we usually get, which is disappointment and the typical "maybe next year". While we could continue playing gridiron lottery and hope we hit the jackpot it was time for a change of strategy. It's exciting to see what the future holds. I'm so used to not expecting much and hoping for the best and justifying in my own mind that this years team will get it done. Cautiously Optimistic was my stance, this season could change all that this season could be the year we as Bears fans begin expecting excellence. I know I keep saying to myself don't expect to much too quickly we've been wounded before and disappointed before to the point where we don't allow ourselves to fully be excited about our team because experience has taught us to be syndical. My Pledge as a Bears Fan I hereby throw off the shackles of mediocrity and I will come out and say it I expect big things this year. I expect the difference to be night and day and I expect a serious run at a championship. I will to the best of my ability fight any negative impulse to lower my expectation. I understand that there will be ups and downs but I expect the ups to be higher and the downs to be shallower, short lived, and temporary. I expect players in every phase of the game to play at a higher level. From the water boy on up to the QB and the coaches and front office. I expect this team to become a perennial force and I expect this team to be a regular in the playoffs and have regular representation in the pro bowl. Am I expecting too much? I say no, I'm tired of expecting nothing and clinging to what decent results we get. I'm tired of being a pessimist watching a team hoping for a good effort and a win but but expecting much less. I will walk the line of being a homer but not crossing it. If we don't succeed I expect us to shuffle the deck as necessary to get the cards we need. I believe this once proud franchise can live again.

That one sounds pretty interesting and at that price it's worth taking a chance on. Thanks for the reply, I'm pretty sure I will be picking up fallout 3. Civilization Revolution is one I definitely recommend. It's a turn based game. I've played it exclusively for a few weeks now and have yet to encounter the same map twice. The competing civilizations are random and never in the same spots. Features multiple levels of play including a tutorial level. The game starts and you are on a land mass of which you can only see part of; the rest is shrouded in fog till you explore. You are only able to see the areas of the map that you've visited either by land or see or areas that have been revealed to you by information obtained from friendly villages or from conquering barbarian villages. At the start you have one settler unit which you can move and decide where to settle your first city which becomes your capitol (except on the tutorial level which your first city has already been started). Four paths to victory, Economic, Cultural, Technology, or good old fashioned domination. As the game progresses you choose which technologies your research and each new tech triggers new technologies to be discovered as well as new buildings, units (people, soldiers, naval, air, or land based military vehicles. Also throughout the game as you run into units or land belonging to other civilizations you have the ability to negotiate peace, war or trade of technology, etc. Early on you will be offered piece but as the game progresses more and more the offers will be peace for x number of turns in exchange for money or tech and your options are either accept (avoid the temptation to give in), counter offer (may or may not trigger war), outright refuse (triggers war), or consult your advisors (useless option you have two advisors one says give in the other says kick their arse, and you just end up right back at making your choice. My first game on the tutorial level I wasn't even sure what I was doing but I over ran my opponents with Sherman tanks lol Granted if you can't win on the tutorial level you have no business playing this game. The levels are Chifant (sp?), Warlord, King, Emperor, and Deity I'm currently playing on King. For kicks I tried Deity twice, got my arse handed to me in 7 turns (turns 2-6 are simulated so I actually got defeated in 3 turns as they captured my capitol that I foolishly left unguarded). Second attempt at Deity I stuck around for much longer but found that the other 4 civs basically take turns harassing you and surrounding your cities as it seems like you begin the game as an undeveloped civ vs 4 developed civs. Obviously the higher level you play at the more critical it is to pick one victory strategy and put all your effort towards that. One suggestion though turn the volume down on your advisors till you can barely hear them the text on the screen is what you need to read the advisors just annoyingly repeat the same unintelligible gibberish over and over add nauseam. Every verbalization you hear is gibberish and means nothing whether its supposed to be english or some other language and pointless so I just turn that volume either off or down really low or I just catch myself saying "Shut up!" Economic Victory - reach a set amount of gold and build the world bank wonder Cultural victory - develop set number of great people or flipped cities (opposing cities that decide to join your civ) Technology - build the Apollo wonder, build, and launch a space station to arrive at Alpha Centuri Domination - capture all four opposing capitols or be leading in the domination category by the year 2100 AD.

It sure is, we've had so many newbies and no names come through here. Granted D-Line coach isn't typically a high profile spot but Merinelli's name recognition and his reputation around the league as brought attention to the d-line along with the fact that the d-line over the last couple seasons has been disappointing. IMHO the position he is in is where he belongs and fits best. I think head coach was over his head but being a defensive line or defensive coordinator is more in his wheel house. I'm a very effective production artist where I work (have to be I'm the only one left) but if I were to be put in charge of a large portion of the company I'm sure the results would be disappointing too. Not everyone is cut out to be a head coach. Defense is Rod's area of expertise and where he can be most effective. Not to say that some day he wouldn't be capable of being a head coach at some point. I'm thrilled we have him here and that he's working with our D-Line. I've always had a deep respect for his tough, high energy, high expectation mentality. I'm looking forward as much to the season to see how the D-Line does as much as I am Cutler and the offense. The D-Line needed some new life and new energy. When you have a coach like Marinelli I have to think his attitude will rub off on the players. The whole defense could use a boost. But it all starts in the trenches if you don't stop the run, or get pressure on the QB it makes it that much harder for the DB's to maintain solid coverage. As the saying goes give a QB all day to throw and he'll pick you apart. The longer a pass play is alive the harder it is to maintain coverage. If the D-Line play improves dramatically it will have a very positive effect on our defense and create more opportunities for INTs. If the line play does play at a high level and provide good pass rush and run defense we may find that our question marks arent' as glaring. When your line doesn't get pressure and is getting it's butts handed to them in the trenches the pressure on the secondary increases dramatically and the margin of error all but disappears. It doesn't matter if you play good coverage for the first part of a play but make a bad choice when the play is extended.

Looking for some good open ended strategy/adventure type games for the Xbox360. The type of games where you have free reign to do as you please for the most part and can pick your own path/goals instead of being forced to follow one preset path. One game I'm looking at is Fallout 3 which I've heard good things about. I picked up a copy of Sid Meir's Civilization Revolution and I've been hooked on that I like games that have depth and many choices and the choices you make have an effect but also provide multiple paths to victory. I'm by no means an avid hardcore gamer, I'm not to big on the first person shooters and overly complex games drive me nuts. After 12 hours at work the last thing I need is to get more frustrated. LOL. Back in the day I used to play this MMORPG game called The Realm where you pick your character, assign a set of attributes as you see fit then you play to level up as one of a variety of class of characters who each have different starting strengths and weaknesses. I guess the game still exists but it's strictly PC, no Mac version.

his hands were the thing that jumped out at me watching video of him. his ability to adjust and snag the ball out of the air. He's kind of my guy who I think is going to surprise some people this year. He seems to have great body control and awareness. Catching even balls that are perfectly thrown (and not every one will be) as a receiver you need to be able to adjust when the ball isn't where it should be to either make the catch or make a play on it to make sure if you don't catch it no one else will.

we're entering uncharted waters gents and I"m pleased as punch. or kool-aid All my years as a bears fan I watched as other teams regularly found solid QB play not all but many and some seemed to have more than their share of talented QB's. There's a reason the Bears have by tradition been a team defined by tough D and a running game. Overall our QB play has been impressively bad. The comment that Chicago is where receivers go to die would more appropriately be put where receivers go to disappear. I was watching a Payton video and was amazed at how versatile he really was. He was even handed or pitched the ball to throw it because he was a better passer than our QB at the time. Now that's pathetic. For soo long we've grown used to not expect much beyond our QB not drooling all over himself on the field that so much of the hype surrounding Cutler is that we are excited to see someone at QB for the Bears who actually is expected to be good and has proven to be good and still in the early part of his career. All my life it seems I've gone into the season hoping our current QB will do well but not overly confident that he will. For too long we've had to be satisfied with a guy who has potential but has yet to really prove any of it. We are also somewhat nervous not knowing what to expect. Soldier Field will probably erupt when he throws his first TD pass as if we'd never seen that before. I think there will be some ups and downs and growing pains as he get's acclimated to his teammates and our offense. I have to think that it makes Ron's job calling plays a lot easier, as I'm sure there are things he'd like do but has to say.... well we can't do that. I think this is Ron's chance to prove he is a good OC and to an extent the shackles have been removed. Getting back to the premiss of the thread I'm excited to watch a game where we the offense might be called on to win it in the 4th and now we have a QB that as a fan I'm confident he can get it done. I have a lot of respect for Kyle but he was a game manager and his job was not to lose games for us. We now have a guy who we can count on to play well to close the game and can be a game changer. I hate to speak the name Favre but how many times were the packers up against the wall or on the ropes and in walked the one who's name I shall not mention again would seemingly effortlessly drive them down for the game winner. There have been too many games where I knew we wouldn't win it because to win we needed our offense to step up and make some plays and you just knew they weren't capable outside of some freaky miracle series of events like in 2001 with back to back OT wins of which I'd have to say the one at Cleveland was the freakiest, with Shane noodle arm Mathews at QB we scored something like two or three TDs in the last 3 min (memory a little fuzzy) to set up the win in OT. We would have been blown out in AZ in 2006 if it weren't for another one of the craziest string events I've seen on a football field in a long time. Imagine winning games legitimately with skill and execution rather than relying on big plays on special teams or defense or colossal blunders by the opponent. The 85 Bears didn't dominate because they were lucky they dominated because they were dam good, they were aggressive, relentless, and intimidating. The other way Jay factors into the 4th Qtr is that through the previous 3 Qtrs the D will not have been expected to keep us in the game hoping the offense will do something. I played Defensive Tackle and there was nothing more deflating than coming up with a key stop only to see the offense then go 3 and out and your back on the field again I can't even begin to imagine how deflating that would be to experience game in and game out. With Jay at the helm our offense should pull it's own weight and take the pressure off the D so they are fresher in the 4th Qtr. Jay's never played with level of talent we have on D. I have a feeling that the D is going to be re-energized and back to a higher level of play this year. And that will make Jay's job easier..... shoot we may actually see what a balanced team looks like when all three phases can hold their own..... what a concept.

Even though it is one game in a dome and his stats look to be better than his average. Granted the queens dome is a tougher place to play than the Georgia dome to this point. I see it as a good sign that there isn't significant drop off. When I look at the whole together what jumps out at me is Jay is consistent, like anyone he can and will have a bad game but unlike Wrex it won't be the start of a downward spiral. I have every confidence that the following game he'll be back up to par. It's like having a QB who can play at a level at or above Grossman's best but without the inconsistency, poor mobility, and poor decision making. It's been so long since we've had anything consistent at the QB position other than inconsistency. Case in point the dreaded list which I believe that this season will be the last season that list is brought up and it will be brought up with the comment to the effect of "and the Bears are hoping that Jay can finally put an end to the desperate search." Honestly I don't know what to expect at first, It's sad to think about it but I"m 32 years old and Jay is potentially the best QB the Bears have had in my lifetime. Not to diss Jimmy Mac but he just couldn't stay healthy. We've had guys who had one good season at QB, when was the last time we had a QB that we could realistically expect to be good year in and year out? I can't think of one other than McMahon. Good things man.... good things. Let's get it on!!!

Was Willie Gault ever a fully pollished elite WR? I think not. He had elite speed like Hester does. We never tried to make Gault into something he was not we basically just said beat your man deep and we'll get the ball to you. I see Hester more as the Willie Gault type guy. I don't think he'll ever be the complete polished stud WR but I don't think he has to be. His speed makes things like double moves and the like to be effective because they have to respect the speed. And now with Cutler I think they have to be even more aware. If we get or develop a guy to be a solid WR that also demands respect of the defenses then you are building a nice passing game. Throw in the TE's and the vertical game stretches the defense and opens up lanes for a solid ground game. And as nfo pointed out history is not on his side as far as long term success, at least not at the rate he was doing it. 6 in is rookie year, 7 in his second year. One way or another that rate would dwindle. Teams not giving him a chance to return, teams focusing on their coverage more, a serious injury on a fluke tackle (not that that can't happen elsewhere), getting a big head (which I think was part of the problem last year trying to make each return a home run), over-thinking (returning is mostly instinctive and reactionary when you think too much about it you tend to do stupid things and we saw plenty of stupid last year). At the time durning his rookie and second year I know I was guilty of thinking how can we get Hester the ball more. When you have someone like that you get greedy and try to invent new ways to use him because like me going to gas station to buy lottery tickets seeing dollar signs in my head I saw Hester and saw TD's in my head. Just like with Cutler I have many happy thoughts dancing in my head but I need to reign it in a little with anything there will be ups and downs fortunately with Jay though he has a higher ceiling and a shallower basement than any QB we've had in a long long time. I think this will help Hester in the passing game.

He did. Nice to see him catching the ball with his hands and not his body. Obviously that video is cut together and the dropped passes removed but I have a feeling the receivers are starting to get used to a ball arriving on target and in a hurry. This will be an education for the WR group they are not used to playing with a QB of this caliber. Once they click I have a feeling we'll see a night and day difference in the passing game. WR not having to break stride or adjust to locate the ball. The more adjustment they have to make the easier it is for DB's to close in and make plays either on the ball or making the tackle. I think with Cutler our WRs moves and cuts and routes will be more effective. A well executed double move does no good if you have to stop, locate and adjust to the ball. Man Cutler throws a nice tight spiral and it is placed well. His mechanics are sound and he has a cannon, and he's mobile. I can't wait for Aug either, I have a feeling that these "no names" will be known by the end of the season. We finally have a guy behind center who can make guys around him better rather than require the other 10 guys around him be good to make him look average. One thing I do hope our WR's improve in this year and it's been one of my gripes for a while now is that if you can't make the catch you better darn well make sure the DB can't either. I don't want to see anymore half hearted efforts to break up interceptions. It's maddening to watch a receiver give up because he can't make the catch only to see it picked off when the WR had a chance to knock it away.

I think he lacks confidence LOL

He is right, there will be playoffs this coming season and he'll be able to watch them on his big screen tv

I'm sorta on the fence about Deng and Gordon. There was a time when really liked them but Deng seems too miss a lot of time. And Ben can be an offensive black hole who hasn't quite got the concept of passing the ball or playing defense. When he's on he's lights out but when he's not he's a liability since he just keeps jacking up shots and not passing the ball. Deng has a lot of talent but I question if he has enough desire. Gordon, if he dedicated himself to improving on defense and would quit being a ball hog he could be a very good all round player. Right now he's one dimensional and it's a roll of the dice whether that one dimension will help you or kill you. The Bulls were their own worst enemy in game 7. You cannot go through stretches like that where you seemingly turn the ball over every possession. One of the flaws with this team is that they play harder and better when they are behind than when ahead. Build a double digit lead then go to the one pass and shoot offense jacking up dumb shots and not working the offense. When the lead starts to slip away they press and get sloppy. It's like they forget to keep doing what got them the lead. Throughout the series there was never once a lead that I thought was safe. They had a horrible second quarter in the last game and dug such a deep hole that they couldn't climb out of. The refs have been bad across the board, but this is the NBA where "Inconstancy Happens". I don't have my rose colored glasses on and I did not say that the refs cost the Bulls this series or any game in it. Just pointing out they were atrocious and in game 6 it seemed like Boston was getting all the calls at critical points. But throughout the game and the series it's mostly a wash as NBA officials are just bad. The Bulls are a young team and have much to learn and so does Vinny and his staff. I think they showed a lot of heart in the series and fought the whole way There were many opportunities to fold and they would just keep fighting. I love that in a team and with a good offseason and good TC I think they can have a bright future. IMO Boston won't win their second round and I doubt the Bulls would have won the 2nd round if they'd have advanced. I think it's kinda mute since I have a hard time imagining anyone but Cleveland making it to the finals from the East.

That's no excuse... suck it up kid

To me this one will be the oddest one of them all. For many of us there's a special place in our hearts for Mike Brown and seeing someone else wearing #30 it's going to take some getting used to. Nothing against DJ Moore I like the kid. just going to be strange.

It feels like it was ages ago that game 6 started.... This has been a hell of a series. There has been a total of 35 min of OT played. Four games going to OT. I would totally LMAO of the Bulls were to blow out game 7 lol. Just once can the Bulls win one in some kind of normal conventional fashion... like I don't know... regulation? I'm in my early thirties and not quite the picture of health, my heart can't take much more of this. I do want to survive to see the Bears play this year. Take away the game three Boston blowout win, every game has come down to the last play... often times coming down to the last play several times in the same game... lol. Go Bulls. I sure thought that the Refs were doing all they could to hand this one to Boston and to think the game was in Chicago. Rondo should have been tossed the guy is a punk. I'd have been tempted to send in a scrub to egg him on (the way Rodman would egg on Frank Brichouski in the 96 finals) and force the refs to toss him. Apparently you can hit someone one night resulting in stitches and it's just a foul. The next game you can then trow someone into the scorers table and take a swing at them and not get tossed. I'm glad the Bulls won despite this but they also won despite themselves. Two straight games they had a double digit lead with 7 min left in reg, twice you squander that lead and end up in a multiple OT dogfight. I started to write them off when that 12 point lead turned into an 8 pt deficit with around 3 min remaining. Surrendering a 20 point swing in the closing min of a game that is do or die is inexcusable. The team is young but still when you got them down on the ropes you don't let up. That said what a hell of a job to never quit. There were so many times that this team could have gave up. This young Bulls team is showing a lot of resiliency. Who ever survives this series is going to be exhausted come round two.

Whole heartedly agree. They have not earned their check but they get rewarded on past success in college, hope of future success, in a crap shoot. It's a perpetuation problem, you have guys who get huge contracts for being a top pick then if they do pan out they want an even more insane deals. Being in the top of the first round and getting over paid jacks up the price for existing players who want to be paid usually at or near the top amount for their respective position not that I disapprove of that if they deserve to be paid. I think a cap is necessary for the Rookies. If I"m a GM I'm not entirely sure I want to pick in the top 10 it's easy as a fan to whine about top ten busts and in hindsight who we coulda shoulda woulda taken. You may hit but odds are higher to miss or at least get less than you hoped for. The price to pay for a top 10 pick so easily can blow up in your face by either getting a malcontent, spoiled, unmotivated, or sub-par talent. Unless you hit you look stupid. Jerry's not the only one who has his problems with his 1st rounders, particularly high 1st rounders. When you miss it hurts the team on the field and the cap paying a boatload of cash for dead weight. Reducing the ability to bring in a Vet who's paid his dues and could help your team and deserves to get paid.

Second that, kudos for the creativity. I'd have never thought of using a Butler jersey and replacing the B with a C. Good stuff.

That was great "What the hell is that?" It's a...... it's a..... welll..... it says ...... it's a Quarter...... quarterback..." Can it tackle? It's funny because there's much truth to it. We have not had a real QB here since Jimmy Mac who was good but couldn't stay healthy, Not since Sid have we had a QB of Jay's Caliber. It's a different mindset for us as fans. For too long we've watched our Bears and the QB position was basically a guy who is supposed to not lose games for you nothing more more often much less. Cutler presents and possibly represents a change in mindset about the way we view the QB position on the Bears. I only vaguely remember Jimmy Mac towards the end of his time in Chicago. The 85 team an even more vague memory. I became a Bears fan years after SB 20. First seeing it on a VHS copy my cousins had. So most of my time as a Bears fan has seen mostly scrubs playing that position. A few exceptions Harbaugh was good, Kramer was good but couldn't stay healthy, same for Jim Miller. Case in point we have been so talent starved at the QB position that we see the slightest glimmer of hope and we are amazed. It's like eating a soy burger and acting like you just bit into a premium Angus burger. Our QB has a good game and we are elated. the rest of the league is like "so what?" What we see as impressive looks average to most in the league. Having a good day as a Bears QB is having our QB not crap all over himself on the field. The bar has been so low for so long it's more like a trip wire than a hurdle. Before even playing a down Jay has energized the fan base we're not sure what to expect, it's a brave new world. Here's hoping that Jay helps reform the way the league views us at QB. They can no longer pull out the tired old "your QB sucks" argument. Here's hoping to never see that list again. The list won't go away right away. They will post the list and at the end of it they will highlight, bold, or point out the last name on that list, Jay Cutler. You will then hear something to the effect of "and the Bears are hoping that Cutler puts an end to the futility."

cant wait to see TC footage. It might be fun to make a trip out to TC this year. Living near South Bend it would be decent trip but not unreasonable to see the new look Bears Offense first hand.

How ironic is it that once Farve hangs em up so does Madden. With Farve he's got no motivation go on announcing lol We've all made fun of him in recent years because he's become more and more irrelevant but I do have a lot of respect for him and what he did. For many many years he was very entertaining in the booth and in a way he was the Jerry Sinfeld of Football, he could talk for hours about nothing but entertain you doing it. He was refreshing when he fist started and the last 5-10 years or so he started to become a character of himself. As far as the game you can barely call it Madden now as you have the annoying collinsworthless commentary. It's Madden in name and style only.

I agree, I have a feeling Jerry will do something. As it stands having Acquired Cutler and the much press about our apparent lack of talent at the WR position makes it highly likely we look at WR with our 2nd round pick. Could increase the chance someone tries to jump ahead of us if they are worried we'll take the WR they want. But if we sign or even trade for a solid vet receiver that does give Jerry more leeway and may make us less of a threat to take the guy someone else wants. Looking at some of the drafts it does seem possible that Nicks could possibly fall to us. If he's there when we pick I'm not sure I'd pass that up. I'm sure though that Jerry doesn't want his intentions at our 2nd round pick to be completely transparent.

Maybe Cincy will sign him

Rex's situation is such an interesting one. 6 weeks into 2006 season many of us were thinking pro bowl, or at very least we now have our QB of the future. Then disaster in the desert and his career since has most resembled a roller coaster marked by inconstancy. He has potential physically, but the question remains does he have it mentally? The vibe I got from him in his last season with the Bears and even during the "competition" was that of apathy as if in his mind he was thinking "screw it, I"m done here." I can't say I blame him on some level. He has made his own bed here but I do think some fans have taken it too far by harassing him no matter what he does. If I were him I'd not want to play again for the Bears. I'm sure there's Bears fans who feel the same way. IMO that bridge has been burned to a crisp..... more like napalmed. I don't see him signing with us. Right or wrong he believes he should be a starter and I highly doubt he signs another contract with the Bears to be a backup. So far no takers in FA but there might be after the draft. He does know our system and it is possible that the Bears would consider making an offer. But I would not blame Rex one bit for saying "no way in Hell"

how crazy would it be that we find out this season that all these years we've been changing the tires on a POS car and wondering why we don't get anywhere. We've cycled receiver in and out of this team with almost as much regularity as we have QBs but all the while we haven't really fixed the one position that can make the WR's better or utilize the talent they do have. We complain about drops, and that, but how often have we watched receivers have to break stride, come back, slow down, speed up, or come up with an unbelievable catch because their QB hasn't placed the ball where it should be. I'd venture a guess that that has been the norm as opposed to having our QB hit a receiver in stride where he can actually do something after the catch.

Bingo If you put yourselves in their shoes they were probably shocked and excited like we as fans were at the news. With the exception that they know and worked with kyle so their ties to him are much stronger than ours were. The comments in general have been fairly diplomatic because they don't want to knock a teammate that they had great respect. Some of it is in the way the questions are posed that get those quotes. Your friend and former teammate has been traded and your asked what its like to have a pro bowl QB or How much better does this trade make the team? The more the dust settles the more we'll see players lining up behind him. Quotes can be misleading because we don't always get he question that prompted the quote or the correct context in which it was given. Quotes are included in a story to support the general premise of the story. A player can speak for 15 min and a story may only highlight a sentence or two because it fits the story they are writing. This isn't always bad but can be done to cast a particular opinion on a player. We read the story and can even further misinterpret the quote. Unless of course the statement itself is so blatantly asinine that it in and of itself is difficult to defend.