Whoa, I was not expecting this:

 

 

 

 

 

There is a long thread on this, but he basically said it was not his decision. He was fired and didn't quit. He was told at halftime in London (against the Raiders). Very odd.

He has stated before that he was a Bear for life, but this paints a whole new picture of the clubhouse. A disgruntled former employee or is there something else to it?

 

 

He knows the business and also knows he couldn't get it done.  He may not be happy with the way they handled it.  

11 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

He knows the business and also knows he couldn't get it done.  He may not be happy with the way they handled it.  

His thread seems to indicate that he is not done with football yet. At 30, a comeback is not out of the question. He just made it clear it would not be with the current staff.

With his history, I'm gonna say he's done.  Vet minimum deal might happen to see if he's got any left.  Love that dude.  I want the whole truth someday.

I think he has missed games in  all of the last 3 yrs. They tried to give him a chance the last two and he failed, not sure why he has a hard on for the coaches.Unless it has something to due with mishandling his injuries. I suspect making him redoing  his contract has something to do with it.

He is a hothead. Remember when he hit a teammate with his helmet? Thats what this is.

12 hours ago, BearFan NYC said:

He is a hothead. Remember when he hit a teammate with his helmet? Thats what this is.

It seemed to be out of the blue though. He has nothing to gain from the comment, which is odd, because he alienated more people than gained followers. He literally contradicted himself multiple times from previous statements about the staff and the organization. Bear for life, etc. He had only good things to say about the organization until yesterday. I just found that odd. If you read the whole thread and his replies, something is up.

Isn't this just one of those - it didn't work with them, so while I might think they are solid, etc, too much bad blood for a regroup to happen today. My guess is, Long doesn't trust that if they did bring him back (and to be frank - they probably wouldn't want to anyway), he knows they aren't loyal to him, etc, and he could be right back on the outs again.  

2 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Isn't this just one of those - it didn't work with them, so while I might think they are solid, etc, too much bad blood for a regroup to happen today. My guess is, Long doesn't trust that if they did bring him back (and to be frank - they probably wouldn't want to anyway), he knows they aren't loyal to him, etc, and he could be right back on the outs again.  

Could be, it just felt off. He went from thanking the organization for believing in him when he was injured (what seemed like every year) and "Bear for Life" to he is considering playing again but if he did, it would not be with this staff. I feel like they were quick to put him on season ending IR and I am sure that he did not like the optics of it. 

He come out and said he was retiring because of all the injuries he had the last few years. He stated when he spoke out said they forced him to leave. They must have told him they were getting rid of him and then he retired. 

I think he struggled along with the rest of the oline trying to block the run/pass offense.  That is my opinion on why he would not want to play for this staff.  As for retired or fired, he must have been told he was getting released and can save embarrassment by retiring which also leaves a bad taste on the staff.

On 6/15/2020 at 3:17 PM, Mongo3451 said:

With his history, I'm gonna say he's done.  Vet minimum deal might happen to see if he's got any left.  Love that dude.  I want the whole truth someday.

Agreed. Further, he's down to 265 pounds. I don't think he plays again. I've heard he was a hell of a pitcher (left hander with 95+ fastball). I wonder if he makes a run at the MLB?

Peace