For all four loyal GOI fans, you know it's been a tradition for the authors to go to Bears training camp. In the past its always been a excursion. Something planned out a month ahead of time that's full of adventure, excitement, and wonderment. OK, I may be exaggerating a bit but it really is a good time. This year The 'Bright' One, Cubsfan, and myself planned to keep the tradition alive. The Bears held a family day special training camp at Soldier Field and we payed ten bucks to go see them. Unfortunately the Bears players were being little bitches on that day and the field was a tad too wet for their taste so an hour before training camp started they all hoped on a bus and drove down to Bourbonnais, Illinois- where they normally hold training camp- to practice. Even though we had already wasted train and taxi fare to get down to Soldier Field and were essentially at Solider when we heard the news, the Bears players were inconsiderate jerks and left all us fans high and dry. When team President/CEO Ted Thompson started address the fans he was rewards with a stadium full of boo's. However, the concession stands at Soldier Field gave us free food and all three of us still had fun in Chicago on a Friday night, but still, we had missed our chance to see our beloved Bears at a training camp.
But I would not be deterred.
A friend of mine from college was going up with her family to see the Bears play in Bourbonnais a few weeks later (it ended up being only her and her sister) and I seized this opportunity so I could say I at least went to *one* training camp and my tradition of going for four straight years is still in tact. While this year was not the same as it was in years past- hanging out with my boys, getting there early, discussing football for hours on end- it was still a good time and I still got some valuable tidbits. However, because this trip was really not the same as years past, my scouting report for this year is a bit limited. I didn't see any defensive players practice until the 11 of 11's at the end of training camp and for the first hour of the two hour training camp I was by myself because my friend was stuck in traffic and the second hour was spent catching up with my friend and not paying that much attention to the practice because I hadn't seen her in a few months.
But here is what I can report:
Wide Receivers
I spent the majority of training camp scouting the receiving corps. Even with the addition of Marion Barber, I still knew how essentially the running backs would be used. Our quarterback is set and I didn't want to focus on offensive lineman in drills because, let's face it, how hard is it to look good when all you're up against is a 50 year old man with pads on his arms? So I focused on the receiving group for two reasons. First, I wanted to see how Johnny Knox and Roy Williams will be used and second, I wanted to see if I could find something to give me an advantage like I had done in years past. Two years ago we discovered Devin Aromashodu and last year I had discovered how much the Bears hated Devin Aromashodu and even though everyone was touting him as a fantasy sleeper, I was the only one screaming from the rooftops that Johnny Knox would have a better season than D.A. I was right.
- This year, I noticed that Roy Williams looks awesome. Granted, I know it's only practice and a two hour one at that, but the Bears seem to like Roy Williams and R.W. looked really good at practice.
- I think the target split between Williams and Johnny Knox will be split about evenly with Williams probably getting a little bit more. I'd say a 55/45 split. The only difference is that Knox still doesn't have the greatest hands (which was evident in practice) and which means I think Williams is going to get many more catches than Knox.
- Devin Hester didn't practice as a wide out and I hope he's getting phased out as a receiver because I think he best helps the team as a returner. But Hester didn't practice at all last year and he still was our starting wide receiver so I'm not putting too much stock in the fact he didn't work out. Plus, Johnny Knox and Khalil Bell (4th string running back) took essentially all of the kick returns. (We'll get to kick returns later)
- Earl Bennett looked good for the limited amount of time he was on the field but he's going to be a 4th receiver at best. It's a shame because I still love him as a slot guy.
- The one no name receiver that looked good was also a number 19- like Devin Aromashodu. He's a 6'1" rookie receiver from TCU by the name of Jimmy Young. But he's not going to make the team. Just saying though I thought he looked good.
Red Zone Offense
- The Bears ran about four red zone plays so take what I report with a grain of salt.
- Three of the plays were to tight ends. The first one was a fade to Kellen Davis (whom the Bears seems enamored with), the second was a designed play to Davis, and the third was a pass up the middle to tight end Matt Spaeth.
- Matt Spaeth is 6'7" and looks like a men among boys compared to the other players on the team. This dude is huge but he doesn't look that fit and the Bears seem to like Davis more than him (based upon press releases I've seen) but it wouldn't shock me if he got like 5 touchdowns.
- The fourth red zone play was a designed running play for running back Marion Barber. Any Bears fan can tell you how awesome Matt Forte is but he's terrible at getting 3rd and short and 4th and short. I don't have the exact statistics in front of me but I know Matt Forte the past few years has been really high up there (I wanna say top 5) in red zone carries but he's only average to below average in the total rushing touchdowns he gets. He's terrible at converting what he should and I think the addition on Marion Barber will help the Bears convert what they couldn't before. Marion Barber looks good and I could see him getting 10 rushing touchdowns this year. Kind of like the Brandon Jacobs role for the Giants last year (or his role a few years ago with Julius Jones in Dallas). Look to see Matt Forte come out of the game when the Bears get close.
Extra Notes
- This offense line still looks terrible and might be worse than it was last year. I saw this line struggle versus the Bears second team defense and Jay Cutler hurried a lot.
- Speaking of Jay Cutler, in practice he looks amazing and we all got to see his cannon of an arm in action. The Bears receivers were running drills on either end of the sidelines. The receiver would run out 40-50 yards and the quarterback would throw them a bomb. Jay Cutler threw three of these passes. The first to Roy Williams, the second to Johnny Knox, and the third to Earl Bennett and all three were beauties. All three were in the exact same spot and got there with precision and accuracy. Then you saw Caleb Hanie and third stringer Nathan Enderle try to do the same thing on the other sideline and you realized why these guys aren't starters and Jay Cutler is.
- A group of young high school or junior high kids were standing next to me during some of the practice and were looking through a program they had. This program had a list of every player and their number. These kids got to Ricky Henry whose number is "69" and giggled like little school girls. I didn't laugh once. God, I'm getting senile and hardened in my old age.
- While the receivers and quarterbacks were doing these drills, the running backs were doing some catching drills on their own. Running backs Matt Forte and Chester Taylor went first, caught their balls with ease (hahahaha) and then turned their backs to me and my side of the field to watch the other running backs in action. First, Marion Barber is not nearly as good of a pass catcher as the first two and second, both Taylor and Forte look exactly alike from the back.
- I texted TBO that Forte and Taylor looked exatly alike and he texted back "#racist"
- The Bears ran about twenty minutes of kick off return drills. As mentioned earlier, Khalil Bell, Johnny Knox, and I believe CB D.J. Moore took a majority of the returns while Robbie Gould kicked off. This new rule where kickers get to kick off from the 35 pisses me off as a Bears fan because most, if not all, of Robbie's kicks went past the endzone and this hurts a strength the Bears have had in recent years. However, when that happened a guy on the sideline threw an extra ball to the returner and then the team ran a kickoff drill as if the returner had caught the ball. This blocking team looks awesome as always but the Bears are going to be severely hurt by this stupid kick off rule.
TMZ-style Interviews
I went to a 7:00 pm practice so training camp didn't end until nine which means these guys were tired after a long day. Luckily I was able to get a few interviews and autographs. Players came my way thanks to this kid standing in front of me. He couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 years old and was calling every player under the sun to give him an autograph. Now after going for four years now I realized that you only care about getting the starters autograph and not about the back ups. But this kid was bright-eyed and bushy tailed and didn't care if you were the fifth string safety, he wanted your autograph. Now while the back ups always make for the best interviews (see: Caleb Hanie blasting Jay Cutler) I didn't have a program so I could tell who these back ups actually were and I really didn't want their autograph.
One way this kid tried to get some of these players autographs was to say that they were on his fantasy team. When old timer TE Desmond Clark walked by he used this tactic. At first, I thought he was just saying that to lure the players over, but it turns out he actually did draft all Bears players (except for some reason Jay Cutler) and did actually draft Desmond Clark.
There was this dick behind me (believe me, after two seconds of talking to this guy you’d say to yourself, “Wow, what a dick”) who added his two cents. He said, “Really? Dez Clark is your tight end? You should go for someone solid like Brent Celek.” I turned to the Dick and said, “Really? Brent Celek? You could have done better than someone like Celek. Michael Vick didn’t look to him at all last year.” He tried to convince me that he was in a PPR league so Celek got him like 9 points every week. 1) A tight end who’s good in a PPR format is not necessarily going to help this 13 year old out 2) There were much better TE’s than Celek last year (although I wouldn’t have faulted you for drafting him high) and 3) I wasn’t going to sit there and argue with the Dick. I had better things to do. Like getting backups autographs. Moral of the story: I want to go to training camp just to start a fantasy football league with these guys. I haven’t won in a while. [Eds note: Celek was 18th among tight ends last year- and this was in a year where essentially every TE got injured]
Anyways, on with the interviews!
DE Vernon Gholston
Me: How many sacks are you going to have this season?
VG: I don’t know as many as I can
Me: Are you going to have over 15?
VG: *laughs* I dunno
I probably should have asked him his role in the system because Peppers is obviously starting and right now Israel Idonije is the other starter on the Bears website.
University of Florida alum safety Major Wright
Me: Who is that guy? (he wasn’t wearing his pads)
13 year old kid in front of me: That’s Major Wright
Me: Ooh, he’s a starter, I want his autograph
Me: How many interceptions are you going to get next year?
MW: haha Good question
Me: Are you happy you choose the correct Florida school?
MW: (angrily) Sure * quickly walks as far away from me as possible *
Again, I missed another golden opportunity. I should have asked him about how awesome his name is. His name is Major Wright! Come on, I'm jealous. Also, for those of you who don't know, that last question was a reference to the recent major allegations against the University of Miami.
C Roberto Garza
Me: I have your face from last year
[Eds Note: This is actually true. Every year for training camp they give out these cheap paper masks of a certain player with a long popsicle-esque wooden pick to hold it up. The purpose of them is to hold the stick so the cheap, paper face covers your face but everyone just uses them as fans. Last year when I went they gave out Roberto Garza masks.]
RG: * laughs *
Me: Do you have one?
RG: Yeah, I got one last year
Me: Was that your Halloween costume last year?
RG: haha no, * something inaudible *
Me: Are you sad to see Olin Kruetz go?
RG: Yeah man, absolutely.
Me: But you’re the better block than him, right?
RG: Nah, man
Garza seemed completely sincere and saddened by the departure of Kruetz. While Kruetz couldn’t block ME to save his life a lot of what it takes to be a good offensive line is chemistry and, this pains me to say this, intangibles. Maybe we shouldn’t have let him go? Wait, what am I saying? Players on the field don’t think. ALL STATS BABY!
Punter Spencer Lanning
I actually didn’t know who this guy was but he had a jersey with the number 1 on it with him and he was a small, skinny white guy, so he had to be a kicker.
Me: Who’s the better kicker, you or Robbie Gould?
SL: haha, Robbie Gould for sure
Me: What!? I don’t believe that. It’s definitely you!
SL: * laughs again * I mean this seriously, Robbie Gould is the best kicker I have ever seen. The best.
One Last Note Before I Go
You can stop reading now if you want to, I understand. It's been a long article and your boss is probably pissed at you for not working for the past 20 minutes. But if you would like to stick around, I thank you.
Also, I'm about to step on my pedastal
As I mentioned earlier, the guys who tend to sign autographs are the back ups or guys who who don't immediately recognize. Now me personally, I always cross reference the player's number on their jersey with a list I print out of everyone on the team and their number so I know which player is which so I know which player's autograph I'm getting (versus this year because my printer ran out of ink I asked the kid ahead of me of who's autograph he was getting in which he replied back to me with no sense of subtlety the guys name). But there was this old dude next to this kid who asked a few players what their name was before asking for their autograph. He had some program with every player listed and would ask, "Now, who are you again?" If I was a player I would walk away because that seems rude, but I guess I'm pety like that. But these players would kindly tell this dude their name, sign their autograph next to their picture, and move on. But for future reference, if you go to any training camp, have a way to figue out who you are talking to before you ask for their autograph, not during or after. What this old guy did seemed really rude and disrespectful.
Anyways, I'm done. Off my pedestal.
That is all. And we... aRE... OUT!
Showing posts with label Bears Training Camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bears Training Camp. Show all posts
Caleb Hanie Still Thinks Jay Cutler Sucks
Some comments from my YouTube page today
HAHAHA, I'm not even a Bears fan but this qb gets my respect. This guy came out to win. He should have earned a spot as the starter with that type of performance. Cutler is a heartless joke. I've been saying it for years, and this 3rd stringer proved it.
Hanie should be a starter
Props to Hanie for stepping up in the NFC championship game. It was a pretty close comeback
Fucking Cutler is so bad
Well judging by the way Cutler wussed out on his team against the packers for the NFC championship imma say Hanie was right, he is better, Big Props to Hanie gained a lot of my respect
LOL, I'm a But I got to say that some of the bear fans are in denial. Cutler was playing like **** even before the so called knee injury. And if his knee was that bad with torn knee ligaments, than how was he able to stand and walk perfectly fine? He walked over to rodgers pretty damn quickly to give him a hug. If his knees really had torn ligaments than he wouldn't even be standing if it was that bad, much less walking fine!
stud!
Scouting From Bears Training Camp
As promised, a report from my experiences down in Bumblefuck, er, Bourbonnais Illinois- home of the Chicago Bears training camp. Two years ago, I went with friend-of-the-site-Keith (he's been on a few podcasts with us). I ended up severely spraining my ankle before walking through the entrance. And to add insult to injury (almost literally) we ended up leaving early because of severe thunderstorm warnings. After the two hour drive home, I turned on the news to realize that right after I had left, training camp had resumed again.
Last year, I went with a few more friends, including fellow Game Of Inches blog authors Cubsfan4evr and The 'Bright' One. A much better experience. We got out first look and discovered diamond-in-the-rough Devin Aromashodu and got video of back up quarterback Caleb Hanie stating that Jay Cutler sucks and that he should start. A much better experience to say the least.
So now it's becoming a GOI tradition- go down to Bourbannais to scout the team. This year, we had to take two cars and Cubsfan, myself, and six of our friends (TBO is currently in the Dominican Republic scouting for Cubs middle relievers) went down to see the team. Here are a few notes, anecdotes, interviews, pictures, and experiences from the trip:
- We saw a lot of the offense practicing (as they were right in front us). One of the big things that jumped out to us was how many plays were directed towards Johnny Knox. The first team wide outs consisted of Knox, Devin Aromashodu (D.A.), and Rashied Davis. No Hester on either first or second string teams (more on Hester later). It seemed obvious that the vast majority of the plays were designed and many of the targets went towards Knox, not D.A.
- Both D.A. and Knox looked really bad all day and missed a lot of easy passes. Very disappointing considering we at Game Of Inches are huge Aromashodu fans.
- Cubsfan and myself have a Board Bet for fantasy football: Johnny Knox v. Devin Aromashodu. I took Knox just because I think the Bears like him more and I believe he'll get the most opportunities and targets for the team. Friend of the blog Fantasy Football Spin and others have talked extensively about the wide receiver options for fantasy in Chicago. Current ADP had D.A. leading all Bears receivers with 96.74, followed by Knox with 133.63, and Hester with 134.39- and all within four WR slots of each other (with crappy Braylon Edwards being the fourth).
- Training camp has just reinforced my belief that Knox will get more targets than D.A. and thus holds more fantasy value in 2010. Listen, I love D.A. I think he's a legitimate #1 receiver much like Steve Smith was for the Giants last year. He's the biggest wide receiver Chicago has at 6-2, he's fast, and has the best hands on the team. But unfortunately the Bears are a bad organization and have fallen in love with the "#1" fifth round draft pick of 2009. I believe D.A. is the better talent but Knox is the better fantasy play and neither will be on any one of my fantasy teams.
Let's take a break and look at some actual players:
55: Lance Briggs; 54: Brian Urlacher; 95: Anthony Adams; 52: Kevin Malast
91: Tommie Harris; 94: Matt Mayberry; 27: Major Wright; 54: Brian Urlacher
6: Jay Culer
20: Craig Steltz; 26: Tim Jennings; 96: Barry Turner; 80: Earl Bennett
Now on to some Devin Hester talk:
- His absence from both special teams (where the only name of note returning kicks was Knox) and both the first and second string teams was very odd. When Hester was singing autographs for fans, one fan asked him if he was injured- which is the most logical reason for why Hester was not on the field. However, Hester said he was perfectly healthy. So I'm curious why 23 was not on the field practicing (but was suited up).
- My next guess is that Hester is really really really stupid and new offensive coordinator Mike Martz's system is really complicated and Hester still doesn't understand it. I remember Hester lining up next to Muhsin Muhammad and Moose having to yell at Devin to move over because he was standing at the wrong place on the line of scrimmage. But this is just a guess.
- I asked Hester: Over/Under 1200 yards for him in 2010? He didn't answer but the fans all said "over" and he agreed with them. I then asked him how many TD's he would get in the upcoming season and Hester said 10-11.
- I have an autograph football that many Bears have signed over the past couple of years that I literally held to Hester's face, twice, when he was signing autographs for fans. Not once did Hester sign it. He did however sign an autograph for my friend Keith. That dumb mo fo (Hester, not Keith). But hey, I'm not bitter.
- Some rookie wide out was carrying Hester's pads into the locker room. He probably won't make the team. Take a lesson Dez Bryant!
Anecdote and fun story time!
- One great thing I love about Bears training camp is that everyone is extremely nice and friendly (I'm sure this is the same at all training camps, but I only have experience with the Chicago team). We're all essentially in the same fraternity- the love of the Chicago Bears- so it makes sense. When I fell and hurt my ankle, the fans in line could not have been more nicer to me to help me up. When a firefighter at the camp looked at my ankle but said they couldn't give me an Advil because of "legal" reasons, one fan sitting next to me give me some of his spare Tylenol.
- When sitting in the stands this year, my friends and I were surrounded by many fans who we had the pleasure of talking to. Directly to the right of us (and directly behind Cubsfan) was an elderly gentleman by himself happily eating the Wendy's he had brought into the stadium. He mentioned at least four times how a back up tight end, who probably won't make the team, was wearing Mike Ditka's former number: 89. He also mentioned at least ten times that that used to be Willie Gault's former number. Willie Gault played for the great Bears team in the mid to late eighties and played for the Greatest Team Ever: the '85 Bears. I know this, not because I actually saw Willie Gault play (my parents weren't even married yet by January of 1986) but because this guy had to mentioned it 10 times and acted like my friends and I watched him play. I just turned 23 years old. Now admittedly I look older for my age (especially with the three day old 5 o'clock shadow I was rocking) and some of my friends do too. So say this guy thought we were 26-28 years old. That means we were about 5 when Willie Gault played. NO WE DON'T KNOW WHO WILLIE GAULT IS OR EVEN REMEMBER WHAT NUMBER HE WORE.
- There was a young couple sitting directly in front of us with young girls (their daughters). The husband was a probably a bigger Bears fan than all of us. He recalled the day after his second daughter was born watching a game in the hospital and told his wife that he would take care of his child and be there for her, but would not miss a Bears game. He was smart and brought his daughters along so he could get many of the "elite" players like Urlacher, Cutler, and Pepper's autograph (because players will gladly sign autographs for little kid. But screw the 16-49 year old males who actually buy tickets, follow the sport and team, and purchase merchandise. Again, I'm not bitter.)
- We all agreed that it was extremely stupid of the Bears to drop DE Alex Brown and to not pay him. He would have looked great opposite Julius Peppers, not that expensive, and this is an uncapped year anyway.
Some more TMZ-style interviews I conducted:
- I asked K Robbie Gould if he would ever become the all time NFL leader in field goal percentage. (He's currently 4th all time). Robbie laughed and said he'd have to wait about eight, nine more years to see how everything shakes out and hopes to last that long. He was cool and signed an autograph for me.
- On a fantasy football related note, even though Gould is an extremely accurate and good kicker, he was only the 13th best fantasy kicker in 2009 and the 16th best in 2008. Further proof that there is no amount of research you can do (nor should do) to draft kickers.
- I asked CB Charles "Peanut" Tillman which would he prefer: getting an INT in the game or making sure the receiver he covered didn't get a touch? (The reason I asked him this is because I am personally under the belief that INT are overrated and a cornerback like Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha or New York's Darrell Revis are awesome because they cover their receiver like white on rice, despite the lack of interceptions) However, Peanut was taken aback by my question and just responded "whatever the defense calls for". I then asked him: Over/Under 7 interceptions for the year? He said "over". He was also cool and signed an autograph for me.
- I asked rookie and soon-to-be-cut safety Quentin Scott which was the better 'Quentin' him or Carlos [White Sox OF Carlos Quentin]. The fans and him laughed and he responded "Oh, Carlos for sure. I played baseball, I know how good he is" I could have gotten an autograph but I already have LB Nick Roach and like nine other guys' autographs that I don't care about so I didn't want to make in 10.
Some final notes about the players I "scouted":
- Although it was an extremely limited amount of times and small sample size, former first round pick offensive lineman Chris Williams looked really good blocking Julius Peppers.
- However, the rest of the offensive line looked awful during drills of offensive vs. defensive lines.
- Northern Illinois alum and 3rd rounder Garrett Wolfe took all the second string snaps in practice. In case anyone was thinking about handcuffing Forte or Taylor with Khalil Bell, don't.
- Rashied Davis, who took Hester's place in practice, looked like the best receiver of the day. Didn't look at good as D.A. did last year, but still really good.
- No one this year stood out like Devin Aromashodu did to us last year
- In case anyone was wondering, Jay Cutler's back up is Caleb Hanie and not rookie Dan LeFevour. Hanie looked good with no defense on him but took a slight step backwards during the 7 on 7's. The Bears are screwed if Cutler goes down anyway but it's good to see Hanie look decently good in practice.
- The first string red zone offensive led by Cutler (and mainly targeting Knox) looked just as bad as the product on the actual field the past couple of years.
Finally, some more photos on the day:
90: Julius Peppers; Head Coach Lovie Smith
Robbie Gould signing an autograph for Keith
Charles "Peanut" Tillman
Sexy Rexy on the left and Cubsfan on the right
Last year, I went with a few more friends, including fellow Game Of Inches blog authors Cubsfan4evr and The 'Bright' One. A much better experience. We got out first look and discovered diamond-in-the-rough Devin Aromashodu and got video of back up quarterback Caleb Hanie stating that Jay Cutler sucks and that he should start. A much better experience to say the least.
So now it's becoming a GOI tradition- go down to Bourbannais to scout the team. This year, we had to take two cars and Cubsfan, myself, and six of our friends (TBO is currently in the Dominican Republic scouting for Cubs middle relievers) went down to see the team. Here are a few notes, anecdotes, interviews, pictures, and experiences from the trip:
- We saw a lot of the offense practicing (as they were right in front us). One of the big things that jumped out to us was how many plays were directed towards Johnny Knox. The first team wide outs consisted of Knox, Devin Aromashodu (D.A.), and Rashied Davis. No Hester on either first or second string teams (more on Hester later). It seemed obvious that the vast majority of the plays were designed and many of the targets went towards Knox, not D.A.
- Both D.A. and Knox looked really bad all day and missed a lot of easy passes. Very disappointing considering we at Game Of Inches are huge Aromashodu fans.
- Cubsfan and myself have a Board Bet for fantasy football: Johnny Knox v. Devin Aromashodu. I took Knox just because I think the Bears like him more and I believe he'll get the most opportunities and targets for the team. Friend of the blog Fantasy Football Spin and others have talked extensively about the wide receiver options for fantasy in Chicago. Current ADP had D.A. leading all Bears receivers with 96.74, followed by Knox with 133.63, and Hester with 134.39- and all within four WR slots of each other (with crappy Braylon Edwards being the fourth).
- Training camp has just reinforced my belief that Knox will get more targets than D.A. and thus holds more fantasy value in 2010. Listen, I love D.A. I think he's a legitimate #1 receiver much like Steve Smith was for the Giants last year. He's the biggest wide receiver Chicago has at 6-2, he's fast, and has the best hands on the team. But unfortunately the Bears are a bad organization and have fallen in love with the "#1" fifth round draft pick of 2009. I believe D.A. is the better talent but Knox is the better fantasy play and neither will be on any one of my fantasy teams.
Let's take a break and look at some actual players:
55: Lance Briggs; 54: Brian Urlacher; 95: Anthony Adams; 52: Kevin Malast 91: Tommie Harris; 94: Matt Mayberry; 27: Major Wright; 54: Brian Urlacher 6: Jay Culer 20: Craig Steltz; 26: Tim Jennings; 96: Barry Turner; 80: Earl BennettNow on to some Devin Hester talk:
- His absence from both special teams (where the only name of note returning kicks was Knox) and both the first and second string teams was very odd. When Hester was singing autographs for fans, one fan asked him if he was injured- which is the most logical reason for why Hester was not on the field. However, Hester said he was perfectly healthy. So I'm curious why 23 was not on the field practicing (but was suited up).
- My next guess is that Hester is really really really stupid and new offensive coordinator Mike Martz's system is really complicated and Hester still doesn't understand it. I remember Hester lining up next to Muhsin Muhammad and Moose having to yell at Devin to move over because he was standing at the wrong place on the line of scrimmage. But this is just a guess.
- I asked Hester: Over/Under 1200 yards for him in 2010? He didn't answer but the fans all said "over" and he agreed with them. I then asked him how many TD's he would get in the upcoming season and Hester said 10-11.
- I have an autograph football that many Bears have signed over the past couple of years that I literally held to Hester's face, twice, when he was signing autographs for fans. Not once did Hester sign it. He did however sign an autograph for my friend Keith. That dumb mo fo (Hester, not Keith). But hey, I'm not bitter.
- Some rookie wide out was carrying Hester's pads into the locker room. He probably won't make the team. Take a lesson Dez Bryant!
Anecdote and fun story time!
- One great thing I love about Bears training camp is that everyone is extremely nice and friendly (I'm sure this is the same at all training camps, but I only have experience with the Chicago team). We're all essentially in the same fraternity- the love of the Chicago Bears- so it makes sense. When I fell and hurt my ankle, the fans in line could not have been more nicer to me to help me up. When a firefighter at the camp looked at my ankle but said they couldn't give me an Advil because of "legal" reasons, one fan sitting next to me give me some of his spare Tylenol.
- When sitting in the stands this year, my friends and I were surrounded by many fans who we had the pleasure of talking to. Directly to the right of us (and directly behind Cubsfan) was an elderly gentleman by himself happily eating the Wendy's he had brought into the stadium. He mentioned at least four times how a back up tight end, who probably won't make the team, was wearing Mike Ditka's former number: 89. He also mentioned at least ten times that that used to be Willie Gault's former number. Willie Gault played for the great Bears team in the mid to late eighties and played for the Greatest Team Ever: the '85 Bears. I know this, not because I actually saw Willie Gault play (my parents weren't even married yet by January of 1986) but because this guy had to mentioned it 10 times and acted like my friends and I watched him play. I just turned 23 years old. Now admittedly I look older for my age (especially with the three day old 5 o'clock shadow I was rocking) and some of my friends do too. So say this guy thought we were 26-28 years old. That means we were about 5 when Willie Gault played. NO WE DON'T KNOW WHO WILLIE GAULT IS OR EVEN REMEMBER WHAT NUMBER HE WORE.
- There was a young couple sitting directly in front of us with young girls (their daughters). The husband was a probably a bigger Bears fan than all of us. He recalled the day after his second daughter was born watching a game in the hospital and told his wife that he would take care of his child and be there for her, but would not miss a Bears game. He was smart and brought his daughters along so he could get many of the "elite" players like Urlacher, Cutler, and Pepper's autograph (because players will gladly sign autographs for little kid. But screw the 16-49 year old males who actually buy tickets, follow the sport and team, and purchase merchandise. Again, I'm not bitter.)
- We all agreed that it was extremely stupid of the Bears to drop DE Alex Brown and to not pay him. He would have looked great opposite Julius Peppers, not that expensive, and this is an uncapped year anyway.
Some more TMZ-style interviews I conducted:
- I asked K Robbie Gould if he would ever become the all time NFL leader in field goal percentage. (He's currently 4th all time). Robbie laughed and said he'd have to wait about eight, nine more years to see how everything shakes out and hopes to last that long. He was cool and signed an autograph for me.
- On a fantasy football related note, even though Gould is an extremely accurate and good kicker, he was only the 13th best fantasy kicker in 2009 and the 16th best in 2008. Further proof that there is no amount of research you can do (nor should do) to draft kickers.
- I asked CB Charles "Peanut" Tillman which would he prefer: getting an INT in the game or making sure the receiver he covered didn't get a touch? (The reason I asked him this is because I am personally under the belief that INT are overrated and a cornerback like Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha or New York's Darrell Revis are awesome because they cover their receiver like white on rice, despite the lack of interceptions) However, Peanut was taken aback by my question and just responded "whatever the defense calls for". I then asked him: Over/Under 7 interceptions for the year? He said "over". He was also cool and signed an autograph for me.
- I asked rookie and soon-to-be-cut safety Quentin Scott which was the better 'Quentin' him or Carlos [White Sox OF Carlos Quentin]. The fans and him laughed and he responded "Oh, Carlos for sure. I played baseball, I know how good he is" I could have gotten an autograph but I already have LB Nick Roach and like nine other guys' autographs that I don't care about so I didn't want to make in 10.
Some final notes about the players I "scouted":
- Although it was an extremely limited amount of times and small sample size, former first round pick offensive lineman Chris Williams looked really good blocking Julius Peppers.
- However, the rest of the offensive line looked awful during drills of offensive vs. defensive lines.
- Northern Illinois alum and 3rd rounder Garrett Wolfe took all the second string snaps in practice. In case anyone was thinking about handcuffing Forte or Taylor with Khalil Bell, don't.
- Rashied Davis, who took Hester's place in practice, looked like the best receiver of the day. Didn't look at good as D.A. did last year, but still really good.
- No one this year stood out like Devin Aromashodu did to us last year
- In case anyone was wondering, Jay Cutler's back up is Caleb Hanie and not rookie Dan LeFevour. Hanie looked good with no defense on him but took a slight step backwards during the 7 on 7's. The Bears are screwed if Cutler goes down anyway but it's good to see Hanie look decently good in practice.
- The first string red zone offensive led by Cutler (and mainly targeting Knox) looked just as bad as the product on the actual field the past couple of years.
Finally, some more photos on the day:
90: Julius Peppers; Head Coach Lovie Smith Robbie Gould signing an autograph for KeithCharles "Peanut" TillmanSexy Rexy on the left and Cubsfan on the right
