Yesterday I played 18 of the most difficult holes in golf: Bethpage Black, host of the 2002 and 2009 US Opens. No carts allowed. More than 7,000 yards of hill after hill after hill after hill. Here’s what the course looks like and it should explain the brevity of my JeMarcus Russell post coming.

Ask yourself this question.

Would the Bears announcing publicly they are giving maligned quarterback and hot dog enthusiast JeMarcus Russell be met with anything other than derision and scorn from the Chicago media or Bears fans?

The answer is no. And the move shows once again the current Bears leadership, Phil Emery, is not concerned with the outside perception of the organization. You don’t cast aside Brian Urlacher and hire the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes if David Haugh’s column is something keeping you up at night. (If Haugh’s column is of any concern to you, you have no business running a hot dog cart in Lincoln Park.) This move shows the concerns of the current GM of the Bears are dramatically one-sided: he wants to make the club better and he doesn’t care how.

Will Russell end up on the Bears roster? Most likely not. But if he impresses in their private workout the Bears would be insane to not invite him to Bourbonnais and give him some reps in the preseason. Behind Jay Cutler the Bears don’t currently have a quarterback capable of winning NFL games and Russell has the type of big, strong arm Emery covets to battle through the winter winds of Soldier Field.

The risk is zero. The reward could be substantial. So…why not?