There is room for sentimentality in sports.
Despite football fans now being overly obsessed with salary cap structures, guessing which college kids will be solid professionals and PFF’s oft-unfounded system of grading, there is still room for an old fashioned fan to hold old fashioned beliefs. This old fashioned fan sure does.
Charles Tillman should have never worn another jersey in the NFL.
DBB will return with original content next week as we begin our draft coverage with a podcast featuring Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown.
The Bears on Tuesday signed Ray McDonald.
When I heard that, when I heard the team I spend so much time thinking about and cheering for signed this man with a checkered past, my initial reaction was a simple, “Ugh”.Ugh as in how could the Bears overlook a track record of violence towards women in the name of good defensive line play. Ugh as in how could this new Bears leadership be so eager to ship Brandon “Tartikoff” Marshall to New Jersey for less than a Rutt’s Hut ripper in the name of personality problems while bringing in McDonald on the recommendation of their new defensive coordinator alone. Ugh as in how, after the NFL’s dark troubles of 2014, could the Bears so willingly enter that conversation in 2015?
(The Tribune provides a legal timeline for McDonald HERE.)
But there was an even worse Ugh. Ugh as in the realization that the first time McDonald buries Aaron Rodgers or Matthew Stafford or Teddy Bridgewater I will be the first one to applaud and forget all his transgressions.
Thought #1. Bears should meet the $4M a year demand for Stefan Wisniewski. Per a report from Brad Biggs in the Tribune:
Wisniewski is recovering from shoulder surgery after last season when he played with a torn labrum. The former second-round pick of the Raiders has made visits to the Seahawks and Bucs, and the Rams and Chiefs are also known to be interested. No team has been willing to meet his request of $4 million per season and it could be he winds up on a one- or two-year prove-it contract. At this point, it would be a mistake to rule out the Bears.
Wisniewski is young and talented and the kind of physical presence needed to anchor a John Fox offensive line. An interior offensive line of Slauson-Wiz-Long would set a new tone on the that side of the ball.
Thought #2. Jarvis Jenkins and Mason Foster are smart, short-term solutions on defense. No, neither of these players is going to the Pro Bowl. No, neither of these players are going to make Bears fans forget Dan Hampton or Dick Butkus. But they would be a solid, professional additions to a defensive unit desperate for such. (I’m assuming Mason Foster ultimately ends up in Chicago.)
Per a report from Brad Biggs in the Chicago Tribune, the Bears will not be waiting until a few weeks prior to the coming season to sign a long snapper. They have agreed to terms with Dave Toub’s long snapper, Thomas Gafford. From the article:
Gafford, 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, spent two weeks with the Bears during training camp in 2008. The University of Houston product had two stints with the Green Bay Packers and one with the Seattle Seahawks before sticking with the Chiefs. He’s been credited with 13 solo tackles, four assists and one fumble recovery in his career. Assistant special teams coach Derius Swinton was on the staff in Kansas City in 2012, so he has worked with Gafford.
I sat next to Tom Coughlin on a flight once from New York to Jacksonville. The most amazing thing about him? He was as interested in me as I was in him. And it was genuine. He also knows quite a bit more about football and football players than I do. His thoughts on Antrel Rolle from the NY Daily News:
“I have never come across a player that was more interested in his team and trying to help his team get better in any way he could,” Coughlin said. “I think countless Tuesdays, Antrel was in my office with (questions about) how we can get better, what we can do to get better. Just thoughts going back and forth between coach and player in terms of how our team could improve. I don’t think I have ever been involved with a player who was more sincerely interested in how his team could improve.”
While I have issues about Rolle’s performance last season it is impossible to argue the Bears don’t need the man described above in their locker room.
