Ben Boone doesn’t think of himself as a fighter, but he nearly came to blows several times last season while defending longtime friend Rex Grossman.
Boone would sit in his seat at Soldier Field every home game, drinking a few brews and minding his own business until someone would yell something obnoxious about the Bears quarterback.
Then it was on.
“If somebody was talking bad about your boy, you’d probably say something to them too,” Boone said. “It’s just a game. Heck, Terrell Owens seems like a jerk sometimes, but he’s a person too.”
Boone grew up with Grossman in Bloomington, Ind., and now lives in Chicago. He says Grossman remains the same person he has always known despite his status as the NFL’s most scrutinized player last season.
This off-season, instead of going into hibernation, as many expected after the Bears’ Super Bowl disappointment, Grossman did what he has always done: He hung out with his friends and was the life of the party.
He wasn’t Good Rex or Bad Rex. He was just Rex.
The week before training camp, Grossman wasn’t locked in his house poring over his mistakes from last season. He was in Lincoln Park, having a good time and checking out the bar his sister, Ashley Fox, and her husband Justin recently purchased off Armitage Avenue called Shoes Pub.
“It’s just a hole-in-the-wall place,” Grossman said, using his hands to indicate how small it is inside. “I’ll go in there every once in a while, maybe after a game.”
Grossman isn’t reluctant to show his face despite the frequent public badgering he has endured. He and Boone enjoyed nights on the town at some of the trendiest nightclubs in the city without much commotion. Even in Lincoln Park, where sports talk is inevitable, Grossman never felt on the defensive.
“Every once in a while people would come up to me and say, ‘Hey, Rex, great season,'” he said. “The conversations I had were normally short and positive.”
Grossman wants to keep them that way. And no matter how tough the city has been on him, he is eager to make Chicago his permanent home.
This is a make-or-break season, in his eyes and the Bears’. The excuse of being the equivalent of a rookie can’t be used anymore; he started 19 games last season. Injuries aren’t a factor now, knock on wood. And Grossman has enough offensive firepower surrounding him to open a weapons shop.
Grossman feels more in control, and not because his game underwent major alterations.
“Stepping back from football for five or six months and then coming back, you’re a year older, you’re smarter, you’re stronger, you’re wiser,” he said. “I feel like that. And that, in turn, makes me feel more relaxed and confident to go do my job.”
It helps when your teammates have confidence in you as well.
“I’m going to put a little pressure on him: There’s no way he doesn’t get across the water this year,” defensive end Alex Brown said, referring to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
Brown has no doubts about Grossman’s ability, having played with him at the University of Florida.
“That sophomore year of college, where he threw for almost 4,000 yards, I see that type of attitude again, that approach — he was scary,” Brown said. “I’m not much of a fantasy football guy, but for those who are, you’d better grab Rex. He’s going to be great this season.”
If Grossman is, he’s sure to be rewarded. Handsomely.
Proving ground
Grossman is due to make $2.035 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract, a relatively modest number for a Super Bowl quarterback. He understands the Bears’ position that he must show more consistency before they pay him the way franchise quarterbacks get paid in their second contracts.
“I haven’t thought about it as much as I thought I would,” he said. “In the off-season you tend to think about those things. Once training camp started, I really haven’t thought about it at all.”
Before reporting to camp, Grossman discussed the possibility of signing a new contract with his agent, Eugene Parker. Bears general manager Jerry Angelo broached the idea of a hometown discount with Parker, but neither side saw much need to get a deal done at that time.
That’s not to say the Bears don’t value Grossman.
“Yes, he’s a priority — in time,” coach Lovie Smith said. “You come to a point where there’s a season when you need to play a certain way to really get paid as a quarterback. And that’s where he is.
“Rex has only been a starter for one year. How many times do you make a big [contract] commitment to a guy who has played one year? We’re just letting it play out.”
Grossman understands the logic. He started just six games his first three seasons because of three major injuries: a broken ankle, a ruptured right knee and a broken finger. Only last season did Grossman start to show his worth, though in spurts.
“The fact that I was hurt a couple of seasons and the fact that I had only one whole season under my belt is the main reason I’m in a contract year without a contract,” Grossman said. “Basically, what my agent said was, ‘The organization wants to see you take that next step, and we want to sign a contract when you’re playing the way you’re capable of playing on a consistent basis.’ Hopefully, if I take care of my business, the Bears will too.”
Grossman is willing to negotiate during the season, and if his play takes off, he could be looking at a deal with $15 million to $20 million guaranteed. Asked if he could envision himself testing free agency and signing with another team, Grossman said, “Yes.”
“But I hope it doesn’t come to that,” he added. “It’s not something I’d want. I’d love to stay a Chicago Bear for the rest of my life. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. But that’s what I want.”
Football at a distance
Surrounded by his best friends from home — Boone, Joey Mackey and Brad DeStefano — Grossman could have spent time this summer recalling the good and bad of last season while attending DeStefano’s wedding in Naples, Fla.
“I was down there for five days,” Grossman said, “and I think I talked football for about five minutes. We’ve got so many other funnier and interesting things to talk about.”
Such as the time Grossman lost a video game bet with them, then had to dress up in his mother’s fur coat and go rent a movie. Or the home run derby contest they had earlier in the summer while Grossman was in Bloomington for a ceremony to retire his high school jersey number.
The four of them hung by the pool the week of the wedding. They played cards. They partied at night.
Not a word was uttered about completion percentages or passer ratings.
“Everything is extremely normal when I’m with my friends,” Grossman said. “I think they do that on purpose, and I appreciate that. It definitely helps to be around them, instead of meeting new people who only think of you as an NFL quarterback. People who have grown up with you your whole life understand that [football] is something you’ve done, not something that defines you.”
His teammates characterize him as the same old Rex, save for a couple of minor tweaks. He’s a quiet guy in public view but apparently a riot behind closed doors. Brian Urlacher tells of the funky costumes Grossman has showed up in at Mike Brown’s annual Halloween parties. Once he came dressed as former Bears strength coach Russ Riederer.
“I don’t want him to read that,” Grossman said with a laugh, “but I actually cut my hair the way he wore his. And he always wore a tight shirt with some khaki pants.”
Says wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad: “Rex seems more relaxed now. He’s a little more social. He’s a reserved guy, not very vocal. But he’s a good kid, and he’s always been that way.”
On the field, Grossman is still the guy who can fling it around effortlessly, but with more consistency now. He has improved his footwork and paid closer attention to detail, at the insistence of new quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton. Grossman doesn’t have to look over his shoulder because Brian Griese isn’t expected to supplant him anytime soon.
“Rex is still our guy — nothing has changed,” Smith said. “And I’m expecting big things from him this year. There was nothing major wrong with him in the first place. That’s the outside saying that.”
And this season, Grossman has more options in the passing game with rookie tight end Greg Olsen and Devin Hester having switched to offense.
“I don’t know if he has that kind of pressure on him where it’s like, ‘You better not screw this up.’ For him it’s more like, ‘Man, I have a bunch of weapons, and we should be able to be productive in this offense,'” Muhammad said. “One reason I came here to play is because I always thought he had the potential to be a great quarterback. And I still feel that way.”
Ben Boone’s not the only one who has Grossman’s back.
———-
vxmcclure@tribune.com
