From Robbie Gould’s rich contract to Cedric Benson’s poor excuse (according to Jerry Angelo), here are 10 things I know about the Bears.
1. I know many Benson supporters believe Angelo could not have abandoned him more thoroughly last weekend without leaving Benson in a cardboard box on a stranger’s doorstep. Before even speaking to Benson about his May 4 arrest on Lake Travis outside Austin, Texas — inconceivable seven days after an incident in which a Bears player alleged police wrongdoing — Angelo chided his troubled running back.
“The thing I’m most disappointed [in] is the fact that he put himself in a position to be the victim,” Angelo said.
To recap, Benson had a party on a boat with 15 friends, including his mom, on a lake in the city where he lives in the off-season. There were no weapons found, no drugs mentioned in the police report, no loud music, no fighting. It was 9:30 p.m. The boat wasn’t even moving, but Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. Benson’s state of mind and other facts remain in dispute, but the Bears’ GM already found Benson’s decision to enjoy himself on a May Saturday questionable enough to warrant criticism.
2. I know Benson might be among the most immature and undependable professionals on the Bears’ roster, but Angelo’s quick castigation of his judgment implies one of two things: 1) Angelo has information that implicates Benson beyond what the known facts suggest or, 2) Like many fans, Angelo has let Benson’s status as a draft bust guide his reaction. Did he ever vacate support of Lance Briggs so quickly in the wake of the Lamborghini caper? If new information emerges to implicate Benson, then he will deserve any consequences and Angelo will look prescient. Until then, Angelo looks a tad premature. Anyway, consider Benson’s training-camp agenda foreshadowed: He will have to have a nearly flawless preseason to convince the Bears he is worth keeping.
3. I know just two weeks before Angelo criticized Benson’s judgment, he justified drafting a defensive tackle arrested on a felony drug charge last August (Marcus Harrison) and a tight end once arrested for aggravated assault (Kellen Davis).
“This isn’t an angelic game,” Angelo said on April 27.
4. I know Angelo also took a different tack with Tank Johnson after Johnson was arrested for the third time in 18 months in December 2006. The Bears made a public show of faith in Johnson even after Johnson betrayed the team’s trust by going to the former Ice Bar hours after being told to stay out of trouble only to see his friend Willie Posey shot to death.
“He has made some unbelievable changes,” Angelo said of Johnson on Dec. 19, 2006. “We believe in Tank Johnson, bottom line.”
5. I know Angelo publicly supported Ricky Manning Jr. after Manning was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon two days after signing an offer sheet with the Bears in April 2006. In that case, the team allowed Manning’s version of events to affect its judgment — unlike Benson’s.
“He’ll be fine,” Angelo said at the time. “The information we got we feel very solid about. It’s unfortunate. Let that run its course.”
6. I know no Chicago professional athlete puts his money where his mouth is more consistently than Tommie Harris. Harris spent last weekend in his hometown of Killeen, Texas, where he donated $165,000 in equipment for the newly named Tommie Harris Fitness Center. During a tour of the facility, Harris rolled up his sleeves and gave the kids on hand a memory they aren’t likely to forget by doing a set of repetitions with free weights.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Harris told the Killeen Daily Herald.
7. I know Gould deserves every penny of the $15.5 million contract extension he signed Monday, and he was determined enough to get a deal that size that he considered holding out. Gould will earn his keep next fall with an offense that struggles inside the 20-yard line and with potentially six games in domed stadiums. Still, it’s remarkable Gould became the highest-paid kicker in the NFL without ever hitting a field goal from more than 50 yards. It was touching to hear Gould talk about his impressive journey from undrafted free agent working construction to the league’s richest kicker. Maybe it resonated most with younger brother Chris, a former Virginia kicker who went undrafted last month and just had a tryout with Tampa Bay.
8. I know better than to doubt Brian Urlacher’s threat to boycott mandatory mini-camp at the end of this month, which he repeated Tuesday in a conversation with the Tribune’s Vaughn McClure. Even so, now that Gould is signed, the Bears should set their sights on Harris. The clock might be ticking louder on his negotiations than the one monitoring talks with Urlacher or Devin Hester. If Harris goes into the final year of his contract unsigned, the Bears still have the franchise tag they could apply, which could be smart. But it could be dangerous, too, for the next off-season because Harris is as unpredictable as he is affable, and his agent is Drew Rosenhaus.
9. I know rookie Matt Forte already has people at Halas Hall believing he can be a three-down running back. Forte showed more polish and maturity in a three-day mini-camp than Benson has in three years. Agreed. The kid could not have been any smoother on or off the field without buffing his helmet. But before we make him the next Neal Anderson, this is the NFL, and Forte will have to prove a fumbling problem his senior year at Tulane is a thing of the past. Forte lost six fumbles last season — one every 64 touches. That shouldn’t dampen enthusiasm over Forte, but it shouldn’t be forgotten either.
10. I know the Bears neglected the guard position in free agency and the draft and probably could do worse now than talking 36-year-old left guard Ruben Brown back onto the roster. He is said to be recovering well from shoulder surgery and is getting in shape in case a team calls.
The Bears shouldn’t lose his number. Brown might not be near the Pro Bowl level he was in 2006 but he could provide savvy leadership from which rookie left tackle Chris Williams would benefit.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
