Clark Has Legendary Hero

Nearly every NFL player has a hero. Chicago Bears tight end Desmond Clark picked one that is perfect for his career in the Windy City: Walter Payton. The Bears will be honoring the Hall of Fame running back at their game on Sunday, which marks the 10-year anniversary of his death.

Clark said of the legendary running back, “I was a big Walter Payton fan myself, coming up playing running back and quarterback. When I was playing running back, coaches would tell you to carry the ball like this [the conventional way], I wanted to carry the ball like Walter Payton and hold it with one hand. I just wanted to carry the ball with one hand and stiff arm people and do the high steps and all that stuff. You always see him diving over the pile for the touchdown, and that’s never something I quite came to do.”

Walter Payton was part of the 1985 Bears team that won the Super Bowl, playing alongside other legends like William Perry, Richard Dent, Mike Singletary and Jim McMahon and under head coach Mike Ditka. Today’s team still carries the legacy of “Sweetness” and you can experience it by getting Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 30, 2009 - Post a comment

Idonije Has Unique Memories of Browns

When the Chicago Bears take on the Cleveland Browns this weekend, it will hold special meaning for one Bear. Defensive lineman Israel Idonije has been with the Bears almost his entire career. His first year in the league, however, it was the Browns who gave him a chance.

He hailed from the Canadian University of Manitoba, which meant that he was hard-pressed to get interest from NFL Scouts. Idonije recalled his experience at the NFL Combine and said, “Everybody’s road has been tough. The NFL is such an exclusive club to be in. Mine’s been a little unique. It’s been full of some character builders. I stood outside the Combine. They didn’t let me in, so I handed out VHS tapes all day. I only played two years in college and no one thought I’d make it. A lot of the Canadian scouts and coaches-people you’d think would be rooting for me-would say, ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be back in the [Canadian Football League].’ It was a lot of hard work, being in the right place at the right time and taking advantage of my opportunities. It’s been a long road, but a good one.”

He has since been a top contributor for the Bears, but going up against the Browns is going to bring back memories for Idonije. See them play live with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 29, 2009 - Post a comment

Harris’ Welcome Wearing Thin?

What will the Chicago Bears do about defensive tackle Tommie Harris? That seems to be the question on everyone’s mind in Chicago right now. Harris sat out of the Bears’ game against Cincinnati last week, and Lovie Smith made the surprising comment that it wasn’t about his knee.

NFL writer Charles Robinson gave his opinion and said, “I think he’s done, I think this is the last year he plays for the Chicago Bears. I think financially he’s gotten to a point, where unless there’s a renegotiation of that deal, you can’t justify continuing to pay him what he makes. To me, there’s almost no doubt in my mind this comes to a head in the offseason.”

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo commented on Harris’ lack of play last Sunday, but not about his future with the team. He said, “The bottom line is that Tommie’s fine. Tommie had some additional treatments, which are not uncommon for players to have during the season, and Lovie chose to rest him. Let me make something very clear, something that I think has clouded people’s thinking because of how it’s been reported by some in the media. When we say a player is healthy, it doesn’t mean he’s necessarily 100 percent healthy.”

Unless Harris can stay healthy the rest of the season, he definitely seems in danger of losing his roster spot. See him live with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 28, 2009 - Post a comment

Tillman Makes No Excuses for Performance

After the Chicago Bears’ 45-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the Bears aren’t trying to sugarcoat anything. Everyone knows that it was a poor performance of the team, and the defensive starters made it clear that they failed. Cornerback Charles Tillman put it bluntly, “They played good today; we didn’t play good. That’s the bottom line. … They outplayed us today.”

He also commented on Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and said, “A couple of plays, he did a couple of things that I had never seen. He did a lot of double moves. I tip my hat to him.”

Tillman continued, “There’s always corrections to be made. If there are some things I need to correct, I will look at the game film and correct the mistakes that were made.”

Fellow cornerback Zack Bowman echoed Tillman’s comments and said, “It wasn’t about talent. It was us. They ran their stuff, but we still have to run our stuff. We’ve got to go back and evaluate the film and see what we did (wrong).”

The Bears will have a lot to cover this week before they face the Browns on Sunday. See them live with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Bears Suffer Embarrassing Loss

Nearly everyone was left shocked after the Bears’ 45-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday, none more so than the Bears themselves. It was the worst loss since Lovie Smith became the coach of the Bears, and Smith reacted by saying, “I thought we were ready to go. You never really know. We weren’t ready to go, though. That’s what the game told us for whatever reason… I wish I knew, but it happens. It happens in the National Football League. You never know for sure when. Our preparation was good. I thought we were ready to go, but again, we weren’t.”

For many Bears fans, the loss was especially hard to swallow after last week’s disappointing loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye shared that sentiment and said, “After the Atlanta game, you would have expected us to have a better effort. That was definitely my mindset going into the game. But for whatever reason, I wasn’t able to make any plays. This team and any team in the NFL thrives on big plays, and we just weren’t able to do it.”

It was an all-around bad game for the Chicago Bears, one that they are trying to forget before next week’s game against the Cleveland Browns. Be there by getting Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 26, 2009 - Post a comment

Tinoisamoa Out for the Season

The Chicago Bears defense was dealt another blow following their Week Six game against the Atlanta Falcons. During the game, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa was carted off of the field with a knee injury. After undergoing an MRI, it was announced that he would be out for the rest of the season. He is the second linebacker to suffer such a fate, as the Bears lost star linebacker Brian Urlacher to a wrist injury after their season opener against the Green Bay Packers.

Coach Lovie Smith was hesitant to say the Bears would add another linebacker. He said, “We feel pretty good about our bodies that we have out there right now. Whenever you have a player like Pisa go down, hopefully we can get Hunter to fill back in. Our numbers are still pretty good.”

Last Sunday’s game marked Tinoisamoa’s first start since the Green Bay game. During that game, he injured the same knee, keeping him out for a few weeks. The Bears will be relying on Lance Briggs, Hunter Hilenmeyer, who has also been struggling with injuries, Jamar Williams and Nick Roach. With little depth at linebacker, there is a chance Smith could change his tune about a new edition. See them play live by getting Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 23, 2009 - Post a comment

Ochocinco Has Nice Comments About Bears

Outspoken hardly begins to describe Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. The Chicago Bears are up against the Bengals this weekend, and surprisingly Ochocinco has been doing the opposite of trash talking during a conference call.

Instead, he voiced his respect for cornerback Charles Tillman and said, “I’ve been studying film on ‘Peanut’ since training camp. He’s really, really good, man. I know I’ve been playing around on Twitter and going back and forth with the nonsense, it’s the way I play the game, but he looks really good. He’s shut down some top receivers, so it’s going to be a fun, interesting matchup come Sunday.”

Ochocinco also commented on the two-year contract extension the Bears gave quarterback Jay Cutler, as he had previously joked about being a vital part of that deal on Twitter. He said, “Just having fun man. Congrats to Jay, it was well deserved. He’s one of the best in the game, regardless of what other people think. I’ve seen him play, and I see some of things he can do on the field, and trust me it’s deserved.”

He also had shoutouts for linebacker Lance Briggs and wide receiver Johnny Knox. Looks like he has more than a few friends in Chicago. See them live with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 22, 2009 - Post a comment

Smith Looking to Move On From Loss

Last Sunday may have been a difficult loss for the Chicago Bears, but coach Lovie Smith knows that little can be gained from drastic action. He commented on what he thought the Bears could learn from the loss and said, “Coming off the loss, we’re not pleased with anything we did (Sunday) night, starting with me. I’m not pleased with a lot of things I did. But we’ll go from there… We look at changes after every game. We look at what gives us the best opportunity to win. But I don’t foresee any major changes on the offensive line.”

One player who had an especially bad game was running back Matt Forte, who added fumbles to his low rushing total. Smith didn’t seem concerned about that either and said, “He didn’t have a lot of production (Sunday) night the way a lot of us didn’t. I don’t think any more than that. Matt will be fine, just like the rest of our team.”

The Bears will be up against the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday, and it is going to be important for them to bounce back from Week Six’s loss. Be there to cheer them on by getting Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 21, 2009 - Post a comment

Adams Added To Bears’ Roster

The Chicago Bears may still be reeling from their loss this weekend to the Atlanta Falcons, but that isn’t the only news. Prior to the game, the Bears added a new defensive end in the form of Gaines Adams. The edition comes as a bit of a surprise, as it isn’t one of the positions where injuries have been depleting the roster. The Bears gave up a 2010 second-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to secure Adams.

General manager Jerry Angelo has high hopes for him and said, “He’s a very good player. The two marquee positions in our scheme are the three-technique and the right end. If we can re-create history with him, I would go back to my days in Tampa when we brought in Simeon Rice. We had some success. Rod was there. That would be [the ideal situation] for us if something like that were to happen. We feel very strongly about our scheme, our coaches and the way we evaluate players.”

Adams has been with the Bucs since he entered the league in 2007. So far this season, he started five games and tallied 10 tackles, one sack and two passes defended. See him this season with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Bears’ Mistakes Lead to Loss in Atlanta

The Chicago Bears offense didn’t look too bad last night. That is, until they got into the red zone. They ended up with a 21-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last night, but the Bears had plenty of chances for the win. Jay Cutler threw two picks, one when the Bears were within striking distance. The Bears also had what looked to be another sure-fire score in the third quarter when they had a first down at the Atlanta one yard line. The Falcons didn’t even have to provide a goal-line stand as running back Matt Forte fumbled twice in the same number of plays, the second of which resulted in a turnover.

Coach Lovie Smith summed up the game well when he said, “We had a lot of opportunities to win the football game. You can’t make those types of mistakes on the road against a good football team. When you have the ball in the red zone, you need to be able to get some points, and those turnovers really hurt us a lot. You’ve got to be able to put points on the board in those situations.”

Be there to help the Bears recover by getting Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 19, 2009 - Post a comment


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