Da Dos

Category: Sports

  • Camp, July 25th

    Camp, July 25th

    Tis the time of year to overreact to every dropped pass, every soft muscle injury, every INT, every obscenity a coach shouts…

    We all know the drill. I recall summer practices. They were brutal. We practiced on a field that was about as much dirt as grass. It was at least 90 degrees often, sun melting the helmets we inherited from the 70s. I can still smell the pungent stink from the sticky white padding.

    Our coaches made us do laps, hit the sleds, and if we screwed up, 100 yard crabcrawls which still makes my body quiver 30 years later.

    My position coach would line-up CBs vs WRs to box 3 times, or just hit each other as hard as possible for no discernible reason. I suspect they had bets going on.

    They barked at us to back-peddle uphill. My cleats snagged a rock, and I stumbled. Secondary coach, sporting his wrap-around Oakleys whilst chewing sunflower seeds, sneered, “Had to be a corner back…”

    One of the more memorable drills was our position coach [a former pitcher] standing about 5 yards away, making us put our hands up like a diamond, then throwing the football at our face as fast as possible.

    We had to take our off helmet for this drill, so if the football squeezed through your hands, it hit your face full force.

    Then we had hell week, aka, two-a-days.

    Good times!

    I sometimes wonder if the modern NFL player is put through all that misery. Not likely. They’re probably way more scientific, focused, and detailed than what mustachioed men in spandex shorts inflicted on us mere amateurs.

    One undeniable effect though:

    Trauma-bonding

    In Bears’ news…

    Word around the campfire is that Ben Johnson does not suffer tomfoolery. He seems to be getting frustrated at the offense not clicking how it should.

    That’s fine by me.

    In fact, I don’t really care about ‘coaching style’. The running joke is that if the former HC was fat, the next one will be skinny.

    Whether the HC is a hard-ass, player’s coach, cutting edge, or old school…

    I don’t really give a damn.

    These are pros getting PAID. Give fans results, and they’re not going to quibble if it’s Andy Reid, Bill Belichick or Ted Lasso.

    We found our new Dan Braverman!

    I’d be remiss to not relay that Raiders have shockingly cut Christian Wilkins. He’s definitely enticing, but apparently they disagreed on whether he needed surgery or not. Bears’ DT room seems full already, so I’m not expecting him at Halas anytime soon.

    Some Swift

    Misc. Cool plays!

    Hey, having Pope on Bears’ side can’t be bad, right?

    Alrighty then, enjoy your weekend, jabrones.

  • Camp Commences, etc

    Camp Commences, etc

    Things are ramping up. Camp started, and nearly all Bears have checked in. One notable absentee is Jaylon Johnson who is on the NFI [none football injury] list and will likely miss a few weeks.

    How injured JJ truly is, who knows? Maybe this buys Ryan Poles time to come up with a solution to a possibly disgruntled JJ.

    My solution?

    Pay him for turnovers. $500K per FF, INT, or even strip sack. JJ gets a bunch of those and suddenly his contract is…saucy.

    This won’t happen. Or heck, maybe Poles already bumps his contract based on TOs, but it would incentivize, that’s for sure; besides, given that JJ is not exactly Prime Time, Poles won’t have to worry much about breaking the bank.

    Bears made some corresponding moves:

    Tanoh Kpassagon is a big boy [6’7, 290]. I mean, how much Arby’s would Austin Booker have to eat to get that yoked?

    Tre Flowers is also big for a CB/S [6’3, 200]. We’re beginning to get a feel for the template both Allen and BJ prefer, and it seems to be, “The bigger, the better” [insert ‘that’s what she said’ joke here].

    Here’s a quick breakdown on the moves,

    Oh, and to top it off, the goal for Caleb is to hit 4k passing, 70% comp, scoring on drives, winning games, curing cancer, and finally releasing GTA 6…

  • Jaylon Johnson Wants a Raise?

    Jaylon Johnson Wants a Raise?

    So, all three Bear 2nd RDers are locked up. Only Burden negotiated a fully-guaranteed contract, but that seems to be what the market dictated.

    NFL is a deadline driven business. No coincidence all the dominoes started falling right before camp started. I’m sure every team acted independently in nearly a 24-hr window[wink wink].

    Maybe the agents received extra lap-dances to close the deals.

    However, just as one drama is closed, another possibly opens.

    Apparently, Jaylon Johnson is not content with his current contract and didn’t report to camp. [edit. JJ now now on NFI list. Won’t be expected for a few weeks].

    If you dig into the numbers, you can understand JJ’s gripe.

    I’m all for players getting paid, but even for me it’s hard to get behind players ‘holding out’ after they signed the dotted-line. A part of me grumbles, “You signed the fucking contract. Play it out.” though I know the opposing argument always follows, “Oh, and it’s ok when GMs dump players before their contract’s over?”

    I suppose the easiest solution might be [shorter?] fully-guaranteed contracts.

    Say 3-yr fully-guaranteed.

    Players take on the risk of injury, but the payoff is that 3 yrs later, the market will pay more.

    An extreme version of this was Derrell Revis who, if memory serves, basically signed one year deals [for like three seasons] betting on himself and made out like a bandit.

    Of course the flipside to that is a player’s achilles going out or an awful season, then next year his market value won’t be as high, which is why most prefer those longer 5 year deals.

    The GMs tend to protect themselves in the last two-ish years of such deals, so if they cut said player, cap penalty is minimal.

    That’s the GM-Agent dance as of now, but maybe that model needs to change.

    Either way, it seems most of the team is reporting for camp, so that’s great news for the Bears and if Jaylon Johnson shows up to camp, it’ll be much-a-do about nada.

    As always, stay tuned…

  • News! Trapilo and Turner Finally Sign

    News! Trapilo and Turner Finally Sign

    So, actual Bears’ news, and it’s 2/3rds good!

    I’m sure you heard, but Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner both signed, leaving only Luther Burden III unsigned

    [update. Burden is now signed to fully guaranteed contract].

    This was more or less expected. Still, it’s comforting to finally lock ’em down and not worry about some prolonged camp hold-out for three rookie prospects.

    Most surmise guys like Burden are waiting for Tyler Shough to sign to create some precedent or benchmark to go off, but who knows? Wide receivers tend to be prima donnas, and Burden in specific may believe he’s a 1st RDer.

    One reason Luther fell though was ‘character concern’, as in ‘Burden seemed entitled and loafed his final college season’, so it’s understandable Halas may be reluctant to fully guarantee his contract especially after Quinshon Judkins was arrested on a misdemeanor battery and domestic violence charge.

    Guess us fans will have to wait, but hopefully it gets done before he misses any camp.

    Boy, almost makes me miss the good ole days when Cliff Stein would wrap up the entire rookie class lickety-split.

    There’s actually lots more NFL news dropping. Here’s a brief synapsis.

    Lloyd Howell, corporate hack, has resigned. That’s not going to make a lot of waves, but I think it’s a great move for the players going forward. To say Howell had some ‘conflict of interest’ is an understatement. Hopefully the NFLPA hires a real executive director who cares more about the players than own bank account.

    This meme is flooding the interwebz. Apparently this CEO got caught with his sidepiece at a Coldplay concert. Maybe they were more embarrassed being caught at a Coldplay concert…

    Beep Beep…Beep beep…
    BREAKING NEWS [7/18/25]

    Luther Burden III now signed, fully guaranteed, meaning he’ll report to camp [if healthy].

  • PFF Grades the Bears Oline as #4. No, you’re not high, you read that right

    PFF Grades the Bears Oline as #4. No, you’re not high, you read that right

    Pro Football Focus [PFF] seems to be omnipresent when discussing the NFL nowadays. For some reason, humans crave an ‘objective’ framework from which to interpret life. Something ‘outside ourselves’ to course-correct what our senses are inputting. What do you think the 10 commandments are?

    The general public assumes that RenĂŠ Descartes concluded, “Cogito, ergo sum” [I think, therefore I am], but actually, he proclaimed, “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum” [I DOUBT, therefore I think, therefore I am]. Something to ponder.

    I envision Descartes staring intently into the flame of his candle, emersed in total darkness, desperately fumbling for some objective proof, a Mathematical God, some Unmoved Mover, to save him from his Evil Genius, to slip him the red pill to awaken from the Matrix…us football fans must settle for PFF.

    So here’s PFF grading the entire league. If you want to skip to the Bears’ portion, fast forward ≈1hr1min

    Shout out to Bodhran:

    https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-offensive-line-rankings

    Some thoughts…

    A scout relayed that he graded an olinemen low coming out of college. Then that Olinemen ends up on the Peyton Colts; he mutters, “Fuck. now I’m going to look stupid when he makes the PB.”

    The Bears oline talent is now sufficient. It takes years of a smart GM [which Bears don’t currently employ] to properly get return on investment in the trenches. Ryan Poles had to apply some Gorilla Glue to patch up the gigantic holes he created through ineptitude.

    That being said, like the scout expressed anecdotally.

    1. A smart QB can make the oline look a lot better than it otherwise might be

    2. A creative HC/OC can scheme around weaknesses [basically do the opposite of what Mike Martz tried with Webbnation]

    3. A talented HB can hit the optimum holes and/or break tackles

    Unfortunately, we don’t quite know if we have a smart QB, HC/OC, and Bears definitely don’t roster an elite HB [NTM it’s a brand new scheme], so for this Oline to dramatically improve, mucho must synergize [including staying healthy].

    But hey, tis the off-season of hopium.

    EDIT. I’m burying the lead as the Bears unwisely extended Ryan Poles‘ contract. That will get its own post soon, but for now, I can characterize how I feel about the move through a flick I’m watching for the 100th time. Halas plays the German Soldier while Bear fans are Mellish…

    “Gib’ auf, du hast keine chance. Lass’ es uns beenden. Es ist einfacher fĂźr dich, viel einfacher. Du wirst sehen, es ist gleich vorbei.”

    Translates to:

    “Give up, you don’t stand a chance. Let’s end this here. It will be easier for you, much easier. You’ll see, it will be over quickly.”

  • TBT. Hester-v-Rams

    TBT. Hester-v-Rams

    Still slow, so enjoy some HOFer Devin Hester.

    I always liked Kam Chancellor. He’s one of those safeties MB loved. Yuge, athletic, and mean. I’m surprised he didn’t suffer as many severe concussions as Brisker.

    Speaking of which…

  • Barroom talks Bears’ D and misc

    Barroom talks Bears’ D and misc

    Greg Gabriel examines the Bears’ D while Aldo updates us on basically everything.

    NFL may have blocked them from embedding, so click here if can’t click below.


    Few points stood out:

    #1. Gabriel states he’d cut anyone who reports out of shape [who is healthy].

    I tend to agree. You got ONE job. Well, maybe more, but staying in shape is #1.

    #2. OK [for now] about the 2nd rounders not signing. Pick #33 and #34 have signed getting four years guaranteed. Gabriel thinks Luther Burden MIGHT get a fully guaranteed contract, but doubts that the later 2nd rounders Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner get same deal. It could be a tiered result. “I’m not worried about it until they don’t show up when the vets must report.”

    #3. Tremaine Edmunds might play some WLB which Gabriel contends might suit him better. Only thing I can think is that Flus wanted his Lach gobbling up passing lanes in the middle while Dennis Allen might prefer a more attacking MLB.

    #4. Za’Darious Smith and Matthew Judon are essentially the same DEs. Would be solid depth, but shouldn’t get more than a 1-yr deal.

    #5. Xavier Carlton doesn’t impress Gabriel. He likes fast players. Carlton runs a 5.05 forty which doesn’t bode well for specials

    #6. Doesn’t seem too concerned about the safeties. Doesn’t believe the Bears are as shallow as some fans may feel. Basically mirrors Poles’ nonchalant attitude on the position. Guess both assume safety is relatively easy to replace in this system.

    #7. Doesn’t know if Gervon Dexter will take the next step, but Gabriel knows he’s a legit football player who takes his body and career seriously [Can’t say the same about Zacch Pickens]. Not sold Dexter could play DE. Supposedly Allen shut the door on that option, paraphrasing, ‘Dexter needs to first learn how to play inside before even thinking about moving outside.’ Aldo was surprised as am I since I figured Allen would have no issue moving em around, but perhaps he’ll be more strategic about it.

    #8. Shemar Turner reminds Gabriel of…wait for it…Tommie Harris. Wow. I didn’t see that first step explosion, but I guess he does. Let’s hope Turner is another [healthy] T-Harris.

    #9. Bears’ CB should play more press. We all know this already, but I for one am thrilled I am no longer going to see our CBs give 5 yard cushions for WRs to do whatever the fuck they want. Hit em in the mouth like Peanut did. Make those speedy little suckers earn it.

    #10. Acknowledges many fans want to give Das Boot to Tyrique Stevenson, but he’s still better than Terrell Smith behind him. Wonders if Terrell Smith can play man-press. Hope so because I’m one of those fans who wants that knuckle-head gone; though if he turns it around, good on him.

    Still, Chicago has a VERY long memory.
    Just ask Cody Parkey, Conte or Steve Bartman…

  • Mike Alstott

    Mike Alstott

    Still quiet on the Northern front. I think I read that once the Bears lost Khari Blasingame, their season went down hill, so that just gives me an excuse to post Mike “Juggernaut” Alstott highlights. I do wonder if Ben Johnson will utilize a full-back, or if he’s trying out linemen to do spot FB duties like Doug Kramer last season.

    Random other sport’s thoughts.

    The other football – U.S. vs Mexico was entertaining. I never played much soccer growing up, so like many Americans, didn’t give it much thought ’til the World Cup hit Pasadena in 1994; then I experienced first hand the electric atmosphere it could generate. I saw a bunch of Germans, Brazilians, etc getting on top of lampposts waving their flags, just jubilant having a good ole time. Of course if they do that now they’d likely get deported, but I digress…

    Something about soccer lends itself to international pageantry. The low scores might turn-off a lot Americans, but I think they build up tension. I mean, imagine shouting “Gooooooooaaaaallll” 15 times a game…just not the same.
    Besides, hockey and some baseball games can be just as low-scoring, yet equally entertaining as long as the teams are good. Just takes a bit more nuanced appreciation like a stout beer.

    One thing that caught me off guard. [spoiler alert]. Mexico scored a goal, but was flagged “offsides,” so goal didn’t count. In the past, this would’ve been an international incident and in some countries motivated rioting and conspiracy theories.

    However, soccer now implements replay. It’s a rather fast process too. I wish the NFL would streamline its replay system like soccer instead of showing us every angle in slow-mo like it was the Zapruder film.

    Still, it’s hard for me to get TOO invested in soccer because of one MAJOR flaw.

    FLOPPING

    I mean, sometimes it’s like a whole team of Vlade Divacs out there, and it just kills it for me. Hard to respect “world class athletes” who go down faster than Mia Khalifa.

    But when there’s not too much flopping, international soccer games can be a lot of fun, though I’m not waking up at 6AM to watch matches – that’s for damn sure!

    I was also surprised that Alexi Lalas looks like this now.

    Giddy up.

  • Bears sign UDFA DE Xavier Carlton

    Bears sign UDFA DE Xavier Carlton

    Signing a UDFA this late into camp likely isn’t going to turn many heads, but hey, it’s a Bear move and piques my interest. He’s not a RAS champ, that’s for sure, but at 6’5, 273 with 34″ arms, gives something Dennis Allen can mold.

    Here’s some pertinent twits on him:

    Here’s Slim Sports interviewing Xavier Carlton

  • Relentless

    Relentless

    Johnny Manziel interviews Brian Urlacher.

    You may not like either of these guys on a personal level, but at least they squeeze out some interesting sport’s talk.

    Some Spark-Notes from Lach

    ‘I loved playing against Michael Vick, Culpepper, or any QB who can move really, to show off my stuff’

    I still recall Lach chasing down a prime-Vick. It was a sight to behold. Lovie Smith’s Cover-2 was almost custom made to stop running QBs. Everyone attacked their gaps. ‘DE just had to get a hand to slow down QB’. All 11 eyes were in the backfield, so the second a QB split, all 11 rallied to the ball, and under Lovie, they closed with good angles and tackle discipline. On top of that, any runner had to worry about getting Peanut-punched by every defender amped to create a turnover.

    This might be why the Cover-2 is back in fashion with so many running QBs though they’re a bit more exotic than the Lovie-2

    ‘Favre would give us 2-3 chances [for INTs], but he threw it so damn hard, hard to pick-off sometimes’

    ‘Rodgers knew our checks. You play any team enough, they’re gonna know. So we had to change our pirate checks [that started with “P”]…so one play Lance [Briggs] starts yelling, “Big Pussy! Big Pussy!” and Aaron just started laughing before the snap.”

    ‘2006 was unbelievable…but I think we had a better team in 2010’ [the year Jay Cutler messed up his MCL vs GB in the NFC Championship and Caleb Hanie came off the bench]

    Who did the media get wrong? Jay, Bmarsh?

    ‘Julius Peppers. The media [in 2010] put out a narrative that he didn’t practice hard or took plays off. That dude showed up to work every day and busted his ass off in practice’

    ‘Bmarsh said some crazy things, but a lot of people do. He was out there on the jugs machine 45 minutes before the game. Jay simply didn’t care, so it doesn’t matter if the media got him wrong’

    Dooooon’t Caaarrrrrre…

    Lach talks about hating players kneeling during national anthem, and how he tuned out of the NFL during that time.

    ‘2005 we had four players who got Defensive Player of Year votes. Me [Lach], Briggs, Alex Brown and Nathan Vasher”

    “There’s pre-season, regular season, and post-season speed”

    ‘SB, opening kickoff, Devin Hester takes it to the house. Then, Chris Harris picks off Peyton Manning on their opening drive. Then, we just shit the bed’

    ‘Some fans accuse Rex Grossman of playing badly, but he didn’t play that bad. We gave up 250 yds passing, and 190 yds rushing. That’s not good, not when all season long we were giving up like 300 total.”

    I’m a little surprised by this, but perhaps I shouldn’t be. For starters, Lach is a leader, and not about to throw anyone under the bus. But, c’mon, Lach, there’s a reason Sex Cannon washed out of the league.
    Too bad Manziel didn’t mention Lovie’s baffling decision to stop running Thomas Jones and instead insert Cedric Benson who proceeded almost immediately to fumble it away…

    “I had 21 different QBs in my 13 seasons”

    ‘Lovie was like your dad, a guy you wouldn’t want to disappoint. In one game when we were down to the Lions with a backup QB, at halftime, Lovie said ‘crap, darn and dang’ in the same sentence, and we knew it was go-time. We beat the crap out of them in the 2nd half.’

    “They should’ve never fired Lovie”

    ‘I didn’t like the way they [Halas] handled the offer they made me though I’m glad I didn’t return [to endure the Marc Trestman era].’

    “I had TOO much fun spending $ in college” – Johnny Manziel
    “I was happy when my mom gave me quarters for laundry. Now kids are getting $100K a month”

    Same here, Lach. I always hoped an extra quarter or two slipped in so I can play Shinobi or Double Dragon! 100K? I could buy the whole damn laundromat with that.

    “What are dos and don’t of training camp?” Manziel
    Lach, ‘You learn what to take up there, what to do in your off-time, what you shouldn’t be doing. We first went to Platteville about 4 hours away. Then Bourbonnais. I liked going away.’

    ‘I knew I wasn’t going to be a 6’4, 250 lb safety. They first tried me at SAM, but I was terrible. Rosi [Roosevelt Colvin I’m guessing] beat me out in 2 weeks. They had me line up directly over the TE and jam, but I didn’t know how to use my hands. I’m now a draft bust. Barry Minter gets hurt in week 2. Greg Blache [Then current Bears’ DC] says, ‘Go in and play MIKE’, I told him, “I never played MIKE’
    Blache, ‘just run to the ball and we’ll figure it out’
    Lach, “and I started every game after that at MIKE’

    Reminds me of the saying, “don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree”. To the outside world, SAM and MIKE seem nearly identical, but those few yards were the difference between a draft bust and a HOFer. In college, Lach’s coach played him at Rover, which allowed Lach to show off his athleticism and versatility.
    Something to think about with Bears’ new coaching staff and life in general

    ‘I wasn’t even going to run the 40, but Greg Blache challenged me, and I ran a 4.56 at 258 which opened a lot of NFL eyes at the combine.’

    ‘I love Caleb. If you put him in a different situation like Jayden with Klingsbury or Bo with Sean Payton, I think Caleb could’ve been ROY’

    ‘Ben Johnson’s the man’

    ‘Before Lovie got there, we played fast, but once he was HC, we played hard and fast. He kept track of loafs. You know how embarrassing it is to get in front of the whole team and be called out for loafing?’

    Manziel, “One word to sum up your prime”

    Lach, “Relentless.”