If I could meet Rex Grossman in person, I’d punch him out.
Those of you that know me know I’m a Chicago Bears fan. Chances are you most likely also know how much I despise the Indianapolis Colts. Even though I lived the first 26 years of my life in Indianapolis, I’m not one of those bandwagon fans that’ll jump on board and cheer for the home team just because they’re winning. I bleed blue and orange even when the Bears aren’t doing well, which is more than I can say for a lot of Colts “fans” that I know. Considering the match up for yesterday’s Super Bowl 41, you can understand why it was such a personal game. This incredible match up has produced more trash talking in the past couple weeks between my family and friends from high school and I than all of the football trash talking combined over the past several years.
Yesterday’s game was disappointing to me. Not just because the Bears lost, but because the potential was there for a win, and Rex Grossman crippled his team instead. The Bears came out and set the tone in the first 15 seconds of the game, making Indianapolis shake in nervous fear of their powerful momentum right off the bat. The tide quickly changed in favor of Indianapolis, however, who gained confidence from Rex Grossman’s poor performance. He stepped into the game and flushed his team’s momentum down the toilet, caving under Indianapolis’ pressure.
The Colts had something that the Bears did not, and that’s what made all of the difference in the game yesterday, making it easy for Indianapolis to come out on top. The Colts had a confident quality quarterback who possessed strong leadership skills and inspired his team to victory. The Bears did not, which is a simple fact. Rex Grossman’s wavering confidence and inconsistent performance made leading his team anywhere but to a loss impossible. True we can hope those traits will grow with more experience, but for now, Rex Grossman singlehandedly held back the team’s potential and stopped the Bears dead in their tracks when it mattered most.
All season long, Rex Grossman has been haunted by criticism for his on again, off again performance. One game you love him, the next game you hate him. Feelings for Rex Grossman could change multiple times in a single game, even! I know I personally yelled obscenities at Grossman more times than I cheered him on. A team in the Super Bowl has no time for a quarterback who can’t hack it under pressure. Many begged Lovie Smith to pull Grossman and put someone else in, but Lovie stuck by Rex all season. I’m sure that that Lovie could see the talent potential that Rex possessed and wanted to stick by him no matter what to hopefully inspire the confidence that Rex needed to perform well. I have no doubt that Rex has talent, but until he can step up and manage the pressure like a quality quarterback can, he needs to step off. Lovie’s silent but strong patience with Grossman encouraged us to keep hoping “any game now we’ll see it”, but Rex did not deliver. We shouldn’t be walking on egg shells all season crossing our fingers and hoping that Rex has a good day to ensure that the Bears do well. There’s only so much that the defense and special teams can do without a consistent quarterback, as the Bears have proven.
I’m proud of the Bears for making it all the way to the Super Bowl, something that not every team can claim. I’m also honestly surprised that they made it with such a wishy-washy quarterback, but that just goes to show you how much talent the team had. With Rex Grossman leading the offense, the Bears would’ve never made it anywhere near as far as they did without the amazing abilities of their defense and special teams, who carried the team most of the season. If the Bears were able to make it as far as they did with a crappy quarterback holding them back, just imagine how unstoppable they could’ve been with a confident one leading the team. I guess there’s always next year. And if Lovie Smith isn’t able to unlock the secrets of drawing out consistent talent from Rex in the upcoming off-season, I don’t want to see Grossman on the field next year, period.
So congratulations, Indianapolis Colts. You’ve FINALLY caught up to the Bears in Super Bowl wins. We knew you could make it to our level someday! Now it’s time for you to try and surpass us. See you next season.