Bears Blitz

Published by Max Kienzler on April 16, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

I made a plea on this website a few weeks ago to make a play for Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin instead of a certain Broncos signal caller. Later that same day, the Bears made the move for Jay Cutler, sending quarterback Kyle Orton, two first round picks and a third rounder to Denver.

At the time, I was not happy. Even now, I feel as though we gave up to much for a position that was not a need this off-season.

I understand the reasoning in going after Cutler. The need that this franchise has had for a star quarterback since, well, since Luckman.

The general lack of production at that position has been eating away at the core, at the very soul, of every Chicago Bear fan for the past half century.

Personally, I have only suffered through the previous 23 years of it. In my brief memory, there is a nightmarish list of men who impersonated strong armed players or cheated us, and perhaps themselves, into thinking that they were real, quality QBs.

Men like Kordell Stewart, Chris Chandler and Chad Hutchinson. Like Rick Mirer, Steve Stenstrom and Moses Moreno. Like Craig Krenzel, Henry Burris and Jonathon Quinn.

There were those that we believed in more than others and will always hold in a higher regard because they led us to the playoffs, such as Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton and even Jim Miller.

Then there were those who robbed us of our hearts, stomped on them and who will forever be cursed—at least as long as I live—for being a complete waste of life, Cade McNown.

Not just the hearts of the fans, but these quarterbacks have managed to hold down the careers of quality—or at least, semi-quality—players. The players, defensive especially, that have suffered through the quarterback debacle is nearly endless.

Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Ted Washington, Neal Anderson, Mark Carrier, Curtis Conway, James “Big Cat” Williams, Kevin Butler—the old No. 6, Jim Flanigan, Donnell Woolford, Barry Minter, Ryan Wetnight, Tom Waddle, Jerry Azumah, Marcus Robinson, Tony Parrish, and even the end of a few ‘85 SuperBears such as Singletary, Dent, Mongo, Covert, and Hilgenberg.

Now some of those players were not exactly star material, but they played for the Bears in or close to their primes and for longer than a year. The organization, and to be more exact their quarterbacks, let them down.

I realize that the Cutler signing not only was a move to better the overall team, but to better the organization and to try and heal the decades worth of pain and suffering that many of us have gone through. To give this team, this city, something to cheer about.

To make us believe that after a lifetime, for some of us at least, we finally have a quarterback that can be introduced as “Chicago Bear Pro Bowl QB”.

Now he still has to live up this billing, and I am not completely sold that he can do so, at least not without adding more receivers around him. Until the season starts, I can dream of hearing the melodious voice of Chicago play-by-play announcer Jeff Joniak singing me his tune,

“Cutler under center… I-formation set with McKie and Forte…Olsen and Bennett split out wide left…Hester right…He takes the snap…play action pass…looks left…comes back right…fires a pass DEEP downfield…HESTERS GOT BEHIND WOODSON…HESTER HAS IT…AT THE 10, THE 5, TOUCHDOWN! TOUCHDOWN FOR THE WINDY CITY FLYER…TOUCHDOWN BEARS!”