An Ode to Rex Grossman - The Paradox

Hi

It's such a tease with Grossman. I’m so frustrated right now.

Tonight’s Dallas-Bears game has left me depressed and distraught; especially over Grossman, whom I’ve shown support since his rookie year. We’re all familiar with the all too familiar Good Rex/Bad Rex title. But what else can we say about this Dr. Jackal and Hyde quarterback?

The drive that started with his run for a first down and ended up tying the game was clutch and indicative of an elite quarterback who has the ability to rally his team and control the game’s tempo. But then he does things like 3 INTs and you're just like, “WHAT?! HOW?!” and eventually left dumbfounded.

The quarterback position in Chicago for at least the past ten years can be likened to an amusement park. Grossman is the ultimate roller coaster ride successfully taking fans through breath-taking passes, tumultuous twists and turns, incredible highs, dangerous lows, and in the end leaves you confused: Do you hop back on for another or move onto the next, safer ride?

A part of me still wants to defend Grossman, but there comes a point where you just have to take a step back and move on, right? I guess this is a question that Lovie and Turner are probably mulling over right now (well, at least I hope they are).

Look, I am the first one to support loyalty and I appreciate and respect Lovie’s “Rex is our Quarterback” mantra. But at what point do you cut your losses and say, “While Good Rex’s upside is absolutely incredible and undeniable, the inner jihad he has with Bad Rex is far too costly to the team.” Or does a head coach look beyond the player and begin to take a look at offensive coordinator Ron Turner? Does Lovie begin to realize, due to his own defensive specialty, that maybe the fault lies with Turner’s play-calling and he has had too much faith in Turner? Where can we circulate the blame?

The buzz that generated during the off season about our offense was not only surprising (since it came from such media outlets like ESPN), but it seemed justified. We drafted Greg Olsen at the TE position and Rex looked like he had a connection with him. Rex improved on his mechanics such as his leg work. We introduced Devin Hester to the mix. Bernard Berrian seemed poised to take Moose’s Number 1 slot. We still had Rashied Davis and Desmond Clark who both contributed to last year’s offense; and let’s not forget Mark Bradley, too. Cedric Benson showed promise and we had decent back-ups in A. Peterson and Garret Wolfe. With such a line-up, how can you go wrong?

When talking about tonight’s game, I think my good friend Fahad put it best when he said that the difference between Bad Rex last year and Bad Rex this year is that Bad Rex this year is costing us our games. Bad Rex last year could have thrown an interception or two, but the impact was not as significant (especially in tonight’s game).

I like Rex. I still like what he has to offer, but I am a Bears fan which means that I will always support what’s best for the team. It’s just been difficult because you know that so much of the game can be mental, too. And you know that the criticism and coverage Rex gets from the media can be vicious and, at times, in excess. He’s still relatively young in this leadership position. Last year marked his first full year as a QB; let’s not forget that. But at the same time let’s also not forget that we need to effectively utilize the tools we have to win games – and win games in a potentially dominant fashion, too.

Looks like the roller coaster is starting to squeak and the only thing that might help out – for now – is some good ol’ fashioned Griese.

In support of Rex, but the team, too…