Bring Olin Kreutz Back to Chicago
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 1, 2011 9:00 PM CDT
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As Pete linked up in this mornings Den, Olin Kreutz may receive some interest from other teams once the lockout is lifted. This is not good news for the Bears. Olin isn't what he once was as a player, but he's in the best shape he's been in the last four years. Scrambling to fill the middle of the Bears line could set back the continuity that they started to develop last year.
Kreutz started getting ready for the 2011 season two weeks after the NFC Championship game when he began his workout regimen at the Poliquin Performance Center. From the Sun Times article:
"I’ve trained him for four years," Poliquin owner Mike Bystol said, "and this is by far the best shape I’ve seen him in. Each year, we have to do a little something. But this year, he was injury free, and we trained hard right away. For instance, last year, he was not able to push a sled with weights because of surgery. This year, he’s pushing 400 pounds. He’s light years ahead of where he was last year,"
No off season surgeries to recover from and no lingering injuries to wait out.
I know some Bears fans would be happy to see him go, but at what cost. Bringing in another free agent center, that may be younger, but not necessarily a better overall package? If there were someone available that was leaps and bounds better than Kreutz physically, I'd be fine with the move. But to lose his guile, experience, and leadership would be a big blow.
The Bears could move Roberto Garza over, but then you'd have to figure out right guard. Edwin Williams has been touted by some as the heir apparent at center, but who really knows what he can do. Some of the same people excited to see Williams play center were the same people that thought Josh Beekman was gonna be the man. How'd he work out? Rumors were circulating the Bears considered giving Chris Williams reps at center, but he has enough problems concentrating on left guard.
To paraphrase a well known saying, 'better the center you know than the center you don't'. I see no problem in offering Kreutz a front loaded 2 or 3 year deal. The Bears need him back.
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I've said it before "There is no plan B"
We need Kreutz, he may not be the great player he was years ago but he’s our best option right now.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
He's our only option.
And he was playing injured last year? That would certainly explain why we could get no push up the middle in the running game all year, and why our pass blocking was ineffective. Here’s my beef … so why was he starting? An injured center is a liability to the franchise, and if he didn’t inform the staff of any major problems and just phoned in his performances then shame on him.
Angelo ballsed up yet another draft by drafting a QB and a safety we didn’t need when we had needs at Mike and Center. As always, our woes can be attributed to Angelo.
why was he starting?
Even at half speed he’s a better option than Edwin Williams
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 4, 2011 1:11 AM CDT up reply actions
there were no starting centers in the draft
when Angelo took that QB and safety. Did we really need another Edwin Williams.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
no
You keep an eye on all other 31 teams in the NFL, and if you spot a late round rookie center starting in 2011, be sure to bring it to our attention and write a fanpost titled:
JA Could have had (insert center name here) instead of Enderle or Conte
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 4, 2011 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions
O K but I don't think its going to happen
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
wait a minute...
we agree with each other…
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 4, 2011 11:23 PM CDT up reply actions
front loaded deal - two years at most
Bears are painted into a corner and you have to go with Kreutz mostly because the window of SB opportunity is a very small one now and he is the best short term option available.
"Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f**k the prom queen."
If he's in the best shape in four years
Does that mean he won’t get bowled over when attempting to run-block? They should’ve drafted a C and let him walk.
"Our ideas held no water but we used them like a dam" - Modest Mouse
let him walk?
would a late round center really have been the answer?
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 2, 2011 12:13 AM CDT up reply actions
not likely
they will have to go after one in the 2nd or 3rd round next years draft
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
next years draft
wasn’t what he was referring to
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 2, 2011 2:07 PM CDT up reply actions
Well I can understand him being a little disappointed with last years line play
Olin really should have had more time to recover but then like now there is no backup.
a late round rookie center would get eaten alive in our division. Better to spend a higher round draft pick and give him at least a year behind Kreutz to develop.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
We didn't need to draft that safety ...
.. so we could have picked up a center in the second or third. Paea will most likely be a bust (no football instincts according to Mayock) and was drafted for the same reason pool boy was, the cachet of power over substance. Draft our center in the second, and then best available DT in the third. Or of course, a trade up to grab Pouncey and end the problem right there for the next ten years. But Angela doesn’t do trasde ups cos he’s a tool.
But no late round centers please, I agree.
psssttt....
But Angela doesn’t do trasde ups cos he’s a tool.
he traded up for Paea…
If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 4, 2011 1:12 AM CDT up reply actions
…which would also refute the allegation that he
was drafted for the same reason pool boy was, the cachet of power over substance
…to be specific, that the player the Bears had targeted with that pick went a couple of places before the Bears were due to pick and Angelo et al. were scrambling about in a panic. Hence, Gilbert.
Cosmis: JESUS LORD IN HEAVEN DANIEAL MANNING JUST KILLED A MAN
What have I told both of you
about letting facts get in the way of good ol’ fashioned ranting and raving and foaming at the mouth?
Weekend contributor at Windy City Gridiron
by Steven Schweickert on Jul 4, 2011 8:47 AM CDT up reply actions
Lester’s the one defending Angela[sic], I’m pointing out how general incompetence (rather than specific drafting incompetence) led him to draft Gilbert!
Cosmis: JESUS LORD IN HEAVEN DANIEAL MANNING JUST KILLED A MAN
Stop using facts!
Go sit in the corner until you learn better!
Weekend contributor at Windy City Gridiron
by Steven Schweickert on Jul 5, 2011 9:14 AM CDT up reply actions
Rookie centers as starters are pretty rare, aren’t they? Having to make calls and adjustments at the line of scrimmage and all that.
Cosmis: JESUS LORD IN HEAVEN DANIEAL MANNING JUST KILLED A MAN
Not when they're drafted high
within the first few rounds, but generally not many of them are drafted overall.
"Our ideas held no water but we used them like a dam" - Modest Mouse
Olin is one of my all time favorite Bears....
I’d love to see him retire in blue and orange.
But it’s not just because he’s high on my list. He’s also high on Walter Football’s list of FA centers. He’s listed #2 behind only Ryan Kalil, and unless the new CBA does away with the franchise tag, Kalil isn’t going anywhere.
Letting Olin walk wouldn’t be a good thing on any level. A Bear at heart would retire elsewhere and the Bears would almost definitely end up with a lesser player at center.
It’s a lose, lose prospect…..
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Jul 2, 2011 8:01 AM CDT reply actions
Kreutz is the leader of this team.
There is no viable option on their current roster.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent - Salvor Hardin
Bring him back
Kreutz has gotten old, he isn’t as strong as he once was, and he’s just not as good anymore.
But he’s still a great leader and a tough player, a guy who demands and receives the respect of all the linemen around him.
If he really is free of nagging injuries and a stronger player, then it only seals what should already be a done deal.
In short, in life, as in a foot-ball game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard; don't foul and don't shirk, but hit the line hard!" Theodore Roosevelt
I once stood next to the guy at a urinal in a bar in Bourbaniase (no I didn't look and he initiated the conversation based on the Hawkeye jersey I was wearing)
and discussed the greatness of Hayden Fry. For that alone, bring him back.
Above all; keep 'em guessing, never let them lose their sense of confusion.
Hayden Fry
He was at SMU when I was in college and he took his team to a bowl game the same year we went to the Rose Bowl.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
Olin had a legitimate respect for Fry
and is, himself, a fair student of college football. I’m assuming you went to Wisconsin or Indiana? Maybe I’m missing a big ten team during his tenure or maybe you’re a west coast Bears fan? Fry did a lot to get black players playing in the mostly racist (at the time) south. He was great for my Hawks and I really admire him for a pioneer in race relations for college football. Olin did too.
Above all; keep 'em guessing, never let them lose their sense of confusion.
Add Michigan State to that list, Dave...
SMU went to a bowl game in… 1963, the Sun Bowl. Then 1966, the Cotton Bowl Classic, and in 1968, beat Oklahoma in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
1963 was Wisconsin, 1966 Michigan State, 1968 Indiana.
I’d bet Indiana since he said “the same year” like it was a rare occurrence, and to date, that’s the lone Rose Bowl appearance for Indiana.
Weekend contributor at Windy City Gridiron
by Steven Schweickert on Jul 2, 2011 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions
they need to change your title Steve
from Contributing Writer to Investigative Reporter or better yet slash both.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
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