Bears WR Rashied Davis has received his fair share of critisicm from the fanbase over the last few seasons, but his coaches and teammates constantly tout him as a great leader and motivator on the team. Most of his on-field contributions come during Special Teams play, but he is currently trying to organize QB/WR workouts during the lockout since the players do not have access to team facilities.
Davis, who started his pro career in the Arena Football League, is interested in the Rush's main practice facility inside Allstate Arena. He played Arena ball in
alongside Rush coach Bob McMillen. Rush officials said they would be open to the idea and even joked Davis and crew could have helped them with two-a-days. San Jose
The Bears were one win away from returning to the Super Bowl last year, and seeing something like this materialize would send a message that they intend to do everything they can to make it happen in 2011. Davis heading this up only validates his leadership abilities.
A side note... one that I shared a couple years ago with members here-
A very good friend of mine had the pleasure of attending a couple Bears games at Soldier Field, and it just so happened that his seat was right behind the Bears bench. He spoke of how surprised he was to see Rashied on the sideline pumping up his teammates. He led the pre-game huddle, constantly gathered the players, offensive and defensive, around him, gave in-game speeches and pep talks, and was all over the sidelines in players ears (and sometimes coaches ears as well). My friend said that Davis was like the ultimate motivator, and spoke of how the other players responded to him.
Davis may not be he greatest WR on this team statistically, but we need guys like him on our sideline. We need guys who will organize offseason activities during a lockout, guys who can motivate every other player on the team, guys who can earn the trust of his coaches to communicate things and speak for the team and to the team.
Once this lockout is over, Davis will be a Free Agent, and may not be back in a Bears uniform next year. Personally, I'd like to see him come back. What do you think?