As the title would suggest, we are going to discuss my most underrated Bears player. I think that as an overall fan base, Bears fans do an outstanding job of not falling prey to what what other’s think. We know our football and we know when a player is doing his job.
All this is to say that perhaps Bears players are more underrated by NFL fans as a whole, as opposed to by the fans who follow our beloved Bears. At least, this is how I see it.
Originally, I was going to go with one of my personal favorite players, but my thunder was stolen by Sam. The “Gator-Chompin’” defensive end, who famously created his own stat: the Bag (forcing a holding penalty in a pass-rushing situation).
I have met Alex Brown on multiple occasions. Once just out running errands but several times at Dakota’s in Schaumburg. Sadly, my old haunt from my early 20’s is no longer there, but I used to meet Chicago athlete’s there all the time. Brown was an especially good guy and would always take the time to talk football with a drunk 22-year old kid with a vodka red bull in his hand.
But alas, I am not going to re-hash Brown’s career again. I had to give this some serious consideration. After thinking about this for a few days, I kept coming back to one name: Desmond Clark.
Clark came to us via the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and never left. Despite having a clown car’s worth of clowns at quarterback, a revolving door at offensive coordinator and, at one point, Greg Olson opposite him, Clark always produced..
He never put up huge numbers as a pass-catcher, but he was always sure-handed and seemed to catch passes at integral points in a given game. The one consistent third-down target for a group of quarterbacks that were often more qualified to be a Molecular Geneticist than an NFL quarterback.
His blocking was probably his strongest physical asset to the Bears offenses from 2003 to 2010. Clark paved the way and sealed the edge for such players as Anthony Thomas, Thomas Jones, Cedric Benson and Matt Forte.
Never flashy and rarely outspoken, Clark was a great teammate that fit the mold of exactly what Bears fans seek: A productive, hard-working player who keeps his mouth shut.
He is a guy who will always hold a special place in my heart. He was a lunch pail guy, a blue collar guy. He loved blocking for his backs as much as he loved scoring touchdowns. He was always available for a quote or interview. He always made his mark on a community that adopted him as their own. He was and will always be, a Chicago Bear in all of the ways that are important to this storied franchise.
Desmond Clark is my most underrated Bears player, who is your’s?
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