Lovie Smith and Brian Urlacher to Fans: Stop Booing Rex Grossman

The stigma attached to Rex Grossman nowadays is nearly palpable. Last night in the chat, I simply typed, "Rex Grossman is not as bad as most people think." In the ensuing exchange, I was bombarded with messages telling me how much he sucks. I never even said he was good. My point was proven. He's not a good quarterback, I'll agree. He'd also presently be the best quarterback on the Niners, Chiefs, Raiders, and Lions. There could be more, but those are the obvious ones.

This stigma isn't just reserved for opposing fans. Legions of Bears fans act like he's the worst QB ever, which is saying a lot from people who have watched Jonathan "The Mighty" Quinn, Moses Moreno, and Cade McNever (among about a thousand other stiffs). It wasn't one iota surprising on Sunday when Grossman was booed. Immediately when Kyle Orton hit the turf, I texted my brother with: "Great, now a bunch of idiots are gonna boo after every incompletion." Sure enough, flocks of boos were heard in Grossman's direction in the third quarter.

It did not please Brian Urlacher.

"We've got a quarterback who comes in off the bench and leads us to a victory, and they boo him right out of the gate," he said. "Poor guy. Lucky for him he's resilient and he came back and led us to two scoring drives. But man, it's tough."

Urlacher did note that he didn't blame the fans for booing the defense during a second quarter in which they yielded 23 points to the hapless Lions offense. He was just annoyed with the treatment of Grossman.

Lovie Smith, on the other hand, doesn't like booing in any situation.

"The fans are a big part of what we're doing," Smith said. "When you go through adversity, I see everyone rallying together [and] using positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement has never really worked for me. ... I would just hope that most of the time we'll hear positive reinforcement to help us get through some of those times. That's what a team does."

I can see both sides. I mean, the fans should be allowed to express frustration after watching the Lions shred our once vaunted defense for 23 points in a quarter. On the other, they threw a shutout for the other three quarters. Concerning Grossman, it's not going to help anyone to sit there ready to boo at the first sign of any sort of futility. He hadn't seen relevant game action all season, so there was likely going to be some rust.

Let's give him a shot, and realize he's going against a very staunch defense this weekend in the Tennessee Titans. Don't be one of those idiots that acts like one of Pavlov's dogs ... automatically booing every time you see number eight on the field, because that's what you've been conditioned to do.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-04-2008 @ 5:14PM

Bill said...

It's been my experience that many of the fans who boo are simply doing so because others do it. I wish those people who "Follow the Crowd" would show some guts and keep their mouths shut. On baseball teams there is a Bull Pen with 7 or 8 guys to stop the bleeding. In football we only have a total of three guys. Let's give Rex a little slack. We don't have many options at this point.

11-04-2008 @ 11:28AM

NY Bears Fan said...

I couldn't agree with this article (or Lovie or Brian) more. I thought the exact thing when Orton went down: Bring on the idiots.

Lovie is right in that like him or not, Rex is the best option that Bears Fans have at the moment. How about circling the wagons and showing support for your team?

To all booing Bears Fans: Shut up and be supportive of your team. You aren't helping the team you profess to support by booing every incompletion. Besides, I think Rex already knows how you feel about him. All you are doing is making the world think that Bears Fans are "fair weather" fans.

11-04-2008 @ 12:08PM

Lori Klingman said...

The fans have a right to cheer or boo anyone they please and if the team or management doesn't like it, that's tough.

Rex has disappointed the fans so much they don't have confidence in him, and why should they?

If the team doesn't have any other options but Rex, that's not the fans fault---it's Lovey and managment's fault. They both could have been realistic about the future with a creature like Rex at the helm and drafted appropriatedly.

Why doesn't management not sell tickets to any fans who don't like how they run that operation and see how many empty seats it produces? They could probably fill Soldier's Field with fans who cheer everything probably they don't know anything about how Lovey and management have screwed the fans.

We're tired of the disappointment topped with management dictating to us how to express our disappointment. Why don't they do their jobs and provide us with something to cheer about rather than lame execuses.

11-04-2008 @ 1:31PM

ray said...

Lori Kingmans an idiot. I hope her husband or boyfriend boo's her everytime she underperforms in bed.

11-04-2008 @ 12:09PM

Tanya said...

If my children acted the way sports "fans" act, I would be ashamed of them. What do these grown adults with the idiotic signs, and the shouted hateful comments, and the booing, what do they teach their own children about respect? I've never understood why people think it's OK to treat another person that way when it's a fan screaming at an athlete. Don't worry, Chicago, you aren't the only fair weather fans, the fans in Dallas are the worst.

11-04-2008 @ 1:01PM

don said...

Rex can do the job. Give him support.

11-04-2008 @ 1:32PM

Odie said...

Lori, I agree that fans have the right to boo and cheer as they please, but this preemptive booing is certainly coming from idiots.
These fans are not booing the organization, they are booing Grossman, who when all is said and done is probably one of the best back-up QB's in the league and has experience in big games.
The disappointing interceptions and fumbles of the past are not soon to be forgotten, but cheer and/or boo based on what he presently does on the field.
We can all be thankful that Orton has turned out to be the starter that he has, but he is out, and until he returns, (as Lovie used to say) "Rex is our quarterback." Deal with it and join the intelligent sports fans.

11-09-2008 @ 11:11AM

matthew said...

I have to agree with Brian and Lovie..and the writer of this forum. Rex is not the worst qb ever, as most Bears fans would have you believe. Yes he had a rough Super Bowl, but no one seems to see or mention that last seaon, he had no running game, the o-line was not giving him time to do anything, and Ron Turner was still calling the same six plays that worked in the first six weeks of '05(its a game of adjustments)..When Rex is comfortable and able to play his game behind a good running game(which every good qb has), he is a better than average qb.

Aslo, it seems that no matter what happens on the field when Rex is quarterback, its all dumped on him, someone drops a pass that hits them in the chest, its rex's fault, someone jumps of the ball early, Rex's fault..NO WAY

I am sorry my heart goes out to him..if you were at work and everything you did people told you that you suck, you cant do your job right, your gonna fudge up, u stink, u suck..how well would you be able to perform.

He is basically a third year player and has never been given a chance to grow as an NFL quarterback in Chicago..

And when he had a running game, an o-line, and a defense, we went to the Super Bowl...but ofcourse everything that was wrong that season was all his fault and everything that was good he had nothing to do with.
C'mon Bears fans....we are great fans, we are Cubs and Sox fans joined togehter all winter in the greatest city in the world, I say we come together and cheer our Bears on no matter who is out there, short of Ced Bensen and TO.and a few others.
Thank you
A true Chicago Fan

11-04-2008 @ 2:46PM

jvsiii3 said...

Being a Gators fan I can't believe how Rex has performed as a pro. I mean he only helped the Bears get to their 1st Super Bowl since 1985.
Seriously though, watching him in his college years he is a tremendous talent. He has made a lot of mental as well as physical mistakes. Maybe it's partially due to coaching. ESPN says their QB coach has been doing a fantastic job with the both of them. Heck, look at how much Orton has improved since last year. He sucked just as bad as Rex did. Coaching has a major part in that.
Regardless, he's what you have. If you want your team to succeed you stick by them. You don't boo someone coming off the bench in an injury situation. That's retarded. It's like saying we don't want the team to succeed. Not just the player. If it was a stupid coaching decision maybe... Just maybe...
I'll bet if Rex does well. (Which I'm rooting for.) all the bandwagon jumpers will come out of the woodwork.

11-04-2008 @ 5:46PM

the cooker said...

I think the fans need to remember that it was not that long ago that they were not exactly crazy about Orton either.

11-04-2008 @ 6:33PM

Chris F said...

I am one of the people that think WRECKS GROSSMAN is one of the worst QB's i've ever seen, I would rank him lower than Cade Mc Choke, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he hadn't played or practiced with the one's since being relegated to back up. But I in no way think he is worthy of playing in the nfl or am I naive enough to believe he might have gottne better by standing on the sideline. If he is the best we have then so be it. I think that we will go 0 - whatever while he is playing but I cant change anything. I agree with booing him because I think he deserves it. He has disappointed over and over and its time to cut ties with him. He has small hands, tries to be a gun slinger while he is throwing off his back foot but doesn't have the skills to pull it off. he has done nothing to warrant people not to boo himbut I do agree that we need to give him a game or two to knock the rust off and see AGAIN just how bad he is before we start to boo him and start looking toward next year

11-04-2008 @ 6:50PM

ace said...

bears suck the greenbay packers will take the division in 2 weeks orton -grossman urlacher which is a has been give it up ha ha ha he he he

11-04-2008 @ 7:45PM

Woody said...

If your at home and you boo your team. It only make the other team more excited and feeds them more. You should want The Bears to win no matter who is in the game! So shut up and support them. You should want Rex to do well to prove everyone wrong and make him look better!

11-04-2008 @ 7:55PM

mk said...

First off I am not saying that Wrecks is any good but if you also consider in the past the protection he has had, he didn't have much of a chance anyway. Mabey now that the offense has been playing up to standard Rex will have enough time to do something with the ball. It doesn"t matter much anyway, with the defense playing the way they are we have no chance. I am a die hard BEARS fan for 20 years, I love them when they are up or down, but until the coaches get the team playing good on both sides of the ball we don"t have a chance. I strongly think that Urlacher needs to step up and take charge like he used to or send him packing. We were feared in the whole NFL for our defense until the middle of last year.

11-05-2008 @ 12:57AM

FanDeath said...

Wow. Who knew the Grossman family read The Fanhouse.

11-05-2008 @ 5:24PM

cc said...

Are you kidding me? Who cares what Urlacher thinks. The guy is a shell of his former self. Grab a piece of paper and keep track of how many tackles (or plays for that matter) he actually contributes too. Most plays he is standing up looking down at the teammate that made the play he should have. These guys are paid insane amounts of money while ticket prices continue to sky rocket. They should be accountable for their play. Rex should have been released during the off season. There were better quarterbacks available that could have filled a back up role. Trust me, there are plenty of current Bear players disgusted that Rex is back. Urlacher is smart to sing the company line. Since he can't get to the ball or the quarterback anymore maybe that's how he plans to earn his new fat contract.

12-09-2008 @ 4:09PM

Kristen L said...

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK you Matt the author, and Matthew the poster!

Some people actually have a clear sense of this situation.

I have said all along that Rex is NOT as bad as they've plagued him to be. For goodness sake, he assisted in getting the Bears to the NFC Championship two seasons ago (I was at that championship game); not just the defense. After that, he was dumped in the garbage because he "didn't deliver". It's not one player's fault. My husband is one of thousands who have written him off.

I have always supported Rex and will continue to do so. He's no Joe Montana, but the kid deserves respect and a break. Lovie Smith believes in keeping him around so I'm going to continue to believe in him, as well. Like the previous poster wrote, he has never really been given the chance to grow in the NFL (he was plagued with injuries early on for the first few years) and then just dumped.

I am 40 years old, grew up in the Chicago area and have been a Bears fan my whole life. And I do have to say it's very upsetting to see the fans continually boo and ridicule one of the players.