[CBFF] Intro

[Jim Ferolie]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "P. Quinn" <quinnp at woh.rr.com>


>  My thoughts on Briggs and Jones are that they will be in camp. They both
> have a lot to lose. The Bears are prepared to move on without them, no
> matter how their past production was. Back-ups or not, I'd like to see 
> them
> there as well.
>

That got me thinking.

The NFL presents an interesting conflict with the style of many of today's 
players.

It comes from a college football ancestry that was all about sacrificing 
individuality for the team, following orders for the good of the unit and 
putting every bit of yourself on the field of battle in order to stave off 
disaster. Those who cannot do this, even the ones who are talented, are not 
fit for that duty. In the old days, you wore a number and your coach 
referred to you by that number. It's a beautiful concept and a beautiful 
game.

Its growing popularity and its continued emphasis on the spectacular, 
however, has ferreted out talent from every possible location, digging up 
people with no love for the game but strong career ambitions. Where the 
success of the team once was paramount and brought out most of the 
gratification a player needed, now team success becomes secondary to 
personal success, creating a need to be needed.

The fans feed this with their need to identify celebrities. Who causes more 
of a scene or makes a better talk-show guest, Marvel Smith or Randy Moss? 
The fans also drive it by always working on talent upgrades on talk radio, 
by fixating on athletically gifted stars and playing fantasy football. It 
goes right down to the youth level, where parents try to tell coaches who to 
play and where to distribute the ball.

The culture that has resulted and the enormous amount of money involved has 
twisted the business aspect of playing the game to make it almost stupid not 
to do what Jones and Briggs are doing. People will kill, risk their lives, 
betray their family and friends for much less money than these two could 
earn with a few calculated maneuvers. God forbid the team is capable of 
being productive and moving on without them. That would ruin their leverage.

This is one place where having the Bears' history is an advantage. What good 
did a holdout do for Todd Bell and Al Harris? Jerry Angelo may be making the 
moves, but the philosophy is old-school, filtered from the Halases and 
McCaskeys through Ted Phillips. The contracts are beginning to be structured 
so that there is always an alternative. Nobody is bigger than the team.

There was a point where I didn't know if that method would work, but the 
Steelers and Patriots have proven that it does ... as long as you keep the 
defense solid and the offensive line strong and find a gutsy QB who can 
think on his feet, other parts can be substituted as needed.

Thomas, Lance, we want you here. And personally, I want to see that you get 
the contracts you deserve. But when it's game time you'd better be there. 
Stick it out, play your best and the money will be there. If you can't do 
that, we'll manage without you.