[CBFF] Peter King's Bears Training Camp Postcard

Wed Aug 1 18:15:39 MDT 2007

Point 4....
  Game #1 is so true.  This should have been the Super Bowl in January except for a Marty meltdown.  Win or lose for the Bears, it will set the tone.  Win, and they have incredible swagger.  Lose, and they adopt the we have something to prove mentality.  

aaron s <adsti3 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Training Camp Postcard: Bears
Posted: Wednesday August 1, 2007 11:54AM; Updated: Wednesday August 1, 
2007 1:22PM
Where's Peter?

Postcards From Camp
Chicago Bears
Bourbonnais, Ill.| Aug. 1, 2007
More Postcards From Camp

Devin Hester, who is making the transition to wide receiver, is a 
sensation at Bears camp.
Devin Hester, who is making the transition to wide receiver, is a 
sensation at Bears camp.
Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI

In Bourbonnais, Ill., at Olivet Nazarene University, a cute little NAIA 
school 90 minutes downstate from Chicago. The summer home of the Bears 
is a bucolic campus with a swell football stadium, where I watched the 
well-stocked NFC North favorite practice for two hours Tuesday night. On 
Wednesday morning, the Bears worked on the practice fields next to the 
stadium.
Five Things I Think

1. I think the Bears might want to look at the Web site run by newly 
acquired defensive tackle Darwin Walker before they know what they have 
in the run-stopper they got to play alongside Tommie Harris in their 4-3 
front. Walker is an engineer, and his site at darwinwalker.com is 
labeled "Engineered to Sack.'' The Bears think they have acquired the 
run-stopper they badly needed in the wake of the Tank Johnson firing. 
They got the 295-pound Walker (he looks stouter to me) for a fifth-round 
pick from Buffalo, and signed him to a five-year contract last night.

He looked like a space-filler at practice, and Lovie Smith can't say 
enough good things about him. But in the Chicago defense, playing the 
run will be job one. Now, in fairness to the Bears, Smith doesn't ever 
play his front with big-load types like Ted Washington. Smith wants a 
run-stopper in the middle with some movement. It'll be interesting to 
see what kind of fit Walker is.

2. I think Tank Johnson is floating out there, looking for a job, and 
though JerryJones insists Tank isn't going to Dallas, everyone here in 
Bearville thinks Dallas is his most likely landing spot.

3. I think Greg Olsen, the first-round pick from Miami, looks like a man 
among boys on some of his pass routes. He's a head taller than some 
linebackers who try to cover him, and head-and-shoulders taller than the 
corners. Looks athletic too, with good hands.

4. I think the first game of the season this year might well match the 
NFC team with the most talented 53-man roster (Chicago) against the AFC 
team with the most talented 53-man roster (San Diego). What an 
Armageddon game for the NFL's opening weekend. That is far and away the 
best game of Week 1.

5. I think if you watched Harris at practice, you'd never know he 
ruptured his left hamstring, requiring surgery in December. He's not 
favoring the leg at all and reports no pain. Looks like the Bears will 
have a three-man DT rotation, with Harris at the three-technique slot, 
Walker the run-stopper, and Dusty Dvoracek the relief pitcher on 30 
percent of the snaps per game.

1 of 2

Did You Know?

There is no smoking, drinking, swearing or dancing allowed on the campus 
of Olivet Nazarene.

Dancing?

There is, however, and thank the Lord for this, a drive-through 
Starbucks in the borough of Bourbonnais (pop.: 17,000).
Insider Fantasy Tip

The one guy on this team I'd take a fantasy flyer on is Bernard Berrian. 
"He's determined to join that upper echelon of receivers in the NFL,'' 
Lovie Smith told me this morning. The rail-thin Berrian, 6-foot-1 and 
182, ran by cornerback Nathan Vasher and caught a well-thrown bomb from 
Rex Grossman under the lights at practice last night, and I'm told he 
caught several others like that early in camp. Grossman and Berrian have 
formed a good chemistry in a passing game designed to get the ball deep 
two or three times a game. In the last two years, Berrian has average 
16.0 yards per catch. My guess is he's a good bet for 60 catches and 
seven or eight touchdowns if, and this is a big if, Grossman is more 
consistent this year.
On the Menu

At breakfast this morning with Smith, I was impressed with his culinary 
discipline. With terrific-smelling waffles and a nice selection of eggs 
and meats, Smith grabbed a bowl of mixed fruit, a breakfast bar and a 
bottle of Tropicana orange juice. Now there's a man with strength at 7 
a.m. Not an easy thing to do.

For me: Oatmeal with raspberries, blueberries and one teaspoon of brown 
sugar. I let it get too cold talking to Smith, but it's hard to screw up 
oatmeal. Grade: C+.
Camp Confidential

The Bears have a rock star. His name is Devin Hester.

He went into motion from left to wide right on one play in last night's 
team work, and the crowd began chattering in anticipation. There is a 
rising oooooooohhhhHHHHHHHHH from the crowd every time he leaves the 
line of scrimmage. And at the end of practice, walking off the field, 
this is what he hears from the fans waiting for autographs: "We want 
HESTER! We want HESTER!''

As I watched practice with veteran Chicago Tribune scribe John Mullin, 
he described Hestermania by saying, "It's not training camp here. It's 
the Devin Hester Experience. He's like a theme park.''

This is the greatest tribute I can pay to Hester: The Bears selected him 
57th overall in 2006 as a cornerback and returner, and he went on to 
play in 19 games, including the playoffs. He scored seven touchdowns. 
The Miami Dolphins picked Ted Ginn Jr. No. 9 overall this year ... and 
said the reason they did it, in large part, was because games are so 
close these days and they have such a good defense. In other words, they 
took note of the impact Hester had with the Bears.

For now, Hester is moving all over the formation. Strangely, the thing 
that could help him a lot is having the new tight end, Greg Olsen. Olsen 
could move to the slot occasionally and take up a safety's attention 
because he's too fast for most linebackers to cover. Hester has shown 
good hands so far, and a fearlessness the Bears knew about due to his 
daring return ability. But there's no lock he'll be able to make the 
transition. "He's put in the time he needed this offseason and really 
learned the position,'' Smith said. "He's made the position so much more 
competitive for us.''

Now we'll see if that translates into being a good fourth receiver.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Need a vacation? Get great deals
to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
http://travel.yahoo.com/

_______________________________________________
Check out the CBFF Blog:
blog.chicagobearsfanforum.com
CBFF Homepage:
www.chicagobearsfanforum.com

---------------------------------
Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
 Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. 