[CBFF] Rob Laird: Wait for arrival of NFC champion Bears almost over

[Steve Behrens]

Rob Laird: Wait for arrival of NFC champion Bears almost over

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It doesn't seem too long ago that Robbie Gould was kicking a 49-yard field
goal in overtime to beat Seattle, or that Bernard Berrian was making a
ridiculous catch to clinch the romp over New Orleans, or Kelvin Stinkin'
Hayden was returning an interception for ...

You know what? Forget that last one. I haven't fully healed from it yet. No
sense at picking at scabs.

The point is, the Chicago Bears will be arriving at Olivet Nazarene
University in just one day and practicing in just two. After the first year,
in which it took the Bears forever to get here, training camp seems to sneak
up on us more and more each year.

But this season, the anticipation is higher than any camp since that initial
one in 2002. It's hard to gauge this sort of thing, but crowds at the
practices will probably be the biggest since then as well. Maybe even
bigger; we'll have to see. (One negative for the fans: The Bears will almost
certainly have more media coverage at practices this year. That means more
people to yell at to take a knee.)

Aside from the obvious reason of the Bears' recent success, there are plenty
of reasons why camp will be the most interesting since it started at ONU.

Let's look at some of the biggies:

4. Rookie class. Greg Olson is the pass-catching tight end local fans have
been clamoring over for years. Well folks, here he is. Lance Briggs may be
in the middle of an unpopular pouting-stint right now, but Michael Okwo
happens to play the same position and the Stanford graduate is as humble as
they come. Oh, and he's pretty darn good, too.

3. The Brian Urlacher-Tommie Harris-Mike Brown combination. The trio hasn't
played together since the middle of last year, when Brown, then Harris, were
lost for the year with an injury. Having the wily veteran Brown, the
lead-by-example Urlacher and the maturing Harris together will be fun to
watch.

2. That dang defense. Not having Tank Johnson will hurt, but not as much as
it would without Anthony Adams, who could end up being just as good. Not
having Lance Briggs will hurt, but there's a good possibility that either
Okwo or Jamar Williams can provide comparable contributions. Aside from
those two losses, everyone is back defensively and Adam Archuleta joins the
fray at strong safety. That gives the Bears seven defensive starters --
Urlacher, Harris, Brown, Archuleta, Nathan Vasher, Adewale Ogunleye and Alex
Brown -- with at least one Pro Bowl selection on their résumé (eight if
Briggs comes back). Two others -- Charles Tillman and Mark Anderson --
played at a Pro Bowl caliber level last season.

1. Devin Hester. Was there a more exciting player in the NFL last year? Not
if you are a Bears fan, that's for sure. His collegiate nickname of
"Anytime" (as in, he can score any time he touches the ball) didn't really
catch on last year, but it's hard to understand why it didn't. The man is a
phenomenon. Training camp will be the first real glimpse fans get of him on
offense. Expectations should be tempered (remember how ineffective Dante
Hall was on offense for the Chiefs?), but it will be interesting to see how
the Bears secondary tries to defend both Bernard Berrian and Hester at the
same time.

We'll find out in two days.

Rob Laird can be reached by e-mail at rlaird at daily-journal.com or by phone
at (815) 937-3390.