Bears Embrace Underdog Role
by 
David Kindervater on January 28th, 2007
Let the madness begin. The Bears arrived in Miami this evening, one week before Super Bowl XLI, to a swarm of reporters and a press conference. National and international media had important questions that needed answering immediately. These will be the same questions that will be asked all week, mind you. And just wait until Tuesday. Media Day. This is where you’ll hear well-conceived inquiries like, “How long have you been an African-American coach?” No kidding. Someone will probably ask this. I honestly wonder how some of these people get credentialed.
At any rate, “official” press conferences were handled by Lovie Smith, Brian Urlacher, Alex Brown, Olin Kreutz, Muhsin Muhammed, Charles Tillman and Devin Hester. One common thread was the underdog role (the line is at seven points) and the team seemed to embrace it. Coach Smith said:
“It seems like we’ve been in this role all year … We are playing the Colts this week and they have a lot of weapons and I can see why we are in that underdog role. I have a harder time seeing how we’ve been an underdog role all year with our record. We’ve met all the obstacles that have been put in front of us and it still hasn’t been enough. Here is a stage where if we can finish the job one more time, we will get that respect that we think we deserve.”
And Brian Urlacher added:
“It’s been like that all year for us. We like the underdog role. We’ve done well in it so far this season. If you look at most of our games, we’ve been underdogs, unless we are playing at home and then we’ll be two and a half point favorites. So, that’s nice. We enjoy it. We’ve done well in it and I don’t know why it would be any different right now, especially with the way the Colts have played in the playoffs. They’ve won three straight games, three tough games against three good AFC teams, so they’ve earned it I guess.”
I think a seven point spread is a bit much. That’s a lot, especially for a Super Bowl. But, I don’t think it matters to the Bears. They acknowledged being used to the role, but I believe it just motivates them all the more. Granted, they don’t need any extra motivation. After all, it is the Super Bowl. But, I think the Bears are patiently irritated with the amount of disrespect they’ve received as a 13-3 team.
| 2.5 |
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Chicago Bears, Super Bowl XLI
0 opinions for Bears Embrace Underdog Role
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: