Recently in Chicago Bears Category

Long before the team has even landed in Cincinnati for this Sunday's afternoon skirmish against the Bengals, Chad Ochocinco is trying to fill up the Bears' bulletin board.

In tweets to both quarterback Jay Cutler and defensive lineman Alex Brown, Ochocinco said he wants Cutler's jersey, will torment cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman, and needs only 1.5 seconds to get open.

Yesterday, Ochocinco started in on Cutler [exchanges sic'd]:

@jaycutler6 tell your defense I'm gonna run circles around them, I'm mad we lost, peanut Tillman is gonna kiss da baby along with the rest'

To which Cutler responded:

@OGOchoCinco it's only Monday. Already starting?

The exchange with Cutler continued:

Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox electrified the Soldier Field crowd Sunday with a 102-yard kickoff return to begin the second half. But it's a uncommonly speedy ballboy who's continuing to raise some eyebrows in the aftermath.

The as-yet-unnamed ballboy kept pace with Knox as he raced down the field, even outpacing some members of the Lions' kick coverage team.

The 24-year-old, identified by ESPN 1000's Waddle & Silvy Show as Darryl MaGee of Champaign, called into the show this morning. He told hosts Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle that he found out from friends that a highlight of him keeping pace with Knox was blowing up.

On his Twitter account MaGee said, "Man I'm all over the internet and ESPN now!!!!! I  definately [sic] didn't expect this!":

 

On a day when the Chicago Bears, the NFL and anyone who ever loved the game pays tribute to Walter Payton - the 10th anniversary of his death in 1999 from bile duct cancer - it seems fitting to simply sit back and take in what made Sweetness so great. So memorable.

The Bears put together a nice video tribute, played at halftime, to the Hall of Famer that lets his friends, teammates and coaches speak to his greatness as a player and a person. One of the toughest, most elusive, most determined players in the history of the game, Payton was as well-known as a prankster as he was a hard-nosed football player.

Some great moments and memories to savor.

Isn't it interesting how the universe tends to correct itself? The natural order of things goes something like this: An old tree dies in the forest, and the forces of nature conspire to use the seeds of that tree to plant a new one while the decaying matter of one helps the other grow.

So it is with a pair of Chicago athletes who have made headlines recently in the local media: Milton Bradley and Johnny Knox.

As we bid farewell as a sports community to the Cubs' Bradley, one of the worst free agent signings in Chicago sports history, we welcome with open arms (and a back-page blowout in the Sun-Times) Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox.

He's everything this city loves in an athlete: a hard-working underdog who outperforms his on-paper abilities. He's humble, he's excited to be here and, most importantly, he helped our team win a big game.

Bradley, meanwhile, represents the me-against-the-world mindset that will sink any athlete who signs with a Chicago team.

Bradley accused Cubs fans of being racist, said he felt hatred in the outfield and blamed the collective negativity at Clark and Addison for keeping the Cubs championship-less for 101 years.

Knox, meanwhile, gets nervous before games and was in awe playing at Soldier Field Sunday in front of more fans than he played in front of his entire senior season at Abilene Christian College.

Brad Biggs spoke with Knox's college coach Chris Thomsen. "I guess it's all about getting your opportunity," Thomsen said when asked about Knox's early NFL success. "Maybe it surprised me his opportunity has come this early. It doesn't surprise me he is doing well. He is a tremendous worker. he has a tremendously positive attitude."

Every athlete who puts on a uniform for a Chicago sports franchise has an opportunity. Johnny Knox has the same opportunity Milton Bradley was afforded when he signed with the Cubs last summer: to play professional sports in one of the greatest sports cities on Earth. So far, it would seem Knox is doing everything right.

Sure, it's early. He could fizzle, wake the Soldier Field boo birds and draw our ire. But for now, he's a hard-working rookie who can do no wrong. Not to mention his "tremendously positive attitude," which makes him The Anti-Milton. 

Johnny Knox is the break Chicago sports fans needed to cure their Bradley-era hangover. He and future athletes fortunate enough to play in this market would do well to follow suit.

This could be construed as child abuse in some places.

Technically, this probably is a throwback jersey, even if it is new.

Brett Favre's Vikings jersey was the top seller on the NFL's merchandise Web site. His purple No. 4 was only available for the last two weeks of that timeframe, too.

Fans typically flock to new products, and Michael Vick's Philadelphia jersey has been a hot commodity as well: His No. 7 in Eagles green ranked No. 4 on the list behind Favre, Jay Cutler and Troy Polamalu.

Favre didn't express much surprise Wednesday when the popularity of his jersey was pointed out. He said friends and family have asked him if he can get one for them, but that all he has are the ones he wears in the games.

Favre then retired and un-retired again, making the jersey a collectible, too.

Judging strictly by jersey sales, Jay Cutler is the second most popular player in the NFL behind Brett Favre. NFLShop.com released its jersey sales rankings for the NFL's first four months of the fiscal year to MSNBC, and there were a few surprises.

The most notable surprise comes in at No. 20 -- Michael Crabtree -- who has yet to don the jersey 49ers fans seem to be so wild about. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick proved you don't have to be a starter to have a popular jersey as his came in at No. 4 -- despite the fact that some sporting goods stores refused to carry it.

Eli Manning was the only player whose jersey number matched its sales rank -- not necessarily surprising or interesting, but it sure is a coincidence.

Cutler, who recently showed Chicagoans he cleans up well in a photo shoot for Michigan Avenue magazine, came in at No. 23 this time last year while playing for the Denver Broncos.

Notably absent from the top 20 were Bears players Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester, who came in at Nos. 11 and 12 last year, respectively.

For the list of the NFL's top 20 jersey sales, visit MSNBC.

What a difference a comb makes.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler allowed a stylist to remove the bangs from his forehead all in the name of fashion. Apparently they liked what they saw, as he's the new cover boy for the luxury lifestyle mag Michigan Avenue.

This continues a great tradition of sports journalism and envelope-pushing photography for Michigan Avenue, which previously profiled AOL national sports columnist Jay Mariotti, dressing him up like a hip college professor in the process.

Cutler reveals to interviewer Susanna Negovan that he's single, has diabetes and won't be posing for any magazine covers ... after this one, of course (much to the dismay of the rest of the other players in the cut-throat luxury magazine subculture here).

The general consensus around the newsroom is that Cutler may be treading dangerously into Gordon Beckham territory in the coif department.

Let's keep the Brett Favre/goat imagery to the field and out of the trunk.

You're a good Minnesota Vikings fan, ready to do whatever you can to make a statement about Brett Favre hitting town as your team's new starting quarterback. You have lots of options:
1) Buy a jersey;
2) Get a Vikings inflatable chair for the bar in your wood-paneled basement;
3) Buy some Wrangley jeans and grow a nasty beard
4) Paint a goat purple and gold, carve a "4" into it and keep it in your car trunk on the way to slaughter it later.
OK, what do you choose?
If you're at least one Winona, MN., resident, the goat wins it. At least that's what the Winona Daily News reports, offering these unusual details - though no name on the woman:

A woman on her way to St. Paul really got the goat of auto repairman James Prusci. She went to Tires Plus in Winona Friday, wanting a belt replaced on her Chevy Malibu. While he was doing paperwork, she said she had a goat in her trunk. "A what?" he asked. She told him she planned to butcher it.

It was painted Minnesota Viking colors _ purple and gold _ with Brett Favre's No. 4 shaved on its side. Favre made his Vikings debut Friday in a preseason game.

Prusci called animal control, which took the goat to a local vet. He was renamed Brett and placed in foster care.

Why the goat? Some sort of sacrifice? Just dinner? Maybe she found out Purple People Eaters was just a nickname and went with the next best option. Who knows? It just kinda fits in with the Favre Theater that has been the 2009 NFL pre-season, though.

And it's an image Bears fans are praying to see this season: Favre the goat.

Celebrity gossip site TMZ.com has some rough footage - see the video here - of disgraced quarterback and former dog fighting enthusiast Michael Vick strolling around O'Hare Airport last night.

While Vick is still one of millions on the unemployment rolls, he's madly searching for an NFL job and there have been rumors of Bears interest in the electrifying signal caller. But

TMZ quoted Jim Christman, media services manager for the Bears, as saying Vick is not in town to meet with the Bears and he is definitely not joining the team.

And Bears beat guy Brad Biggs has sources telling him there was charity work on the agenda, not a Bears date for Vick.

So file that under the "never say never" list of potential moves.

After being suspended indefinitely by the NFL after serving nearly two years in a dog-fighting scheme, Vick was conditionally reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell last month and cleared to sign with a team, but thus far there have been no takers.

On Tuesday, Vick's agent, Joel Segal, visited Washington Redskins camp, but said: "No. No chance," when asked about the possibility of Vick signing with Washington.

The Redskins are among 26 of the NFL's 32 teams that have said they have no interest in signing Vick, although Vick's NFL-appointed mentor, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, said several coached have contacted him to talk about the player.

Segal, in an interview with ESPN 980, said he is "very optimistic" that Vick would sign with an NFL team soon. There are a lot of teams interested. ... It's not a matter of if, but when."

OMG! So, Bobby told Paul who told Mike that Brian totally called Jay a "P***Y!"

Can you belieeeeeeeve it? Just take a listen for yourself (Graphic Language): 



You'd think with ProFootballTalk's heralded move under the NBC peacock's plumage that they would up the ante in providing smart, in-depth coverage of the NFL.

Nah.

Just in time to take Brett Favre's place as the main football story in Minnesota, Vikings receiver and former Bear Bobby Wade told Paul Allen of KFAN that "during an offseason trip to Vegas with Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, Urlacher expressed a not-so-flattering opinion of new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler," according to Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com.

Here's what's going to happen:

Reporters are going to run to Brian Urlacher and ask him if he, indeed, called Jay Cutler a "p***y." Urlacher's going to deny it (which, by the way, he did). They'll ask him, even though he claims he didn't say it, whether he thinks Jay Cutler is a "p***y." Urlacher will then say something along the lines of, "This is why I hate talking to reporters."

Then reporters are going to run to Jay Cutler and ask him his reaction to the thing that Brian Urlacher said he didn't say in the first place. If he's smart, he'll Rosenhaus it.

Then everyone's going to know to meet in the parking lot of Halas Hall at 4:00 because Jay and Brian are gonna fight. Everyone will show up, but someone's mom will catch wind of it and drive up in her station wagon to drag her son away by the hair (so ... Cutler's mom, right?). Everyone will scatter and go on to speculate who would've won if they'd fought in the first place (Urlacher ... right?).

So instead of Jay and Brian fighting, they'll unite and both beat up Bobby -- that is, if my recollection of Middle School serves me correctly.

And now, Tommie Harris is stepping into the mix via Twitter to issue a denial on Urlacher's behalf:

Similarly, Chad OchoCinco has jumped on the ProFootBallTalk train with this somewhat NSFW tweet.

No matter what was or wasn't said, this promises to be a strong contender for Most Ridiculous Preseason Story Line for the Bears as they're two days from camp.