Sexy Rexy Sits Down

Dr. X posts this from the new, improved, Soldier Field:

"Ah, where to begin. Here, I guess: our long national nightmare is over...Rex Grossman is grabbing some bench. Brian Griese starts Sunday.

"He had his defenders. Dr. Z said it wasn't all his fault (the Bears have lousy receivers). John Madden said a few gentle words in his defense last week (perhaps to atone for comparing him to Favre, Grossman's idol, last year).

"But, at the time of his benching, Grossman was, as he had been throughout 2006, one of the least effective quarterbacks in football. Football Outsiders ranked his value-per-play this season (VOA in their jargon) 32nd out of 35 ranked QBs. On their total value measure, points-above-replacement (PAR), he ranked 34th. Last year they had him 31st on PAR and 33rd on VOA.

"His NFL quarterback rating YTD is 45.2. In 2006 it was 73.9, lower than 50 other NFL quarterbacks. His IAYPAs have been bottom quintile for as long as he has been starting.

"Now of course, you say, this isn't baseball or backgammon. The NFL is a hard-nosed foot-ball league, and a man can be better than his statistics. You'd better do a reality check and talk to some real foot-ball players before passing judgment.

"Well, yes. Steve Young was on KNBR last night (Grossman topic starts around 6:00), and offered some thoughts on the subject:

• 'It's brutal...'
• '[In the Super Bowl] he throws the big pick... I don't think he even looked... the corner catches it like a fair catch... and I'm watching Rex Grossman - and he just stands there! ... The Championship's on the line - you could tackle him ... and he stands there!'
  
• 'He can't concentrate because it's a holiday... You can tell he's just...flippant about stuff. It's like look, I play quarterback in the NFL, yeah, I whip the ball around a little bit, take it as it comes, yeah that's fine with me... '
  

"Well, ok, I grant you, Steve Young could be a bitter man - bitter, mean, and biased. (By the way, they tell me KNBR - the 68,000 watt flamethrower - is so powerful you can hear it in Hawaii.)

"But Young has a point. This is show biz, too. Screwing up is one thing - but not caring, that's a sin. Chicago hasn't seen a great quarterback in 50 years, so that's not what kills the fans. But that's a town where most men would give their left nut to put on the pads and play for the Bears. They take their football serious. And this guy just didn't seem to care.

"Perhaps we are being too harsh. Rex is young, but surely not without potential. His arm reminds some observers of a young Jeff George. Perhaps he'll be back soon? Let's ask someone who knows Rex Grossman well, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times:

The only football guy in America shocked by Rex's demotion was, well, Rex. He still thinks he's getting the job back soon, which Lovie Smith shot down in saying the position is Griese's until further notice. ''I was surprised. There's frustration,'' Grossman said. ''The frustrating part is, I know this offense is closer. I wish I could be the one pulling the trigger.''

Instead this week marks the merciful end of the Rex-periment, a mammoth failure that took years off the lives of fans. His demotion means that once again, the NFL's charter franchise has flopped in attempts to groom its first franchise QB. You can count Jim McMahon, but he couldn't stay healthy. You can count Sid Luckman, but he played in the leather helmet days. Continuing a particularly hideous line of recent stinkery that has included Cade McNown, Chad Hutchinson and Jonathan Quinn, Grossman was given every opportunity to make it big despite his short stature and inability to think on his feet.

The agony is over. A man has taken over the position.

"And yet, the Chicago Bears, with this guy at quarterback, almost won the world championship of football. (Has there ever been a Super Bowl team with a worse player at the QB position?) Grossman is a free agent next year, and The Globe and Mail reports, one can wonder if he even has a future in the game:

Compound an adversarial relationship with the fans and media, a reputation for partying and the kinds of mistakes Grossman makes and you've got your recipe for disaster...

A year ago, the Bears were the second best scoring team in the NFL - albeit many of those points came through defence and special teams - and were battling the Colts until the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl game.

Is it really possible for a 26-year-old quarterback to go from that stage to being out of football in a little more than a year?

He's about to find out.

"