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2005 Chicago Bears-Arrow Pointing Up?
© 2005 Roy Taylor, www.BearsHistory.com
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Rex Grossman returned after his third season-marring
injury to help the Bears to their first NFC North title in 2005.
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"We suck." These simple, motivational words were uttered most
publicly by safety Mike Brown to the media following an October 9 loss to the
Cleveland Browns. Chicago had led that game into the fourth quarter until
Brown's secondary gave up two late Trent Dilfer touchdown passes to lose. After
this fourth game of the season, the Bears were 1-3. The NFC North division
never looked more winnable, yet the Bears did not seem to be able to take what
was so clearly in their grasp.
Circumstances surrounding the 2005 Chicago Bears, coupled with
the 1-3 start, rendered it unimaginable that they might pull together one of
their best seasons on the 20th anniversary of the 1985 championship team. They
did end up having a great season, but one that still failed to live up to the
expectations that were built.
During the 2004 season, Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo
took harsh criticism for failing to sign an available veteran quarterback, such
as Kurt Warner, to back up Rex Grossman. The young passer was lost for the
season in its third week, and with him the club's fortunes fell at the hands of
the terrible Jonathan Quinn and unseasoned Craig Krenzel.
Angelo's blueprint remained the same in 2005. Despite having
another shot at Warner, and other veteran passers such as Brad Johnson and Jay
Fiedler being available, Angelo again went with young backups and did not
overspend for a veteran. The thinking was that Grossman, who never suffered an
injury in high school or college, had a simple run of bad luck and would be on
to a brighter portion of his career. So the team drafted Kyle Orton, a one time
Heisman Trophy candidate, in the fourth round and was determined to go with he
and Chad Hutchinson as backups.
Late in the first quarter of the Bears' second preseason game
at St. Louis, Grossman was knocked to the ground after releasing a pass. The
quarterback bounced up and limped toward the sidelines before collapsing,
calling for medical staff and clutching his leg. As he was loaded onto a cart
and hauled to the locker room, Grossman's face said exactly what fans did not
want to know about the team's 2005 fortunes. During the game it was announced
Grossman had suffered a broken ankle, and may be finished for the season. "Sh*t
happens," Grossman announced to a live television audience and stunned
reporters following the game.
Angelo declared that the team would be in good hands with
their new starter, Chad Hutchinson, who had filled in as best he could at the
end of 2004. This team now had a new offensive coordinator in Ron Turner, and a
beefed-up offensive line, so it was thought that Hutchinson's play would
improve. It took only the next preseason game with Hutchinson as the starter
for the team to change its mind. Following a miserable performance, Hutchinson
was released, and the rookie Orton was installed as the team's starter. Many
observers, such as football analyst Hub Arkush, pronounced doom for any team
that started a rookie quarterback.
Orton played well for a rookie in the team's preseason finale
and prepared for opening day on September 11th in Washington. Around the same
time, Sports Illustrated released its 2005 NFL Preview edition, and writer Paul
"Dr. Z" Zimmerman pronounced the Bears the worst team in football, ranking them
32nd among 32 teams. Little did anyone, let alone Zimmerman, know that eggs
were readying to be launched at the writer's face.
What the Bears did have in 2005, which would have to be relied
upon, was its defense. The unit had played strong in 2004 despite losing
starters Mike Brown and Brian Urlacher for most of the year. To address the
previous season's injury woes, the Bears hired strength and conditioning coach
Rusty Jones, who revamped the player's diets and workout programs to emphasize
endurance and health.
The defense proved it would have a strong year from the
beginning, holding Washington to nine points on no touchdowns. Unfortunately,
the offense showed it would have problems with its rookie quarterback, scoring
only one touchdown following a fumble on the second half kickoff. Despite late
game drives, which each ended in an Orton fumble and interception, the Bears
lost 9-7.
The following week the Bears hosted 1-0 Detroit, who were at
the time favorites to win the division. Chicago annihilated the Lions 38-6,
leading to a showdown the following week with resurgent Cincinnati in Chicago.
Against the Bengals, Chicago fell behind early on the Carson Palmer-to-Chad
Johnson connection and could never recover. They lost that game 24-7, then fell
to Cleveland, leading to Brown's timely comments.
What seemed to be a different team hit the field the next week
against the Minnesota Vikings, and the Bears dominated from start to finish.
They won 28-3, surely helped by controversy spinning around their opponents. A
side story to that game was the play of Paul Edinger. Prior to the '05 season,
Angelo dumped the most accurate kicker in Bears history for veteran Doug Brien,
and Edinger was scooped up by the Vikings. To this point in the season, Edinger
was having a fantastic year inside the Viking dome, but on this day in Chicago,
he would miss two tries and have a third blocked. Brien didn't work out for the
Bears either, having been released for unproven rookie Robbie Gould.
Beating the downtrodden Vikings was one thing and did not
necessarily signal a turnaround of the Bears' fortunes, but the following week
may have proven at least some critics wrong. On October 23rd in a rainy Soldier
Field, the Bears defeated the Baltimore Ravens, evening their record at 3-3.
The following week they had the chance to win three in a row for the first time
since 2001, and did so in a stirring overtime victory against Detroit.
The Bears went on to win their next six games. Several were
against "pushover" teams: the New Orleans Saints in Baton Rogue, the San
Francisco 49ers in a swirling wind, and their first victory over the Green Bay
Packers at home since 1993. Sandwiched in between were defensively dominating
games over playoff teams Carolina and Tampa Bay.
On December 11th, a completely new respect had been given the
Chicago Bears as they traveled to Pittsburgh. Chicago now had a 9-3 record,
winners of eight straight. Pittsburgh was on a losing streak, while their
opponents were being compared to the only other Bears team to win a Super Bowl,
20 years in the past. The remainder of the season looked bright, and even
Grossman had recovered to the point of being able to play again.
Orton did start the Steeler game, but could not keep up with a
bruising Pittsburgh running game. The Steelers won 21-9, and Chicago's defense
looked exposed. Not to be forgotten in this game was the fact that Chicago's
two starting safeties, Chris Harris and Mike Brown, were out with injuries.
The following week in Chicago's only night game of the season,
the Bears hosted Michael Vick and the high-powered Atlanta Falcons on a
10-degree night. An outstanding defensive performance was overshadowed by the
return of Rex Grossman, who started the second half and helped seal a 16-3
victory.
The following week, on Christmas night, Grossman started his
first game since September of 2004, and helped lead his team to a narrow 24-17
victory over the Packers in Green Bay. It was Chicago's first sweep of their
rivals since 1991, and the possibility of home field advantage throughout the
playoffs remained.
After the Green Bay win, coupled with a Vikings loss, the
Bears won their first NFC North title, rendering a New Year's Day matchup in
Minnesota pointless in the standings. The decision was made, to much debate by
fans and analysts, to play backups through the majority of the game. The Bears
lost 34-10, and finished the season 11-5, a better number of wins than the
previous two seasons for the team.
Chicago watched the opening week of the playoffs, comfortable
in the fact that since 1990, only two teams with a first-round bye had lost
their first playoff game. Unfortunately, belying this statistic was the fact
that one of those losses was by the Bears themselves in 2001. Even worse, the
only other time this happened is when the Carolina Panthers beat Lovie Smith's
St. Louis Rams at home in 2003. Ironically, following Carolina's shutout win at
New York over the Giants, their next task was to come to Chicago to play the
Bears.
The Bears had so soundly defeated Carolina at Soldier Field in
November, players exuded an air of confidence for their first playoff game in
their new stadium. "They might think they can beat us, but we know we can beat
them," was a comment from one Bear defender. Lost in the jubilance surrounding
the previous win over Carolina was the fact that speedy receiver Steve Smith
had caught passes for over 150 yards against the vaunted Bears defense.
Chicago's coaching staff had to know that they would need to contain Smith
again to win the game.
Before a rousing crowd on January 15th, the Bear offense came
out as many predicted, throwing the ball. They didn't complete a pass on their
first series, however, and on Carolina's first offensive play Smith streaked
for a touchdown. The Bears never led in the game, and became the third team in
the history of the bye to exit the playoffs without making a stir.
Regardless of the final result, the 2005 Chicago Bears proved
to their fans and detractors that they were a team to be taken seriously in the
future. With 21 of 22 starters under contract for 2006, the future indeed looks
bright.
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Quote of the Year: "Fred Miller broke his jaw while
getting out of bed in the middle of the night." -Bears
organization's first explanation of the injury, later revealed to be caused by
the fist of Olin Kreutz
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2005 Records: Preseason 4-1, Regular Season 11-5,
Playoffs 0-1
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2005 NFL Rankings: Offense 29th Overall, 8th Rush, 31st
Pass; Defense 2nd Overall, 11th Rush, 5th Pass
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2005 Coaches: Lovie Smith, Head Coach; Ron Rivera,
Defensive Coordinator; Ron Turner, Offensive Coordinator
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DATE
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TEAM
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RESULT
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NOTES
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8/8
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Dolphins
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W 27-24
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Hall of Fame Game
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8/12
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Rams
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W 17-13
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Preseason
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8/20
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Colts
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W 24-17
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Preseason
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8/26
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Bills
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W 16-12
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Preseason
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9/1
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Browns
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L 6-16
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Preseason
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9/11
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Redskins
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L 7-9
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ANOTHER Gibbs win
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9/18
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Lions
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W 38-6
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Drubbing of Lions
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9/25
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Bengals
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L 7-24
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Overmatched .
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10/9
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Browns
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L 10-20
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Bears start 1-3
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10/16
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Vikings
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W 28-3
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Turnaround coming?
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10/23
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Ravens
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W 10-6
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Great D in rain
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10/30
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Lions
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W 19-13
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Overtime thriller
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11/6
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Saints
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W 20-17
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Squeaker win
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11/13
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49ers
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W 17-9
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Wind game.
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11/20
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Panthers
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W 13-3
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Panthers no problem?
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11/27
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Bucs
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W 13-10
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Too close, but win.
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12/4
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Packers
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W 19-7
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FINALLY.
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12/11
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Steelers
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L 9-21
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No chance in Pitt
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12/18
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Falcons
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W 16-3
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Beating on Vick
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12/25
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Packers
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W 24-17
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Great XMas Gift
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1/1
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Vikings
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L 10-34
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Subs no match.
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1/15
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Panthers
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L 21-29
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Passing: Kyle Orton- Orton started 15 games and
passed for 1869 yards with 9 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 59.7
rating. Obviously pedestrian numbers, but better than other rookie
quarterbacks drafted ahead of him.
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Rushing: Thomas Jones- Jones had not rushed for
1,000 yards in a season in his five previous NFL seasons, but broke out in
2005, becoming only the second Bear to tally 1,300 + in a season. He
totalled 1,335 yards, 9 TDs and a 4.3 average.
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Receiving: Muhsin Muhammad- Muhammad was
Chicago's lone big signing in free agency, and playing with a rookie
quarterback he caught 64 passes for 750 yards and four touchdowns.
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Scoring: Robbie Gould- The rookie free agent
from Penn State scored 82 points with a 77.8 field goal accuracy
percentage. He was pressed into duty when Doug Brien turned out to be a
failure.
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Sacks: Adawale Ogunelye- Following a
disappointing, injury-filled 2004 season, Ogunelye led the defensive charge
with 10 sacks.
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Interceptions: Nathan Vasher- Vasher made the
Pro Bowl in his sophomore season by intercepting eight passes, returning one of
them for a touchdown versus Green Bay.
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2005 Chicago Bears Normal Starters
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QB
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RB
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RB
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WR
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WR
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LT
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LG
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C
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RG
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RT
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TE
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K
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DE
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DT
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DT
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DE
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LB
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MLB
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LB
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CB
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SS
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FS
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CB
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P
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Yes, it would be more popular to list Rex Grossman as the
team's desired starting quarterback. But Kyle Orton started 15 games, Rex
Grossman one in the regular season. Thomas Jones started 14 games, with
Adrian Peterson starting the others. Marc Edwards played fullbak until
usual starter Bryan Johnson recovered from injury. Muhsin Muhammad and
Justin Gage were the usual starting recievers, although rookie Mark Bradley did
ascend to the top before a season-ending knee injury. The offensive line
was solid. John St. Clair played well in two starts at tackle, as did
Roberto Garza when he filled in for Terrence Metcalf. Desmond Clark
somehow was voted third alternate to the Pro Bowl at tight end, and rookie
kicker Robbie Gould did the best job he could at an unsettled kicker
position. The defense was led by the starters above for all 16 games,
with the exception of several misses by safeties Mike Brown and rookie Chris
Harris. Todd Johnson, Brendan McGowan and Mike Green took their
places. Left to Right: Offense Kyle Orton, Thomas Jones,
Bryan Johnson, Muhsin Muhammad, Justin Gage, John Tait, Ruben Brown, Olin
Kreutz, Terrence Metcalf, Fred Miller, Desmond Clark, Robbie Gould. Defense
Alex Brown, Tommie Harris, Ian Scott, Adewale Ogunelye, Lance Briggs,
Brian Urlacher, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Charles Tillman, Mike Brown, Chris Harris,
Nathan Vasher, Brad Maynard.
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#
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Pos.
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Name
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School
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Exp.
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4
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P
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Brad Maynard
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Ball State
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9
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8
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QB
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Rex Grossman
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Florida
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3
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9
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K
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Robbie Gould
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Penn State
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R
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11
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QB
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Jeff Blake
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E. Carolina
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14
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12
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WR
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Justin Gage
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Missouri
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3
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14
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WR
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Craig Bragg
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UCLA
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R
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16
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WR
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Mark Bradley
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Oklahoma
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R
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17
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WR
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Airese Currie
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Clemson
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R
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18
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QB
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Kyle Orton
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Purdue
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R
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20
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RB
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Thomas Jones
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Virginia
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6
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21
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CB
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Rashied Davis
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San Jose St.
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R
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22
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CB
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Alfonso Marshall
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Miami
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2
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23
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CB
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Jerry Azumah
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New Hampshire
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7
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24
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S
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Cameron Worrell
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Fresno St.
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4
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26
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CB
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Daven Holly
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Cincinnati
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R
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27
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CB
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Chris Thompson
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Nicholls St
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R
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29
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RB
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Adrian Peterson
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Georgia S.
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4
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30
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S
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Mike Brown
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Nebraska
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6
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31
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CB
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Nathan Vasher
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Texas
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2
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32
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RB
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Cedric Benson
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Texas
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R
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33
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CB
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Charles Tillman
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Louis. Lafay.
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3
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35
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S
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Todd Johnson
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Florida
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3
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36
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S
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Brandon McGowan
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Maine
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R
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37
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FB
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Jason McKie
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Temple
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4
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43
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S
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Mike Green
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NW State
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6
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44
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FB
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Thump Belton
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Syracuse
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1
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46
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S
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Chris Harris
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LA-Monroe
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R
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47
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FB
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Bryan Johnson
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Boise State
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5
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49
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FB
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Marc Edwards
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Notre Dame
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9
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52
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LB
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Marcus Reese
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UCLA
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2
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53
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LB
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Leon Joe
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Maryland
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2
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54
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LB
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Brian Urlacher
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New Mexico
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6
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55
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LB
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Lance Briggs
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Arizona
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3
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57
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C
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Olin Kreutz
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Washington
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8
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58
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LB
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Jeremy Cain
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Mass
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2
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59
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LB
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Joe Odom
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Purdue
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3
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60
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G
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Terrence Metcalf
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Miss
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4
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62
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OL-DL
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Lennie Friedman
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Duke
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6
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63
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G-C
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Roberto Garza
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Texas A&M-K
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5
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64
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LB
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Rod Wilson
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S Carolina
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R
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65
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LS
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Patrick Mannelly
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Duke
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8
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67
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DE
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Jamaal Green
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Miami
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3
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68
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OL
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Anthony Oakley
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W Kentucky
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1
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69
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T
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Fred Miller
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Baylor
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10
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70
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DT
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Alfonso Boone
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Mt. SA JC
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5
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71
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DL
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Israel Idonije
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Manitoba
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2
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72
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OL
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Quasim Mitchell
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NC A&T
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4
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73
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DE
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Khari Long
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Baylor
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R
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74
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G
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Ruben Brown
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Pitt
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11
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76
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T
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John Tait
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BYU
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7
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78
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T
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John St. Clair
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Virginia
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6
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79
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OL
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Steve Edwards
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C. Florida
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3
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80
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WR
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Bernard Berrian
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Fresno St.
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2
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82
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TE
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Gabe Reid
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BYU
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3
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84
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WR
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Bobby Wade
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Arizona
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3
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85
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TE
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John Gilmore
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Penn State
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4
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86
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WR
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Eddie Berlin
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N Iowa
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5
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87
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WR
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Muhsin Muhammad
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Michigan St.
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10
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88
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TE
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Desmond Clark
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Wake Forest
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7
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90
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DT
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Antonio Garay
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Boston College
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2
|
91
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DT
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Tommie Harris
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Oklahoma
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2
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92
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LB
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Hunter Hillenmeyer
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Vanderbilt
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3
|
93
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DE
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Adewale Ogunleye
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Indiana
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6
|
94
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LB
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Brendon Ayanbadejo
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UCLA
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3
|
95
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DT
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Ian Scott
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Florida
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3
|
96
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DE
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Alex Brown
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Florida
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4
|
97
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DE
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Michael Haynes
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Penn State
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3
|
98
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DL
|
Darrell Campbell
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Notre Dame
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1
|
99
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DT
|
Tank Johnson
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Washington
|
2
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The Return of Ron Turner
With the hiring of Lovie Smith in 2004, Bear fans were told to
expect a focus on scoring points, something not seen in Chicago since at least
1995, possibly '85 prior to that. Smith announced at his initial press
conferences that his intention was to install an offensive attack similar to
those in Kansas City and St. Louis. Those offenses are noted for long passing
attacks and utilizing their backs and tight ends heavily.
To this end, Smith hired Kansas City quarterbacks coach
Terry Shea as his offensive coordinator, and 2004's free agent signings
tailored the Bears personnel to fit that scheme. Shea's tenure was a disaster,
and he was fired following the season.
Coincidentally Ron Turner, who was Bears offensive coordinator
under Dave Wannstedt from 1993-1996, was fired as University of Illinois Head
Coach in December 2004. Smith then announced that he wanted his offense to
focus more on running the ball, and Turner was hired again to rebuild the
offense. Turner's hiring marked the third change at this coordinator position
in three years.
In his first tenure in Chicago, his offense started out
slowly, mainly due to personnel issues. Turner's attack, described by Wannstedt
in 1993, is a west coast offense that incorporates a passing game like San
Francisco's, but relies more on the run, such as Dallas' did at the time. While
previous Bear coordinators John Shoop and Terry Shea relied on wide receiver
and running back screen passes as their "bread and butter" plays, Turner has
always utilized quick slant passes to wide receivers, much like Green Bay's
successful offenses of the past 15 years.
Turner's return was most noticable in that the Bears rose from
the 25th ranked rushing team to the 8th in 2005. The bad news was their passing
game only rose one notch, from 32nd to 31st out of two teams. Overall, the team
rose from the 32nd ranked offensive unit in 2005 to 29th in 2005. Certainly
Turner was hamstrung since he lost his starting quarterback in Rex Grossman,
who only started one regular season and one playoff game. Though Turner may
partly be at fault for calling several passes at the outset of the playoff
loss, his offense rebounded nicely in that game to score 21 points, much better
than their season average.
If the improvement of Turner's offense in the 1990's happens
also in this century, this bodes well for the Chicago Bears.
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The Bears were much quieter in the offseason prior to the 2005
campaign than they were in 2004. Whereas in '04 they signed several middle-tier
prospects, in '05 they made their biggest splash by signing WR Muhsin
Muhammad after he was released in a salary cap move by Carolina.
"Moose" cost the Bears almost $30 million on a six-year contract, but as always
the deal is very cap-friendly for the Bears. Also signed prior to the season
was G Roberto Garza from Atlanta. Another somewhat surprising move
took place when Chicago released kicker Paul Edinger, the most accurate field
goal kicker in Bears history, after a one-day competition with New York Jet
castoff Doug Brien. Brien himself would be let go early in the season after
failing on most of his tries. By virtue of their 5-11 record in 2004 and a
complicated tiebreaking formula, the Bears picked fourth in the 2005 draft,
ahead of other teams with 5-11 records. The Bears bypassed several receivers
and running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and selected Texas running back
Cedric Benson. Benson shed tears at the draft, commenting on the difficult
pre-draft process when his personal life and attitude were scrutinized. The
Bears selected unknown Oklahoma receiver Mark Bradley with their second pick,
QB Kyle Orton in the fourth and safety Chris Harris in the sixth. All of the
aforementioned players started in '05, while Benson did not. The Bears appeared
in the NFL Hall of Fame Game in Canton, OH for the first time
since 1990. They defeated Miami 27-24 in that Monday Night contest. GM
Jerry Angelo and coach Lovie Smith decided to go with Chad Hutchinson, Orton
and signee Kurt Kittner as backups to Rex Grossman, again in a
year where more proven veterans were available. In the second preseason game,
Grossman broke his ankle and it was feared he would be lost for the season.
Hutchinson was declared the team's starter in the third preseason game against
Buffalo but performed miserably. He was cut shortly thereafter and Orton was
named the starting quarterback as a rookie. Rookie running back Benson
was the second-to-last NFL draft pick to agree to terms. Benson had been in the
Chicago area to sell the house he purchased in Libertyville after the draft
when he was convinced to sit down again with team officials. The signing came
shortly after Angelo declared publicly the Bears had made their final offer and
would begin pulling money off the table going forward. At that point it was a
distinct possibility that Benson would be the first player in years to sit out
his rookie season to re-enter the draft the following year. Benson never
started in '05 and fell to third on the depth chart, although he did turn in
some strong relief work. The reason for Benson's absence were both a knee
injury that looked excruciating but ended up only being a sprain, as well as
the stellar season of Thomas Jones. Jones became the only Bear
running back other than Walter Payton to rush for over 1,300 yards in a season.
It was Jones' first thousand yard season as a professional. In November it was
announced that tackle Fred Miller had broken his jaw when he
got out of bed at night, and he missed his first two games as a professional.
It was revealed the following week, however, that he and center Olin Kreutz
were involved in a fist fight on the players' off-day, somehow in conjunction
with a visit to an FBI shooting range. The players were fined by the NFL but no
further action was taken. Grossman returned to the starting lineup
in the season's penultimate regular season game, giving him a total of six
regular season starts in three seasons. Orton started 15 games in '05. The
Bears' defense was ranked #1 overall until the final week of the regular
season, when a controversial decision was made to play backups throughout the
final meaningless game at Minnesota. Due to that the team finished being ranked
second to Tampa Bay. They came close to breaking their 1986 team record for
fewest points allowed, but that milestone was missed by virtue of opponent's
points scored in the season's final two games. Second-year cornerback Nathan
Vasher, an '04 fourth-round pick, made his first Pro Bowl by
intercepting eight passes. He also set an NFL record for the longest play
in NFL history by scoring on a 108-yard missed field goal return.
In an eerily wind-swept day on Chicago's lakefront, San Francisco attempted a
long field goal that fluttered into Vasher's hands in the back of Chicago's end
zone. After thinking briefly about downing the ball, the cornerback came out
and eventually dove in for a touchdown, 108 yards downfield, following
tremendous blocks by his teammates. On that day, for the first time the Bears
donned orange "alternate" jerseys with white numerals.
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In what was
becoming an annual ritual, the NFL watched through the 15th week of the season
to determine if the Indianapolis Colts would become only the second undefeated
team in the history of the NFL. That week, however, the San Diego Chargers
upset their hosts 26-17. The Colts, possessing homefield advantage throughout
the playoffs with a 14-2 record, would be upset in the divisional round of the
playoffs by the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a draft where no team seemed to want
the first overall pick, the 49ers ended up keeping it and selecting quarterback
Alex Smith from Utah. The draft's second-best quarterback, Aaron Rodgers from
Cal, lasted to the 24th where he was selected by Green Bay. The jury remains
out on both passers. Denver hosted the AFC Championship game but lost to
Pittsburgh, and Seattle soundly defeated Carolina. The Steelers, once deemed to
be out of the race in the regular season, won Super Bowl 39 21-10 in Detroit.
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2005 Bears Draft
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Rd
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Pos
|
Name
|
School
|
1
|
RB
|
Cedric Benson
|
Texas
|
2
|
WR
| Mark Bradley
|
Oklahoma
|
3
|
3-To Miami in '04 Ogunelye trade.
|
4
|
QB
|
Kyle Orton
|
Purdue
|
5
|
WR
|
Airese Currie
|
Clemson
|
6
|
S
|
Chris Harris
|
LA-Monroe
|
7
|
LB
|
Rod Wilson
|
S. Carolina
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2005 Bears Trades
|
2005 third-round pick to Miami in '04 Ogunelye trade.
2006 seventh-round pick to Miami for linebacker Brendon
Ayanbadejo
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2005 Bears Free Agent Signings
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Muhsin Muhammad,WR, Carolina
Fred Miller, T, Tennessee
Roberto Garza, G, Atlanta
Brendan McGowan, S, Free Agent
Marc Edwards, FB, Free Agent
Jeff Blake, QB, Free Agent
Robbie Gould, K, Penn State
others...
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2005 Bears Retirements
|
None
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2005 Chicago Bears Awards
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NFC North Division Champs
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NFL Record, 61 Points allowed at home
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Brian Urlacher, NFL Defensive Player of the Year
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Lovie Smith, NFL Coach of the Year
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Brian Urlacher, LB, Pro Bowl (4)
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Olin Kreutz, C, Pro Bowl (5)
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Mike Brown, S, Pro Bowl (1)
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Nathan Vasher, CB, Pro Bowl (1)
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Tommie Harris, DT, Pro Bowl (1)
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Lance Briggs, LB, Pro Bowl (1)
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Brian Urlacher, NFC Defensive Player of the Week
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Nathan Vasher, NFC Defensive Player of the Week
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Nathan Vasher, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
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Alex Brown, NFC Defensive Player of the Week
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Robbie Gould, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
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