Countdown to Kickoff… 96 Days Until Chicago Bears Season Opener

I decided to do a countdown to the Chicago Bears season opener on September 8th versus the Cincinnati Bengals.  Thanks to one of my followers on Twitter @Beneiserle, I decided to combine the countdown with a roster preview of sorts.  

The Bears don’t have a #96 on their current roster, so I’m selecting Alex Brown as my favorite 96 for today’s countdown to kickoff.  The former Florida Gator had to be one of my favorite Jerry Angelo draft picks.  Angelo stole Brown in the fourth round of the 2002 draft.

Brown became a consistent performer at defensive end and has to be one of Angelo’s best draft day surprises.  He finished his 8 year run with the Bears with 43.5 sacks.  More surprisingly, he had 5 interceptions.  Not too shabby for a DE.  Brown’s big paws always seemed to be there to block a key field goal, like they were back late in 2008, when he blocked a Mason Crosby FG attempt to help the Bears to an overtime victory over the Packers.

I still feel ripped off that we never got to see Brown play opposite Julius Peppers.  Shortly after the Bears acquired Peppers, they released Brown when they failed to trade him.  He finished his career with the New Orleans Saints.