O Captain! My Captain! Bears announce Team Captains for 2013
By Coach Boss
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bears have named their Captains for the 2013 season; they are as follows:
The offensive Captains are: Quarterback Jay Cutler and Center Roberto Garza.
The Defensive Captains are: Linebacker Lance Briggs and Defensive End Julius Peppers.
Special Teams Captain is: Long Snapper Patrick Mannelly.
This will be the 5th season Cutler has served as a Captain and the 3rd for Garza. Peppers has been a Captain for the Bears since he signed with the club as a free agent in 2010. This will be Briggs’ 1st full season as a Captain (he took over Captain duties from former linebacker Brian Urlacher in 2009 and 2012 when Urlacher went down each season with an injury).
This year will be the 6th consecutive year Mannelly has been voted on by his teammates to be a Captain. Mannelly is the longest tenured Bear as he has been with the club since 1998. He also has a pretty neat website that focuses on teaching others how to be a good long snapper.
Coach (Marc) Trestman made the announcement to the players in a meeting on Friday. None of the players chosen are much of a surprise. Jay Cutler is the quarterback and the leader of this team. Roberto Garza is the glue that has held the offensive line together for the past few years and has been a starter offense for the Bears longer than any of his teammates. Julius Peppers and Lance Briggs are two veterans that have earned the respect of the locker room and Patrick Mannelly is the best long snapper in the NFL; he is one of the most respected players in the locker room as well as the league.
Many people don’t recognize what a big deal Captains are to a team. It is usually the Captains that make sure their team is operating at its peak levels. The coach can’t be on the field and other players (especially the young players) can feel overwhelmed at times and will look to the veterans (typically the Captains) as a calming influence, word of encouragement or a needed kick in the butt.
This looks like a good group to me. What do you think Bears fans? Who would you select as Captains for the 2013 season?