The NFL Network’s Deion Sanders disputed the idea that Super Bowl XLVII, set to be coached by brothers Jim and John Harbaugh, be called the Bro Bowl.  He said it should be called Bro Bowl II, since the first such bowl game coached by “brothers” was Super Bowl XLI, when our own Chicago Bears coached by Lovie Smith matched up with the Tony Dungy led Indianapolis Colts.  I’m not making it up.  Check out this clip from YouTube (click refresh if you don’t see the video box below):

The funniest part is watching host Rich Eisen squirm as Prime and Co. pour it on.  ”Am I lyin’?”

I’m not saying that Briggs is headed to IR, but it certainly appears that there is doubt about him being able to go on Sunday versus the Rams.

If there is ANY chance that he could worsen his condition, he should sit.  This season is over anyway, so don’t put 2010 in jeopardy.   I guess it would be fitting for Briggs to be done since fellow linebackers Brian Urlacher and Pisa Tinoisamoa have already cashed in their chips on the 2009 season.

June should be able to get up to speed with the Bears’ system quickly, since he’s played the Cover-2 under Lovie Smith’s mentor Tony Dungy in Indianapolis.  I hope he can contribute, but at the same time, I hope he doesn’t have to.  If he does, it would be at the expense of Briggs.

BEAR DOWN!!!

TMZ had the web buzzing with a Michael Vick to the Bears rumor on Wednesday

The Twitter-verse was ablaze on Wednesday afternoon with tweets coming from all angles about the TMZ video showing Michael Vick in Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Tuesday night.  Was he coming to Chicago to sign with the Bears?  Lovie Smith’s close friend and Michael Vick mentor Tony Dungy has alluded that he expects the rehabilitated QB will sign with an NFL team within the next week.  Could the Vick saga be coming to an end in Chicago?   Not so fast, TMZ. (more…)

The Hyatt event was billed as a “Welcome Home” reception, where Obama met the coach and quarterback of the Chicago Bears – Lovie Smith and Jay Cutler – as well as retired Chicago Bulls point guard, B.J. Armstrong, and Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets.

“I’m honored to be a part of the welcoming group to welcome home my favorite son,” Smith told the crowd. “I have the audacity of hope that the Chicago Bears will some day be visiting the White House giving the president a Chicago Bears football to toss around on the South Lawn.”

(more…)

“I don’t think anything about what Tony said is earth-shattering,” Ditka said. “I think it’s a fact. [Cutler] came here under uncertain circumstances. The way he got out of Denver was kind of strange. But the kid is a talent.”

But Da Coach, master marketer and of the endorsement deal and holder of the key to the City offered Cutler this fine advice:

“If they win with Jay Cutler and go to the Super Bowl, he will own this city,” he said. “He can have my key.”

It’s actually shocking that anyone associated with the ’85 Bears is willing to share so much as the key to the executive bathroom at Halas Hall.  Those guys have been milking that Super Bowl title for nearly 25 years.  Do you think they want the current Bears team to take the title so they can just ride into the sunset?  Nah, me neither.  Da Orange-hued Ditka offered Jay some more tips to succeeding in the Windy City:

“The worst thing that you could ever do in this city is come in here and be a complainer or a whiner,” Ditka said. “If you do that, you have a problem. So I think if he comes in here and shows that he’s the leader of this football team …

“From what I understand from talking to the people I talk to, he has been a model citizen, and the city has really embraced him.”

“You’ll find out a lot when the pressure’s on,” he said. “We’ll find out once the season starts, when things are either going good or not so good, you find out how people respond to that.”

Lovie Smith’s close friend and mentor Tony Dungy announced his retirement as Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Monday.  Dungy gave Smith his first NFL coaching experience when he hired him as a Linebackers coach for Tampa Bay.  The close friends crossed paths in an historic matchup in Super Bowl XLI, when Dungy became the first African-American Head Coach to win a Super Bowl.  Lovie’s comments from the Chicago Bears website:

“I’m happy for Tony and his family, but sad for our league because we are losing one of the all-time great coaches,” Smith said. “He is one of the modern-day pioneers of our game. His résumé includes achievements no other NFL head coach has accomplished, which I’m sure will lead to a spot in the Hall of Fame. And as great of a coach as he is, he’s an even better person.

“I owe Tony a lot. I would not be in my position today if it wasn’t for him providing me with an opportunity and mentorship. I learned a tremendous amount of football in my time with Tony in Tampa and made a friend for life. I’m proud to be a member of his coaching tree.”

I was able to find some cool NFL Films footage with the Dungy Coaching Tree on the www.nfl.com.  Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.  Part 4 is a tad bittersweet as it highlights Super Bowl XLI as the crowning achievement of the Dungy Coaching Tree.  I’d like to think the crowning achievement is yet to come for the Chicago Branch of the Dungy Coaching Tree.

BEAR DOWN!!!