Line of Scrimmage: Hester Situation Another Bad Sign for Bears

Football Betting Lines

07/24/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Football Betting) - When your best offensive hope is a wide receiver with 20 career catches, you've got a problem.

When that figure threatens to sit out the season, your problem has become a crisis.

Bears all-purpose maven Devin Hester isn't happy with his contract, and the man many were expecting to develop into Chicago's No. 1 receiver this year could instead be relaxing at his Florida home throughout 2008.

At least that's the way Hester, who feels he's outperformed the four-year, $2.88 million deal he signed in 2006, tells it.

"It's time for me to take a stand," the third-year player - and surprise training camp holdout - told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. "We're going to stand by our decision to do this, and we feel like this can go down to whenever in the season or the end of the season. No matter what."

Most of that posture, of course, is tough but toothless talk. Hester definitely isn't sitting out the season, since he'd lose accrued time towards free agency and would end up costing himself too much money in the long run.

He's going to show up at Bears camp by August 5th, new deal or not, because he'll be screwing himself if he doesn't.

At the moment, however, he's simply sticking it to a franchise for whose 2008 fortunes he holds a very important key.

Hester, two years since being drafted out of Miami as a return specialist and backup defensive back, was expected to make a full-time transition to receiving duties this year.

The highly nondescript makeup of the rest of the team's wideout corps made Hester a shoo-in for a starting slot. Rookie Earl Bennett, average holdovers Rashied Davis and Mark Bradley, and incoming castoffs Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd, are the other guys working at the position.

See a lot of fantasy possibilities in that group? Maybe if your fantasy is masochism.

We still have no clue who's throwing the football for Chicago, though we are fairly certain it's going to be a member of "the two evils" duo - Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman.

Who's going to run it? Either unknown commodity and second-round draft pick Matt Forte (Tulane) or the recently-acquired Kevin Jones, who has been injured most of his adult life.

Ice that rancid cake with a dollop of Devin Hester drama, and you've got yourself an even bigger mess. Already-testy Bears fans know a questionable attack gets unquestionably worse without the dazzling All-Pro in the lineup, and Hester and agent Eugene Parker seem to be using that P.R. sentiment to their advantage.

"I would say 95 percent of Chicago fans are saying why not reward a player that's been here two years and has contributed to the team in the ways I have," said Hester.

The problem is that the Bears are notorious for their unwillingness to spend money, and probably thought they were done shelling out cash after inking Brian Urlacher, Tommie Harris, and Lance Briggs to lucrative but necessary contracts this offseason.

Hester's approach toward obtaining a new deal is unlikely to make management very happy, but the return man isn't interested in appealing to their sense of affection for him. Instead, he's doing a little fear-mongering, forcing the organization and its fans to picture the team without him.

And that picture should make all involved extremely nervous.

COMMANDING CAMPBELL

The Detroit Lions and rookie safety Caleb Campbell were both dealt a serious blow this week when the U.S. Department of Defense determined that Campbell, a West Point graduate, would not be permitted to play for the team as originally arranged.

Campbell, whom the Lions selected in the seventh round based on the understanding that he would be permitted to report to the team rather than honoring the standard two-year service commitment, was informed on Wednesday that the Army had reversed that policy. Controversy over the waiver apparently provoked the re-thinking of their decision.

On one hand, we understand the Department of Defense's flip-flop. Why should the ability to play in the NFL remove a major part of the commitment Campbell made when he entered West Point? Couldn't other Cadets rightfully argue for permission to accept private sector jobs requiring them to do more important work than, say, tackling Minnesota Vikings wide receivers?

At the same time, we think that a one-time exception should be made and Campbell be permitted to play in the league as intended, if only for practical reasons.

There is no chance of the Army putting him in harm's way after the P.R. nightmare that was the Pat Tillman saga. If you're just going to hide Campbell, Elvis-style, in some cushy assignment, then what's the point of damaging or ending the guy's football career? Campbell could have done a lot more for the Army's image and reputation by being a high-profile member of the Detroit Lions than he will be as a graduate assistant with the West Point football team this fall.

MOSTLY QUIET ON THE ROOKIE FRONT

With unhappy veteran players like Hester, Brett Favre, and Brian Westbrook garnering many of the early training camp headlines, there has been little room for discussion of potential long-term rookie holdouts.

That's mostly because there won't be many.

The league's top four picks - Jake Long, Chris Long, Matt Ryan, and Darren McFadden - have already signed, leaving the Chiefs' Glenn Dorsey (No. 5) as the highest pick who has yet to sign a deal.

With other first-rounders like the Patriots' Jerod Mayo (No. 10), Bears' Chris Williams (No. 14), Ravens' Joe Flacco (No. 18), Jets' Dustin Keller (No. 30), and Giants' Kenny Phillips (No. 31) signed as well, and thus some loose parameters for potential contract numbers in place, there simply won't be a vast amount of wiggle room for either agents or management to hold out for better deals.

BELL RINGS FOR CHIEFS FANS

Hall of Fame linebacker and Kansas City Chiefs legend Bobby Bell once remarked that his first job involved working for General Motors, and that he moonlighted as an NFL player.

The time when players were required to work day jobs and were very much a part of their community is mostly part of a bygone era, though Bell is part of a group attempting to bridge the divide between NFL figures and fans that has grown in recent years.

In connection with the Chiefs and YTB Travel, Bell recently helped launch a "fan rewards" program designed to connect with fans and season ticket holders spanning 48 different states.

The program gives fans ultimate access and interaction with the Chiefs. Fans can win "insider" Game Day Packages, watch a preseason game from a luxury suite, and win the unique experience of becoming a Chiefs player for a day, among other prizes.

"Fans don't have a relationship with the players, they're untouchable," said Bell. "This rewards program gets the fans back involved with the game and the team. You can become Chiefs player for a day, win lunch with the team, cruises with the Chiefs players, signed jerseys and memorabilia - all designed to re- connect with the fans and get the players back involved."

More information on the program is available at chiefstravel.com.