Rex Grossman Backed by Chicago Bears Fans for Once

When Rex Grossman sets foot on the turf in the new Lucas Oil Stadium opening night to take on the Colts as the starting QB for the Chicago Bears, and believe me, he WILL be the starter, he will have something in his back pocket that perhaps he never expected to have again. Support from the fans back home.

Here's what Larry Mayer, writer for ChicagoBears.com had to report on a few recent polls taken by the website of the Monsters Of The Midway:

"According to recent poll results on ChicagoBears.com, Bears fans think that quarterback Rex Grossman and rookie running back Matt Forte will start the season opener, Grossman will lead NFC North quarterbacks in touchdown passes in 2008 and Chris Williams will have the best NFL career among the Bears’ top three draft picks.

Here’s a breakdown of the numbers:

When asked to select the quarterback/running back tandem they expect to start the season opener in Indianapolis, 39.5 percent of the 23,126 respondents voted for Grossman/Forte, 34.6 percent chose Grossman/Cedric Benson, 17.7 percent picked Kyle Orton/Forte and 8.1 percent tabbed Orton/Benson.

In a poll that asked which NFC North quarterback would throw the most TD passes this season, 44.2 percent of the 27,359 voters selected Grossman, 21.0 percent chose the Lions’ Jon Kitna, 18.4 percent picked Orton, 10.5 percent tabbed the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and 5.9 percent chose the Vikings’ Tarvaris Jackson."

Has Chicago finally awakened from their ignorant delirium that switching the QB out every time a bump in the road comes along is one day going to just hand us a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady?

Has Brett Favre's support of Grossman when he speaks to the media and tells them, "Hey, it took me five years to develop into the QB I needed to be..." finally hit home in Chicagoans' heads?

It seems to be that way.

Grossman's victories in the polls came at astounding numbers. Not only did he take the top spot for the starting QB in the RB/QB poll, but he took the number two spot as well. Fans think it's a solid bet that Grossman will start this season with either Forte or Benson in the backfield.

And it seems the fans feel that he's going to keep that starting spot. They voted him as the NFC North QB most likely to throw the most TDs this season.

These polls may seem small and meager to some, but to Grossman, that's nearly 20,000 fans that think he's the guy. This could be a major confidence booster for the QB who's had more than his fair share of criticism in Chicago.

And the worst part of it is that when you break it down, Grossman's far from the scapegoat Chicago has made him out to be.

He came back from two consecutive season ending injuries and improved his team, taking one of the worst offenses in the league (under Kyle Orton in 2005) and making it one of the best in 2006, en route to a Super Bowl berth.  He is far from the draft bust everyone seems to think he is.

It's become a sad and pathetic fad to hate Grossman in Chicago. I've noticed that most of the "haters" have relatively little knowledge of Grossman and seem to be on the bandwagon for the heck of it.

So just to help Chicago fans to brush up on the QB situation as it stands coming from 2007:

•The notion that Grossman can't take a snap now looks to be more on the shoulders of center Olin Kreutz. Grossman had only one fumbled snap in 2007, while QBs Brian Griese had four and Kyle Orton had five in only three games. Haters need to get a new slogan besides, "He can't even take a snap right."

•Fans criticize Grossman for his turnovers, though Tom Brady had more fumbles over the past three seasons than he did.

Brett Favre, who will undoubtedly be a hall of famer, holds the all-time INT record. Kyle Orton holds the team-high INT record for current QBs on the roster with six in one game, which came when he played the Panthers in 2005.

Chicago needs to wake up and smell the roses. Grossman isn't the only QB in the world to turn the ball over.

•And we had zero, zip, zilch, and nada for an offensive line in 2006 and 2007. Jones helped the cause in '06 by adding a better than average running game, but Benson killed any respect teams had for Chicago's run game in '07 when he dropped to the bottom of the league in yards per carry.

Grossman's line was horrid, finishing second worst to only the Detroit Lions, giving up a sack every 10-15 pass attempts. Perhaps the new, younger, and stronger line can give Grossman enough time to be an effective passer.

Now's the time, Rex! From what it seems, Chicago believes in you. So does the team, and so do I.

And I guarantee you, if Rex Grossman gets the receiving corps and the offensive line he deserves, he will be a Pro Bowl QB in no time.