In Rex Grossman, the Texans have a Super Bowl experienced QB as a backup
Certainly, the name Rex Grossman strikes fear and nausea into the hearts and stomachs of Bears’ fans, much the same way that David Carr does to the Texans’ fans. During that 2006 season for the Bears, everyone except Lovie Smith seemed to know that Grossman was a liability on the field as the starting QB. Ah, but in retrospect, Coach Smith didn’t exactly have many great options that year either.
Some folks will say that Kyle Orton was the answer, but if you were watching in 2005, and obviously Lovie Smith was, Orton’s 59.7% pass completion coupled with 13 interceptions and only 8 TD’s were not great indicators of likely future success. Granted, Orton was able to get his starting spot back and had a respectable year in 2008, putting up a 79% completion rate. Nonetheless, the Bears and Coach Smith were all-too eager to let Orton and a couple of draft picks go to the Broncos in exchange for a QB in Cutler whom they thought could actually lead the team to a championship.
Obviously, Orton was indeed not the answer, and truthfully, neither was Grossman, but Coach Smith’s rationale was very reasonable. If Grossman had held the helm at QB all season, leading them to the NFC Championship, he certainly was the guy for the job. Unfortunately, for Grossman and the Bears’ fans, Superbowl XLI was lost, and much of the blame fell on Grossman and even Lovie Smith, perhaps rightfully so. As a result of that, many fans outside of Chicago, even people who could care less about the fate of the Bears, held Grossman responsible for that loss and held his name in contempt. (The writer here confesses to his share of the guilt in that as well.)
But, now Mr. Grossman is a Texan. That changes everything, or at least hopefully it changes his more recent completion percentages and touchdown-to-interception ratio for the better. When the Texans first signed Grossman on June 12, they said he would be competing with Alex Brink for the third spot, but it did not take Coach Kubiak and Rick Smith long to figure out that Grossman’s experience put him well ahead of Brink, so Brink was released 12 days later. Now, he apparently will be competing for the #2 spot with Dan Orlovsky.
A case could be made for either one of them as the #2 guy. If you wanted to argue records alone, Grossman would definitely be far out in front of Orlovsky. After all, Orlovsky has 12 games to his credit and he is yet to taste victory. The more adept and attentive Bears’ fans will tell you that Grossman’s 19-12 record is more a result of their defense than Grossman’s leadership and skill, and perhaps they are correct. So, even if the records are tossed out, Grossman’s experience as a starter is almost three times that of Orlovsky’s. The two QB’s do have similar career completion rates, with the edge going to Orlovsky, and Grossman’s is further diminished by a downward trend from his first year on.
This should be an interesting competition to watch once training camp starts, and as Texans’ fans have witnessed in the recent years, the outcome is likely to have consequences in the regular season. Personally, I think either o
ne of these guys has the talent to be a dependable back-up QB. And, now that they both have essentially been given a chance to reinvent themselves in a new home, perhaps they will get a chance to prove they can be dependable starters too. The intention here is not to diminish in anyway Orlovsky. It’s just that I never had any angst toward that poor fellow while he was at the helm of a team destined to achieve the unspeakable—an 0-16 record.
Unfortunately for Grossman, and perhaps even unfairly, I did have some disdain for him and have used his name in parallel with the likes of David Carr. Now that he is a Texan, I want to like him. He took the first step toward making many new friends and fans recently when he showed great humility and appreciation for his newfound lot in life. Here is a guy who won an NFC Championship and was the starting QB on a Superbowl team, and he sounded delighted to come into Houston for the NFL minimum for his experience and compete for the third-string spot. Shortly thereafter, he had it secured. He also managed to shake loose his affinity with Carr, at least in my mind, by thus far demonstrating his simple passion for playing football.
Ultimately, this turns out to be yet another seemingly terrific move by the Texans’ organization in this impressive offseason. The Texans now have a 29-year-old, former Superbowl QB on the team as a third-stringer for bare minimums. I’m sure the Bears’ fans have not forgiven Grossman for the biggest loss of his career, but here’s hoping Rex can forge a new, positive career as a Texan, and here’s hoping he makes the most of every chance he might get on the field. Though, let’s hope those chances only come when the game is well in hand, and Mr. Schaub is only resting on the bench.
July 14th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I defended Rex when he was in Chicago and I’ll defend him now. He’s not just a backup with Super Bowl experience. He’s a QB with an arm that can make all the NFL throws on target. Yeah he blew a couple of games, but I’d argue he didn’t blow the Super Bowl. The Bear’s defense getting gashed for 220 some odd rushing yards by the Colts’ ground game ultimately put them under.
Grossman now has a new lease, with a new team, helmed by a great coach known for developing QBs. If he gets his shot - and I sincerely hope he does - he’ll find his rhythm and make Slaton and Johnson, along with every die hard Texan fan, very happy.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
We Shall Return, glad to see he is getting that kind of support already. Yeah, some friends of mine who are serious Bears’ fans agree with your assessment of the Super Bowl that year, and I do too, particularly when given the collective team stats. If Schaub gets hurt this year, I believe Rex will get a shot to demonstrate his true renaissance, and he is already gaining many fans’ respect with his approach to the new lease on his career. Thanks for the input!
July 15th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Nice entry. I think it’ll be very intersting to see who Kubiak decides to go with as his back-up QB, Orlovsky or Grossman. And considering Matt “Glass-Jaw” Schaub’s past, one of those QB’s will probably see some heavy playing time during the course of the upcoming season.
What do you make of the Texans’ inability to sign Dunta Robinson to a long-term deal this offseason? Robinson has said he could sit out all of training camp and possibly a portion of the season. How will all this affect Houston’s season?
July 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am
he was cut and didnt get a nisff from other teams beacuase hes terrible and has no confidence. its terrible when your former coach says you are a mental retard. he should be happy to collect his 600k then go back to living off daddys $$
July 21st, 2009 at 10:09 am
Makes me laugh when Bear fans blame Grossman for that Super Bowl loss.
They are so blatantly deluded into believing their defense was so great they can’t seem to accept that Peyton Manning and the Colts ripped their vaunted D into tiny shreds and stomped on it all game long.
Their defense was absolutely humiliated. The Colts went up and down the field, holding onto the ball at will. The Bear D couldn’t get them off the field. It was a total beat down. An embarrassment.
FWIW, they did have the 2nd best scoring offense in the league that year, and Grossman had a lot to do with that. He also made HUGE plays in the NFC Championship game that year.
Maybe that’s why they hate Grossman so much. He took them too far. If not for his heroics in that NFC Championship Game to bring the Bears back and get them into the SB, the Bear fans would never have had to watch their Defense get waxed by Manning and the Colts.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Collin, the failure to sign Dunta to a long-term contract is one of the very few things I have criticized in the Texans’ offseason, because they have always said they want to reward the guys who make big contributions to the team. With that said, Dunta is going to get a very nice paycheck each week this year. Since it is in essence a contract year, I’m sure Dunta will play at his best–besides, he seems to have lots of respect for his teammates. If he does well, we will try hard to give him a long-term deal, but only if he still wants to be a Texan next year. But, then again, we still have the franchise option again next year–though it shouldn’t be necessary.
Mikenike, at least the nice thing is that he has a good attitude about it, all things considered, and does indeed seem happy to collect his league minimum for his experience. That’s much more than what I would say for others with less character, regardless of their ability. Still, as a Texans’ fan, I am hoping he is a true renaissance man.
Brian, you may be right. Sometimes, the media (including an organization’s own PR group) can adversely affect how players are remembered. Rex had a strong year, and a great NFC Championship, and he was often bailed out by the defense. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bail out the defense in the SB, and as fans we often get caught up in believing that the QB should be able to put the entire team on his shoulders and carry them through every challenge. But, in the end, it takes a team…. Thanks for the input everyone!
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
This crap that Grossman’s record was only because of their defense has almost no merit. It’s a myth.
Did the Bears defense help? Absolutely. I can think of only ONE game that Grossman should have lost, but his defense bailed him out. The fiasco in Arizona on Monday night. That’s the ONLY game the defense truly won.
The rest of those wins had a lot to do with the defense playing well, and Grossman throwing bombs to Berrian.
The defense was to blame for the Super Bowl as well. They couldn’t get off the field, and allowed about 7 yards per rush.
Seriously, read my article on Bleacher Report about Grossman.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4257-why-bears-fans-shouldnt-hate-rex-grossman
Granted, this article was written a while back, and I couldn’t be happier to have Cutler. However, Grossman got a raw deal in Chicago and just proved to me again and again that typical Bears fans are morons.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Jack, I checked out your article from 2007, and I was surprised to see so much support for him at the time. (Almost made me think you were related to him or something.) But, you did make a good argument and defended it well in the comments too. My only concern with him was the lack of interest in him from other teams. I tend to defer to some of the experience and wisdom of the NFL staffs, and it didn’t seem as though anyone other than Kubiak wanted to give Rex a new chance. Still, I hope it works out for the best for him and us.
Now, I’d say that Cutler will end up being the best QB the Bears have had behind center. Getting rid of Orton and picking him up was a great move by the Bears and a dumb move by the Broncos. Still, only the upcoming season will tell for sure. Thanks for reading and thanks for the input.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Rex Grossman is not a bad QB. I am a Die Hard Chicago Bears fan. Born & raised on the southside of the Chi. I now go to school & live in Houston, so I have love for the Texans. However I dont think Rex should have gotten the treatment he did at home. Chicago is a blue collar town, & the fans are ruff when it comes to da Bears & even da Cubs!!! However some people forget that Rex was injured his first couple of seasons & his first full year playing without injury was the year they went to the Super Bowl. Many variables come into effect here. Rex’s injuries, also honestly his line was not worth crap..I mean they were average, also the bears defenses is not that great. They can be ver very good if all cylinders are clicking, but honestly their D-line was not healthy..& their defensive backs got exposed…especially during the Super Bowl. Also when Rex played in last years pre-season games, it almost was not fair considering how he got sacked, & embarrased with no O-line protection. Of course Kyle was going to get the job…granted that Rex did need to work on his fundamentals more, & start scrambling out the pocket when there is trouble. He is better than any of the other Florida QB’s that came out. Also Ron Turner took forever to cater to Rex’s strengths..you know like shotgun packages, & no huddles, Rex was doing those things at Florida, & granted I am not a Gator Fan..big ups to The Fighting Illini, I respect Rex’s talent. He can be a starter for a team without the added pressure, he could definately use the support from Houston fans.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Mr. Supreme, hell, you guys are getting me down right excited about having Rex on the Texans. I am glad to see he has that much support, and I hope this second chance works out well for him and us.
While I never have lived in Chicago, I have been a bit of a fan going back to the days of The Fridge and Sweetness. Never really disliked that team, but now I am an even bigger fan, because I want to see Cutler do very well as a result of the aliens who have taken over my former favorite team in Denver.
I’d be OK with a Chicago vs. Houston SB, and as a Texans fan, I would be delighted regardless of the results….this year anyway.
Thanks for the input!