By JOEY JOHNSTON

The Tampa Tribune

(c) Tampa Bay Times. Originally published Jan. 21, 2007.

CHICAGO – If you read a newspaper in this town, if you listen to talk radio, if you stop an average fan in the street, you will hear many words to describe Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman.

Except this one.

Dull.

Call it Rex’s Wild Ride. Buckle in and hang on tight.

Good Rex: Dynamic playmaker. Fearless gunslinger. Charismatic leader.

Bad Rex: Careless with the ball. Flippant. At times, spectacularly bad.

The bottom line is this: He’s a winner. The Bears were 13-3 in the regular season. Last week, they won in the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

And in today’s NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field – where frigid, snowy Bears weather is in the forecast – Chicago can shuffle back to the Super Bowl for the first time since its larger-than-life 1985 team captured the championship.

For Grossman, the former Gator who’s in his first full season as an NFL starter, that’s pretty good stuff.

Yet, no matter what, he can’t win. Not really.

If the Bears prevail, it will be in spite of Grossman. If they don’t, well, guess who’s at fault?

In what should be the best time of his football life, he has tuned out the world. He measures his words carefully. The inner circle is tighter than ever. Can you blame him? The all-Rex, all-the-time backdrop has taken on a ridiculous tone.

Learning On The Job

Things came apart on a Monday night in mid-October, when Grossman played horribly (six turnovers), but the Bears used defense and special teams to somehow rally past the Arizona Cardinals.

It got worse, even in a victory against the Minnesota Vikings that clinched the NFC North, when Grossman had a 1.3 passer rating and later told a Chicago Tribune reporter that “it was hard to look your teammates in the face after such a bad performance.”

Then Grossman unwittingly threw chum to the grumbling masses on Dec.31, after a meaningless loss to Green Bay. Grossman (passer rating: 0.0) said what everyone else thought: There was no buzz. The Bears just wanted to avoid injuries. Preparation didn’t feel the same. He said New Year’s Eve might have been a possible distraction.

Uh, bad answer, Rex.

“The thing about Chicago [fans], it’s really like a family,” Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. “If you’re doing well, they pat you on the back. When you’re doing bad, they tell you how bad you’re really doing.

“They’re not going to hold their tongue. Chicago [fans] never hold their tongue about how they feel about what’s going on.”

Grossman has the DNA of a gambling, go-for-broke type of player. He is learning how to manage a game, a needed quality for Chicago, always a defensive-minded organization. At Florida, Grossman never took what the defense gave him. He took what he wanted. He won games. But the Bears just want someone not to lose them.

Let’s not lose sight of this. Through this getting-comfortable-in-his-own-skin process, this young career that already has been haunted by two serious injuries, Grossman still is one victory away from the Super Bowl.

Lovie Smith Never Blinked

Bears coach Lovie Smith has been unwavering. Grossman is his quarterback. Even though the calls got louder for backup Brian Griese, Smith never blinked. And last week, Grossman’s performance against Seattle (21 of 38, 282 yards) justified that faith.

“Did he have 17 perfect games? No. But I put a lot of stock in a guy being a leader, convincing the rest of his teammates he can get the job done,” Smith said.

“I’ve never seen a player go through as much criticism as Rex Grossman this year and he’s a quarterback who led us to 14 wins. He’s a married guy who’s outstanding off the field, does everything anyone would want him to do. … So it’s puzzling to know why a guy would have to go through that.”

It’s the job description, really. NFL quarterback might be the most difficult job in sports – and that doesn’t include off-the-field scrutiny. Add in overflowing Bears mania, and you have a cauldron.

“I couldn’t imagine how I would be if I had to go through the same thing,” Briggs said. “Rex kind of lets it brush off his shoulders. He continues to play.”

He’s still a young, developing quarterback, far from a sure thing. But now he has an opportunity to bury the talk. He can go to the Super Bowl.

“Everyone has that feeling of ‘We’re so close,'” Grossman said. “You have to focus and make sure you play the best game you’ve ever played in your life.”

The nation’s fans are largely rooting for the feel-good story of the New Orleans Saints. Surely, they aren’t expecting the best game of Grossman’s life. But if Chicago makes the Super Bowl, Grossman deserves his due, even from Bears fans who still cover their eyes when he drops into the pocket.