There's No "I" in Team

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 24, 2007 1:53PM

Following Sunday's 19-16 win in Philadephia, Bears QB Brian Griese seemed to think that because there is an "I" in win, he would take the credit and claimed to have called the plays that resulted in the game winning 97-yard touchdown drive at the end of Sunday's game. He had no choice, he said, because the radio communication in his helmet stopped working just before the drive began.

When the season's going as poorly it has for the Bears, it's understandable that everybody who can lay claim to something positive would want to do so. But feathers were ruffled — and not just the Eagles' — by Griese's statement to the media. That may explain why Griese showed up at Halas Hall on Monday — "victory Monday" no less, meaning a day off for players — to hold a press conference and spread the credit like he spread the ball on Sunday. He praised Ron Turner's 2-minute drills in the playbook, and he said it wasn't better that the two couldn't communicate with the game on the line. He explained that quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton mouthed in plays. Griese's play calling was confined to no-huddle situations, which is the norm in such situations. So the winning drive was a team effort, not an act of individual brilliance, got that?

Lest some fans begin fantasizing about Griese becoming some gun-slinging offensive juggernaut out there on Sundays, David Haugh explains why letting a QB call his own plays is a bad idea. Whatever Griese had to do because of an equipment failure is one thing, but it shouldn't become the standard. Let's just hope the headsets work this coming Sunday and that equipment manager Tony Medlin can be on the list of thank yous. Griese may be better than Grossman, but he's still no Manning or Brady.

Image via AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy.