Bears are targeting young players for backup quarterback

The Chicago Bears new offensive coordinator Mike Martz recently made it clear that he does not want a veteran to play as the team’s fourth quarterback. His eyes are on rookies and less experienced players. That could explain well the Bears’ move to sign former Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel, who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings last year but had to take off his Vikings jersey this offseason after playing very little last season.

Teel is expected to join the team’s trio of backup candidates, including Caleb Hanie and Dan LeFevour. They are supposed to be equal in role with each other, but actually Hanie has always been playing the No.2 role all the time and he was the only backup quarterback who made passes in real-time games. As the sixth-round draft pick of this year, LeFevour hardly has any advantage in the competition, and Teel may need some time to get adjusted to new team’s system. So it’s still likely to see Hanie as the No.2 quarterback behind starter Jay Cutler.

Without a quarterback like the one in No.4 Favre jersey, the Bears are focusing a lot on the backups, so that they can make sure to still have a excellent leading role when starting quarterback had to leave the field. Cutler is much younger than Favre and may be less inclined to sustain injuries, but a good insurance is make the team feel comfortable.

Steelers OT Hills wants to get promotion

The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Tony Hills has been with the team for two years but he has yet played in a single team since being drafted as a fourth-round pick by the Steelers. Entering his third NFL season, Hills hopes that he could get enough recognition and get a promotion during the training camp.

"Patience," Hills said. "That's been the biggest thing. I haven't had a lot of that growing up."

Well, Hills first need patience to wait until July 30 for the beginning of the training camp. At age 25, he feels it urgent to play some important role before he is getting too old to impress anyone. With a team winning Super Bowls for six times, Hills is facing a fierce competition for any visible role. But now his chance just comes as starter Willie Colon happened to rupture his right Achilles tendon in June and is expected to miss the season. Hills just immediately realized that it was time to stop hanging around in his favorite Favre jersey and do something to increase his own value.

While it’s unlikely for Hills to get the starting job, he could be eligible for a backup role. At the moment, he just hopes the camp to come soon so that he can carry out his plan of impressing the coaches.

Die-hard fan made bet on Favre’s return

After Brett Favre made a bet with his alumni baseball team the Golden Eagles that he would return to NFL if the team returns to College World Series, a die-hard Favre fan made a bet to his friend that he would quit his job to watch Vikings games if Favre wears back his purple and gold No.4 Favre jersey.

Tomilick Hernandez, a magazine editor, is a long-time Vikings fan and has been a supporter for Favre since his arrival to Minnesota in last August. Hernandez missed quite a few games last season because of his limited spare time, but was still excited on the victories Favre led his beloved team to. Despite disappointment on the failure to win a Super Bowl appearance, the fan still believes that Favre is able to lead the Vikings back into playoffs if he returns for the 2010 season. However, some of his friends totally disagree with him and said that Favre was too old to win games.

In order to show his support for Favre, Hernandez bet that he would be a full-time audience for the NFL season if Favre makes official announcement on his return. He said that he would record all the victories Favre and Vikings achieve during the season and let his friend know why a legend is a legend.

Vikings offensive coordinator Bevell believes in Favre’s return

Among the many people who believe that Brett Favre will return to play for the Minnesota Vikings in 2010 season, Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has his belief become a special one because it is considered to be evidence.

Bevell could be the one Favre was most familiar with in Minnesota when arriving as new member of the Vikings. They got to know each other in the early 1990s, when Bevell was still a quarterback with the University of Wisconsin and Favre was already playing with the Green Bay Packers. The relationship continued after Bevell joined the Packers to become Favre’s position coach. Bevell was the one left Packers first and he found new job as offensive coordinator with the Vikings, and Favre reunited with his long-time friend in 2009 offseason. So if Bevell said that Favre was very likely to return, more people would be convinced the quarterback would really wear back the Vikings style of Favre jersey.

Bevell indeed expressed his confidence in Favre’s return last week. Although he insisted that he had not been told about the quarterback’s decision, he believed that Favre would pick up the starting job anytime when he returns. When he was asked about possible impact of the NFC loss to the New Orleans Saints, Bevell’s answer was somehow encouraging, as he said Favre never make decision based on one play. Instead, as Favre took the 2009 season as his career best, the return is simply more likely to happen than retirement.