LeGere: Is there enough leadership among the Bears (if it matters)?
Leadership was a hot topic around Halas Hall in the days leading up to Sunday's game against the New England Patriots.
Skeptics wondered whether the 3-4 Bears had enough of it, while realists wondered if it mattered.
The consensus seems to be that leadership shows up in a variety of ways, and in all forms it can be beneficial - to a point. Also, what may look to outsiders like leadership doesn't always qualify as such inside the locker room.
"We see leadership as guys coming to work and doing the right thing," offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said. "How do you lead? Well, everybody has a little bit different personality.
"One guy is going to study harder than the next guy, (another) guy is going to work harder than the next guy. Somebody's going to talk while he's working; somebody's not going to talk while they're working."
The quarterback position requires more leadership responsibilities than any other. It comes with the territory.
"You're the guy with the ball," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "You're the guy that has to do the press conferences. It's part of the gig.
"Sometimes you just go to work and silently go about it, and you lead by example. Sometimes you let others lead. Sometimes it's your opportunity to step in front of the team and be vocal and get everyone energized.
"This week is a big week for us. Coming off a loss like (last week to Miami), you always want to get guys back energized and ready to practice and over that Monday, Tuesday slump."
Ideally, the burden of leadership should be evenly distributed in the Bears' system. The goal of the coaching staff is, as coach Marc Trestman said, "Not to develop a leadership team, but a team of leaders."
Kromer puts it this way: "We want everybody to lead. We don't want to keep anybody down. Our goal is all 53 players find a way to lead in some way - their (position) group, their (meeting) room, themselves.
"We're trying to grow (many) leaders, not have one leader or two leaders."
But, really, do grown men (for the most part) need to follow a leader? Is the concept of leadership, especially vocal leadership, overblown? And, if everyone's being groomed as a leader, why do some players have to follow others?
"We have great leaders here," said 32-year-old defensive end Jared Allen. "But leaders don't necessarily have to stand up at the podium and make some big speech. As a matter of fact, if someone gets up every week and has to say, 'Coach is out, let's have a (meeting),' that's lame, honestly. What's that gonna do? That's rah-rah.
"Leadership comes from the guys that show up every week, go out and work during practice, be in their playbook, know what they're doing, go out on Sunday and give it everything they've got.
"You don't know what is said behind closed doors to someone. If someone is struggling, a true leader will go and talk to them in private, but you don't know (about that)."
On a veteran roster, Trestman believes there are more than a handful of leaders, so he has named different sets of three captains for each game. On the 53-man roster, 18 Bears are at least 29 years old, and 16 have been a captain for at least one game.
"After being around this team for 18 months," Trestman said, "there certainly is a group of guys that I would call 'decorated veterans' who are influential guys on this team, guys that I go to, talk to.
"But there are also a lot of guys, more than five guys, who are truly leaders, and guys who have the respect of our team. Leaders who are really seen in their demeanor, in the way they practice, the way they work in meetings, the way they initiate conversation with other players, and we have a lot of those guys.
"I felt this year I wanted to recognize some of those guys."
Running back Matt Forte is one of the more "decorated veterans" and one of the more respected players on the team because of his production, work ethic and experience. But Forte is the classic quiet leader who doesn't talk a great deal but still says a lot.
Brandon Marshall has been the loudest "leader," but it's debatable how much his input helps. Forte was asked if it was a good thing that Marshall's voice is the loudest.
"Brandon's voice isn't, I wouldn't say, the loudest," Forte said. "He really doesn't talk that much. He just seems to, I guess, be the loudest when something is frustrating him, when he has to express himself that way.
"We've got a lot of different guys who lead on our offense. (Center) Roberto (Garza) is definitely one of the vocal leaders, especially on the offensive line. I talk to guys. I may not be very loud or outspoken, but I don't need to be."
According to Forte, though, sometimes somebody does need to be.
"It's important," he said. "I wouldn't say it's overrated. There are a lot of different ways to lead. A lot of guys can lead by example, (which is) what you do when you're out there playing hard and going 100 miles an hour every day.
"Guys notice that and take that into account."
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