Poor word choice by Bears' Smith

Lovie Smith invoked the "c" word at his day-after-disaster media bull session last week.

Relax, fellas, we're not talking commitment. We're talking character.

"Our football team," the Bears head coach said, "has a lot of character."

Smith clearly was groping for a reason to believe the Bears will regroup to win the NFC North.

Which reminded me of this James Taylor lyric: "Love is just a word I heard when things were being said."

How does that relate to Smith? Well, character was just a word I heard when things were being said at Halas Hall.

The character crutch is the last that coaches cling to at desperation time, like during the aftermath of a 34-point loss to the Packers.

In a way, it was easy for Smith to go there because the Bears have a gimme today against the pathetic Rams. Then again, maybe the Bears are in a no-win situation.

If they survive St. Louis, heck, everybody does. If they don't, a lack of character will be exposed.

Usually it's best for us to ignore the "c" word. But Smith's claim begged further review.

Like, how exactly does he define the Bears' character?

Maybe Smith referred to arriving at Green Bay for a big game against a bitter rival and playing as if it were a meaningless scrimmage against Our Lady of Lost Hope Grade School.

Maybe the character at issue is the fading middle linebacker, who moonlights as the face of the franchise, demanding more money midway through an existing contract.

Maybe it's an injured wide receiver suspected of being too soft to get back on the field in a timely fashion.

Maybe character is a head coach pushing out a successful defensive coordinator, replacing him with a friend and watching the unit crumble.

Maybe it's the highly paid defensive tackle jabbering nonsensically about something written in a Chicago newspaper.

Maybe character is one exorbitantly wealthy linebacker fleeing the scene after crashing his Lamborghini and another being involved in a tabloid-style case involving a child born out of wedlock.

OK, let's scratch the last paragraph because football character must be separated from non-football character.

After all, some Hall of Shame characters - Lawrence Taylor comes to mind - are in the Hall of Fame.

This is a sport in which it's hard sometimes to have personal character when professional character requires going out and pounding on other people.

It would be just as wrong to condemn all the Bears' character as it was dubious for Smith to commend their collective character.

So let's point out that Kyle Orton demonstrated great character by trying to play quarterback on a painful ankle. So did Mike Brown by being the first Bear to confess out loud that the defense is playing terribly.

Add a few others who seem to understand that character is more than just a word that's said when things are being heard.

"We have," Smith insisted, "a lot of character."

No, the impression is that too many Bears lacked the football character to go to Green Bay with that other "c" word - commitment.

This team has six games left to indicate that character is more than just a word heard at a Halas Hall bull session.

mimrem@dailyherald.com