Bears' coach needs some vocal support
For years now my measure of upper-level leadership has been how Steelers owner Dan Rooney was described by Mean Joe Greene.
"When things go as planned, Dan is in the background," Greene said. "When things don't go as planned, he's in the forefront."
Unless I'm mistaken, six losses in seven games signals that things aren't going as planned for the Bears.
So where are the ownership McCaskeys? Where is club president Ted Phillips? Where is general manager Jerry Angelo?
All of them should be so visible these days that we get tired of seeing them.
Maybe Lovie Smith's $5.5 million annual salary is enough for him to be the point man taking all the hits.
Still, it's sort of sad that immediately after every game and then during the week, the Bears' head coach is propped up as spokesman for the debacles.
Smith really has nothing to say, or at least nothing meaningful that he wants to share. If clichés were points, his football team would outscore basketball teams.
Injured linebacker Brian Urlacher's gibberish to Yahoo! sports the other day was newsworthy only because nobody else at Halas Hall says much of anything worthwhile.
Smith, as is his style, publicly confronted Urlacher's inappropriate remarks with a verbal hug. Better for Phillips or Angelo to say, "Hey, 54, we're paying you a lot of money to not play right now so shut your yap."
Seriously, Smith needs help representing the Bears during these hard times. Wouldn't it be nice to hear from one of the McCaskeys, Phillips or Angelo as a change of pace?
Whatever one of them says would be scrutinized and criticized. So what? Football is a tough game for tough people. Man up, fellas.
As far as I know, the last time Phillips was heard from was on the Bears' flagship radio station defending Smith.
Phillips' point was the Bears don't stack losses under this coach. Now that the Bears are stacking losses, it would be interesting for his update on that premise.
Angelo is one of my favorite guys in Chicago sports, but couldn't he make himself available to the Halas Hall media just to give Smith a timeout from uttering sweet nothings?
Look, anybody can stand on the platform and mug for cameras while receiving the Halas Trophy or Lombardi Trophy.
An owner, club president or general manager shows what he's made of during a four-game losing streak like the Bears are suffering.
Merely saying something, anything, even nonsense, reflects better on an organization than quietly hiding.
That's why it became a bigger deal than necessary when Angelo, Smith and quarterback Jay Cutler declined an invitation to speak on camera with Bob Costas before a recent prime-time TV game.
The decision seemed like a symptom of the disease. It smacked of fear from a franchise whose team looks like it's playing scared to lose.
Management's silence is a disservice to Bears fans, who deserve the opportunity to hear now what a McCaskey, Phillips or Angelo is thinking.
Beyond that it's a disservice to Lovie Smith, who has to stand up time after time after tired time and concoct a new way to say nothing.
mimrem@dailyherald.com