Don't blame Bears for Hurd saga

You can blame Jerry Angelo for Caleb Hanie.

By all means, blame Lovie Smith for Mike Martz.

And feel free to blame Ted Phillips for Angelo, Smith, Martz and Hanie.

But rushing to judge the Bears' organization right now and blaming all of the above for Sam Hurd is capricious at best and irresponsible at worst.

Hurd was busted Wednesday night on serious drug charges after an undercover federal investigation that began just days before the Bears signed Hurd.

It lasted months and not even the Bears top security people could have known about it — or should have known about it — unless tipped by someone they knew close to the investigation.

And the feds don't usually do that, because secret investigations tend to fall apart when they're not, well, secret anymore.

Certainly, it's something of a surprise when you go to work and find out the locker room is a gangsta's paradise, that your special teams gunner is charged with running his own cartel when he's not running downfield.

You can't blame the Bears for appearing stunned that their third-string wide receiver is allegedly a first-class hood, much more Antonio Montana than Antonio Brown.

Yet, it's entirely believable that the Bears knew absolutely nothing about it until Hurd was a no-show for practice Thursday.

“I'm in shock over it,” Smith said Thursday afternoon. “Never saw it coming. My dealings with Sam here — and most of you would probably say the same — has all been good. He's a guy that showed up every day to go to work.”

In talking to Hurd after several games this season, I've found him affable and engaging, and of course that's as relevant to this discussion as Smith saying his dealings with Hurd have been all good.

“We are disappointed in what we found out about Sam Hurd being arrested for the drug charges,” Smith said after practice. “There's not a whole lot more I can say about it.

“We're still gathering information. I just know that there's disappointment right now with our entire football team.”

That's probably where he should have left it, but Smith went on to say that the Bears do extensive research on every player they bring in and there was nothing amiss with Hurd, that it was all a complete surprise.

And, naturally, he then walked directly into a gaffe.

Smith said he would be “shocked” if Hurd's drug operation involved anyone else in the locker room or would touch the Bears organization in any other way.

So for review, he had no idea what Hurd was into. No clue. No hint. Not a tipoff of any kind.

And, yet, he believes that's the end of it regarding the Bears?

Obviously, there's no way to know that.

Hopefully, for the Bears' sake that is the end of it, but if Hurd hadn't involved several other NFL players in some way, shape or form, that would also be a surprise.

Round and round it goes and where it stops not even Hurd probably knows.

He is charged with serious crimes and if convicted he's going to spend several decades in prison.

Before that happens, and if he's guilty, he's going to run over with an accordion bus everyone he can think of to throw under it as he attempts to reduce his sentence.

And if there's another Chicago Bears player or employee involved in any way, Smith will again express shock, but this is coming from a man who seems shocked every week to find out you get only three timeouts per half in an NFL game.

No, at this point it wouldn't at all be shocking to find out there are more NFL players involved in what could become one of the biggest scandals in the history of the league.

It's a nightmare for the NFL because whenever money and drugs are involved, beyond the drugs themselves is always the fear that a player in debt to the bad guys might be forced to shave points and throw a game.

Here's hoping that this bad NFL dream ends with Thursday's news and doesn't escalate as the story develops.

In the meantime, and until there's some evidence to the contrary, blaming Bears management doesn't make much sense.

In fact, it's simply unfair.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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