Byron Leftwich Lobbying For Bears Spot

Steelers quarterback wants to be part of 'Bears history'

By EAMONN BRENNAN

Updated 11:45 AM CST, Mon, Jan 12, 2009

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Yes, it's the position that we will not stop hearing, writing, thinking, or talking about until Week 1 of next season -- the Bears quarterback spot. It's free agency. It's an open spot on the Bears, sort of. It's Jerry Angelo saying, without mixing signals, that the Bears "have to get that position right." Roll it all up, and you get a churn that will not stop, well, churning, not until the Bears sign someone and just put us all out of misery already.

Kurt Warner has already been mentioned. (Bad idea!) Today's castoff quarterback du jour? Byron Leftwich, who is already talking about the Bears in ways that actually sound kind of impressive. To wit:

''We are in the playoff run right now, so I don't even want to go there, but tell them to look me up,'' Leftwich said. ''I'm a fan of Lovie Smith, I'll just say that. I thought that was where I was going to go in the beginning. I remember hoping that I would go there. I just wanted to be a part of the tradition, the history of the Bears. You're growing up, watching games at Soldier Field on TV, I wanted to be a part of that coming out. I thought there was a chance I would go there.

''I want a chance to go somewhere and play. I guess everybody wanted to see if I am healthy, and now they can see it. I'm ready to play again.''

Like we said: Kind of impressive. Usually players wait until after they're signed to start paying lipservice to the various traditions and institutions in the Chicago area. The preemptive tradition citation is one we've rarely seen, if ever. Well done, Byron.

Of course, the real question is less whether Byron is jacked to play in Soldier Field but whether he's able to throw the ball when he gets there. He's had limited playing time in 2008, but in that time he's been pretty good, racking up a 104.3 quarterback rating. Leftwich's arm strength has never been in question; his mobility and ability to run an offense have. He's a risk -- but he's a risk the Bears might just have to take.