The Chicago Bears have been one of the worst franchises in the NFL at finding talent through the draft for a generation. Trust me, I know, my brother is a Bears fan. I've seen it all – terrible quarterbacks who couldn't get the offense across midfield (Cade McNown), awful linemen who were a waste (Chris Williams and most recently Gabe Carimi), running backs who didn't last (Rashaan Salaam, Curtis Enis), and that's not to mention other high draft picks that never panned out (Dan Bazuin, Mike Okwo, some guy that could jump out of a pool, etc.). Oh, and Rex Grossman.
In light of Carimi's trade to Tampa Bay for a 6th round pick (!) after injury plagued disappointment in Chicago, RedEye Chicago published a list of the biggest busts in recent Bears memory. At #1 on their list came a surprise – former receiver David Terrell, who played just four seasons in Chicago, caught a whopping 9 TDs, and totalled 1602 yards.
Sure, those are terrible numbers, but placing him above McNown, Enis, and Salaam is downright controversial. At least one person thought so.
That person was David Terrell.
Terrell contacted the author of the RedEye piece, Riley Blevins, and articulated why he shouldn't be #1 on the biggest busts list.
Some highlights from a surreal Q&A that you have to read in full:
On his contributions to the franchise…
Factually, my first year with the Bears–my first and my last year–those were like my best years here. My first year was the best team I ever played on besides my Michigan teams, you see what I’m saying. But my first year we was one game from the Super Bowl, and I think I was a big, big piece in a lot of those wins. I think I may have won four, five games for my team. I mean, hey, maybe I didn’t win ‘em all by myself, but I sure played a big part.
On injuries and quarterbacks derailing his career…
Shit, then the last year, I led the league for like the first four games with Rex Grossman at quarterback. Until Rex Grossman breaks his foot against Minnesota. Did you forget that? I think you musta’ forgot about that. Man, I led the league in like every category basically until Rex broke his foot. When Rex broke his foot, after that, the season was over. I caught, I mean, I had nine different quarterbacks after Rex Grossman. I caught a ball from nine different quarterbacks in one year. Did you forget that?
On what he would have given to play with Jay Cutler…
I would have cut off both my balls. I’d give those up, no problem. You could have neutered me. I woulda been neutered with a smile. Shit, man, for real.
For all of the lists out there that exist on the internet, and especially in the blogosphere, maybe David Terrell starts a trend of busts standing up for themselves and defending their good name. I can just see the Bleacher Report slideshow now – Top 50 E-Mails From Former First Round Draft Busts. No, I have a better idea! Instead of Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith polluting America with mindless drivel, let's have Tim Couch and JaMarcus Russell debate who was the bigger bust on First Take. Now that would be an entertaining embrace of the medium.
