Bears were living off the backs of their defense

Our Chicago Bears are just that, our Chicago Bears. It's because of this feeling of ownership that we rightly or wrongly often give too much credit where credit is undue, or allow the sands of time to embellish a bit too much. The highlights become brighter, the lowlights are all but forgotten, and we're left more often than not with an idyllic look at who players were, and who they weren't.

Charles Tillman is a ball-hawk after the catch, and is an acceptable Cover 2 CB, however he'd struggle in a lot of his years to be considered a top 10 overall CB in the league. Nathan Vasher was the very definition of a flash in the pan, and due to injuries, loss of confidence, and quite frankly a low ceiling as far as talent goes, his prowess was over-exaggerated and over before it started. Mike Brown compares fairly well to Darren Sharper, but he falls just short of being known as one of the best through the league, mostly because of his nagging injury concerns that eventually ended his stay in Chicago. The rest of the motley crew is a lot of the same, flashes of brilliance from guys like Tommie Harris, or the player's best play coming after they left the team, like in the case of Chris Harris. Meanwhile, the Ravens had respected names like Chris McAlister, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, and even Rod Woodson there for a few years in his twilight.

The only player that can be called a legitimate partner in crime for Brian Urlacher is Lance Briggs. This would be perfect if the rest of the defense had been just a small bit better. Briggs could have readily played the Bart Scott role to Brian Urlacher 's Lewis, but too often the defense as a whole was good, but not great. It rarely ever got that feeling of being the impenetrable wall that the Ravens defense had, that aura of greatness. It was much too often seen for what it was, a bend but don't break system that bent a whole lot during Urlachers' prime.

Meanwhile, while the Bears were living off the backs of their defense just as much as the Ravens were, the Ravens had three more post-season appearances to show for it. They also rarely had those defensive failings and those nights where the aura was broken and the defense looked beatable. It almost always was easily seen as the pitiful offense of the Ravens as the problem, so no blame was ever laid upon Lewis' shoulders and he never really developed the tarnish that Urlacher has accumulated over the years.

There is no Mike Singletary to compare Ray Lewis to for the Baltimore Ravens. There isn't a Dick Butkus to contrast against as not only a fellow linebacker, but a linebacker for the same team he plays for. They didn't wear the same colors, and as such aren't compared against each other under such harsh lights. Due to the fact that Brian plays for a team that has had some of the best linebackers for the last 50 years, every nuance of his game is put under much greater scrutiny. It the eyes of Hall voters there almost always seems to be a large amount of compare and contrast. Were you the best player on your team? Were you the best player in the league? Were you the best Lance Briggs your team has seen? What is your place in your team's history? All of these seem to play a large role in how the voters view you as a player, as seen glaringly by the large number of players both for the Bears and for other teams that have had dominating defenses such as the Pittsburgh Steelers' Steel Curtain, or the Denver Broncos' Orange Crush. Ask fans of both teams and they'll tell you there are guys to this day that should without a doubt be in a Hall for what they meant to their respective defenses, but more often than not, only the best few players from such marquee groups find their way into the Hall.

Ray Lewis doesn't have this problem in the slightest, as he is quite literally the alpha and the omega when it comes to the Baltimore Ravens. The team has only existed since 1996, so not only is there not a comparable player at the position, there isn't a comparable name in the entire history of the franchise. It's also this focus that makes his hardware that much more impressive on a resume, because as of right now and likely for the foreseeable future he can lay claim to basically being responsible for the Ravens' only Super Bowl win. That brings us to our last point.

Now whenever the current generation of linebackers are discussed one guy is always mentioned as a stone cold lock for the Hall of Fame, and that's Ray Lewis. It's pretty much guaranteed that Lewis will gain entrance on his first ballot, and will go down as the name amongst names when linebackers of the mid-90's-00's are talked about. The question then is: what makes Lewis and Urlacher different? What makes Lewis a guaranteed first ballot guy, and Brian Urlacher a possible never will be? That answer all comes down to the specifics of each situation, and of the teams they played for.

When it comes to Brett Favre's future, let's just say Lance Briggs isn't tripping over it.

Keeping a brisk pace out of the dining hall as reporters quizzed him about Favre's rumored retirement, Briggs didn't break stride as he found out the news of the day: Favre is most likely, probably going to retire again.

The news came out early Tuesday afternoon that Favre was contacting teammates that he was "retiring," though nothing was definite as of this writing.

Then again, by the time I write my last paragraph, Favre might have changed his mind a dozen times. It's a fluid story, Vikings coach Brad Childress said sagely.

Briggs certainly wasn't in the mood to wax poetic on Favre's career, his longtime rivalry against the Bears or his importance to the NFL. Not even after a nice lunch.

"When is the cutoff date when he can't play anymore?" Briggs said flatly.

One reporter didn't get the joke and said the first game is on Sept. 9.

"The first game, if he's not there, Lance Briggs can't play at all this season?" Briggs asked, disbelieving.

"I think it's Week 15," I joked.

"Week 15. All right," Briggs said, now laughing a bit. "Let's ask this question again in Week 15."

See, NFL players are just like us. They think Favre is "The Old Dude Who Plays Like a Boy Who Cried Retirement," too.

"I won't believe it until I see Tarvaris Jackson starting against us," Briggs said. "It'll be Tarvaris Jackson. If he's starting, we'll go from there."

I'm sure scenes like this one were replayed all over the NFL as reporters tried to interrupt the early training camp malaise with an easy story. At Olivet Nazarene University, the Bears' collective reaction ranged between indifference and disgust that their post-lunch meditation was interrupted.

Players respect Favre, and he still gets his proper reverence in NFL circles. How can you not pay homage to a guy who played 19 seasons, has a 285-start streak going and is 23-7 against the Bears? Yes, they respect him, but they don't really care to talk about him, or publicly revere him.