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Last weekend, Khalil Mack was the face of the Chicago Bears. Being new, being really good, being the highest paid defensive player in history, all these things earned Mack his leadership position on almost every front page, websites and TV shows in a city full of reasons hope. football team that is part of its civic DNA.
The humble and humble linebacker will likely imbue his football character on the Bears defense, with an emerging personality and identity, both of which received a monumental reminder with Mack's arrival over Roquan Smith's rough draft.
But the "face of the franchise" is not just about running a news cycle, and this distinction is not what Mack, or most defensive players, are likely to hold or even want, anyway. Despite the occasional Dick Butkus or Brian Urlacher, the defense rarely lends itself to such things. "I mean, when it comes to playing the team defense, you do not consider yourself an" 11 ", said Mack." You see all 11 men as one force, everyone does games."
Mack understands. The defense guys see themselves more as offensive linemen than wide receivers, a coordinated ensemble rather than individualists, part of a kind of sports flash-flash, meeting at high speed and ill-intentioned at soccer. I'm going to get the ball out. "
Defenders can become franchise faces, but occasionally Butkus, Urlacher, Lawrence Taylor, Ray Lewis (No. 52, like Mack) or JJ Watt are exceptions, and usually among the greatest of all time to earn honors " face". Even a Clay Matthews (another No. 52) did not get this distinction when he averaged 10.6 sacks (more than Mack) in his first four seasons at Green Bay and his team was even a winner Super Bowl. Although he is, and although he dominates some cycles with his new Mack level contract, Aaron Donald is not the face of the Los Angeles Rams; Jared Goff is.
No, the bags, the contracts and all that aside, when Ryan Pace traded a spot in the 2017 draft to pick Mitchell Trubisky, the GM Bears put a relatively inexperienced North Carolina young quarterback on the track success. the NFL charters. Some elements of the "face" status simply boil down to being the starting quarterback, and to being the identity of a franchise's future because of the spectacular trading of your GM in the first round to land you.
Meaning: The work of "face of the franchise" was Trubisky's job to lose.
The QB franchise statement made on this Bears Day Project was not automatically validated. Trubisky eventually succeeded Mike Glennon as a starting quarterback, but as much because Glennon was not like Trubisky, who turned out to be a 4-8 starter.
No amount of marketing can create a real face franchise or franchise quarterback, which is usually the same if either is. Simply because Phil Emery said Jay Cutler "elite" and a "quarterback of the franchise" did not cutler either. This status can only be conferred in the first place, in the locker room, and second, by playing on this seed on the ground.
"Pretty boy assassin" as a chef
Trubisky started playing this role before becoming a starter.
"I think since his arrival he has been a leader since the first day," said Tarik Cohen, a classmate of Trubisky. "In terms of growth, I feel that it's not necessarily growth; it has always been him. It's in his nature to be a leader.
"Your starting quarterback – you must have that in you to succeed in this league."
Yet, Trubisky's personality is the antithesis of the look-to-me. He was generally a quiet rookie, a quality always appreciated by veterans, and his emergence has taken an obvious step, albeit gradually.
"When we got here for the first time, we could certainly say that he had significantly stepped up his efforts," said Jordan Howard, the running back. "Not afraid to speak because he knows that's his team now and last year he had to play a little fiddle for a bit, but you can certainly say that c & rsquo; Is his team now. "
Indeed, Trubisky's connection with his teammates is essential. It is generally appreciated, it is obvious that this transcends aspects of football: a little game between Trubisky and cornerback Kyle Fuller as they prepare for their joint press conference at the beginning of the camp. Trubisky shouted to Kevin White while he was in full talk.
Members of the defense nicknamed him "Pretty Boy Assassin" last year, as he enlightened them as quarterback of the Scout team. "He returns to the peloton," said linebacker Leonard Floyd, laughing, and looking at us, inside his helmet, saying nothing, just smiling, like, "I've been taken."
While Trubisky had this swag that teammates love, what has evolved over the past year has been more than that.
"There is a huge difference since the training camp a year ago," said NFL quarterback coach and former NFL quarterback Dave Ragone. "He was the third quarterback of the previous year and it was not his team yet.
"Here, it's unequivocal. It's obviously his football team. The way he approaches his job is that of a leader. Last year, he was trying to feel it, Mike Glennon being the initial starter. It's a completely different animal for him now. He took the lead in understanding the guys around him by his example, and that means something to him. He is very different. It's a '180', and I think it will continue to grow with maturity and do what it is supposed to do, namely to lead this football team ….
"It's a completely different person [from Year 1]. Obviously, in second year as an NFL player, being especially the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears, he takes it very seriously. His mental approach in terms of understanding what he is a leader and what he must be himself as a leader has been very different. And the players around him, you can see him. There is a calm trust with him and the players around him. Mitchell is genuine, which is important when you are a leader and his teammates understand him. And he pushes himself. I give him a lot of credit. During the off-season, it was a big project for him to go out there and make sure he understood that it was his team and that he did that, from OTA to camp. drive so far.
3 requirements to be a "face"
More than one element goes into making a franchise face. A popular personality is great, but if that was not enough, Josh Bellamy would be a good man. The elite ability is also nice, but Julius Peppers brought that, but did not struggle for "face" status despite All-Pro's three of his four seasons Bears and All-Pro's two 39 between them.
There is a recipe for the status of "face of the franchise". That Trubisky has these ingredients, that's what the next five months will begin to determine:
Be wise.
With very few exceptions, the best players have by far the best chance of becoming franchise faces. The brave little backup may be popular but it is usually more mascot than masthead. Leadership in the locker room starts with doing its job very well – walking, not just talking. Even with the faces of the franchises – just win, baby. Most.
Take 10: Not yet. Everyone says the right things during the off season and the pre-season is not the same as doing it in season. Its record of 4-8 in entry and its number of pedestrians must skyrocket.
Be a guy "try hard"
Losing Cubs, Bill Buckner, Ernie Banks, etc., can testify to this. Chicago fans will love you if they see you as a test guy, someone who does everything in his power, regardless of the quality of his team or not. Dick Butkus. Gale Sayers. The Bears fan base likes a face that sweats and is dirty.
Take 10: He has that. The work ethic is obvious, he puts his body at stake with RPOs and scrambles, and coaches must remind him to "bend down" at the end of the races.
To be friendly
Players and coaches over the years have not always understood, but Chicago WANTS to love his Bears. The Bears are a blue and orange thread running through the Chicago civic tapestry. But to be a face of the franchise, get personality or at least a character (see: Butkus, Dick). It's hard to find a moron, perceived or real.
The presence of the media intervenes here. The media revolves around comfortable players in front of the cameras and microphones (Mark Grace, Dan Hampton) and the sense of humor helps. The duration of the camera makes it possible to create a "face".
Take 10: Zero prima donna. Rest a regular guy doing autographs after the practices of the camp, without being afraid to have fun on the podium.
Result: Trubisky has the intangibles. Now, does it have the tangibles?
Some comp
As Trubisky is likely to make its way through the 2018 season and beyond, a scroll among the selected franchise faces may be illustrative:
Dick Butkus
When Rocky Balboa names his bull for you, you are a "face".
Jay Cutler
He may have never wanted the "face" distinction. But, just as Trubisky was elevated to stratospheric status due to the fact that the organization has invested him more than one project of choice, Cutler has arrived on the wings of a trade in which the Bears gave him two n That makes him the face of the franchise, whether it likes it or not.
The problems were, on the one hand, that the face of the franchise was too pouted, and secondly, the franchise already had faces in mind, overcome by Urlacher for a decade, with nuances of Lance Briggs, Olin Kreutz and some others d is part of a Super Bowl team. Cutler alienated the locker room and the existing coaches, and divided the supporters into apologists and detractors.
Not good material "face". The organization and probably the fan base suffered from Cutler Fatigue, which led to his dismissal after 2016 despite his obvious superiority and lower price than Mike Glennon's.
Brian Urlacher
Jim Miller was a quarterback playoff, but Urlacher started in 2000 and accelerated in 2001 was a draw in the City of Big Shoulder Pads. Defensive Rookie of the Year, defensive player of the year, average linebacker with a different personality from Butkus or Mike Singletary's eyes, and really good.
What is the true face of the franchise? Someone who can share a laugh with Brett Favre and who is a member of the Hall of Fame, as well as a team leader – an obvious face in a city that loves defense and linebackers that are part of it.
Jim McMahon / Fridge / et al
As if excellence was not enough, the "Super Bowl Shuffle" created a multi-faceted face, and it went well beyond the city limits, as on the cover of Time magazine (Perry and Payton ). Rolling Stone (McMahon) and, even five years after the Super Bowl XX, in the form of a skit on "Saturday Night Live".
It's hard to pick a face from the 80s franchise because, as Mike Singletary said, "eagles do not hurry", and it was a fusion of eagles.
Walter
When Chicago and the football world know you by your first name …
… enough said.
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