Rex Grossman Is Still Looking for Work

Rex Grossman seems nice enough. But the NFL scrap heap is littered with swell guys who couldn't keep their jobs. There are worse fates -- like being David Carr, the former first-overall pick with a ridiculous nickname, who is just passable enough to make the 53-man roster every summer, but will never see the field except for preseason and blowouts -- but it also means that Grossman's NFL days might be behind him.

At 28, he should be entering his prime. Instead, the Bears' 2003 first-round pick is sitting on his couch wondering if he'll get another chance. On the upside, Byron Leftwich and Dante Culpepper were in the same predicament a year ago. Now they're both in line for starting gigs, and Leftwich even got a Super Bowl ring as a backup last season.

So, yeah, things don't always work out how you planned. It's not like Grossman was overmatched physically, but the injuries and the constant double-guessing from fans and media seemed to take its toll. Matt Snyder, resident Bears fan, makes a fine point via e-mail:

"I don't believe he was nearly as bad as portrayed all over the place ... and then this past year he mentally fell apart (my opinion is that he'd finally heard it enough and lost confidence). I still think he has worlds more ability than Kyle Orton and needed a change of scenery.

"Plus, I love how people who like to compare the win/loss records of Cutler and Orton conveniently forget how good Grossman's record was for the Bears. That should automatically show how little the 'stat' means."

I can't disagree with any of that. In fact, it makes me wonder what a quarterback with Grossman's physical talents and Orton's brain might look like. While we wait for Dr. Frankenstein to make that happen, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco writes that Grossman is unemployed because the NFL is like Sweet Valley High: a lot of gossiping cheerleader-types spreading rumors.

How is it that Kyle Orton, who played behind Grossman in 2006, is now a hot commodity in Denver and Grossman can't even get a sniff? I have a theory: It's called labeling.

NFL front-office types are good at that. They gossip a lot between themselves and when a player gets a label, it's hard to shed. When Byron Leftwich was looking for a job this past offseason, he did so with a label of his own. Bad guy, they said.

Three general managers asked me if he was a bad guy because they knew I lived in Jacksonville and knew Leftwich and several other players on the Jacksonville roster. That perception wasn't even close to the truth. Teammates loved the guy. I told those general managers just that.

Grossman's label is one of an erratic passer who isn't good enough to be even a backup. Remember the "Good Rex" and "Bad Rex" references from the 2006 season? When he played poorly, he was the latter. When he played well, he was the former.

Right. But the problem is that you never knew when Bad Rex was going to show up. Still, I take Prisco's point: the NFL is full of quarterbacks who are just as frustratingly inconsistent as Grossman. The only difference, they don't have a sweet nickname. Well, that and they currently have a job.

But things will look up for Rex. Injuries are as much a part of football as blocking and tackling, and when somebody goes down he'll get another shot. Maybe he should wear mittens.