2009 Chicago Bears-Epic Fall? Epic Fail.
Lovie Smith walks off the field after yet another loss in 2009.
Urbandictionary.com has many definitions for the phrase "epic fail", which we take it from the young people is a newer addition to the English lexicon. One of the better definitions is:
"A mistake of such monumental proportions that it requires its own term in order to successfully point out the unfathomable shortcomings of an individual or group."
To us, that's a pretty good way to describe the 2009 Chicago Bears season. The team entered 2009 with the second-to-easiest schedule in the National Football League, and a new quarterback with skills not possessed by a Chicago Bears quarterback in perhaps 60 years. Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo made several shrewed moves in free agency to assemble what were thought to be the final pieces needed to eek out at least a playoff berth while the core players left from the 2006 Super Bowl season had the least bit of talent left in them. Many were sure the Bears would at least clinch a playoff berth. But instead, fans were forced to endure perhaps the most disappointing season against expectations in 90 years of Bears football.
Entering the season finale of the 2008 campaign, the Bears were poised to clinch a wildcard playoff berth if they could defeat the Texans in Houston as long as they had help from two other unlikely circumstances: the Philadelphia Eagles would have to beat the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders would need to upset the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida. The Bears jumped to a 10-0 lead behind average-but-adequate quarterback Kyle Orton, but its defense blew it in allowing three straight Texans touchdowns. The Bears would end up losing the game 31-24, but also lost themselves a playoff berth as both Oakland and Philadelphia pulled off unlikely wins. Only the Bears failed to do what they needed to do.
In January 2009, Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith worked quickly in firing two coaches on the defensive side of the ball, and hired deposed Lions coach Rod Marinelli as defensive line coach and Assistant Head Coach. Smith called Marinelli the "best free agent available." Smith also announced that while another of his cronies Bob Babich would retain the title of defensive coordinator, in 2009 Smith would take over defensive playcalling for all games-hardly an orthodox move. Once again, as he did in 2007 when he fired popular defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and announced that the media needed to "trust that he would make the right decisions for his team," Smith was remaking his staff to his liking to the disdain of observers.
The Bears were not expected to make any large free agent signings in March, as they had spent most of their available cap space in awarding large extensions to veteran players. Those players included Brian Urlacher, Tommie Harris, Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher, Alex Brown, Desmond Clark, Olin Kreutz and Devin Hester. For the most part these extensions were not proving to be successful, as clearly Urlacher, Vasher and Kreutz at least were regressing. Angelo did surprise by quickly signing Carolina backup offensive lineman Frank Omiyale to a $14 million contract, and would later add Cleveland free agent tackle Kevin Shaffer to replace the departed John St. Clair. The Bears would later add safety Josh Bullocks, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, and surprisingly 13-year veteran Orlando Pace on a three-year deal to play the crucial left tackle position. With the signing of Pace to start at left tackle, the right side would be manned by 2008 redshirt tackle Chris Williams.
At the same time, an interesting and perhaps unprecedented situation was developing 1,000 miles to the west of Chicago in Denver. The Broncos had shockingly fired longtime head coach Mike Shanihan, replacing him with 32-year old Patriots assistant Josh McDaniels. In March, it was revealed that McDaniels hoped to swing a three-way trade that would bring Patriot backup quarterback Matt Cassel to Denver to replace Pro Bowl three-year veteran Jay Cutler. McDaniels was weary of Cutler's reputation for being a gambling quarterback, and thought Cassel could more safely run McDaniels' ball control offense as he did in 2008 with the Patriots. Cutler caught wind of the news as everyone else did, and began an immediate campaign to be traded out of Denver.
No one could imagine the Broncos trading a fourth-year Pro Bowl quarterback, and although the Bears were immediately mentioned as being one of the interested teams when it was announced the Broncos would indeed have no choice but to trade Cutler, it seemed even more improbable that the Bears would make such a move. The Bears historically have been a team that sticks to their own plan, no matter how misguided the plan is, so thinking out of the box seemed extremely unlikely for Angelo and his organization.
The talk of the impending Cutler trade captivated the NFL the final week of March, with teams as varied as Tampa, Washington, Minnesota and Detroit rumored as potential destinations for the quarterback. Late in the day on April 2nd, to the shock and amazement of Chicago fans and the media, it was announced that indeed the Bears had landed Cutler. The Bears would send Denver Orton, first round picks in 2009 and 2010, and their 2009 third rounder in exchange for Cutler and Denver's 2009 fifth round pick.
Amazement, excitement, disbelief and intoxicating joy would be accurate terms to describe the Bears' fan base after the move, as observers were not used to the Chicago Bears organization making bold moves. The acquisition of Cutler was thought by many to be the final piece needed to compete for the playoffs immediately, while known holes in the defense were addressed by the draft and the additon of Marinelli. Cutler, it was thought, would make everyone on the offense better immediately.
While it was obvious that Cutler had all the physical tools and intangibles to be the quarterback the Bears had lacked for most of 60 years, the mercurial signal caller did have his detractors. The very way he campaigned for his departure from Denver made some question his disposition, and he did have times during which he showed petulance with fans, opponents and even his own teammates and coaches. KC Joyner of ESPN.com even cited statistics casting a very negative light on Cutler's performance, particularly his high interception rate both outside, but particularly troubling, inside the red zone. Not that anyone in Chicago wanted to hear them, because at the time, all was good in Bears nation.
In the 2009 draft the Bears participation was limited, not possessing a first-round pick. Angelo's first move in the selection process was to trade out of the second round as well, sending the 49th overall pick to Seattle in exchange for the Seahawks' third and fourth-round selections, and the Bears would end up with nine picks overall. Their first third-round selection was San Jose State DT Jarron Gilbert, best known for the YouTube video of him jumping out of a pool with pure strength. The Bears then took Oklahoma wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias, DE Henry Melton, undersized cornerback D.J. Moore, speedy receiver Johnny Knox, and linebacker Marcus Freeman through the fifth round. The sixth-round pick was safety Al Afalava, and the draft rounded out with the selections of guard Lance Louis and receiver Derek Kinder.
Training camp for the Bears opened in Bourbonnais in late July, and shortly thereafter former Bears wide receiver Bobby Wade announced that Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had referred to Cutler as a [term for a weak-willed male], obviously hinting at some divisiveness within the chemistry of Bears players. Both Cutler and Urlacher quickly dismissed the spat, but the short-lived controversy was the first crack in the dyke that would become the 2009 season.
In preseason games on both sides of the ball the Bears appeared to look out of synch and downright scary in a bad way for Bears fans on defense, but this was chalked up to the fact that it was the preseason, after all. The exception to this was a strong home game against the New York Giants, during which the Bears first team offense scored at will and the defense dominated in a 17-3 win. It was this type of game Bears fans expected to see regularly in the games that counted. The preseason wound down, and fans looked forward to a huge opening night game at Green Bay against a Packers team that had finished 6-10 in 2008.
In the much-anticipated opener, the Bears defense held the strong Green Bay offense in check for most of the game, while Cutler threw four interceptions for the first time in his NFL career. Several of the interceptions were intended for young receivers that didn't seem to be in the right place for the throws, so it was thought that these were issues that could and would be worked out as the season went on. Despite Cutler's surprisingly shaky performance, the Bears were holding a 15-14 lead late in the fourth quarter, until safety Kevin Payne and Vasher were out of position on a late Packer touchdown bomb, and the Bears lost the opener 21-15.
Lost for the season at Green Bay was linebacker Brian Urlacher, felled by a broken wrist early in the game. Also effectively lost for the year was free agent signee Pisa Tinoisamoa. The losses of the linebackers would not be easily absorbed.
Following the disappointing loss in Green Bay, the Bears posted three straight wins, exactly how most thought the Bears season would go entering their week 5 bye. The streak began with come-from-behind victories against the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and then at Seattle. In week four the Bears dismantled Detroit at home by the score of 48-24, and it looked as though the season would turn out fine after all. During this stretch, young receiver Johnny Knox was emerging, and Cutler was on a pace to throw for over 4,000 yards, which would be a first for a Bears quarterback.
While the record was strong at the bye, there were troubling signs. Sophomore running back Matt Forte, who had set several Bears rookie records in 2008, was regularly held in check by opponents, forcing the offense to throw the ball more, which in turn led to some riskier decisions by Cutler. It was thought that the offensive line was not run blocking to expectations, and it also was not protecting Cutler well enough to take advantage of his skills. Free agent signee Omiyale, the starter at left guard, was regularly beaten and not able to generate a push in the run game, which would lead to a temporary benching later in the year. And both tackles, Pace and Williams, were committing penalties and being beaten on a regular basis. At the same time, the defense was playing closer to its 2008 level than 2006, when it had been thought before the season that the addition of Marinelli and Smith taking over the plays would turn it around.
Following the bye week, the Bears traveled to Atlanta for a Sunday night rematch of a game the Bears famously lost in 2008 on a last-second pass and field goal by the Falcons. In the rematch, the Bears allowed the Falcons to score the winning touchdown with just three minutes remaining in the game, didn't score on three of four redzone possessions, and turned the ball over on downs from the Atlanta 5 yard line in the game's waning seconds.
If the Atlanta loss was disappointing, the following week's game at Cincinnati would end up being revolting. The contest was moved to a 3:15 start by the networks as it was an intriguing game. Former Bears bustout running back Cedric Benson, now the Bengals starter, ran his mouth through the week and it was thought the Chicago defense would rise to the occasion to stifle their former turd. Instead, Benson ran for a career high 189 yards against a Bears defense that looked disinterested and pathetic. The Bengals led 31-3 at halftime and ended up winning 45-10, the most one-sided defeat of a Bears team in Smith's tenure as coach.
Smith's response to the debacle in Cincinnati was that his team would learn from the loss, and in the following week the Bears did defeat the hapless Cleveland Browns, but looked questionable in doing so. After the weak win over the Browns the Bears would face another tough test against the Arizona Cardinals. And again the Bears flopped in a difficult game, losing at home to the Cardinals by a score of 41-21, the second trouncing of the Bears in three weeks. The Bears were not only getting trounced on a regular basis, but seemed to be giving up career performances to their opponents on a weekly basis.
The losses continued to pile up for the team Smith coached and Angelo assembled in the following weeks, to San Francisco (10-6), Philadelphia (24-20), and at Minnesota (another pounding, this one 36-10). Following the Vikings loss, Smith was unusually candid when he proclaimed his team "felt like crap." Then he followed up with a prediction that "the sun usually comes up, and I assume it will come up tomorrow." How the sun rising related to his team's abysmal season is unknown.
On December 6th, the Bears did win their fifth game of the season against a poor opponent, beating the 1-10 St. Louis Rams 17-9, but were officially eliminated from playoff contention the following week after being swept by rival Green Bay in a 21-14 loss. Perhaps the low point of a season filled with low points was reached the following week at Baltimore in a 31-7 drubbing. Cutler posted a career-low 7.9 quarterback rating there, while the Bear defense allowed Raven quarterback Joe Flacco a career game with a 135.6 rating and four touchdowns. By this point in the year the defense was looking comically bad, week in and week out, seemingly unable to stop any opponent on any drive.
It was before the Baltimore debacle that Angelo declared that Smith would be evaluated along with everyone else after the season. Interesting words coming from the GM whose supposed talent was failing, being embarrassed, on the field on a weekly basis.
Surprisingly, after the miserable loss in Baltimore the Bears finished the 2009 season with two wins. The first was against Brett Favre and division champion Minnesota on Monday Night at Soldier Field. The Bears held a 16-0 halftime lead, but Smith's defense nearly lost the game after allowing 30 second half points and well over 300 yards. But the Bears would end up winning 36-30 in overtime.
In the season's final week, the Bears won 37-23 over a weak Lions team in Detroit.
In the final two weeks of the 2009 season, the Bears scored 73 points on eight Cutler touchdowns and only one interception. But after 14 weeks of initial disappointment, it was hard to take any positivity into the offseason.
Quote of the Year:  "The sun usually comes up in the morning.  We assume it will come up tomorrow." -Lovie Smith's comments after his team was taken apart by the Vikings in Minnesota, which was their third blowout loss of the season.
2009 Records: 3-1 Preseason, 7-9 Regular Season
2009 NFL Rankings: Offense 23rd Overall, 29th Rushing, 17th Passing; Defense 17th Overall, 23rd Rushing, 13th Passing
2009 Coaches: Lovie Smith, Head Coach; Bob Babich, Defensive Coordinator; Ron Turner, Offensive Coordinator
DATE
TEAM
RESULT
NOTES
8/15
Bills
20-27
Preseason
8/22
Giants
17-3
Preseason
8/30
Broncos
27-17
Preseason
9/3
Browns
26-23
Preseason
9/13
Packers
15-21
Opener at Lambeau
9/20
Steelers
17-14
Knocked off Champs
9/27
Seahawks
25-19
Seattle rebound
10/4
Lions
48-24
Blowout
10/11
Bye
Bye
Bye
10/18
Falcons
14-21
Close loss
10/25
Bengals
10-45
Annihilated.
11/1
Browns
30-6
Unconvincing W
11/8
Cardinals
21-41
Annihilated again.
11/12
49ers
6-10
Just plain ugly
11/22
Eagles
20-24
Another close loss
11/29
Vikings
10-36
Keeps getting worse
12/6
Rams
17-9
Not dominating
12/13
Packers
14-21
Swept by Pack
12/20
Ravens
7-31
Season snowballs
12/28
Vikings
36-30
Shocking upset
1/3
Lions
37-23
Final win
HOME
AWAY
Passing: Jay Cutler- Despite being criticized on all fronts all season long, Cutler threw for 3,666 yards and 27 touchdowns, with 26 interceptions. His 336 completions set a Bears record for a season.
Rushing: Matt Forte-  Like much of the rest of the 2009 Chicago Bears, Forte's season was disappointing against expectations. He finished with 929 yards on 258 carries and 4 touchdowns.  He averaged just 3.6 yards per attempt.
Receiving: Devin Hester- Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith have insisted for three years that Hester is a true #1 receiver in the NFL.  That's still very debatable, but at least Hester was first on the Bears, with 757 yards on 57 catches with 3 TD's.  Greg Olsen led the team in receptions with 60. 
Scoring: Robbie Gould- Gould led the Bears with 105 points. He converted all 33 PAT's he attempted, and kicked 24 field goals.
Sacks:  Adawale Ogunelye- Leading the Bears in sacks doesn't usually take many, unfortunately, and Ogunelye posted 6.5, most on the team.
Interceptions: Zack Bowman- In his first year as a starter, Bowman fulfilled his promise as an interceptor, leading the team with 6.
2009 Chicago Bears Usual Starters
Jay Cutler Matt Forte Jason McKie Devin Hester Earl Bennett Orlando Pace Frank Omiyale Olin Kreutz Roberto Garza Chris Williams Greg Olsen Robbie Gould
QB
RB
RB
WR
WR
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
TE
K
Alex Brown Tommie Harris Marcus Harrison Adewale Ogunelye Lance Briggs Hunter Hillenmeyer Nick Roach Charles Tillman Al Afalava Kevin Payne Zack Bowman Brad Maynard
DE
DT
DT
DE
LB
MLB
LB
CB
SS
FS
CB
P
2009 Chicago Bears usual starters.  Left to Right: Offense Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Jason McKie, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale, Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Chris Williams, Greg Olsen, Robbie Gould.  Defense Alex Brown, Tommie Harris, Marcus Harrison, Adewale Ogunelye, Lance Briggs, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Nick Roach, Charles Tillman, Al Afalava, Kevin Payne, Zack Bowman, Brad Maynard.
#
Pos.
Name
School
Exp.
4
P
Brad Maynard
Ball State
13
6
QB
Jay Cutler
Vanderbilt
4
9
K
Robbie Gould
Penn State
5
12
QB
Caleb Hanie
Colorado St.
2
13
WR
Johnny Knox
Abilene Christian
R
17
WR
Juaquin Iglesias
Oklahoma
R
19
WR
Devin Aromashodu
Auburn
3
20
S
Craig Steltz
LSU
2
21
CB
Corey Graham
New Hampshire
3
22
RB
Matt Forte
Tulane
2
23
WR
Devin Hester
Miami
4
24
S
Al Afalava
Oregon State
R
25
RB
Garrett Wolfe
Northern Illinois
3
27
RB
Kevin Jones
Virginia
6
29
RB
Adrian Peterson
Georgia Southern
8
30
CB
D.J. Moore
Vanderbilt
R
31
CB
Nathan Vasher
Texas
6
32
RB
Kahlil Bell
UCLA
R
33
CB
Charles Tillman
Louis. Lafay.
6
35
CB
Zack Bowman
Nebraska
2
36
S
Josh Bullocks
Nebraska
5
37
FB
Jason McKie
Temple
8
38
S
Danieal Manning
Abeilene Christian
4
44
S
Kevin Payne
Louisana Monroe
3
52
LB
Jamar Williams
Arizona St.
4
53
LB
Nick Roach
Northwestern
3
54
LB
Brian Urlacher
New Mexico
10
55
LB
Lance Briggs
Arizona
7
57
C
Olin Kreutz
Washington
12
58
LB
Tim Shaw
Penn State
3
59
LB
Pisa Tinoisamoa
Hawaii
7
60
G
Lance Louis
San Diego State
R
63
G-C
Roberto Garza
Texas A&M-K
9
65
LS
Patrick Mannelly
Duke
12
67
G
Josh Beekman
Boston College
3
68
G
Frank Omiyale
Tennessee Tech
5
71
DL
Israel Idonije
Manitoba
6
72
T
James Marten
Boston College
3
74
OT
Chris Williams
Vanderbilt
2
75
DT
Matt Toeaina
Oregon
2
76
T
Orlando Pace
Ohio State
13
78
T
Kevin Shaffer
Tulsa
8
80
WR
Earl Bennett
Vanderbilt
2
81
WR
Rashied Davis
San Jose St.
5
82
TE
Greg Olsen
Miami
3
87
TE
Kellen Davis
Michigan St.
2
88
TE
Desmond Clark
Wake Forest
11
90
DT
Jarron Gilbert
San Jose State
R
91
DT
Tommie Harris
Oklahoma
6
92
LB
Hunter Hillenmeyer
Vanderbilt
7
93
DE
Adewale Ogunleye
Indiana
10
94
DT
Marcus Harrison
Arkansas
2
95
DT
Anthony Adams
Penn State
7
96
DE
Alex Brown
Florida
8
97
DE
Mark Anderson
Alabama
4
98
LB
Darrell McClover
Miami
6
99
DE
Gaines Adams
Clemson
3
The Enigma that is Jay Cutler
We can't think of a player in the last 30 seasons that arrived in Chicago with higher hopes and expectations than Jay Cutler, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos for two first round draft picks, Kyle Orton and the swap of another pick. There may well have never been a player in 90 seasons with the same hopes and expectations put on him as Cutler had.
Denver had traded up in the 2006 NFL Draft to take Cutler with the 11th overall pick. He became Denver's starter late in his rookie season, then started every game for the Broncos in 2007 and 2008. Following the 2008 season, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl after throwing for 4,526 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Despite putting up numbers no Bears quarterback has for 60 years, Cutler had his detractors. In Denver, his rate of interceptions has been higher than many of the NFL's elite quarterbacks, and he had been known to have a somewhat abrasive personality. That fact was not downplayed under the circumstances of his trade out of Denver (see main article).
In his Bears debut, Cutler through four interceptions at Green Bay, then rebounded to post three games in a row with more than a 100 passer rating, something no Bears quarterback had done in at least 35 years. Then after the Bears' 3-1 start, like the rest of the Bears team, Cutler seemed to fall apart.
Low points of Cutler's season included throwing five interceptions against the San Francisco 49ers, posting a career-low 7.9 quarterback rating against the Baltimore Ravens, and throwing multiple interceptions in 7 games. He failed to throw an interception in just three of the Bears' 16 contests.
Cutler did become just the fifth Bears quarterback in 30 years to start 16 games in a season, finished the season's final two games with 8 touchdowns and just one interception, and threw a remarkable (for a Bears QB) 27 touchdowns. But 2009 was still a disappointment.
So the debate rages on: will Cutler indeed never be the type of player he could be given the talents he is blessed with, or has Lovie Smith and Ron Turner's coaching caused the quarterback to regress, as has been the case with so many other players shown the door in Chicago only to have success elsewhere?
One thing is for certain, Bears fans will find out, as the Chicago Bears will be the team built around Cutler until 2013.
To address the Chicago Bears defensive problems (ineptitude) from the 2008 season, Head Coach Lovie Smith quickly did three things. First he fired linebackers coach Lloyd Lee and defensive backs coach Steve Wilks. Then he announced that he would be taking over defensive playcalling duties from "defensive coordinator" Bob Babich. Finally, Smith hired longtime friend Rod Marinelli as defensive line coach/assistant head coach. Smith called Marinelli "the best free agent available on the market," after the Lions had fired him after his team posted the league's first 0-16 record. Prior to trading for Jay Cutler, many thought the Bears had locked into using their #18 pick in the first round on receiver Derrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey was surprisingly drafted by the Oakland Raiders with the seventh overall pick, before other future stars at the position Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin. So far, Heyward-Bey has been a bust. In a strange intertwining of Bears and Raiders, Chicago also targeted Ohio safety Mike Mitchell as their second round pick (#49 overall). But the Raiders, seemingly knowing this, traded two spots ahead of the Bears and selected him. The selection raised eyebrows from the experts as most had either never heard of him or had him with a seventh-round or undrafted grade. Once Mitchell was off the board, the Bears traded down for a third and a fourth round pick. Mitchell has been "invisible" in his rookie season for the Raiders, according to Raider Examiner. The Bears' trade of their second-round pick to the Seahawks netted them DT Jarron Gilbert and DE Henry Melton, when many quality offensive tackles, including impressive Vikings rookie starter Phil Loadholt, were on the board. Gilbert was rarely active in 2009 and Melton spent the season on injured reserve, gaining the Bears nothing in the short term at least. Although it was known that the Bears would not be able to sign any notable free agents because Jerry Angelo had spent most of the Bears' cap on contract extensions for veterans such as Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz, Tommie Harris, Devin Hester, Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and Alex Brown. Regardless, Angelo made somewhat of a surprise splash in the first week of free agency when we signed Panthers backup offensive lineman Frank Omiyale to a $14 million contract. Added later were safety Josh Bullocks, a disappointing castoff from New Orleans, as well as journeyman tackle Kevin Shaffer and perpetually injured linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa from St. Louis. In the preseason, Jay Cutler returned to Denver and his Bears starters generally outplayed the Broncos. Former Bear Kyle Orton broke his finger in the game but would not miss time in the regular season due to the injury. Cutler was quoted as saying how much more passionate Bears fans are than Broncos fans, and shortly thereafter it was reported that Urlacher had called Cutler a very deragatory name to a former teammate. Additionally, Cutler was criticized for not stopping to sign autographs for fans while attending a Cubs game at Wrigley Field over the summer. Defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, a starter in 2007 and 2008, was waived prior to the season opener after suffering his fourth season-ending injury in as many years with the Bears. Just prior to the 2009 trade deadline, the Bears traded their 2010 second-round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for defensive end Gaines Adams. Adams was the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, but failed to make any notable plays on the field for the Bears after the trade. A Tampa reporter wrote after the trade that the only thing crazier than the Bucs using the fourth overall pick on Adams was the Bears giving up a second round pick for him. With the drafting of D.J. Moore and the acquision of Jay Cutler, the 2009 Bears fielded 5 players from Vanderbilt (also Chris Williams, Hunter Hillenmeyer and Earl Bennett.) That's far more than any other NFL team. Rookie free agent running back Kahlil Bell wasn't promoted to the active roster until November, after Garrett Wolfe was placed on injured reserve. On his first carry, Bell hit the hole with confidence and ran 72 yards before being tackled short of the end zone. It was the longest rush by a Bear since Neal Anderson broke off a 73-yarder in 1989. Lost in Cutler and the Bears' disappointing season was that Cutler became just the fifth Bears quarterback since 1981 to start 16 games in a season. The others were Vince Evans ('81), Jim Harbaugh ('91), Erik Kramer ('95) and Rex Grossman ('06).
To be written.
2009 Bears Draft
Rd
Pos
Name
School
3a
DT
Jarron Gilbert
San Jose St
3b
WR
Juaquin Iglesias
Oklahoma
4a
DE
Henry Melton
Texas
4b
CB
D.J. Moore
Vanderbilt
5a
WR
Johnny Knox
Abilene Christian
5b
LB
Marcus Freeman
Ohio State
6
S
Al Afalava
Oregon St.
7a
G
Lance Louis
San Diego St.
7b
WR
Derek Kinder
Pittsburgh
2009 Bears Trades
Traded 2009 first and third-round picks, 2010 first round pick and QB Kyle Orton to Denver for QB Jay Cutler and Denver's 5th round pick in 2009.

Traded 2010 second-round pick to Tampa Bay for DE Gaines Adams.
 
Notable Free Agent Signings
Frank Omiyale, OL, Carolina
Kevin Shaffer, OL, Cleveland
Josh Bullocks, S, New Orleans
Orlando Pace, OL, St. Louis
2009 Bears Retirements
John Tait, T
2009 Chicago Bears Awards
WR Johnny Knox, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
LB Lance Briggs, NFC Defensive Player of the Week
QB Jay Culter, NFC Offensive Player of the Week
LB Lance Briggs, Pro Bowl (5)







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