Devin Hester, the wider receiver for the Chicago Bears, is one of many players named by Nevin Shapiro the booster that has claimed that he gave current and ex University of Miami players cash and gifts. According to Yahoo! Sports, Hester allegedly received multiple cash gifts, tickets to a Miami Heat-Detroit Pistons playoff game, drinks and VIP access at nightclubs, entertainment on Shapiro’s $1.6 million yacht and jet skis, a suit, shoes and other clothing, $7,500 in bounties from game performances, approximately $3,000 for an engagement ring, multiple meals at Miami-area restaurants, food, drinks, entertainment and lodging at Shapiro’s $2.7 million Miami Beach home.

Yahoo! Sports lists the bounties that Hester received as: $1,000 total for a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 38-33 win over Florida on Sept. 6, 2003; $2,500 total for two punt returns for touchdowns in a 48-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 18, 2004; $2,000 total for two return touchdowns in a 41-38 win over Louisville on Oct. 14, 2004; $1,000 total for a kickoff return for a touchdown in a 45-31 win over N.C. State on Oct. 23, 2004; and $1,000 total for a missed field goal returned for a touchdown in a 27-10 win over Florida on Dec. 31, 2004.

At the end of the day it was more than just Devin Hester who took cash and gifts from Nevin Shapiro. His integrity and loyalty to the rules of the NCAA was invisible, but the bigger problem is on the university and not the individual.

The Chicago Bears are in the NFC Championship Game. They won the NFC North. They have an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. Can somebody tell me how they got to this point?

The Bears’ playoff hopes seemed dim at the start of the season. It was the Packers and Vikings who were supposed to be in the playoffs. But as one team falls in the division, another rises. The Vikings turned in a turmoil-filled and ineffective 6-10 season, so it was the Bears who took advantage of their struggles.

The addition of Mike Martz to the coaching staff had the people in Chicago raving. He will be a great coach to Jay Cutler, who struggled in his first year with the Bears last season. It turns out the marriage has been successful to this point. With this said, I find myself asking the same question: how did they get to this point?

The Bears started the season 4-3. That included a loss to a team they beat last week in the Seahawks. That also included a game in which Cutler threw the ball to Redskins’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall four times for interceptions in a 17-14 loss. But Bears supporters and analysts will tell you that was a different team. They proceeded to finish the season 7-2. The only blowouts during that stretch were a pair of wins against the disastrous Vikings and the inconsistent Dolphins, who started third-stringer Tyler Thigpen in that game. The other six games were all decided by five points or less. A couple of them could have gone the other way.

And how about the luck of the draw in playing the 7-9 Seahawks instead of getting the Packers last week? I don’t think anybody thought the Seahawks were going to beat the Bears again on the road. Let’s not forget about the Bears’ chance to knock the Packers out of playoff contention in their final game of the season, which they lost 10-3. The playoff landscape would be vastly different had they taken care of business.

Their reward is a rematch with the red hot, Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers for a third go-round. It’s a game that will surely come down to who’s unit will prevail: the Packers’ offense or the Bears’ defense. Let’s not also forget that the Bears’ offense has to go up against a pretty formidable Packers defense as well.

Regardless of how they got here, the Bears are here. It doesn’t matter if the Packers are favored on the road. They believe in themselves. And they are ready to prove everybody wrong, much like a certain team in the AFC is poised to do the same.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

The Chicago Bears announced Wednesday that safety Danieal Manning signed his restricted free-agent tender of $1.176 million.

“He’s just glad it’s done,” Manning’s agent Russel Hicks told ESPNChicago.com. “This was never a big distraction because Danieal chose to go in awhile ago and be part of the team. All he wants to do now is move forward and be part of a Super Bowl contender. That’s all he’s worried about.”

A former second-round pick, Manning has started 40 of 61 games for the Bears at free safety, cornerback, nickel, and strong safety. Manning skipped the start of offseason voluntary workouts, but rejoined the team just prior to the draft.

A four-year veteran, Manning has posted 286 tackles, six interceptions, six forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, in addition to 14 pass breakups and two sacks.

Click here to read the full article – By Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com

For two seasons, the Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester was the most electrifying return man in the NFL. Now Hester, the receiver, wouldn’t mind getting back to his roots.

“I know what I’m best at,” Hester said Thursday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “The return game is my bread and butter, so if I had to cut back on my receiving and go back to returning, that’s something I would love to do.”

Hester scored 11 regular-season touchdowns on punt and kickoff returns from 2006 to 2007, and brought a kick back for a score in the Super Bowl in 2007. In an effort to get his play-making ability on the field more, Bears coaches turned Hester into a receiver before the 2008 season, and the experiment has had mixed results.

Hester has averaged 54 catches for 711 yards in his two full seasons as a receiver, but his return game has suffered. He hasn’t scored a touchdown on a return since Dec. 30, 2007 against the New Orleans Saints. After returning 31 kicks without a score in 2008, Hester returned just seven in 2009 as Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox got the bulk of the work.

Hester said the coaching staff makes the decisions, and he is willing to do whatever they ask.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPNChicago.com

Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams died Sunday morning of cardiac arrest, the Greenwood, S.C., county coroner said. He was 26.

Greenwood County coroner James T. Coursey told ESPN that Adams, a Greenwood native, was taken to the emergency room at Self Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9 a.m.


Adams, who had just completed his third season in the NFL, went into cardiac arrest at his family’s home early Sunday morning, said Marcia Kelley-Clark, chief deputy coroner for Greenwood County.

The autopsy showed Adams had an enlarged heart, a condition Kelley-Clark said can often lead to a heart attack. But Adams’ relatives didn’t know about it.

“Nobody was aware of any kind of medical condition,” Kelley-Clark said.

Toxicology tests are being run by the State Law Enforcement Division, though drug use was not suspected as a factor in Adams’ death. However, those results probably will not be available for at least two months, Kelley-Clark said.

“I remember him at the 2007 Draft as a fine young man,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of Adams on Sunday. “Our condolences to Gaines’ family, his teammates on the Bears and Buccaneers, and their organizations on their loss.”


Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

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A lacerated kidney will force Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe to miss the remainder of the season, the team confirmed Friday.


The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the story.

Wolfe suffered the injury on Nov. 8 versus Arizona, and he was hospitalized for the next few days. Still, the Bears were optimistic Wolfe would be able to return in 2009.

The Bears said Wolfe will be placed on injured reserve.

Practice squad running back Kahlil Bell is a strong candidate to be promoted to the 53-man roster.

Click here to read the full article – By Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com

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Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe remained hospitalized Monday after suffering a kidney injury in the 41-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, a league source confirmed.

According to the source, Wolfe is expected to return at some point this season, and may end up missing only a handful of games.

The Bears initially announced Wolfe’s ailment as a back injury. Lovie Smith will meet the media at 3 p.m. ET, and may shed some more light on the injuries to Wolfe, Charles Tillman and Al Afalava.

Click here to read the full article – By Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com

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