NightLink: The Toughness of Olin Kreutz

Dane Noble — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:07:36 -0000

Olin Kreutz's name has come up a few times in recent months, and typically always in the same context: team leader, enforcer, tough guy. Kreutz has been the anchor of the Chicago Bears line for more than a decade, and his presence always precedes him.

We have discussed whether to bring in a wide receiver with a sketchy past... Kreutz would put him in his place. We talked about Cutler's antics in Denver... that's okay, Kreutz will whip him into shape in Chicago.

And today, we saw Kreutz featured on ESPN's All-Decade Offense. All of this talk reminded me of a "situation" that occurred in 2005 between Kreutz and Fred Miller. Here is an excerpt from an article I found:

Kreutz and Miller were having some fun in November 2005, shooting at an FBI firing range, when the fun took a bad turn. After the shooting, they had some drinks and barbeque. What kind of FBI firing range allows men to drink and eat on the property? Good question. Ask someone else. Me, I'm still trying to figure out how Olin Kreutz beat the crap out of Fred Miller, and did it so thoroughly that it was Miller who ended up apologizing afterward.

Be sure to check out the full article... it is a great read.

Chicago Bears Sign Fred Miller

Adam T — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:09:16 -0000

Last year Fred Miller was the goat of the offensive line and took the brunt of the blame and was released for it. Then the line looked bad and people starting getting hurt and the Bears reached out to Miller.

The line looks to be coming around and now Fred Miller is being brought back into the mix.

Fred Miller turned down more money when the Bears signed him originally in 2005 and he will do the same thing this morning when he rejoins the team as a backup offensive tackle.

He will sign a one-year contract today, a source close to the player said, and is expected to be on the practice field this afternoon. Miller will become the third offensive tackle with the Bears apparently deeming experience necessary as rookie seventh-round pick Kirk Barton filled the role last week.

I'm much less upset with this than when the Bears first contacted Miller. Then it was because we looked awful and needed the players. Now the line looks better and Miller is coming in strictly for experience and depth. The Bears have some young guys in the mix in Chris Williams, Josh Beekman and Kirk Barton and having a guy whose been around awhile and is familiar with the Bears offense can't hurt. Now lets just hope we don't need to turn to him.

Miller's deal is for one year and unless injuries move him in to a starting role or the young guys don't come around he likely will only play out that one year.

SB Nation - Fred Miller

NightLink: The Toughness of Olin Kreutz

Chicago Bears Sign Fred Miller