Profile of the Week: Week 11

The Mike O’Malley Memorial Guts Profile of the Week:


Rex Grossman

Most of you know Rex Grossman as just another in the long line of disappointing Chicago Bears’ quarterbacks. You see him as the man who rewrote the book on inconsistency last year at the quarterback position, and still won games. The man who had to rely on a stellar defense and an extremely patient coach to get him to the Super Bowl. The man who, after years of battling minor injuries and fending off obsessive fans, blew that big Super Bowl game like he wanted something from it. Call me blind, but I see someone else.

To me, he is a man, an ordinary guy with dreams, hopes, and laugh that makes all the women say, “what’s he laughing at?” He captures attention like a third boob, but that doesn’t mean he needs it. He’s normal, like you or I under center. You’re probably thinking...”Normal? Are you an idiot?, Did you forget about his pedigree?” YES, YES, NO. You’re right, he has one, but it’s all a crock of shit. I mean, sure, he and his golden arm were forged in the mighty Swamp of Gainesville, Florida, at Spurrier U. Manufacturers of NFL QB success stories like Jesse “The Bachelor” Palmer, Danny “The White” Wuerffel, Chris “Sprang-A” Leak, and John “Mr. Florida” Reaves. But Rex? He doesn’t buy into that hype. That’s just where he played college ball, not where he came from.

After his "season-saving" performance last week against the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Rex gets to start this week after losing his job to Brian Griese, trying to win it back for good and reclaim some glory. Alot of people will probably say, “Who Cares? He’ll just blow it again, what’s one moment?” Well folks, for Rex, it’s everything.

And I’m going to tell you one reason why.

Rex Grossman, from small-town Bloomington, Indiana, son of Jewish parents Daniel and Maureen Grossman, has been coming from behind his whole life. (*Note* he matured into a body with just 205 bones/206 (he’s missing the “Quitter” bone.) I’m going to share with you a few things about Rex, and maybe it will change a little something inside you, or maybe it won’t. But at least you’ll know.

I could tell you about how, in March of this year, Rex had the distinct honor of accepting the Ed Block Courage Award, an honor rewarded to the NFL players who best exemplify sportsmanship and courage on the field. But I won’t. No I’m going to take you back, before the Swamp. At Bloomington South high school, Rex threw for 7,518 miles and 97 tds in his prep career. Rex means king in Latin. But even before that, Rex was just a boy with a star in his eye. Years before he stepped foot on the NFL gridiron, he was known as little Rex. Some close to Little Rex still call him this because they remember the days when he wasn’t throwing as many INTs as TDs. They remember his father dressing him up in a shirt and tie and bringing him to the eye clinic, where he would carry patient files to and from the reception desk in both arms like firewood. (He carried firewood in the winter.)

The ladies who worked for his father Dr. Dan as receptionists were all winks and smiles when they’d see the little charmer. They doted over the Bears' future quarterback. ''What's your name?'' they would ask. The doe-eyed Rex would roll his eyes in exasperation. They knew darned well what his name was. He had told them a dozen times already. “Wex Waniel Gwossman da turd,'' he would say proudly, and the office would erupt with laughter all over again.” (He still talks like that)

Despite the glitz and glamour of being an NFL quarterback, Rex still remembers his roots. A good ol’ boy who could carry a load. That’s guts. According to an equally gutsy Indiana guy Bob Knight, “'He's just a really, really good kid from a great family and that combination has enabled him to do what he has done.”

Rex’s parents bought a 100 acre horse farm in 1983 and started raising Arabians a year later. Rex had little interest in these foreign horses and would often sneak out into the parking lot while his sisters were riding and throw the football back and forth to himself, running underneath all of his errant passes. He would then return to the track and lie to his sisters and pretend he saw the whole race. That takes guts. Rex was the star quarterback for the Arabian Cowboys, his youth football team, and that meant he had to practice, all the time. He practiced at church by slipping his homemade playbook in between hymnal pages and singing the “Run and Gun.” He practiced at the dinner table passing the family style green bean casserole to his sister Ashley using both hands to develop forearm strength. He even practiced at practice. Despite all of this footballin, Rex also had other passions; he played youth baseball and basketball. He wasn’t very good at those sports either but he had heart. He would often punish himself for bad performances by waking up at 5 am for 5-mile runs and spending 2 hours at the batting cages improving his rigid swing. He was a worker.

Even before he was a quarterback and a mediocre shooting guard/shortstop, he was a seventh-grade boy. Since that grade, 4 years before he hit puberty, Rex always had a summer job. He worked on the farm and was even a cable guy for the summer, throwing cable lines to the wrong people in preparation for a dazzling pro career. Also, Rex was a great student. He had to hide his grades from his father, who wanted him to concentrate on football and not on school. His grades were good, and it took guts to keep them that way. As he continued to balance work and play he grew into the quarterback you now know. He breezed through high school with incredible stats and teammates who respected him. They knew he would win the big game for them. (They all now work in maintenance) He was named the top Midwest prospect and as you all know went on to the University of Florida and graduate with honors with a Nature Appreciation major and a minor in the field of Guts.


Rex Grossman is a man who constantly walks on the edge of confidence and humility. He is a man with limited athletic talent and infinite perseverance. So when Rex takes the field this Sunday as a starter once again, look at him with this new knowledge in the back of your mind, and see him for what he really is, a fighter.