In a pro football world where wearing high-top cleats to honor the passing of Johnny Unitas can earn you a $25,000 fine, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that players hoping to wear red, white and blue gear on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is a punishable offense. Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs tweeted about his new patriotic Reebok gear and how he expects to be fined for wearing it. So did Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. So did Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley and Tennssee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and most of the San Diego Chargers. So whether or not the league approves, they can’t fine everybody for supporting their country … can they?

Briggs:

Reebok great job on these gloves and shoes..looks like I’m getting fined this week. Lol! By far the best fine I will ever have to pay. Thanks…Fines for gloves could be as much as 5k..the shoes 8-10k I think. not 100% on the shoe fine.

Is wearing 9/11 commemorative gear “showboating”? Is it being done to draw attention to the players who choose to break the rules? To give them more media coverage? I’m blogging about them. I think it’s a valid consideration, but when your talking point is “do I or do I not want to show respect and reverence to my country’s worst tragedy in my lifetime” I’d hope the simple gesture of fellowship and patriotism would not go hand-in-hand with the Lambeau Leap. At the same time, what are Never Forget gloves accomplishing, and isn’t there probably a better way for rich people to show their support to the victims of the attacks?

Regardless, don’t assume the league is totally heartless: the NFL and NFLPA will donate $1 million to related charities and memorials. Of course, the average NFL team is worth about $1.04 billion and ESPN just completed an eight-year extension worth as much as $1.9 billion annually with the NFL for the rights to Monday Night Football, so the issues of “how much can we give” and “how much can we take away from you” sort of go hand in hand.

[h/t Shutdown Corner]

Remember when Lance Briggs's $350,000 2007 Lamborghini was found wrecked on the Edens Expressway?  Seems like a long time ago, but police have finally discovered who was responsible: Lance Briggs.

[Briggs] was charged with leaving the scene of an accident after crashing his Lamborghini and leaving it alongside an expressway on the city's North Side, Illinois State Police said Monday. After meeting with police Monday afternoon, Briggs also was cited for failure to give immediate notice of an accident and improper lane usage…

Bears coach Lovie Smith indicated the team will not discipline Briggs, whose "spirits were good for being in a one-car accident."

You know what would put me in a good mood after I left the scene of my wrecked Lambo?  Not getting a DUI.

Just sayin'. 

Bears linebacker Lance Briggs's $350,000 black Lamborghini roadster was found wrapped around a light pole at 3:15 this morning on the Edens Expressway, and the facts are as follows:

• The driver of the vehicle was unharmed and left the scene of the accident.
• It is unknown whether the driver was Briggs.
• The car was not reported stolen.
• Police are meeting with Briggs today to learn more.
• For $350,000, I would have expected better gas mileage.

Pretty obvious what happened here: someone crashed the car. That means the only other question is… which one is Edens Expressway again?  Is that 90?  290?  94?  Which one is the Dan Ryan?  Goddamn Chicago.  Only damn city in America where numbers aren't good enough.

[Deadspin] 

Over the last week or so, I've ignored about a dozen different takes on Lance Briggs's ongoing bitchiness towards the Bears, because to me it seemed like just the usual boring offseason rigamarole of player movement in the NFL. But I was wrong: Lance Briggs is a colossal, possibly historic, dickhead.

"I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me," Briggs told FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer. "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again." Briggs elaborated that he would go so far as to take out loans if necessary to survive next year without a paycheck…

Combative, Briggs added in a brief conversation on the phone that he didn't appreciate Chicago fans and media reacting negatively when he made public his stance last week. He says he was tricked into doing an interview on WSCR-AM 670 and resisted speaking to local reporters because of the way he has been portrayed…

"I eventually want to be 'the man' somewhere," Briggs said. "I want to be like [Brian Urlacher] and have everything put on me too. Obviously, I'll never be able to do that there. Still, had the Bears made me a long-term offer that I found acceptable, I probably would have sacrificed this desire and stayed."

Stupid cheap Bears and parasitic media. You don't insult your players by offering them seven-year contracts that pay almost $7 5 million a year. And when the player (smartly) rejects that insult, you don't pour salt in the wound by making him the franchise player and guaranteeing him $7.2 million. Here's Lance Briggs, humbly approaching the team, bleeding from his stigmata, and the best the Bears can do is $7.2 million to play for the NFC champions.

I tell you what, I'd walk away, too. Then I'd ride ride my pegasus over to the valet station, where a team of leprechauns would retrieve my time-traveling DeLorean. "Here you go, Paddy. I hope this doubloon I got while scuba-diving Atlantis will suffice as a tip."