Lovie Smith Announces 'Rex Grossman is a Quarterback'

Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith denied contradicting statements he repeatedly made last season and as recently as Sunday night regarding quarterback Rex Grossman's position with the team as he announced Brian Griese would be replacing Grossman as his team's starter. The move relegates Grossman to the bench despite numerous recorded votes of confidence and incidences of Smith proclaiming "Rex is our quarterback."

"I never said that," a defiant Smith said Wednesday. "Many of you obviously misheard me and I think my comments are being taken out of context. I'd like to set the record straight today. All I have ever said about Rex is that he is A quarterback. That's it. Pretty innocuous if you ask me."

When Smith was asked if he still had confidence in Grossman's status as a quarterback the coach would only say that Grossman has been listed as a quarterback in the Bears media guide for all five of his years with the team and that the head coach has no input when it comes to the booklet's content.

"I don't put the media guide together and I'm not going to pretend that I do," he said. "Sure, I took a publication design class in college, but that hardly qualifies me as a graphic design expert. What I do know is Rex has done a lot of good things around here. Do you guys realize that for the season he has more wins and more touchdown passes than any other QB on our roster? Not to mention the other stuff you guys don't see- he holds doors open for people, he has the cleanest locker and last year he won the 'most improved' award at our post-season pizza party. That's the Rex we all know around here and that's why I quite frankly don't understand all the fuss about this."

Smith would not address whether or not Grossman, whose contract is up at the end of this season, had any chance of seeing the field ever again as a Chicago Bear and would only repeat his belief that the former starter was indeed a quarterback.

"I'll say it again: Rex is a quarterback- sometimes a starting quarterback, sometimes a backup quarterback, occasionally a good quarterback, often a bad quarterback, but almost always assuredly a quarterback of some sort."