Rex-less questions a rarity for Lovie
The Bears coach met with the media Sunday night at the Hilton Miami Airport and was much chattier than usual in a Q&A session that covered being one of the first black head coaches to reach the Super Bowl; his upbringing in Big Sandy, Texas; his middle linebacker, Brian Urlacher; and the opposing quarterback, Peyton Manning.
Yet not once did Rex Grossman's name come up. The scrutinized passer, who made it through a regular season for the first time in his four-year career, was viewed at times by some as an obstacle to the Bears reaching this point. Grossman will meet with the media for the first time this afternoon, and he looked at ease doing a paid television interview poolside.
''The hype surrounds the whole team,'' quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said. ''Rex can handle it, there's no question about that. He's played under control in the playoffs, taken care of the football, and that's what we have asked him to do.''
Wilson can impart some knowledge about the process -- a weeklong circus leading into a very important football game -- having been a member of the Dallas Cowboys' Super Bowl XXX team.
''It's a lot of excitement,'' he said. ''Our team had a good blend. There were some first-timers on the team, but a lot of the guys, it was their third one. The core of guys, it was their Super Bowl.''
That was a wild bunch. Cowboys coach Barry Switzer had a party in his room the night before the game.
CANDID CAMERA: The memo never made it to Hunter Hillenmeyer. The linebacker said he was about the only Bears player who was not shooting his own video on the flight down. Several players exited the United charter flight taping the action.
Hillenmeyer has time to acquire a camera before media day Tuesday, when many players said they will be arriving with fully charged batteries.
Asked if the reality of reaching the Super Bowl was better than his dreams of doing so while growing up, defensive end Alex Brown said: ''It's better because I am actually here and I am talking to all of you guys about it. I'm having a ball.
''Getting off the plane -- I watched the same thing last year when Seattle was getting off the plane, and they had the cameras and they were taking pictures of everything. I found myself doing the same thing today. It's a great moment. You should capture as much of it and try to enjoy as much of it as you can.''
LET ME LOOK AT THAT: One thing players did not do on the flight was brush up on the game plan. The playbooks were shipped with team equipment.
''They didn't want everybody bringing their own because they were worried one might go missing,'' Hillenmeyer said.
FILM REVIEW: When Muhsin Muhammad signed with the Bears in free agency before last season, he was bringing tangible postseason experience to a team that had little of it.
But the loss he experienced with the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII was full of enough bad memories that he said he never had watched the game -- at least not any part that wasn't forced on him in a film session.
Until last week.
''I watched some plays I made, some plays I didn't make, that kind of stuff,'' he said.
''I want to use every opportunity to study the film and just know going into this that I'm going to play well.
''When you go that far and you lose in the big game, it does wear on you. It's worn on me until we won the championship game last week.''
PAYING THE PRICE: The NFL fined New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush $5,000 for taunting during his 88-yard touchdown reception against the Bears in the NFC Championship Game.
Bush was not penalized ointing back at Urlacher or somersaulting into the end zone, but he received the standard punishment for taunting.
Contributing: AP