Jimmy Graham's Beef with the Union
Bears tight end Jimmy Graham remains as feisty as ever in practices at age 34.
Graham loved the give-and-take with the defense last training camp and continues such exchanges after plays this year.
On Thursday he boxed out a defender then caught a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone despite being well-covered, spiked the ball hard. When defensive back Jordan Lucas tossed the ball right back at him from the sidelines Graham caught it and punted it into the stands to the delight of the crowd.
"That's why I play this game, is to compete and to go out there and talk a little noise," Graham said.
Some of his noise on Thursday was directed at the handling of the COVID-19 issue rather than the Bears defense. Graham expressed outrage over the NFLPA proposal that there be more testing of players every day even after they've been vaccinated and that fines be assessed.
"I thought we had a game plan coming into the season and it already feels like we're already kind of running away from that," Graham said. "I did what I was asked to do to come in here so I can practice and be in here every day and play every day. And now it's a bit frustrating, you know? I just want to come in here and work."
Bears coach Matt Nagy probably has more than enough on his mind now with injuries on the offensive line than to worry about his tight end's anger over how COVID-19 is being handled.
"All these guys have opinions and beliefs and I'm never going to criticize anybody for what their belief is," Nagy said. "We all have it and we all have the ability to voice it. He has not come to me about any of that and Jimmy and I have a close enough relationship that if there is an issue that him and I would have that one-on-one."
Graham's issue is with the union and not coaches, the team or league. Graham expressed this thought on Twitter Thursday, as well, tweeting: "I've done everything I've been asked and now Feel like I'm being punished. If I miss a test that your proposing everyday I'll be fined a max 150k! How does this make sense. How's the punishment 100x worse than last year and I'm vaccinated now?"
The union's proposals haven't been adopted yet and the league said in a statement it is still studying the issue.
"That's kind of frustrating, because this is the National Football League," he said. "I've got a lot of guys in the NBA I know. I've got a lot of guys in MLB. They don't have these situations with their PA. They're pretty strong.
"At times I feel like there's a lot of miscommunication. There's a lot of things being done. And we have no say in it. It's, like, crazy."
The Delta variant has largely been responsible for an uptick in positive tests. The union said tests to 2,528 players and 4,549 staff members had turned up 32 positives among individuals who had been vaccinated and 65 total positives. This was part of the reason behind their concern.
Graham indicated his disgust partly came from the fact they would be required to test on days off.
"So that will be an hour back and forth on my off day for no reason when I'm getting five hours of work on my body at home," Graham said. "All that, it's just absolutely ridiculous."
The players union memo did say, "...testing each day they enter team facilities," which wouldn't necessarily mean on days off.
Graham said his focus on this issue wouldn't spill over to his play. Red zone effectiveness remains his strength in his 12th season, after making a team-high eight touchdown catches last year.
"I remember talking to Tony Gonzalez when he was retiring and talking to him about playing into your mid-30s," Graham said. "It was definitely some of the advice that I was given by him, but more or less, all the film I've been able to watch on (Antonio) Gates and Gonzalez. They did it for a long time.
"What really allowed them to continue to play was the ability to make those tight-quarter catches by positioning their body the right way. So I'm gonna continue to do that and continue to watch that film room. Those are the two greatest to ever play the game, and they played it forever. If I can mimic anything that they're doing, I think I'm doing pretty good."
The willingness to take stuff from the defense and give it back is part of the "old man's" fun.
"I've been competing since I was 14 years old," Graham said. "That's something that's hard to let go of. I enjoy being here. I love this game. I love scoring touchdowns.
"To be the oldest guy on the team and to be out here grinding every day with these guys, you've gotta have a little bit of that in you. I definitely have a chip on my shoulder. I always want more. I always demand more from myself. Obviously blessed to be here in this position, playing in my 12th year at the age of 34."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
