David Montgomery Free of Slackards

It seemed an odd way to tell your former teammates you think they're a bunch of lazy losers, but it sure looked that way when David Montgomery played video internet basketball with former Bears nemesis CJ Gardner-Johnson.

It seemed he was trashing his old team, even his old coach.

Appearing on Youtube's immensely popular Lions Gaming: Live with with CJ Gardner-Johnson, Montgomery put out there for everyone in Youtube Land that being with players who work as hard as the Lions do just isn't something he has done so far.

"Everybody around here, and everybody, wants to work," Montgomery said. "Like, I haven't been anywhere to where it's like that, and it's a really good team.

"It's hard to find people that want to work. Its just, it's different."

This doesn't say much about the work ethic the Bears have now or under former coach Matt Nagy. You have to wonder which of those players he was talking about.

As for all those other places in the league Montgomery has been to compare this to, well, oh, that's it.

The other things Montgomery said didn't say much about the Bears' ability to win, either, or compete, or even their fans.

Their topic of discussion was losing.

"That's all I was used to," Montgomery says on the Youtube telecast. "And it got to a point where it sucked the fun out of the game for me because I'm a competitor. I like to compete. That's what football's about. It's so refreshing to be in a place where that's appreciated."

Losing couldn't have been too much fun for any of them last year when the roster was gutted intentionally so they could clear out the salary cap. It sure wasn't for fans, media, etc., but that was one year and it was expected as they got rid of the personnel so they could go forward in the future.

It seemed there were people working hard then and in Montgomery's first two years the losing didn't occur on such a massive scale.

They must have been working harder back then and didn't become slackards until later. At least, it seemed like this to those who attended the training camp practices and did see hard work happening. Media isn't allowed in to regular practices after the first 10 minutes or so, but allowing everyone to slide after they'd been practicing hard in training camp doesn't seem like something any coach would do.

Montgomery also lauded the true "players coach," Dan Campbell, which implies, of course, that the Bears haven't had such coaches when he has been there. So much for the HITS principle.

Montgomery should feel comfortable now because he's with such a successful, hard-working group:

A team that lost to his own Bears teams five out of the first six times they played and until last year hadn't beaten the Bears in consecutive games dating back to before Montgomery came into the league.

A team that has been home watching the playoffs every year since three seasons before Montgomery came into the league, and was in last place in 2020 when Montgomery was facing Gardner-Johnson's Saints team in the playoffs.

A team with double-digit losses every year from 2018-21.

A team that has never won an NFC North title.

A team that hasn't won any division title since 1991 when Erik Kramer was their quarterback.

A team that is one of four never to play in a Super Bowl.

It's a good thing Montgomery is with such a winning franchise now, one that has put together one full season in succession with at least one more victory than they had losses.

It truly shows how hard work pays off.

The Bears must learn about this hard work thing and get their franchise in order.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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