A day after being censured by the league for refusing to talk to reporters, and four days after ducking reporters after fumbling in overtime and running out of bounds in the final two minutes of regulation in Chicago’s 13-10 overtime loss at Denver, Bears running back Marion Barber spoke to two reporters at Halas Hall today.
The Bears then emailed Barber’s quotes to all the reporters who cover the team. His gems include cutting off a reporter when being asked about running out of bounds. He said:
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I just move on. Just bear with me.”
He should have just made these type of non-comment comments on Sunday. Media people often get angry when you don’t talk. They don’t get angry if you “face the music” in the most boring, vanilla way. Frustrated maybe, but not angry. Marion Barber could have saved himself a little ill will by speaking four days earlier.
Here is the complete Q and A with Marion Barber:
How tough was last game?
“I’m looking forward to this week. Practice yesterday, guys are really excited about this next week, and that’s really what it’s all about.”
You ran for 108 yards but made two costly mistakes late; your thoughts on last week’s game?
“My thoughts on it is getting to this next week and just preparing as much as I can to be ready for this game of course.”
When Caleb Hanie sat next to you on the bench at the end of the game, what did he tell you?
“I’m all about this. I’m ready to go today, tomorrow. Just make sure guys are ready to go this week and still have got the same type of enthusiasm and excitement for this game.”
While you want to talk about this week, is it tough to put something from previous game behind you or do you just focus on upcoming game?
“That’s all. (He’s referring to upcoming game.) Anything else could possibly distract you. So for me personally, I’m just all about making sure I know what I’m doing this week and understanding the concepts for this week and understanding the protections for this week so I can be at my best.”
One of the crucial plays last week was when you went out of bounds …
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I just move on. Just bear with me.”
Why do you stay so quiet?
“I’ve been like this all my life. Really high school I wasn’t a guy to be in a TV interview, only when I was asked to do it. That’s kind of something that I hope people will respect from me. It’s not like I don’t do it. I do do a few, but I believe because of the circumstances that took place, a lot want to know. But like I said, it’s all about this week and doing what I can do to help this ballclub win.”
Forget about us. What about your teammates; do you feel you have to say anything to them after a game like that?
“Even after that, guys here are great. That was blessing and that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day because that’s who we are. I believe that being here even though it’s been for this short period of time, the fellas in there, you’ve got some big dogs, ‘Lach, Briggs, the offensive line, and it’s just great to have that [support] going to the next game with that on your shoulders, knowing that guys have got love for you.”
Will it be hard for the team to shake off that type of loss?
“We’ve just got to go ahead and move on like I said and just learn from it and just go onto the next game remaining enthusiastic about finishing out the season strong.”
I guess some guysjust arent sound bite material. Makes up for the guys that cant seem to shut up.
Yeah, I’ve got no problem with anything Marion Barber said here. … But it does make his no-talking stance look ridiculous. … If you never say anything interesting, there’s no reason to boycott the media. They’ll learn to leave you alone anyway. And when you do something bad that’s newsworthy, like he did Sunday, you can talk for 3 or 4 minutes and be done.