Go ahead, grow old and fat on that $12 million you didn't earnfrom the Seattle Seahawks and stop whining about never having theright coaching, never getting a fair chance, never being in the rightsystem.
Cash your checks and quit blaming everybody else for yourfailures.I think most of us would have been happy to see Mirer traded tothe Bears and simply to write off his dismal four years in Seattle asan experiment that failed to bear fruit.But in recent newspaper stories, Mirer childishly blamed hiswoes on ineffective coaching by Seattle's Dennis Erickson and hisstaff.And for this, he deserves a public caning.The fact is, for years, we in the Seattle-area media gave himthe benefit of the doubt because he was such a likable guy withstrong public-relations skills.But when he failed to beat out Erik Kramer (a 33-year-oldjourneyman coming off a broken neck) as starting quarterback for theBears, it came as no big surprise to many of us who witnessed Mirer'sinability to gain command of anything beyond the game's rudiments.If great quarterbacking is an art form, as some suggest, Mirernever got past stick figures with chewed-off Crayolas.And in return for four years of massive paychecks, Mirer threw56 interceptions in 51 starts and very visibly contributed to theregion's disenchantment with the entire franchise.So, one can only imagine the wild exchanges of high-fives thatmust have taken place in the Seahawks' front office when the Bearsagreed to give up the 11th pick in the first round of the draft forMirer.After the Bears committed to an $11 million contract for Mirer,former personnel director Rod Graves said Mirer would have to bombspectacularly to avoid being the team's No. 1 quarterback.But that's exactly what he did. And he's blaming the Seahawks.The Bears' offense is more "specific" than Seattle's, Mirersaid. Everyone is on the same page, he said, not like in Seattle.Specific situations had particular plans, while Seattle's approachwas to reach into a bag and gamble, he said.The staff in Seattle didn't go over things enough, and "when youdon't know how (the receivers) are going to run a route, how are yousupposed to have confidence in where to throw it?"Curious that all the coaching problems that afflicted Mirerdidn't seem to be so fatal when John Friesz came in to run theoffense.Mirer said his confidence was undermined when Erickson replacedhim at halftime of the second game last season."That proved to me my job wasn't as solid as it had alwaysbeen," Mirer said.Hello, Rick, reality calling. Is anyone home?Truth be told, Erickson showed faith in Mirer far beyond that ofmost rational coaches. He and offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowskirepeatedly stood up for him in print and continued to start himdespite incontrovertible evidence that he was hopelessly lost on thefield.And now, with the comments he made, Mirer once again showed hecannot read the situation or hit his target."I think I wanted to leave," he said. "More than they wanted meto leave."Sorry, Rick, don't think that's possible.Dave Boling writes for the News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash.
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