Bears' Devin Hester might seek trade

Devin  Hester sounded like a broken man when head coach Lovie Smith was fired by the Chicago Bears. After another frustrating end to the season and no playoffs, Hester's frustration boiled over and he threatened  to retire. After about a month he reconsidered.  

Now Hester says he might need a change of scenery. With a year left on his contract Hester spoke about his future and determined that he might be better served playing elsewhere.

"I'm going to try to get two or three more years in,'' Hester told the Chicago Tribune on Saturday. "I think I have that much left in me.

"At the same time, I think I do need a fresh start.'' 

Hester sounds like he wants to stay, but after seeing his role diminish on offense he doesn't know if he sees himself in the Bears' immediate plans. That has much to do with his frustration. Throw in Lovie Smith's firing and you have a player that says he might need to be traded.


"It's a possibility,'' he said. "I'm loyal to my team. But the fans and my teammates have to understand where I'm coming from.

"I don't want to walk away from this game with another season going the way it ended this year. … It might have to take a fresh start somewhere else.''

Hester is a playmaker, but he's more of a one trick pony than a guy to include in an offensive game plan. I don't see anyone making a trade for him, but remember the Oakland Raiders were roped into taking Carson Palmer off the Bengals' hands, so anything is possible.

Yankees' Mark Teixeira admits he's overpaid

As you age you lose a step. It's just a natural progression in life. You just can't pull off some things you used to be able to do when you were younger.

New York Yankees first baseman, Mark Teixeira is coming to grips with this reality. Even though he's only 32, Texieira's numbers have slipped since signing an eight-year, $180 million contract with the Yankees in December of 2008. His power is still there, but the batting eye is gone. No longer hitting .280, he's now hovering near the .250 mark and heading toward DH territory.

Knowing he's not the player he once was, Teixeira admits to being overpaid and knows that he's on the downside of his career.

"I looked at the first six or seven years of my career, I was in my 20s, it was easy. I wasn't searching for the right formula. To think that I'm going to get remarkably better, as I get older and breaking down a little bit more, it's not going to happen," Teixeira said.

"Maybe I'm slowing down a tick. Look, I'm not going to play forever. Eventually you start, I don't want to say declining, but it gets harder and harder to put up 30 [homers] and 100 [RBI]," Teixeira said.


"I have no problem with anybody in New York, any fan, saying you're overpaid. Because I am," Teixeira said. "We all are."

"Agents are probably going to hate me for saying it," he continued. "You're not very valuable when you're making $20 million. When you're Mike Trout, making the minimum, you are crazy valuable. My first six years, before I was a free agent, I was very valuable. But there's nothing you can do that can justify a $20 million contract."

I'll give Tex credit for admitting that he's overpaid for the production he's given the Yankees. But couldn't any player say the same? There are plenty of others who will try to justify their outrageous salary due to past performances. It shouldn't work that way, but then again, we live in a regular world and they don't.

Teixeira knows the end is coming and sounds like he doesn't want to hang on. No one wants to admit when they're declining but sometimes you just have to deal with that reality. I know I wouldn't want a fan telling me I was washed up. Don't just try to hang on trying to prove you still have something left in the tank.

Washington St. receiver busted stealing tequila

College students have a hard time making ends meet at times. But you should be able to find alcohol anywhere on a college campus. Not that I condone alcoholism, but you shouldn't have to steal it. Apparently no one got that point across to Washington State receiver Drew Loftus.

Loftus was busted early Friday for stealing two bottles of tequila from a grocery store.  


Loftus, 19, was taken to the Pullman Police Department and issued three misdemeanor citations for 3rd-degree theft, minor in possession of alcohol and minor intoxicated in public. He was released upon his signature.

Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said a store employee called the police just before 1 a.m. after observing Loftus shove two bottles of tequila — priced at $21.99 each — into the waistband of his pants. Loftus then grabbed a carton of eggs and proceeded to the checkout counter, where he attempted to pay for the eggs but not the tequila.

Loftus was also arrested in December of 2011 on a car-prowling charge, according to the Tri-City Herald. He was 18 at the time.

Loftus transferred to Washington State from Hawaii and is currently a walk on. That could explain why he was caught stealing liquor. Books I can understand, but he couldn't get one of his scholarship teammates to hook him up. Maybe not enough monetary handshakes going around Pullman these days.

Loftus' status is unresolved as of now, but coach Mike Leach can't be too happy about it, especially since he's violated one of his three golden rules.  No drug use, no stealing, and no abuse of women.

Senior defensive tackle Anthony Laurenzi was dismissed from the team just before fall camp started last season after he allegedly stole a pair of headphones from Wal Mart. So it's safe to say that Loftus is good as gone in Pullman.