It's a rare occurrence where I talk up a player from another team, and an ever rarer occurrence when that player happens to play for a division rival. However, I would like to take the opportunity to give a big "atta boy" to someone that plays for one of those teams that Viking fans love to hate.
That man would be Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.
Briggs received red, white, and blue cleats and gloves from the folks at Reebok, and plans on wearing them on for Sunday's opener despite the NFL's strict rules on players wearing anything other than the officially sanctioned uniform pieces. Sunday, of course, also marks the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and as you can see from the picture linked there, the gloves make note of that.
He knows that the fine is coming, but he has stated that it is by far "the best fine he'll ever pay."
I have to give some major respect to Lance Briggs for taking a stand and doing this. As he points out on his Twitter account, players can wear pink for the NFL's breast cancer awareness campaign, and he doesn't feel that this is any different. I'm quite inclined to agree with him. The nation will be recognizing the 10th anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday, and the league will be recognizing it as well. There shouldn't be any issue at all with Briggs doing this to show his respect for everything that took place on that fateful day.
So a big shout out from yours truly to Mr. Briggs. I still hope that the Vikings can make you and your teammates look foolish both times that they meet on the field this year, but taking a stand on something like this sure as hell is impressive, in my opinion.