Duane Sampson
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Clearly, Briggs not very clear Linebacker's statement about crash raises more questions than it answers David Haugh | On the Bears 11:27 PM CDT, August 28, 2007 As Lance Briggs addressed the media Tuesday for the first time this preseason, coach Lovie Smith leaned a little closer to the circle of reporters surrounding the linebacker to overhear what was being said. Smith probably felt like covering his ears. Give the linebacker credit for wanting to speak publicly about his one-car crash Monday morning on the Edens Expressway that resulted in a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of accident and two traffic citationsâ€â€and could have been tragically worse. But Briggs' rambling 2-minute-35-second statement raised more questions than it answered. He may have sought to set the record straight but only made it seem more crooked. The normally smooth Briggs sounded so rattled by the events of the previous 48 hours that he mistakenly referred to the incident happening "Sunday morning." Police discovered his badly damaged $350,000 Lamborghini at 3:14 a.m. Monday. "When it happened, the first thing I did was I panicked," Briggs said. "I didn't want there to be a big scene there, so when I left I called a tow truck. I also was startled and called and reported my car stolen. Within 10 minutes, I called and took responsibility for what I did because it was ridiculous in the first place." Briggs' admission that he first lied by reporting his car stolen suggested a premeditated response to the accident more than a panicked one. Besides committing a crime by doing so, falsely reporting a stolen vehicle implies Briggs considered the ramifications of being so forthcoming with authorities. A guy with nothing to fear or lose doesn't instinctively lie to police. Fleeing a crash scene because of shock might be more believable if a whopper of a fib didn't follow that alibi. That disclosure put Briggs' episode back under the microscope for another day of scrutiny. Are the Bears still OK with taking no disciplinary action against a player who admits lying to police before quickly realizing the need to tell the truth? Will that confession pique the interest of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell more than the Class A misdemeanor with which Briggs is charged? Where was super agent Drew Rosenhaus on Tuesday? Rosenhaus found every microphone imaginable in the off-season crafting the public relations assault on the Bears during Briggs' contract dispute, but where was he when his client could have used some of that trademark savvy? How do the Bears let Briggs clumsily explain himself without better PR coaching? This was no way to pass a course in crisis management. "Lance wanted to come out here [and] that was his plan all along," Smith said. "Lance isn't a guy who's trying to run from anything. [He] told us what happened and he's going to face the consequences if there are any from there." Smith's heart was in the right place in defending his player but, in fact, Briggs was a guy who ran awayâ€â€maybe not from a pulling guard but from an accident scene. Just a week ago Briggs was doing a photo shoot in his driveway posing with a bottle of champagne and his new car. Tuesday, there he was, the picture of doubt and suspicion. If all Briggs was going to do was apologize to teammates and incriminate himself before cutting off questions and walking away, he actually might have been better off maintaining his media boycott. He was a more sympathetic figure when he was a Bears player who survived a horrific car crash and not a Bears player who survived a horrific car crash and claimed somebody stole his car. Acknowledging that lie only raised more suspicions about his sobriety that Briggs didn't address. "I lost control of my car, and to all the fans and all the people of Chicago who are concerned, I am OK," Briggs said. "I am OK. My car's not OK but I am. All that stuff will be taken care of in due time. There's not a whole lot more to it." Even if you believe there indeed is more to it and his explanation doesn't pass the smell test, it doesn't matter. The only person who Briggs has to answer to is Smith, the lone organizational spokesman on this matter who practices situational ethics like most NFL head coaches. A day after objecting strongly to the suggestion alcohol was involved, Smith said he had no knowledge of TV reports that placed Briggs inside Chicago nightspots before he wrecked his car. "Hearsay, I don't go on a lot of that," Smith said. "The facts haven't come out to me that way." Maybe they never will. Smith hoped Briggs addressing the matter would put an end to the distraction but said he didn't force his star linebacker to make a public statement. Apparently, Briggs had grown concerned over having drawn his teammates into the controversy. Commend him for that. "I just want to take this moment right now to say I'm sorry to my teammates because it's unfair for them. They shouldn't have to go through this and be questioned for something they had nothing to do with," Briggs said. "And also my coaches and family." Before he could escape the scrum around him, Briggs did answer one question about how the crash affected him. "It did change me, absolutely," Briggs said. "I'm very lucky to make out the way I did. You appreciate every day. The first thing I did was hug all my teammates and told them that I love them. Because you never know what's going to happen." What happens now is the Bears go back to the business of winning the NFC and Briggs returns to the field, where his collisions are welcome. dhaugh@tribune.com
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