THE FIRST OFFSEASON CONTACT SIGHTING

Like spotting the first robin, evidence of the first bit of prohibited offseason contact means that spring is officially here. This year, it has come particularly early, during the first offseason minicamp of the Chicago Bears. As a reader points out, receiver Devin Hester catches a pass and takes a flattening at roughly the 1:12 mark of this video. More telling, in our view, was the nonchalance of the surrounding players, whose demeanor suggests that guys getting wiped out is a common occurrence. Cue the folks who think that pro football players should be willing to engage in full-speed, full-contact practice without pads for several weeks in the offseason.