R.W. McQuarters agrees with the Bears that he wouldn’t have been happy as a third or fourth cornerback, which is exactly what he happily is trying to be for the Detroit Lions.
McQuarters disagrees, however, that it was his potential unhappiness that caused the Bears to discard him. He said it was coach Lovie Smith’s unhappiness with him.
“Lovie didn’t like me as a person,” McQuarters said.
Apparently, it was no Lovie at first sight.
“From the minute I saw him, he lost me. He didn’t respect me, I didn’t respect him,” McQuarters said.
Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo maintained McQuarters simply was no longer “a good fit” on a team that planned to make Nathan Vasher its third cornerback behind Charles Tillman and Jerry Azumah.
The Lions don’t know yet exactly where McQuarters will fit or even whether he will fit at all. What they do know is they can’t have too many cornerbacks on a roster this time of year.
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Dre’ Bly and Fernando Bryant are the Lions’ starters. Andre’ Goodman and Keith Smith are running second team. McQuarters is lining up behind them along with Chris Cash, Michael Echols, Jeff Sanchez and Stanley Wilson–all corners.
Lions defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, who coached the Bears when McQuarters arrived from San Francisco, said he has no plans to work McQuarters at free safety, where he started four games in Chicago last year. But at least McQuarters has the experience in case of emergency.
“I like R.W. He’s a hard worker and is no problem off the field,” Jauron said.
Punt returns? McQuarters is only a backup to Pro Bowl return specialist Eddie Drummond.
Meanwhile, the Bears find themselves a tad short at cornerback with a hip injury to Azumah. They also are conducting tryouts for a punt return specialist.
McQuarters still can’t figure out why the Bears looked at him as a third or fourth corner.
“My question is why would I be the third or fourth corner? They thought Nate Vasher and Charles [Tillman] were going to beat me out?” he said. “They moved me from corner to free safety. I didn’t ask to be moved. Why are we going back to training camp and I’m the third or fourth guy when I was the starter but you moved me to free safety? Why am I the third or fourth corner?”
The Bears made no effort to renegotiate McQuarters’ contract, which was scheduled to pay him $3.05 million this year and $3.45 million in 2006, too much for a backup. Detroit got him in June on a one-year deal for approximately $1.5 million.
Because Lions President Matt Millen indirectly owes his job to McQuarters, he might have been repaying a favor. It was McQuarters’ 61-yard interception return for a touchdown that helped the Bears knock the Lions out of the playoffs in 2000. Owner William Clay Ford was so upset he hired Millen the next month.
Lions coach Steve Mariucci was coach of the 49ers when McQuarters was a first-round draft pick.
“What a great addition to this team,” Mariucci said. “He’s a pro. He has matured and grown into such a pro. If you ask him to punt return or cover kicks, whatever it might be, he’s there. He does exactly what you ask him to do. I love having him here.”
Before a December indoor practice, McQuarters and Smith had an argument over wearing shoulder pads.
“I just felt the pads were unnecessary, but I don’t think I was the only one,” McQuarters said.
The beginning of the end was long before that, McQuarters said.
“When Zoom (Azumah) got hurt and they moved me up to the starting job, I could tell he wasn’t a big fan of R.W. McQuarters for whatever reason. To this day I still don’t know. Was it my hair? Was it the way I carried myself?”
McQuarters is still hurt by the departure.
“I was upset by the way they did it because I was there five years and I gave them everything I had,” he said. “Then new coaching staff, new regime, bring in new players. I was one of the guys they wanted to let go.
“I’m bitter because of the way they did it. If they would have called me March 1 and said they wanted to release me, that’s the way this business is. They never said nothing. I’m with them for 5-6 weeks of off-season programs. I was there every day going to work, going to work, going to work. They knew exactly what they were doing.”
Bears fans hope the Bears knew what they were doing. McQuarters said he’s just as glad he won’t be lining up Sept. 18 against the Lions’ trio of receivers–6-foot-4-inch Charles Rogers, 6-3 Roy Williams and 6-5 Mike Williams.
“I want to cover them in practice. I want to get that work in practice,” McQuarters said. “It’s going to be real tough. When we go four wides, three wides, we’re going to do a lot of damage to people.”
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