While you and I were happily not caring about anything Adam Gase said from the moment he saw an opportunity to leave the Denver Broncos for potential head coaching gigs, he said something at Bears minicamp that was noteworthy.
H/t to Brandon Spano and his network for catching Gase, who should have kept his mouth shut. Here’s what he said.
“In Denver, C.J. would hate me for saying this, but he got tired and was a little chubby sometimes,” Gase said. “I mean, he got worn down quick and then we had to rotate backs in last year.”
Gase was speaking to the physical fitness and durability of Matt Forte, the Chicago Bears’ running back, who has the ability to play every down. Apparently, Anderson doesn’t share that kind of elite athleticism.
Anderson responded:
“Hey, everybody knows I’m a weight guy,” Anderson said. “My body can go up and down. But pretty much during the season I always maintain my same game weight, 218, 223. But I love Goose. I think he’s a heckuva coach. He’s smart. I’ll always thank him for giving me an opportunity. As for his comment, I did think it was pretty funny. I love Goose and I’ll see him week 11.”
After Brandon Spano reported on the situation, Anderson took to Twitter, where he wasn’t quite as nice.
@BrandonSpano jus know week 11 will be fun
— Cj Anderson (@cjandersonb22) May 8, 2015
Players always say they’re not circling games on the schedule, but obviously Anderson is eager to prove to Gase just how badly he can run over that Bears defense in his ‘chubby’ body.
Obviously, Anderson is not Adrian Peterson, but he’s a bowling ball and I didn’t really notice him wearing down last season. In fact, it seemed as though the deeper we got into the season, the more intense and productive Anderson was. He was among the league leaders in yards from scrimmage from the day he became the starting running back in Denver, and wound up doing so well that he was voted as a Pro Bowl alternate.
It doesn’t really make any sense for Gase to be bad-mouthing Anderson, even if it was in jest. Anderson is a great player, and more importantly, a great person. He’s as humble as athletes come, and he works incredibly hard.
I am a huge fan of CJ Anderson, and I hope he runs all over Gase’s Bears this season, even if Gase is merely coaching the offense there. Immature comments like that are part of the reason, as Spano pointed out, that Gase didn’t get a head coaching gig. He’s just not ready.
Seasoned coaches in this league don’t say stupid stuff.