Lamarr Houston who just turned 27 last month is an upgrade over Julius Peppers, 34 on the Chicago Bears Defensive Line this season. Obviously, Peppers has had a more distinguished career than Houston probably ever will. However, this Lamarr Houston is an upgrade over this Julius Peppers. Last season, Pro Football Focus ranked Peppers 36th out of 54 qualifying 4-3 defensive ends. He ranked 22nd rushing the passer and 44th against the rush.
Lamarr Houston, meanwhile, ranked 11th out of the same 54 qualifying 4-3 ends, 20th rushing the passer and an exceptional fifth against the run, the Bears most pressing need defensively.And the Bears got him for $15 million guaranteed, and $20 million non-guaranteed. So what did they get for that money? On top of an upgrade over Peppers? A man who does an iNCREDIBLE IMPERSONATION OF BATMAN VILLAIN BANE.
Watch the video below to see. It’s refreshing to see a NFL player do something colorful an interesting in an interview. Instead of just spouting cliches.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! The Postgame. He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, the History Channel and more. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)