http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ar...al-Rolle/9ded44c1-c158-4bc9-b545-7420c37bdd30
Hours after signing outside linebacker <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Pernell McPhee</nobr> to a five-year contract Wednesday, the team inked receiver<nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Eddie Royal</nobr> and safety <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Antrel Rolle</nobr> to three-year deals.
Royal spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Broncos (2008-11) and Chargers (2012-14), catching 338 passes for 3,750 yards and 25 touchdowns while appearing in 98 games with 61 starts. He has also averaged 10.6 yards with two TDs on 111 punt returns and 24.1 yards with one TD on 57 kickoff returns.
Royal’s most productive season remains his rookie year, when he caught 91 passes for 980 yards and five TDs while teaming with Bears quarterback <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Jay Cutler</nobr> in Denver.
After Royal was limited to 19 receptions for 155 yards in his final season with the Broncos in 2011, his production increased in both categories in each of his three years with the Chargers, from 23-234 in 2012 to 47-631 in 2013 to 62-778 in 2014.
Royal, who will turn 29 on May 21, was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the 2008 draft (42nd overall) out of Virginia Tech, two spots before the Bears picked running back <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Matt Forte</nobr>.
Rolle is a three-time Pro Bowler who spent his first 10 NFL seasons with the Cardinals (2005-09) and Giants (2010-14). He has appeared in 148 games with 139 starts, recording 788 tackles, 26 interceptions, 70 pass breakups, eight forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and four sacks.
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On his Instagram account Wednesday night, Rolle posted a photo of him signing his contract with the Bears and wrote: “It's official … Today was a long, painful, and exhausting day! But in the end we both get what we want. … A Team that wants to win and a player that would give them everything he got to win! Thank you to the Chicago Organization for making this day possible once again. #blessed
Rolle has returned four interceptions for touchdowns, and his nine picks over the last two seasons (six in 2013 and three in 2014) are third most among NFL safeties.
Rolle, 32, was selected by Arizona with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2005 draft out of Miami. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2009 with the Cardinals and 2010 and 2013 with the Giants.
The 6-foot, 202-pounder has been extremely durable throughout his career. He has started 80 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak among NFL safeties and has missed just one game over the last nine seasons after a knee injury forced him to miss 11 contests as a rookie in 2005.
Rolle played cornerback his first three NFL seasons before switching to safety in 2008. He helped the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI in 2011 and served as a team captain with New York the past two seasons.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin praised Rolle at the Combine, saying: “He’s an outstanding young man and really I’ve never come across a player that was more interested in his team and trying to help his team be better in any way they could.
“I think countless Tuesday’s Antrel was in my office with, ‘How can we get better? What can we do to get better?’ Just thoughts going back and forth between coach/player, in terms of how our team could improve. I don’t think I was ever involved with a player that was more sincerely interested in how his team could improve. And I admire that very much in him as a young man and a leader.”
Hours after signing outside linebacker <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Pernell McPhee</nobr> to a five-year contract Wednesday, the team inked receiver<nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Eddie Royal</nobr> and safety <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Antrel Rolle</nobr> to three-year deals.
Royal spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Broncos (2008-11) and Chargers (2012-14), catching 338 passes for 3,750 yards and 25 touchdowns while appearing in 98 games with 61 starts. He has also averaged 10.6 yards with two TDs on 111 punt returns and 24.1 yards with one TD on 57 kickoff returns.
Royal’s most productive season remains his rookie year, when he caught 91 passes for 980 yards and five TDs while teaming with Bears quarterback <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Jay Cutler</nobr> in Denver.
After Royal was limited to 19 receptions for 155 yards in his final season with the Broncos in 2011, his production increased in both categories in each of his three years with the Chargers, from 23-234 in 2012 to 47-631 in 2013 to 62-778 in 2014.
Royal, who will turn 29 on May 21, was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the 2008 draft (42nd overall) out of Virginia Tech, two spots before the Bears picked running back <nobr style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);">Matt Forte</nobr>.
Rolle is a three-time Pro Bowler who spent his first 10 NFL seasons with the Cardinals (2005-09) and Giants (2010-14). He has appeared in 148 games with 139 starts, recording 788 tackles, 26 interceptions, 70 pass breakups, eight forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and four sacks.
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On his Instagram account Wednesday night, Rolle posted a photo of him signing his contract with the Bears and wrote: “It's official … Today was a long, painful, and exhausting day! But in the end we both get what we want. … A Team that wants to win and a player that would give them everything he got to win! Thank you to the Chicago Organization for making this day possible once again. #blessed
Rolle has returned four interceptions for touchdowns, and his nine picks over the last two seasons (six in 2013 and three in 2014) are third most among NFL safeties.
Rolle, 32, was selected by Arizona with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2005 draft out of Miami. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2009 with the Cardinals and 2010 and 2013 with the Giants.
The 6-foot, 202-pounder has been extremely durable throughout his career. He has started 80 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak among NFL safeties and has missed just one game over the last nine seasons after a knee injury forced him to miss 11 contests as a rookie in 2005.
Rolle played cornerback his first three NFL seasons before switching to safety in 2008. He helped the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI in 2011 and served as a team captain with New York the past two seasons.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin praised Rolle at the Combine, saying: “He’s an outstanding young man and really I’ve never come across a player that was more interested in his team and trying to help his team be better in any way they could.
“I think countless Tuesday’s Antrel was in my office with, ‘How can we get better? What can we do to get better?’ Just thoughts going back and forth between coach/player, in terms of how our team could improve. I don’t think I was ever involved with a player that was more sincerely interested in how his team could improve. And I admire that very much in him as a young man and a leader.”
