A year after Gramatica-ing himself during a blowout loss in New England, Chicago Bears pass-rusher Lamarr Houston has no regrets.
"Of course people are going to question what I was doing," Houston told Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. "But look, it was my first sack of the year. I should have had more by then. So (after) my first one I was going to celebrate regardless.
"People can say whatever they want. They're not wrong to question why I celebrated and they're not wrong to say I shouldn't have celebrated. That's their opinion. And it doesn't bother me. I had reason to celebrate."
After getting to Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the fourth quarter of the Week 8 matchup, Houston celebrated his first -- and only -- sack of the year by boastfully jumping in the backfield, despite the Bears suffering a 25-point deficit. The five-year veteran landed violently and learned later that he had torn his ACL, ending his 2014 season.
In the Pantheon of Stupid Avoidable Injuries, Houston's antic has its place alongside the greats: Gus Frerotte's endzone headbutt, Bill Gramatica's field goal folly and the most recent addition, Jason Pierre-Paul's fireworks mishap.
But Houston is moving on from the embarrassing episode and is ready to make a name for himself as an edge rusher in new Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's 3-4 scheme.
"My focus on coming back started immediately," Houston said, via the Tribune. "For me there was nothing else to focus on. I got hurt. You can't really sit there whining like, 'I'm hurt. I'm hurt.' That was a fact. There was no point in reliving that. For me, it was all about mapping out the things I could do right away to come back and come back better."
He'll need to; the Bears signed him to a five-year, $35 million contract before the 2014 campaign as a replacement to Julius Peppers. So far, it's safe to say he hasn't lived up to his deal.
*The latest Around The NFL Podcast discusses the eight most intriguing training camp battles heading into the season. *
