Paul Domowitch | Recent draftees need to make impact

* Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said this week that agent Drew Rosenhaus is the primary reason he put the kibosh to the trade of unhappy linebacker Lance Briggs to the Redskins. Rosenhaus represents Briggs, who has vowed never to play for the Bears after they placed the franchise tag on him in February. The Redskins have offered their first-round pick to the Bears for Briggs and their first-round pick (31st overall). Last month, Rosenhaus incensed Angelo when he paraded Briggs in front of other teams at the league meetings in Phoenix in an attempt to drum up trade interest. "I was very turned off by that," the Bears GM said. "We are a business. We are a profession, and there are certain ways you do business." Angelo said he won't trade Briggs now because it would look like Rosenhaus had engineered it. "It's important that message comes through loud and clear," he said. "Based on [what Rosenhaus did], we'll never do that deal because then the deal looks like [the agent orchestrated it]. You can't operate that way."

Stat of the week

Where do Hall of Famers come from, Daddy? According to Gene Frenette, of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union, a good many of them come from very high up in the draft. Thirty-nine of the 66 Pro Football Hall of Fame players drafted since 1967 were taken in the first round, including 20 who were top-five picks. Eleven were second-round selections. Just four were undrafted free agents: Jim Langer, Warren Moon, Larry Little and Steve Young. And the only reason Young wasn't drafted was because he signed with the USFL. *

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