Their quarterback a keeper

MIAMI -- His first name means king or royal in Latin. That's exactly what Rex Grossman should be in Chicago, as the quarterback of a Bears team that is one win from delivering the city its second Super Bowl title and first in 21 years.

But if Jim McMahon, the last quarterback to lead the Bears to a Super Bowl, was regarded as the "punky QB," then Grossman is the "picked-on QB."

The 26-year-old is generally considered the one glaring weakness of his team. The Bears are facing the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI tonight despite Grossman, not because of him. Far from a king, he's viewed as the wild card that could self-destruct on the game's biggest stage and single-handedly derail Chicago's victory plans.

"When I was drafted by Chicago one of the first things that people told me was that the backup quarterback is the most popular player in town," said Grossman, selected in the first round in 2003. "I think that's just part of playing quarterback. You have the ball in your hand every single play and that's where most people point the finger."

Deserved or not, Grossman, who this season became the first Bears quarterback since Erik Kramer in 1995 to start every game, has his up-and-down play to blame for the ridicule he has received. Call it the Rex Effect. There is no in between with the Chicago signal-caller. He's either really good or really bad and completely maddening to Bears fans.

The same quarterback who had seven games with a passer rating of 100 or higher, second most in the league, is also the guy who ended the regular season with a 2 of 12, four-turnover performance in a 26-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers that earned him a 0.0 rating. Add that to 1.3 and 10.2 quarterback ratings he had in Chicago wins and you can see why Grossman, who completed 54.6 percent of his passes during the regular season and threw 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, is considered among the shakiest quarterbacks ever to lead a team to the big game.

It doesn't help Grossman that he's opposing one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation, Peyton Manning. Manning's reputation for precision play only further highlights Grossman's penchant for being erratic. To his credit, Grossman, who grew up in Bloomington, Ind., in a family that holds Colts season tickets and put up Manning-like numbers at Bloomington South High, has handled the rush of loaded questions about the quarterback comparison well, better than he's handled the ball in some games.

But the constant questioning of their quarterback wore down coach Lovie Smith and the Bears as the week wore on.

When asked if there was a scenario under which he would pull Grossman, as he did in the Green Bay game, the normally mild-mannered Smith became indignant.

"I'm just wondering if Peyton Manning will be asked that question, probably not," Smith said. "I shouldn't be asked that question. Rex is our quarterback. I should not continue to have to go over that. I am not planning on pulling Brian Urlacher or Olin Kreutz either."

Despite completing only 50 percent of his passes, Grossman compares favorably to Manning this postseason. He has a higher quarterback rating (75.4 to 66.8) and has taken better care of the ball than the two-time league MVP, tossing just one interception to Manning's six. Both quarterbacks have two touchdown passes in the playoffs.

However, Urlacher said the only numbers Grossman should be judged by are wins and losses.

"I don't care what his numbers are, what he does, or what people say about him," said Urlacher. "The only number I worry about is the win-loss column. He's 15-3 as a starter, that's all that matters to me."

Grossman might not win any style points, but he does win games, as Urlacher said, and has proven to be Chicago's best option at quarterback when healthy -- he missed 13 games with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in 2004 and 13 last season after breaking his ankle in the exhibition season. He is 19-7, including playoffs, as the Bears' starting quarterback, a .731 winning percentage.

Chicago's stingy defense and power running game obviously have a lot to do with that mark, as Grossman's job in his first full season as a starter is, by his own admission, to just run the offense. But Kreutz, chafed at the notion that Grossman is nothing more than a caretaker.

"People keep saying we just needed a quarterback to manage the games. If we just had a quarterback to manage the games, there is no way we would have beat Seattle or beat a lot of teams," said the Bears' Pro Bowl center. "Rex does more than just manage games. We're happy to have Rex. We're happy to have his gun-slinging mentality, and he's a guy who wants to make plays."

That's what sometimes gets Grossman into trouble, as he makes throws against his better judgment or holds onto the ball too long when he should throw it away. Anybody who can play quarterback for Steve Spurrier, college football's version of Captain Hook with QBs, as Grossman did at the University of Florida, has to possess mental toughness and unshakable confidence.

"I've played with Rex for a long time now -- three years in college and this is our fourth year in the pros. He's a very confident kid," said defensive end Alex Brown. "If he throws an interception he'll go back and try to make that same pass again because he believes in himself. We believe in him and we have his back. The guy is very strong mentally. Rex in his first full year starting has brought us to the Super Bowl. I think that should say something about him."

Grossman said the unflattering attention he's received most of the season has been tougher on his parents, Maureen and Dan, a former Indiana University football player, and wife, Alison. He's learned to take it in stride as part of his job. However, he did admit he was using the naysayers as motivational fodder.

"It's done nothing but add fuel to the fire, the people who doubt what I can do and minimize what my role is," said Grossman. "It just makes you want to prove them wrong that much more."

If he can do that tonight by beating his hometown team from the Hoosier State in Super Bowl XLI, Grossman might join McMahon as quarterback royalty in the Windy City.

But even he's not sure if Chicago will embrace him.

"I would hope that a world championship would do that," said Grossman.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.