vikings/nfl

Vikings receiver Bobby Wade was at his diplomatic best Wednesday.

Preparing to play in his first game against Chicago since the Bears jettisoned him with three games left in 2005, Wade swore he harbors no hard feelings toward the franchise. Instead, he conveyed his gratitude to the team for giving him his shot in the NFL. In other words, he sounded as if he had moved on.

But if Wade was attempting to downplay the significance of returning to Soldier Field, veteran safety Darren Sharper wasn't buying it.

"It's naturally something special because that's the team that drafted him and then you leave from there," said Sharper, who spent his first eight seasons with the Packers. "If I played five more years and I played Green Bay in my 15th year it's going to always be something special. That's just the nature of playing against the team that you started your NFL life with."

Wade, who signed a five-year, $15 million free-agent deal with the Vikings in March after spending one season and two games with Tennessee, admits he is looking forward to seeing old friends. He still makes return trips to the city and keeps in contact with a few Bears players, including former University of Arizona roommate Lance Briggs.

"I think as far as in a personal sense it has a special meaning because I get to play against a lot of players that I came into the league with," Wade said. "See how things kind of progress and people leave and have an opportunity to go back in the position that I am now. I'm pretty excited about that. But first things first, and it's all about business."

Wade's business will be trying to help the Vikings (1-3) end a three-game losing streak and avoid dropping to 0-3 against NFC North teams. Wade, who leads the Vikings with 15 receptions for 173 yards, is curious to see what, if any, reaction he gets from the Bears fans.

"That will kind of tell you where I am on their level," he said. "I'd be excited if I went out there and got booed. That would be great. But if I went out there and they said nothing that would be cool, too."

Wade might still be playing in front of the Chicago fans on a regular basis if things had broken differently for him.

The first of three fifth-round selections by the Bears in 2003, he played in 40 games (15 starts) and caught 64 passes in two-plus seasons. In 2004, he made 14 starts and had a career-high 42 receptions for 481 yards. But the next season, Wade was inactive for the opener, did not start a game and had only 10 catches for 80 yards when he was informed he would be waived.

Wade recalled Wednesday that he was told the move was made because the Bears needed to create a roster spot on defense. But reports out of Chicago attributed the decision to Wade's struggles on punt returns. The final straw came when he mishandled a ball for the eighth time that season in a 21-9 loss at Pittsburgh.

Wade, who averaged 9.6 yards on 33 returns for the Bears that season and had a 73-yard runback for a score, admits he "struggled with a few balls" but also recalls some bad-weather games that made life in that role difficult.

"I was kind of bitter at the fact that I had always seen myself as an offensive player, as a receiver," said Wade, who has not lost a fumble serving as the Vikings' primary punt returner. "I thought I had progressed well considering the type of offense we had."

Wade was claimed off waivers by the Titans and played in the final two games of the 2005 season. Last year, he caught 33 passes and his first two career touchdown receptions in 16 games with Tennessee. But he also watched his former Bears teammates go 13-3 in the regular season and advance to the Super Bowl.

"Yeah, that was tough," Wade said. "You kind of look at the timing and try to weigh it all out like that. But the game is so short and you just don't know how it's going to work from day-to-day. I was just excited at the fact that Tennessee was excited about having me. So I was more or less focusing on that as opposed to what I was missing out on."

Sunday, Wade will get his chance to show the Bears what they might be missing.

"Understanding my role in this offense I'm going to have a big opportunity to help this team win this week," he said. "I'm really focused on that. So whatever that be, punt return, however many balls I need to catch, I'm ready to do that and just want to let them understand I could have been the player they wanted me to be but time only allows that."