Like anyone else, he had his moments where I would ask myself "What the heck is he doing?" --- like complaining being booed after the defense played like garbage, complaining about having to play in prime time during Sunday Night or Monday Night Football because you get home late or a fling with Jenny McCarthy, but for the most part, I was proud to have him as the mainstay of the Bears' defense for 13 seasons. I still remember when I was in high school and heard that the Bears picked the free safety from New Mexico to play linebacker and saying "I hope they know what they're doing!" Clearly, I don't know much, but I'm certainly glad his size, speed, toughness and athleticism came together in a Bears uniform.
In a total of 182 games (started all but two), Urlacher made 1,052 tackles with 306 assists, 41.5 sacks and 22 interceptions to help the Bears go 110-96 (53%) in the regular season, 3-4 (43%) in the playoffs and 113-100 (53%) overall during his career and should be a Hall of Famer, no doubt. People do need to stop trying to put him up there with Dick Butkus or even Ray Lewis. I never saw him play myself, but my dad always tells me he was the meanest son of a gun he ever saw and that's just not something you can get away with in today's game. Don't get me wrong, Urlacher was a great player in his own right, but I suspect people fall victim to the moment in the wake of his retirement and as time passes, he will fall into his rightful place as one of the greats to play the game, just the greatest.
It is staggering to see how Urlacher's career mirrored the fortunes of the Chicago Bear's franchise.
In his seven years in the NFL from his rookie season in 2000 through the Super Bowl season of 2006, Urlacher played in 105 (58%) of a possible 112 games (103 starts) and collected 642 tackles (61%), 204 assists (67%), 32.5 sacks (78%) and 10 interceptions (45%) to help the Bears improve each season and go 58-54 overall in the regular season and 2-3 in the playoffs.
But that was the point when injuries and other distractions (as mentioned above) started to pile up and from 2007 through 2012, the product on the field for Urlacher and the Bears just didn't feel the same even though Chicago went 52-44 in the regular season and advanced to the NFC Championship Game in 2010, but that was its only playoff appearance in the last six seasons. Urlacher's statistics are the symbol of the downward spiral: played in 77 of 96 games (all starts), 410 tackles, 102 assists and 9.0 sacks. The only uptick, interestingly enough, was interceptions where he had 12 over his last six years and seems to come along with seeming lack of aggressiveness and willingness to just sit in the passing lanes in Love Smith's Tampa 2 defense.
My point is, Urlacher was slowing down and as sad as it is, it was time for him to sit on the sidelines on a permanent basis.
With the Blackhawks down 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final and the Cubs stuck in a permanent tailspin, the start of Bears Training Camp on July 25 in Bourbonnais, Ill., cannot come soon enough.
Bear Down, Chicago Bears!
- Mike
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