Brian Urlacher is like almost every other retired football player. He looks back on his career with a degree of satisfaction. He enjoyed it while it lasted and had a lot of success. At the same time he also couldn’t help but have some regrets. In an interview with The Athletic columnist Dan Pompei, he was asked what his biggest was. The answer was simple enough: the Bears Super Bowl failure.
It’s no secret that from 2005 to 2010 Chicago was considered a championship contender. They got close in ’06, but couldn’t quite finish the job. Still, many including Urlacher himself thought they’d get another shot at it. That never came to pass and fans continue to lament where things went wrong for what was such a good team.
In fact Urlacher himself was asked that very question. His answer may come as a surprise, and also has a tiny bite to it as well.
Bears Super Bowl failure came down to a misguided trade
“We traded Thomas Jones, and he was a big part of our team. He was a bad-ass running back, but he also was one of our team leaders. I’m not saying that’s not the reason we didn’t do well, but he was in my opinion our best offensive player and we traded him. We were never the same. We didn’t run the ball the same. We weren’t as good on defense either. We weren’t bad, but we weren’t as good as we were in 2005 and 2006. I can’t pinpoint why we didn’t get back. It was frustrating because we had good teams.”
He’s not wrong. In 2006 the Bears ran for over 1,900 yards and 14 touchdowns. Jones had 1,200 and six of each. He was even better in the playoffs, running for 301 yards and four scores in three games. Going into 2007 he would’ve been 29-years old. Not young but certainly not over the hill just yet. Instead Chicago willingly dealt him.
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The next year they went from 15th to 30th in rushing as a team. They would not place that high again until 2011 when Matt Forte was reaching his peak. By then the high point of the teams’ core was already showing its age.
Jerry Angelo used money and Cedric Benson as excuses for trade
Much of the ire in Urlacher’s response seems directed at the trade itself. That would put it squarely on the shoulders of former GM Jerry Angelo. The man has a track record of questionable trades in his time. His dealing of a second round pick for Gaines Adams and Greg Olsen to Carolina were both especially bad.
The Jones deal though was curious. To this day it’s hard to figure out. Money shouldn’t have been a huge issue. Some believe there was pressure to make former top five pick Cedric Benson the feature back even though he hadn’t earned it. Nonetheless that’s exactly what the Bears did.
Jones was shipped to the Jets and Benson made the starter. In 2007 Benson played 11 games and managed 674 yards. Jones had 1,119 his first year in New York. A year later he went to the Pro Bowl. Benson was cut before the 2008 season began after multiple arrests. It’s hard not to wonder how different things might’ve been if Jones had stayed.
So yeah. Urlacher seems to have a point.
