Chicago Bears fans at Soldier Field got to celebrate two things. They cheered the success of their team as it took care of business against the Seattle Seahawks. Then they got some extra entertainment at halftime when the team honored former star linebacker Brian Urlacher by presenting him his Ring of Excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Seems they were the only ones though. Millions of Bears fans and home didn’t get that luxury as instead, ESPN decided it would be better to run some meaningless music video programming mixed with several commercials during festivities. It was a major drop of the ball. Not only did they disrespect Urlacher himself, but they also cost themselves viewers given the majority of their audience came from the Chicago area.
Whoever signed off on that should lose out on a paycheck at the very least. Many people were in a rage about it on social media, fans and reporters alike.
How can ESPN not show Urlacher HoF ceremony? Completely missed the mark there.
— Dan Pompei (@danpompei) September 18, 2018
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Really ESPN???? Skipping the Urlacher ceremony for Von Miller, Urban Mayer, and some crap group singing a crap song???? 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩
— Oscar Saenz (@OscSae72) September 18, 2018
Good move by ESPN not showing Urlacher ring presentation. Biggest audience watching are Bears fans.
— Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) September 18, 2018
Can you believe that ESPN never showed one minute of Urlacher being given the ring. Shame on them
— Sandee LaValle (@sandeelee212) September 18, 2018
I like to thank #ESPN for not showing Brain Urlacher get his hall of fame ring at half-time #MNF but had the time to show some garbage wantabe 80's group, oh and the commercial free half-time followed up by 8 straight commercials
— markbunzmcc (@markbunzmcc) September 18, 2018
Brian Urlacher ceremony furthered a growing tradition
Either way, the man himself seemed to enjoy the moment. Virginia McCaskey herself, 95-years old summoned her strength to present one of her favorite sons with the ring. It was a wonderful moment and Urlacher seemed to soak it in with the greatest of joy, many of his former teammates including Lance Briggs in attendance.
It also furthered something that’s become a trend in recent year. The Bears seem to win whenever they honor past greats at halftime. Back in 2009, they crushed the Browns 30-9 on the 10th anniversary of Walter Payton‘s death. Four years later they steamrolled Dallas 45-28 during the retirement of Mike Ditka‘s jersey number. Then in 2016, when other greats like Dick Butkus and Richard Dent got their rings from Canton, Chicago stunned Minnesota 20-10 on Halloween night.
Maybe the Bears should consider finding ways to honor former players every week. Jokes aside, there is one piece of good news that comes out of all this. The Bears won’t have to play on ESPN the rest of the season.
