I didn’t really start getting into football until around 2001 when I was in high school. Most of my early years were shrouded in football misery that was the 1990s when Dave Wannstedt and mediocrity reigned supreme. So I couldn’t understand what the euphoria around this team was all about. Then, just two weeks after my 16th birthday, the Bears stunned the San Francisco 49ers 37-31, sparking their first trip to the playoffs in seven years. The man leading the way was their new defensive phenom named Brian Urlacher.
Over the course of the next decade the man transformed from an intriguing athlete from New Mexico into one of the two or three best defensive players in professional football. There was no escaping him. He chased down ball carriers with his speed. He sacked quarterbacks and he dropped back into coverage to intercept passes. All-time greats like Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre hated going against him.
Eight Pro Bowls, a Defensive Player of the Year award and countless highlights later, Urlacher decided to walk away from the game before his 35th birthday. He never donned the jersey of another team, feeling in some way it would dilute the legacy he left behind. That was the kind of man he was. Humble and giving but also fierce and competitive.
Now that man takes his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Brian Urlacher had plenty to say when he got his Canton moment
One can say that Urlacher is not known for being a public speaker. When he began it was clear he was nervous. He gave his new bust an affectionate rub on its bald head before stepping to the podium. There he took a deep breath, stating he needed to settle. From there he took everybody in attendance and those watching at home a journey into the player and person he was.
Urlacher described what life was like growing up, how his parents got divorced when he was seven years old and how his mother worked tirelessly to provide for him. She was his #1 fan and he misses her every day. Through her, he learned the value of hard work. At 12-years old he began mowing lawns around his neighborhood. From there he worked at an oil rig and a lumber yard during his time in high school and college.
That work ethic, along with some great lessons learned watching former Cowboys great Darren Woodson, helped craft him into the defensive star he’d become. Yet Urlacher has never been a man who made it about himself. There were none he credited more for helping him learn how to thrive and enjoy football than his former teammates.
Urlacher tells amazing stories of what life was like in the locker room
He talked about how Bob Babich, his former position coach and the man who inducted him was like another father to him. There was no coach he enjoyed playing for more. Urlacher relished so many things about the game. His favorite moments were right before the snap when he’d get to do checks and counter-checks with the opposing quarterback, making sure the defenses was lined up properly.
His favorite day of every week as a player? That was Thursday. Not because of anything football related. Merely because the cafeteria served Oreo donut balls.
“Or as Lance Briggs would call them, ‘Black balls’.”
The first teammate that Urlacher referenced as having a huge impact on his career was safety Mike Brown. The two were drafted together in 2000 and Brown is the only player he credited with being smarter than him. He still misses playing together, how Brown would dissect an offensive strategy in his trademark squeaky voice.
Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Alex Brown, Olin Kreutz, and former defensive tackle Dusty Dvorcek were also credited as players Urlacher relished getting a chance to suit up with. Briggs whom he expects to see in the Hall of Fame not too long down the road. Tillman who entertained him for years by driving offensive players crazy by forcing them to fumble despite hours and hours of practicing how not to.
Family, football and the thrill of the competition were what drove Urlacher
Urlacher made it clear that the game of football wasn’t what defined him, but it did help to make him a better man. He was emotional to the point of almost breaking down when talking about his wife and two daughters and how he’s in awe of who they are. At the same time, he reflected on how he understands his position as a role model for others. Something he wants to make sure he embraces and upholds.
That’s why it continued to humble him that he got a chance to play middle linebacker for the Bears. Urlacher stated that anybody who ever wanted to play defense in the NFL knew it was their dream to be in that position.
So how did Urlacher get to that point?
How did he find his way in the same sentence as Bill George, Dick Butkus, and Mike Singletary? By respecting his teammates and opponents, but also by simply being more competitive than everybody else. He didn’t just want to win games on Sunday. He wanted to win every snap in games or practice. That was the only way in his mind that he’d be able to discover his absolute best as a football player.
“I respected opponents as well as my teammates and coaches. I may be one of the most competitive people you’ll ever know. I want to win every snap, every game even though it’s not possible. But I didn’t just compete to beat the other person. I competed to be my best. It wasn’t merely about the conquest, it was about the challenge. Every moment, every practice, every game. I just love competing.”
With that Urlacher bid farewell with one last thank you, taking his rightful place among the other Bears legends. To this day there are fans who miss him, feeling he never got to go out the way he wanted to (and should’ve). It’s a credit to the man that he didn’t let that become an issue and instead was grateful for the career he had. He was and still is the epitome of what it means to be a true Bear.
