Gold Jacket Spotlight: Brian Urlacher met Bears’ fans expectations at iconic position

Chicago Bears fans have certain expectations. Traffic congestion on Lake Shore Drive and Hall of Fame performances from their linebackers are among them.

BRIAN URLACHER'S efforts to meet the latter of those expectations are the focus of this edition of the Gold Jacket Spotlight.

The names CLYDE "BULLDOG" TURNER, GEORGE CONNOR, BILL GEORGE, DICK BUTKUS and MIKE SINGLETARY roll off the tongues of football historians and Chicagoans as easily as their favorite deep-dish pizza toppings. Each is known for his football prowess and team leadership.

ChicagoBears.com wrote that upon Brian’s arrival in Chicago, he said: “All you ever hear about is (Mike) Singletary and (Dick) Butkus and how good they were. It’s a dream come true. Hopefully, I can carry on the tradition.”

Brian played a hybrid “Lobo back” position — a cross between a middle linebacker and free safety — at the University of New Mexico. His coaches in Chicago converted the 6-foot-4-inch, 258-pound fleet-footed athlete to outside linebacker and, in short order, to the middle linebacker spot.

The Bears’ website observed the team, “fell in love with Urlacher’s freakish athletic ability.”

Brian responded by earning the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2000 after recording eight sacks and 98 solo tackles. 

Five years later, he was recognized as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the second Bears player to receive the award; the other was Singletary (1985, 1988).

“It’s a huge honor to be able to play the same position as Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary,” Brian told ESPN when reflecting on his career in 2007.

“The size of him; he can run like a deer,” Butkus once said in an interview with ESPN. “You put him one-on-one with Reggie Bush (a running back), that is a nice luxury for Bears coaches to have. I think that’s the big deal that he is bringing across.”

That speed was especially notable when Brian returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and again when, to the delight of the hometown crowd, he returned a pick-six 85 yards against Chicago’s longtime rival, the Green Bay Packers, at Soldier Field in 2007.

Responding to an inquiry about Brian’s place in Bears linebacker history, then-head coach Lovie Smith declared, “Chicago is a defensive town. It’s blue-collar, and for some reason Dick Butkus played there, Mike Singletary played there and it’s a great job by our scouting department to get Brian Urlacher. He has it all: He’s one of the best guys you’ll ever meet, (and) you can’t find more talent than him. He’s a coach on the field. He’s a perfect teammate.”

Like Turner, Conner, Butkus and Singletary, Brian played his entire professional football career as a Bear. (George played 14 of his 15 seasons in Chicago.)

“We’ve had a lot of great linebackers in Chicago … Brian Urlacher is a very athletic guy playing middle linebacker. He’s got a nonstop motor. Brian Urlacher has stood the test of time. He’ll go down as one of the best middle linebackers in history,” Hall of Famer and Bears legend Mike Ditka told ESPN while on a panel of Hall of Famers in 2011 discussing players they believed could excel in any era of the NFL.

In 2011, Brian’s teammates selected him as the team’s Ed Block Courage Award winner. It recognizes players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. The description of the award adds that the recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication in addition to being a community role model.

“He is second to none to me,” Smith told Mike Donnelly of NFLplayers.com. “I’m talking about an unselfish player that is liked by all his teammates. He is the undisputed leader of our football team. He plays hard and is coachable. All those things you want your franchise to be, he is.”

And all those things Bears fans expected.