Brian Urlacher’s old coach, Lovie Smith, preached turnovers. Along with Urlacher, the Bears had a few others that had a knack for creating them.
Guys like Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Mike Brown, and Lance Briggs were just a few of those players. From 2005-2012, the Bears ranked inside the top ten in takeaways per game seven different times.
They also finished first in that category twice, and top-five four different times. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Bears former middle linebacker loves what the 2018 Bears team was able to do and loved to watch them play.
Sunday, Jan. 27, Brian Urlacher was the NFC’s team captain in the Pro Bowl, giving the Hall of Famer a chance to spend more time with some of today’s best Bears. Seven Bears participated in this year’s Pro Bowl festivities and for each of them, it was their first.
Eight Bears in total were Pro Bowlers this year. Khalil Mack was the lone player to be named that didn’t make the trip to participate.
Urlacher has showered this Bears team with praise. He talked about how many of them would be perfect fits with his old teams. The combination of coach Matt Nagy, having a quarterback they believe in, and a strong defensive unit makes Urlacher excited about the future of the team.
In a video on the Bears’ Youtube channel, Urlacher was mic’d up during practice, talking with defensive lineman and Pro Bowler Akiem Hicks.
“We had some good players back then, but nothing like what you are now,” Urlacher said to Hicks. “So if you get double teamed, you still make plays and you just fight through it. If they got double teamed it was different because of your size.”
At one point during the game, cameras showed Urlacher on the sidelines giving an interview and wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket. Just the thought of him in Cowboys gear is enough to make many Bears fans cringe. He did, however, pull a slick little move while giving the interview, pulling his hood back just enough to expose the Bears hat he was wearing.
He wasn’t the only non-Cowboy seen wearing their attire. The NFL seemingly didn’t have proper designated gear for them to wear, so that was the reason why Urlacher donned the uniform that he did.
So, don’t get the story twisted. If Urlacher is watching football on Sundays, he’s watching and rooting for the Bears. He even went as far as to say he and his wife made it a point to watch them play this season and he couldn’t say that about years past.
Lately, there have been rumblings from fans wanting Urlacher to rejoin the Bears team as a coach of some sort. That will not be happening anytime soon. Urlacher is enjoying his retirement with no desire to coach and quite frankly, there aren’t any coaching openings right now. He may not officially be a part of the Bears coaching staff or team, but he will always be a Bear in spirit.
He’ll continue to enjoy watching and cheering for them away from the field. Urlacher appreciates great talent and although the Bears couldn’t win a ring when he was playing, seeing them win one now would be a nice consolation prize.
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