Fox on Urlacher: The best in the business

Bears coach John Fox doesn’t want to upset anyone else — and, yes, Ray Lewis would be a bad man to anger — but he thinks Brian Urlacher was the ultimate middle linebacker of his era.

“To come in here being a DB for most of your career in college, then transforming into a middle linebacker — and the best in the business that I remember during that time,” Fox said Tuesday. “Hope I’m not offending anybody else. He was good against the run and pass. He was sideline- to- sideline. You couldn’t get away from him because he’s right in the middle of the defense. He was part of a lot of really good defenses here in that time and was a dominant player.”

Fox said Urlacher, who was one of 108 Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees named Tuesday night, deserves to be in the Hall.

“In my opinion, yes,” Fox said. “But I don’t think my phone is ringing off the hook right now asking for my vote. I wish him nothing but the best though.”

The spectacular aspect of Urlacher’s career, Fox said, was that he played a different position in college — safety, albeit with some hybrid “Monster” responsibilities — before moving to middle linebacker in the NFL.

Bears linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski started his college career as a safety, too, but began studying linebackers, including Urlacher, when he moved there at West Virginia.

“I can go on and on,” Kwiatkos- ki said. “He was a great player. He just had that instinct, that linebacker instinct. He was athletic. He made plays in the run game, pass game, had an all- around complete game.”

The Hall of Fame list will be cut to 25 semifinalists in November and 15 finalists in January before inductees are chosen the day before the Super Bowl.