Urlacher uneasy over Hall of Fame vote
Ex-Lobo All-American was 8-time Pro Bowl LB for Bears
On the precipice of possible election Saturday to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, former Chicago Bears linebacker and University of New Mexico All-American Brian Urlacher is not taking anything for granted.
“I try not to think about it because I don’t want to be disappointed,” Urlacher said in an interview last weekend at his Phoenix-area home with longtime teammate-turned-analyst Lance Briggs.
The interview is part of an NBC Sports Chicago special, “The Case for Canton,” set for Thursday night on the cable channel and available to authenticated subscribers through the channel’s website and the NBC Sports app.
“People are like, ‘It’s going to be great,’ and then I’ve heard guys say, ‘I was ready, and I didn’t get in,’ ” Urlacher said. “I’d love to get in; I think it’d be amazing. It’s a big accomplishment. But it doesn’t change what I did on the football field. I know that whatever happens between now and the voting, my stats aren’t going to get any better.”
A Pro Bowl selection in eight of his 12 seasons, a fourtime first-team All-Pro pick and the 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Urlacher has been cast as a likely Hall of Famer. Starting 180 of the 182 games he played for the Bears, he had a franchiseleading 1,779 tackles, 41½ sacks, 22 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles.
Urlacher’s biggest obstacle to first-year election is that fellow middle linebacker Ray Lewis is also in his first year of eligibility. In 17 seasons with the Ravens, Lewis was a 13-time Pro Bowl choice, seven-time first-team All-Pro selection and two-time Super Bowl champion and is seen as a shoo-in for induction this year.
So the question is whether the Hall’s 48 selectors will add two first-time candidates from the same position in the same year. Many, however, have spoken on Urlacher’s behalf, including Packers quarterback (and almost certain future Hall of Famer) Aaron Rodgers.
“To me, it shouldn’t be a difficult decision for those voters to put him in the first opportunity they can,” Rodgers said after Urlacher was announced as one of 15 modern-era finalists, noting Urlacher “revolutionized the game” with his speed, size and ability to cover the field.
Urlacher, named to the College Football Hall of Fame in December, told Briggs the Pro Football Hall of Fame means something to him because “these are the greatest of all time at the position they played.”
As for who best represents that ideal, Urlacher said, “You can ask me any question about the Bears or football and I’ll say Walter Payton.”
Payton is the Bears’ alltime starts leader with 184, and Urlacher is third after Olin Kreutz, who had 183.