Brian Urlacher Announces His Retirement

Eight time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher, 34, announced his retirement on May 22nd, after 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears.  Urlacher was a free agent after failing to reach a contract deal with Chicago back in March, and while he said at the time he’d like to continue playing, he never reached serious contract talks with any other team.  ”Although I could continue playing, I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards” he said in a statement.

Urlacher hurt his knee in the final game of the 2011 season and struggled to regain his old form in 2012.  He missed the final four games of the season.  One of those games he missed was against the Bears’ arch rival, the Green bay Packers.  Packers tight end Jermichael Finley famously — or infamously — said at the time that Urlacher was at the end of his career and “playing a little slow”, adding that “putting another guy in might help them a little”.  Urlacher responded by saying the Packers were better off without Finley.

While that was a breach of football etiquette—you don’t want to piss off another team’s all pro linebacker—there was an element of truth in what Finley said simply because Urlacher set such a high standard during the rest of his career.  He retires as the Bears’ all time leading tackler with 1779, and is a sure fire Hall of Famer.