Bears great Brian Urlacher now a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer
Brian Urlacher
The greatest Bears player since their iconic Super Bowl XX team more than three decades ago received the highest NFL honor Saturday when  Brian Urlacher  was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Urlacher  39  becomes the 28th Hall of Famer to represent the Bears for all or the primary portion of their careers  the most in the NFL  and the first since defensive end Richard Dent was inducted in 2011. Urlacher and Lewis bring to 28 the number of modern-era linebackers in the Hall. Five of those 28 were Bears  a nod to the history of the position for the franchise from George Connor to Bill George  Dick Butkus  Mike Singletary and now  Urlacher .
“It’s unreal ”  Urlacher  said. “It’s a great tradition.”
Selected ninth in the first round of the 2000 draft   Urlacher  becomes the first Hall of Fame playerfrom the University of New Mexico.  He  was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and was an established star before coach Lovie Smith arrived in 2004 with a scheme that accentuated  Urlacher ’s freakish athletic ability for a player with such a large frame — 6-foot-4  258 pounds. The next year  he  was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year  becoming the fifth player to win both awards. The next season  in 2006   Urlacher  helped lead the Bears to Super Bowl XLI.
Named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s   Urlacher  was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times and was first team All-Pro five times. In 13 seasons  according to pro-football-reference.com   he  amassed 1 354 tackles  41½ sacks  22 interceptions  two touchdowns  90 passes defensed  11 forced fumbles and 15 fumble recoveries.
Personnel boss Mark Hatley made the decision to draft Urlacher  who had played safety in college. The Bears knew they were getting a player who could transform their defense but initially weren’t sure how to deploy  him .
“We knew we would like to play  him  at the mike (middle) linebacker  but the problem was  he  had been a safety  and we didn’t want to stick  him  there right away and beat  him  up and lose  him  and ruin an excellent prospect ” defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. “We started  him  off at the sam (strong-side) linebacker position  where everything is coming at you from one direction in the traffic  and we played  him  at the mike in the nickel situation  where 95 percent of it was passing. So  he  was getting a feel for it but  he  wasn’t getting in the heavy traffic with the guards coming on  him  and combination blocks … because it’s a whole different beast when you’re playing 12 to 15 yards deep as a safety and you move up to 5 yards from the line of scrimmage with the 300-pounders.
“We knew we had something special and we knew  he  would be a guy who would be a hell of a player for a long  long time if we had some patience and were just judicious in how we approached it. Having (linebackers coach) Dale Lindsey there was a huge help because Dale had developed so many linebackers and he was a great voice in saying he had seen rush jobs when guys were put in situations they weren’t quite ready to handle. It ended up working out really well just because we got him eased into it to the point where he was comfortable seeing it all happen.”
It happened faster than anyone would have imagined  which in retrospect isn’t surprising to anyone who was involved. Lindsey marveled at the amount of information  Urlacher  could process and then apply on the field. A lot of players  even really good ones  can lose the fine details when they move from the meeting room to the practice field and then into games  but  Urlacher  absorbed it all.
When middle linebacker Barry Minter was sidelined with a back injury in the third week of the 2000 season  the Bears moved  Urlacher . They never again discussed where  he  was best suited to play or what  he  could handle.
“(Head coach) Dick Jauron said  ‘Put  him  at the middle ’ ” Lindsey said. “Dick could see the big picture. Luckily for us  Brian was more than willing to learn the new position. It’s nice when you have rare talent and a guy who wants to do it. That’s the difference between the real great players — they want to do it and they’ll do anything to be successful. He was like a sponge. You just kept giving him information and he absorbed it and would want more. The thing about the guys with the rare talent: They can do any damn thing you ask them. You can ask them the impossible and they can get it done. And Brian did it for us as a great middle linebacker.”
When the Bears signed massive defensive tackles Ted Washington and Keith Traylor in 2001   Urlacher  raised  his  game to a new level as the duo kept offensive linemen off of  him  and allowed  him  to make plays with  his  remarkable speed.
“There are a lot of guys who can run fast in a straight line  but the athleticism  he  showed for a guy that size  off the charts ” Blache said.
He spearheaded the “Monday Night Miracle” at Arizona in 2006 with 25 tackles and a forced fumble that resulted in a touchdown.  Urlacher  had five interceptions and five sacks in 2007  a testament to  his  ability to do anything needed.
 Urlacher  was never very comfortable in the spotlight but always at ease around  his  teammates  which made  him  immensely popular.  He  treated the newest rookie the same way  he  did the most tenured veterans. When former teammate Todd Johnson became a high school coach in Sarasota  Fla.  he didn’t have enough uniforms to dress all of his players.  Urlacher  provided new jerseys — home and away — for the entire roster and did so without seeking any attention  one of countless anecdotes of how  he  helped friends.
The greatest Bears player since their iconic Super Bowl XX team more than three decades ago received the highest NFL honor Saturday when  [TGT]was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Urlacher  39  becomes the 28th Hall of Famer to represent the Bears for all or the primary portion of their careers  the most in the NFL  and the first since defensive end Richard Dent was inducted in 2011. Urlacher and Lewis bring to 28 the number of modern-era linebackers in the Hall. Five of those 28 were Bears  a nod to the history of the position for the franchise from George Connor to Bill George  Dick Butkus  Mike Singletary and now  Urlacher .
“It’s unreal ”  [TGT]said. “It’s a great tradition.”
Selected ninth in the first round of the 2000 draft   Urlacher  becomes the first Hall of Fame playerfrom the University of New Mexico.  [TGT]  was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and was an established star before coach Lovie Smith arrived in 2004 with a scheme that accentuated  [TGT] ’s freakish athletic ability for a player with such a large frame — 6-foot-4  258 pounds. The next year  he  was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year  becoming the fifth player to win both awards. The next season  in 2006   Urlacher  helped lead the Bears to Super Bowl XLI.
Named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s   [TGT]was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times and was first team All-Pro five times. In 13 seasons  according to pro-football-reference.com   he  amassed 1 354 tackles  41½ sacks  22 interceptions  two touchdowns  90 passes defensed  11 forced fumbles and 15 fumble recoveries.
Personnel boss Mark Hatley made the decision to draft Urlacher  who had played safety in college. The Bears knew they were getting a player who could transform their defense but initially weren’t sure how to deploy  him .
“We knew we would like to play  him  at the mike (middle) linebacker  but the problem was  he  had been a safety  and we didn’t want to stick  him  there right away and beat  him  up and lose  him  and ruin an excellent prospect ” defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. “We started  him  off at the sam (strong-side) linebacker position  where everything is coming at you from one direction in the traffic  and we played  him  at the mike in the nickel situation  where 95 percent of it was passing. So  he  was getting a feel for it but  he  wasn’t getting in the heavy traffic with the guards coming on  him  and combination blocks … because it’s a whole different beast when you’re playing 12 to 15 yards deep as a safety and you move up to 5 yards from the line of scrimmage with the 300-pounders.
“We knew we had something special and we knew  he  would be a guy who would be a hell of a player for a long  long time if we had some patience and were just judicious in how we approached it. Having (linebackers coach) Dale Lindsey there was a huge help because Dale had developed so many linebackers and he was a great voice in saying he had seen rush jobs when guys were put in situations they weren’t quite ready to handle. It ended up working out really well just because we got him eased into it to the point where he was comfortable seeing it all happen.”
It happened faster than anyone would have imagined  which in retrospect isn’t surprising to anyone who was involved. Lindsey marveled at the amount of information  Urlacher  could process and then apply on the field. A lot of players  even really good ones  can lose the fine details when they move from the meeting room to the practice field and then into games  but  Urlacher  absorbed it all.
When middle linebacker Barry Minter was sidelined with a back injury in the third week of the 2000 season  the Bears moved  Urlacher . They never again discussed where  [TGT]  was best suited to play or what  [TGT]  could handle.
“(Head coach) Dick Jauron said  ‘Put  him  at the middle ’ ” Lindsey said. “Dick could see the big picture. Luckily for us  [TGT] was more than willing to learn the new position. It’s nice when you have rare talent and a guy who wants to do it. That’s the difference between the real great players — they want to do it and they’ll do anything to be successful. He was like a sponge. You just kept giving him information and he absorbed it and would want more. The thing about the guys with the rare talent: They can do any damn thing you ask them. You can ask them the impossible and they can get it done. And [TGT] did it for us as a great middle linebacker.”
When the Bears signed massive defensive tackles Ted Washington and Keith Traylor in 2001   Urlacher  raised  his  game to a new level as the duo kept offensive linemen off of  him  and allowed  him  to make plays with  his  remarkable speed.
“There are a lot of guys who can run fast in a straight line  but the athleticism  he  showed for a guy that size  off the charts ” Blache said.
He spearheaded the “Monday Night Miracle” at Arizona in 2006 with 25 tackles and a forced fumble that resulted in a touchdown.  Urlacher  had five interceptions and five sacks in 2007  a testament to  his  ability to do anything needed.
 Urlacher  was never very comfortable in the spotlight but always at ease around  his  teammates  which made  him  immensely popular.  He  treated the newest rookie the same way  he  did the most tenured veterans. When former teammate Todd Johnson became a high school coach in Sarasota  Fla.  he didn’t have enough uniforms to dress all of his players.  Urlacher  provided new jerseys — home and away — for the entire roster and did so without seeking any attention  one of countless anecdotes of how  he  helped friends.