Why Not Re-Signing Brian Urlacher Is A Bad Business Move

I've been a Chicago Bears fan my entire life. I was born 2 years after the '85 Bears won it all, and by the time I started watching, most of the mainstays of that team were gone. I grew up in the post-Ditka era. From Wannstedt to Jauron, from Kramer to McNown to Stewart, guys came and went. Buying a guy's jersey never made sense, as you never knew if he was going to stay long. The 1990s were a disappointing time for the Bears.

Then came Brian Urlacher.

Brian Urlacher came to Chicago in 2000 and almost immediately began dominating the league with his brand of smash-mouth, in-your-face defensive play that I'd only heard my father talk about when bringing up Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary. Over 13 years, Urlacher has been to 8 Pro Bowls, been named to the All Pro Team 5 times, and won Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. These accolades made Urlacher one of the most respected defensemen of all time, and as a lifelong Bear, he was the elder statesman in the Chicago locker room. The latter, for many reasons, is why the Bears should have worked out a respectable deal with him.

Urlacher was Chicago. He showed the kind of toughess, grit, and "I'd rather show you than tell you" mentality that represents our city. His departure feels like a funeral- everyone I've talked to about him in the days passing his release talk about how great of a player he was in the saddest of voices as if he was shot in cold blood. The news reports in the days following Urlacher's release play out almost like eulogies, and in the handful of articles that I've sifted through in the last 48 hours, Michael Wilbon of ESPN had my favorite line:

He still led and inspired, maybe with less drama and self-absorption than Ray Lewis, but effectively nonetheless. Urlacher was the perfect Chicago Bear, a Grabowski not a Smith, long on toughness and short on diva.

It is for this reason, among others, that the Chicago Bears management- and to an extent Phil Emery- made a huge mistake in releasing Brian Urlacher. He has bum knees and he's not as quick- that's a given. But what Urlacher lacks in physicality he makes up for in the intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet. His courgage, selflessness, leadership, and toughness are things that can't be taught.

Several reports also tell of how great Urlacher was with his teammates off the field- how he hosted fight nights at his house and was a frequent prankster in the locker room. If you've ever been on a team of any kind, you know firsthand that the out-of-practice shenanigans are what turn you into a real team. I was never a serious athlete, but I was serious about quiz bowl. I captained a team in college, and those road trips we took to attend tournaments, late nights at Denny's, and Friday nights playing Trivial Pursuit are what made us a better team. Those intangibles built a system, and not by accident. If we didn't do those things, we probably would have still been a good team- but not a great team.

There is no way to immediately replace the player who is the heart of your team. That position is earned organically- it takes time for everyone to look at one person, say "that's our guy", and truly believe it. The Bears' attempt at paying Brian Urlacher what he's worth stat-wise is the equivalent of placing a value on a parent based solely on their work salary. At the end of the day, however, the NFL is a business, and unfortunately, the business of sports is extremely ugly. Johnny Unitas, Wayne Gretzky, LeBron James, and Albert Pujols were all, at one point or another, expected to retire in the jersey that made them famous and none of them did. The frustrating piece is that even in his twilight, Brian Urlacher still brings enough to the table to command a larger salary than the Bears are offering him. Even more frustrating is how close Urlacher came to being a rare player in this era- one of his stature that stays with the same team from beginning to end. All the great Bears did it- Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton- this late in his career, it was a certainty that Brian Urlacher was going to join that list.

Who knows what a new day will bring? After all, the Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky in 1988 and owner Peter Pockington caught hell for it- two years later they won the Stanley Cup. For certain, the Chicago Bears will retire Brian Urlacher's #54. He will go into the Hall of Fame and immediately be considered one of the greatest of greats. But in the meantime, the Bears will have work to do in finding the man who will carry them into the next era.

Until then, I'll keep wearing my #54 jersey. Bear down.