Watching former UNM football player Brian Urlacher during his youth football camp in mid-June, it was clear that the current NFL star is just one big kid.
Whether it was helping the campers with a drill or just talking to them, Urlacher was having as much fun as the kids.
“That’s what the game is all about,” Urlacher said. “I have a good time when I play. I want them to have a good time when they play. You don’t play football because you get tired and you like to sweat. I don’t like to sweat. I play to have fun, and I want that to be portrayed in the way I handle these kids.”
It seems like he’s also having fun in his football career — he’s a multi-millionaire, the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year, a Pro Bowler and part of a tradition of great linebackers for the Chicago Bears. But he doesn’t act much different than when he was punishing opposing players for the Lobos.
“Got a nice house, a little bit more money, that’s about it,” Urlacher said. “I’m a little bit more recognizable, but that’s it. I still feel like I’m the same person.”
He plays like it. After a rookie season that saw him go from losing his starting position to being hailed as the next Dick Butkus, the sky is the limit for Urlacher. His rookie statistics — 125 tackles, 99 of those unassisted, and eight sacks — reflect his All-American college career. While the transition from college to the professional ranks was quick, it was not necessarily an easy one.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Urlacher said that learning a new defensive scheme and doing it at a rapid pace was frustrating at times. He lost his starting strong-side linebacker position toward the end of preseason and came off the bench for the first two regular season games.
Urlacher said the Bears’ coaching staff threw something new at him daily, and it was difficult to learn his assignments.
“There’s five defenses (to learn) a day and you have to know them, but that was hard for me because I never had to deal with that before,” Urlacher said. “I always saw it and learned it, but it’s so much more complex in the NFL that you have to study your stuff, and I figured that out a little bit in training camp.”
Urlacher would have been relegated to the bench during the first half of the season if it had not been for an injury to starting middle linebacker Barry Minter. Minter missed the Sept. 17 game against the New York Giants with a sore back and Urlacher played in his place. Eleven tackles and one sack later, Urlacher was a mainstay at the position.
“You always expect to do well, but I didn’t know I’d do that well that fast,” he said. “I just made a lot of plays. A lot of guys around me did their jobs so I could do mine. And it worked out good.”
Among Urlacher’s highlights of last season:
l Twelve tackles and a sack against the Green Bay Packers Oct. 1.
l Eleven tackles — nine unassisted — against the Indianapolis Colts Nov 1.
l Fourteen tackles — 11 unassisted — against the Buffalo Bills Nov. 8
l An interception in the late stages of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers securing a 13-10 win Nov 19.
However, Urlacher said his favorite moment was the Bears’ season-ending 23-20 win over their NFC Central rival Detroit Lions, knocking them out of the playoffs. Urlacher said, even though the Bears weren’t playing for anything (they finished the season with a 5-11 record), the team found gratification in the win.
“We kept them out of the playoffs, and they’re in our conference,” Urlacher said. “Maybe that will send a message for next year.”
For next season, Urlacher said he has focused on better learning the defense and his assignments. He said he learned a lot in the team’s mini-camps during the off-season and hopes that will translate on the field in training camp.
He also said he thinks the Bears will turn their luck around and become a playoff team in the next couple of years.
“We got the players and the coaches, and that’s all you need,” Urlacher said. “ We’ve had a good off-season and everything is going in the right direction for us.”
