Sad to see him retire but I'll be honest in saying I'm glad he didn't go play somewhere else. I hate seeing top end guys end their careers with another team and a half-hearted season. I wish he would've just taken the 2 million the Bears offered him for another year. But such is life. All good things must come to an end.
I'm happy to see him retire as a Bear instead of hobbling around for one more season. I met him once. He was a large individual.
I'm glad he is done. Even playing for the Bears would not have been good. He had a poor season last year. Keep your health, your pride, and retire with a smile.
How so? He was leading the team in tackles before the hamstring injury forced him to sit. He may not have been the Urlacher of old, but he was still a valuable member of the defense.
At least he decided to retire rather than sit in free agency for a couple years before doing so. Did McNabb ever retire?
McNabb kinda retired against his will. He just couldn't find a job on the field. Being known as someone who, at the end of the day, can't get the job done never really helps one get employment. As a huge Bear since I knew what a football was, I'm also glad Urlacher retired now instead of going somewhere else and going through the motions for one last season. Urlacher will go down as one of the best leaders and inside linebackers the game has ever seen and it's well deserved. He brought that old school attitude and style to a new school game. I wish he could've gotten a ring sometime in his career because he deserves it. Nobody has bled blue and orange like that since the days of Singletary, Dent and Payton. He'll be missed for sure!
I think it is sad the organization didn't do something to keep him around, he was the backbone of the defense and had a couple more years in him.
They offered him what they felt was a fair contract, he didn't feel it was fair. That's the unfortunate part of the whole thing is that it comes down to being a business in the end.
Probably a smart decision to retire while he still has some decent mobility. When players try to play through nagging pains at 75-80%, they become very vulnerable to major injuries. There's a very long list of great players who stayed one or two seasons too many. Peyton Manning and Big Ben (especially) are a couple examples who are quickly coming to that point although they are still really good.
He actually addressed this on ESPN radio yesterday. He said that management initially told him to have his agent get in contact with them with whatever number they had in mind. Then when his agent contacted them to begin negotiations, they then told him the firm $2 mil number, take it or leave it. He said that the issue he had with management was that they initially were willing to negotiate but when the door began to be opened, they backed off that stance and gave him a lowball, non-negotiable number. He said that if they had initially came to him and said "this is where we're at ($2 mil), no agents, no negotiating, sign here please" the situation would've probably ended differently and he'd be suiting up.
I wish my employer said take it or leave it with a 2 mil offer! Haha... I would have a real hard time being insulted..... Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I was hoping the Vikings went after him. I know he is nowhere near the player he once was but his ability and leadership would be better than trying to shove Erin Henderson into the middle.
