The Chicago Bears decided to part ways with linebacker Brian Urlacher after this past season as the player started getting older and showing signs of wear and tear and despite the fact that many feel he is a lock for the Hall of Fame, not everyone around football agrees.
According to SportsMedia101.com, former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi said that while he feels Urlacher was a great player, he just isn't sure he is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Accorsi spoke about it on the radio with SiriusXM's Mad Dog and said that he thinks the linebacker is borderlines after being a very good, but not c=dominant player during his career.
"I think he's a borderline Hall of Famer," Accorsi said on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio. "I don't know that he's a definite Hall of Famer. I think there is a host of them, like Willie Lanier, that were dominant players. He was good, but I wouldn't put him in that level."
Urlacher was a very solid and consistent linebacker for the Bears since being drafted out of New Mexico and while he made it to one Super Bowl, Accorsi feels he wasn't a landscape changing player. Urlacher was a Pro Bowl talent and an All-Pro linebacker and he consistently helped the Bears to be one of the top defenses in the NFL.
He said that after players like Michael Straham got snubbed, anything could happen.
"I definitely wouldn't [say he's a sure thing]," Accorsi said. "That's my opinion. I don't think he's a guarantee. I mean, he may get in because he got a lot of publicity and he was a hard player. But his span that he covered was really restricted. Now a lot of those middle linebackers were in those days. They didn't have three or four wide receivers so they stayed on the field for three downs. They might be off today. But, no, I certainly don't have him in [Dick] Butkus or Ray Lewis [category]. And I don't think he should be in there, really with [Joe] Schmidt and [Ray] Nitschke and those guys, either."
Taken with the ninth pick of the first round in the 2000 NFL Draft out of the University of New Mexico, former college safety Urlacher racked up tackles while also flaunting the ability to cover tight ends deep downfield with his speed and athleticism. A highlight of Urlacher's career was his 2007 trip to the Super Bowl, where the Bears fell to the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning.
"After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire," wrote the eight-times Pro Bowl linebacker and Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 who will turn 35 this week.
"Although I could continue playing, I'm not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that's up to my standards. When considering this, along with the fact that I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for such a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear."