Urlacher becomes latest NFL star to retire

Brian Urlacher announced his retirement Wednesday morning via a statement linked to his Twitter account and in so doing, he joins a parade of former NFL stars who have called it quits before the 2013 kicks off in a couple of months.

Urlacher indicated that while he could continue playing “I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards.”

Photo credit: Wikipedia user Jauerback

While I can’t speak to his passion, it was clear to anyone watching the last couple seasons that he is no longer the player he was when he arrived in the Chicago 13 seasons ago. So even though there were rumors of interest in his services from Minnesota and Denver, I suspect his decision to retire may have had something to do with a weak market for his services.

Nonetheless, he leaves the league a highly decorated star. He and Ray Lewis, who announced during the 2012 season that it would be his last, both exit as franchise cornerstone linebacker superstar players who lasted double-digit seasons with just one team.

Congratulations to Urlacher, who now only has to wait to see when he should show up in Canton for his inevitable induction and enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a typical year, Urlacher’s eight Pro Bowl appearances, four first-team Associated Press All Pro awards and 1,052 tackles (according to Pro Football Reference’s stats) would make him a fairly sure bet to be a first ballot enshrinee. He also was a member of the Team of the 2000s.

But his honors, as impressive as they seem, are dwarfed by the profile put up by Lewis, who garnered 13 Pro Bowls and seven AP first-team awards and who won two Super Bowls with Baltimore during his also illustrious career.

That’s not to say they won’t go in together in 2018. But Hall of Fame voters can be quirky sometimes and there have been times that a player who seemed an obvious selection had to wait a year or two or three, and in some cases, it has appeared as though it was to avoid inducting two players from the same position in the same year.

As good a career as he had, Urlacher also may face some fallout from those who thought he was a bit overrated as a player through the years. I thought he got a bit more recognition than he deserved, though I acknowledge that he was a great player. Sports Illustrated, however, in 2006 conducted a survey of players who voted him the second most overrated player in the league at the time behind diva wide receiver Terrell Owens.

He also ends his career at the same time as several other players, including Steve Hutchinson, Ronde Barber, Matt Birk and Jeff Saturday, meaning the list of first-time eligible players will be deep. Urlacher’s numbers outpace most of them, but not by an overwhelming amount in some cases.

At the end of the day, it’s highly unlikely any of that would prevent Urlacher from being inducted, if not right away, then within a year or two. But there’s a pretty good collection of players who will be seeking enshrinement for the first time in 2018. It’ll be hard to match the star power of the 2010 class that included Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, but this collection is getting close, at least in terms of depth, if not high-end talent.

And who knows what will happen between now and 2018 with guys like Will Shields, Aeneas Williams and Michael Strahan, additional peers who have already been finalists for Hall election but who as of yet have not made it in, and with others who are becoming eligible between now and then.

It’s always interesting seeing how the Hall of Fame voters go about their work. Their jobs don’t appear to be getting any easier in the years ahead.

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