ESPN ranks Brian Urlacher #5 in its Any Era list
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jan 26, 2012 7:00 PM CST
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ESPN is counting down a list of 20 current players that their expert panel believes could play in any era of football. The panels of experts is comprised of 20 Hall Of Famers and ESPN's John Clayton. The list is up to #5 and Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher makes an appearance. After the jump we'll take a look at what Mike Ditka had to say.
MIKE DITKA: I think he would have been playing outside linebacker with Dick Butkus, no question. We had a lot of great linebackers in Chicago -- Dick Butkus, Bill George, Mike Singletary. Brian Urlacher is a very athletic guy playing middle linebacker. He's got a nonstop motor. Brian Urlacher has stood the test of time. He'll go down as one of the best middle linebackers in history. He's very deserving of being on this team.
What do you think Bears fans? Agree, disagree? Discuss...
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Ditka said it all.
but it is interesting to read Lofton’s comments about spinning the clock back to 1961 and putting Brian at Tightend opposite Ditka.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
I think he is definitely deserving of his spot on the list, but
Am I the only one who finds the whole premise of the list kind of silly? If we are to believe that players nowadays are bigger, faster, stronger, and just more athletic than ever before because of enhanced training and so forth, then doesn’t it stand to reason that most dominant players today would thrive against lesser competition in previous eras ?
Yeah
But this is how you kill time between now and the Super Bowl.
If its free, take two.
by T.J. Shouse on Jan 26, 2012 7:39 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
FTFY
But this is how you kill time between now andthe Super Bowlthe drafttraining campnext season.
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by Steven Schweickert on Jan 27, 2012 9:27 AM CST up reply actions
NFL football today and 50 years ago are not nearly the same game.
It is very difficult for most people today to comprehend how brutal the game was back then.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
I doubt a lot of WRs today could handle the older eras. When pass interference was just called playing defense.
"You have a young group and if they start feeling too good about themselves, that’s not a good thing. So it’s my job not to let them. So probably they will hate me. But that’s OK too. My wife hates me and she’s still married to me." - Mike Tice
by badsamaritan on Jan 26, 2012 8:20 PM CST up reply actions
would be like taking a corvette to a demolishion derby.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
Very true
I think Urlacher could (possibly) hold up and play well, but comparing what those guys in the 60s and 70s went through to what players are/have today is two incredibly different things. Those guys, almost to a man, were warriors.
If its free, take two.
preach it ed
When Mike Ditka calculates pi it's decimal representation ends.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jan 26, 2012 9:00 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
his athletic skill set and size he would have been able to play any position and thrived with the exception of QB but iv never seen him throw
Tony
by chitown-tony on Jan 26, 2012 7:52 PM CST via Android app reply actions
absolutely agree
"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken" - Colonel Sanders
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Grammar Nazis of America Rank Apostrophe Abuse # 5 in It's List of Punctuation Fails of the Modern Era
(please don’t hit me)
Jay Cutler is our quarterback, baby! Please pass the nitroglycerin tablets.
by juperee on Jan 26, 2012 9:41 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
I LOL'd
"And furthermore, I think Carthage must be destroyed."
by TheotherDane on Jan 26, 2012 9:51 PM CST up reply actions
OK, thats funny
Used properly, the comma, unlike it’s cousin, the dash, provides excellent pauses to sentences. Further, it allows you string together, two, or more, seemingly unrelated concepts, together.
Being a meatball not only makes me delicious, but it also makes me all warm inside.
by Suffering from Chicago Sports on Jan 27, 2012 7:52 AM CST up reply actions
who cares
When Mike Ditka calculates pi it's decimal representation ends.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jan 27, 2012 9:08 AM CST up reply actions
Only my fellow grammarians
Jay Cutler is our quarterback, baby! Please pass the nitroglycerin tablets.
by juperee on Jan 28, 2012 12:36 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
hey!
Now that the headline has been corrected, my comment has been rendered nonsensical. To make matters worse, it contains a deliberate grammar fail that, lacking context, appears to have been made in ignorance.
O the ignominy.
Jay Cutler is our quarterback, baby! Please pass the nitroglycerin tablets.
by juperee on Jan 28, 2012 5:20 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
That list is a joke with Tom Brady on it
They had to change the rules because little Tommy got hurt but he could have played in any era? The guy who whines after a defensive lineman breathes on him could have played in the 60s? The guy who probably would be out of the league by now if not for the 2004 rules changes? Dude is an elite quarterback by today’s rules but come on, there is no way he would have thrived in the 1980s, let alone before the 1978 rules changes. Same thing applies for Peyton Manning. Should not be on the list either.
I’m also looking forward to seeing Ray Lewis be named #1 on the list and get lauded again, on the front page despite his [b]conviction for obstruction of justice[/b] (ie, giving misleading information to the police wrt: a murder) juxtaposed with a front-page article on Joe Paterno (partially vilified for not giving the police any information at all) posted without comment.
Whose job am I supposed to call for now?
by ES46NE10 on Jan 26, 2012 10:30 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Da Coach made his judgement
And I full heartedly agree.
Jay Cutler is our QB, and I for one am proud of that
by Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter on Jan 26, 2012 11:00 PM CST reply actions
Da List
Da list comparing todays players to yesterdays, like allways is a pain in Da a$$. Todays fans only look at what they know, a softer game that is desigened to protect da playerz. To roughly quote Doug Buffone, it was when ya got hurt gimmie a handful of asprin n let me git back on Da field. The majority of players today are protected by the rulez, ya can’t look at a player wrong and ya draw a flag. “Gone are days of a Fencik n Plank two timeing a player running accross the middle” Da coach is right bout Urlacher he is one of the few that would cross the lines of time, one more thing to look at, back in the day when other teams could not stop Mr Dick Butkis, they started going after his knees to put him down, in todayz game not gonna happen. I’m not sayin all rulez are bad but there has to be a limit to how far the baybin goez.
madden
could you pick the pro bowl players from an early era and play against todays pro bowlers?idk as i have never played but have heard how you can pick different teams and add/ subtract players as i have said idk
That would be f'in awesome!!
Have Mean Joe Green unscrew Rogers helmet? While Butkus drills him to the ground, with a thumb in the eye for good measure. That could be better than MW3.
Being a meatball not only makes me delicious, but it also makes me all warm inside.
by Suffering from Chicago Sports on Jan 27, 2012 7:56 AM CST up reply actions
That's better than visions of sugarplums dancing in the children's heads
Sweet dreams indeed!
Jay Cutler is our quarterback, baby! Please pass the nitroglycerin tablets.
by juperee on Jan 28, 2012 12:38 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
You know how every old timer that gets on TV tells us that modern players don't know how to tackle.
The next time you see some footage from the 50s or 60s just watch the tackling, it sucks. I can’t remember who played in the ‘Greatest Game’ (or whatever it was called, it involved the Baltimore Colts and it ended up in a shootout) but the reason it was so exciting was the numerous broken tackles on every play. Video analysis, improved strength and conditioning and better coaching have improved tackling over the decades – and the old timers tells fibs about it.
(apologies for segue-ing that in)
Hey - Hey - Hey!! Ed can still tell some great stories.
Being a meatball not only makes me delicious, but it also makes me all warm inside.
by Suffering from Chicago Sports on Jan 27, 2012 7:58 AM CST up reply actions
how about you put on the equipment they wore and go out on the same fields they played on and we'll make a tape of how good you tackle.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
Preach.
When Mike Ditka calculates pi it's decimal representation ends.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jan 27, 2012 9:13 AM CST up reply actions
you didn't lead with your head in those days if you wanted to live to tell about it later
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
maybe he was watching Marshawn Lynch run against New Orleans and thought it was a tape from way back.
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
You are probably right
it doesn’t excuse all the griping you hear about how modern players don’t tackle with proper form or arm tackle too much.
by weepingbear on Jan 27, 2012 12:01 PM CST up reply actions
today you see players going for the big hit and not wrapping the guy up.
I don’t know if they are taught this to avoid injury or what
. "Most football teams are temperamental. That's 90% temper and 10% mental."
--Doug Plank
Yeah I've noticed that too. In rugby a big hit will most likely put you in the hospital but in football, everyone wants to put the big hit on someone and IMO, it's because most of these guys weren't taught how to properly tackle.
by frenchbears113 on Jan 27, 2012 1:08 PM CST up reply actions
Unleash the beast
F*** it, i’m going deep big
I think it is difficult to compare players from different eras.
All I know is that Urlacher is one of the best linebackers of his generation. Ditka’s comment about Urlacher’s “nonstop motor” is on the nose; even if he doesn’t make the tackle, he’s always around the ball – recovering fumbles, etc. #54 is always on the scene – in the backfield, in the middle, or downfield. He’s always there. Selfless team player.
Often Wrong, Never In Doubt.
Nonstop motor...
….is relative when you used to have some guys playing both sides of the ball….
cover 2
Lovie’s D runs because of Urlacher. In other D’s, he’d make a lot more plays. People never seem to point that out.
K. McAllister
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