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Day 22: Who is your All Time favorite Chicago Bears offensive lineman?
This is a tough question for me, because I'm this-close to picking a current Chicago Bears o-lineman as my all time fav, but with only 2 years under his belt, tabbing Kyle Long as an all time anything seems wrong. But I absolutely love the way he plays the game and his off field stuff is top notch too.
I actually have two in the running for favorite all time Bears offensive linemen. In my youth I loved the aggressive way Keith Van Horne played the game. He always seemed to play with an edge and I think it's important to have at least one guy on the o-line that wouldn't hesitate to get physical after the whistle to protect his quarterback.
These days that guy is Kyle Long, and in case you need a reminder...
Kyle Long defiende a Jay Cutler en el partido vs Cincinnati Bengals pic.twitter.com/be1mVibU0X
— Osos de Chicago (@Osos_de_Chicago) September 11, 2013
But for now my all time favorite Bears offensive lineman has to be Olin Kreutz.
He played football with the same kind of edge that Van Horne had, but Kruetz was an Pro Bowl performer. He played 13 years in Chicago, making the Pro Bowl from 2001-2006, and he was selected to 4 different All Pro teams. He only missed one game from 2001-2010, playing through various injuries, fighting though multiple surgeries; even the occasional mid-season surgery couldn't stop Kreutz from lacing 'em up.
Only one Bear played in more games than Kreutz's 191 (which is tied with Steve McMichael), and that's long snapper Patrick Mannelly. Olin's 183 starts in Chicago is 2nd only to Walter Payton's 184.
Kruetz had an old school approach to locker room leadership and some would even say he crossed the line at times, but he's still my all time favorite Chicago offensive lineman.
But only for about another couple of years.....