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Brian Urlacher bluffed his former team.
The Chicago Bears publicly declared they were moving from the Windy City to Hammond, Indiana, announcing in June that they were “advancing.”[ing]” their stadium project in the city.
But Urlacher still holds out hope that he can at least stay at Illinois State.
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Brian Urlacher, a former Chicago Bears player, is honored during halftime of a game between the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on September 17, 2018. (Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports)
“I think it was again a ploy to try to get the state of Illinois to do something more than what they did, which is nothing,” Urlacher recently told PK Press Club Digital. “The Bears bought the land in Arlington Heights. They have it there, ready to go. They just need a little state funding to build the stadium.
“I just don’t see the Bears leaving Illinois. It drives me crazy. And I don’t want them to leave Soldier Field, honestly. I wish they could find a solution to keep them there, but they want a dome, they want Super Bowls, they want Final Fours. They want all this big stuff. I get it. I just hate the fact that they’re leaving Soldier Field. This place is iconic.”
“I understand that Indiana is offering them attractive fiscal offers: $2.5 billion to build the stadium.
Maybe Urlacher’s son Kennedy can be a Hammond legend – he’s currently a safety at USC after playing his freshman season with Notre Dame. He played in the national championship with the Fighting Irish, but it was time to move on.
“NIL has been great for him,” admitted Urlacher. But the Urlachers also knew that Kennedy would start with the Trojans.
Maybe the last name helped Kennedy make a little more money, but Dad said Kennedy wanted to make it all on his own.
Kennedy Urlacher of the Southern California Trojans watches the crowd during a game between UCLA and USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 29, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Melinda Meijer/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
CHICAGO BEARS LEGEND BRIAN URLACHER SLAMS ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS AS TEAM PREPARES TO LEAVE STATE
“I’ll tell you what he does: he’s busting…. I don’t care what his name is. His name could be Johnson. It doesn’t matter. This guy plays hard. He works his butt off, man. Every time I call him, he’s practicing, he’s doing something. He doesn’t want to give anything to him because of his last name. That’s not why he wants to be where he is. He wants to be there because he earned it, because that it broke. It’s a… and it got there…” Urlacher said.
“He doesn’t want anything because of his last name. He wants it because he earned it.”
Urlacher said while he doesn’t like what NIL has done to college sports, he obviously wants to play in that era. “As long as the NCAA doesn’t get any money, I like it,” he said of paid athletes.
But the Hall of Famer is making up for lost time by investing in Joey’s nicotine pouches.
Joey offers 36 different flavors, and Urlacher knows that “the bag space has exploded.”
“Everyone I play golf with, everyone I’m with, they’re always changing these sleeves. I was fortunate enough to invest, and it was a no-brainer for me,” he said. They sent me the game and I was like, “That looks like a home run.”
Linebacker Brian Urlacher #54 of the Chicago Bears lines up against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on November 18, 2011, in Miami, Florida. The Bears beat the Dolphins 16-0. (Getty Images)
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“It’s definitely safer than smoking or vaping because they don’t know the long-term effects of vaping,” he said, expressing his personal opinion. “But the crazy thing is how quickly it’s spread. Everyone’s doing them. My daughter brings her friends, and all three of them take them. I’m like, ‘Whoa, she does them too.’ You can’t tell. They are in their mouth. I’m like, “Damn, everyone does this – girls, guys. »The younger generations are really very attached to them. But I think I notice it the most when I’m playing golf and every guy in my group changes one every three holes. I’m like, ‘Damn, this is a big deal.'”
Although the FDA has authorized the sale of nicotine pouch products in the United States, health experts warn of the effects they may have, especially on young people. A recent national study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology also suggested that smoke-free alternatives may increase the risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine altogether.
