RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Sep 17, 2018; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears former player Brian Urlacher is honored during halftime of a game between the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field. © Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Urlacher spent more than a decade hearing Chicago Bears fans roar from the middle of the field at Soldier Field. The thought of those fans having to cross the state line to watch their team now bothers him almost as much as the stadium debate itself.
Brian Urlacher Says Illinois ‘Dropped the Ball’ on Keeping the Bears
The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been outspoken about the Bears’ search for a new home, and he has become increasingly critical of Illinois’ political leadership as the team weighs a potential move to Northwest Indiana.
Speaking Sunday on “The Sage Steele Show,” Urlacher again blamed Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. His comments focused heavily on Illinois’ spending on migrant services and what he believes should have been done instead to help keep the Bears in the state.
“Prickster gave 2.8 billion dollars to the illegal immigrants. That money could have been set aside for the Bears stadium,” he said.
Steele had just described the possibility of the Bears playing in Northwest Indiana as “insane,” questioning how Chicago and Illinois officials allowed the situation to develop.
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Urlacher replied, “They dropped the ball. They should never have gone this far. This should have been handled a long time ago. He couldn’t set that money aside and quit funding illegal immigrants and put it aside for the Bears.”
The Bears have spent years looking for alternatives to Soldier Field. The team previously pursued a stadium project in Arlington Heights after purchasing land there, but questions regarding property taxes, infrastructure, and public financing complicated those plans.
Now Hammond, Indiana, has come out as a seriously considered option.
This possibility has been hard for Urlacher to accept. He told Fox News Digital in June that he could not picture the Bears playing anywhere other than Soldier Field.
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“I don’t like them leaving Soldier Field,” Urlacher said. “I can’t picture them playing anywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s Indiana or somewhere in Illinois; I can’t picture them leaving Soldier Field.”
At the same time, Urlacher said that the Bears’ business interests are difficult to ignore.
The team does not own Soldier Field, which means it does not control all of the revenue generated at the stadium. A new facility owned by the Bears would give the organization more control over stadium revenue and operations. He also talked about the financial incentives being discussed across the state line.
“Illinois is not giving them anything tax-wise. They’re not giving them a good deal on their stadium,” he said. “So Indiana’s offering them something better than what Illinois is, so why not go down to the great state of Indiana?”
Urlacher believes Illinois officials should have made keeping the Bears a priority before Hammond became a realistic alternative.
“I just don’t see how, as a state, legislator, governor, city, mayor, how you can let this team leave the state of Illinois, or even be a topic of discussion,” Urlacher said in June. “You do what you have to do to keep the Bears there.”
Hammond is about 20 minutes farther for some fans, but it would mean crossing the Illinois-Indiana border.
“The fans are not going to like it if they go to Indiana. It’s only 20 minutes further, but it’s not Chicago. It’s not Illinois,” he said to Steele on Sunday.
That distinction seemingly matters to a player whose identity is closely tied to Chicago. Urlacher spent his entire NFL career with the Bears from 2000 through 2012 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
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