Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher called it a career in 2013, stepping away from the game after 13 illustrious seasons. But now, the former linebacker reflected on his controversial social media posts around 2020 that distanced him from the Bears. And through the reflection, came a certain sense of relief that he was already retired. 

“Luckily I didn’t play when everyone was kneeling,” Urlacher said on the Sage Steele Show. “I’m so glad I missed that, because there would have been really hard for me to be out there on the field while guys are taking a knee for our national anthem. That would have been tough.”

The ‘take a knee’ movement originally began during the 2016 NFL season when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick protested police brutality and systemic injustice. The protest sparked a nationwide debate and divided locker rooms. The practice was also adopted by NBA players in 2020 during the playoffs.

Urlacher, however, found himself in a controversy when he commented on one such instance. In an Instagram story, he wrote how Brett Favre came back to play after his dad passed away the day before. The comment was so shocking that Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey said that he thought Urlacher’s account “had been hacked.”

“Nothing to do with race,” Urlacher told Steele. “And then George McCaskey and the Bears came out saying that we don’t agree with Brian. Some teammates tweet some things and then somebody retweeted saying that my privilege sometime allows me to say things I shouldn’t say. I don’t understand what that means, because nothing I said had to do with race.”

The former linebacker had long retired by then. In 2011, he sprained the MCL and PCL in his left knee during a game against the Minnesota Vikings. He injured it once again during the summer and underwent surgery in the offseason. But his knee just wasn’t the same.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘I want to play four more years’ right now,” Urlacher said before he entered his final season. “Because before my knee was hurt (in training camp), I thought I could play four more. My knee just isn’t the same anymore. It’s never going to be the same.” 

Later, against the Seattle Seahawks in December 2012, he injured his hamstring. That kept him out of the final games of his career. 

Urlacher didn’t have to make that difficult moral or political decision in the locker room years later. Talking about it has drawn negative attention to certain players, and Urlacher knows full well what that experience is like. He seems pretty grateful for not being an active player at that time.

Today, the NFL bans players from taking a knee during the anthem. However, they are allowed to be in the locker room if they don’t wish to be part of the segment. Violations will lead to serious fines on the team.