by Rickhouse on December 19 at 3:32PM
For only the second time in his eight year career, Brian Urlacher won’t be going to the Pro Bowl. This has certainly been the most difficult season of Urlacher’s career. He got off to a bad start before the beginning of training camp, and he was never able to recover.
Remember the text message fiasco Urlacher had with his ex-girlfriend in July? One would have to think all the publicity that got affected him. It also affected his relationship with the local media as he has been answering post-game questions with one word answers for half the season. Add in a bad back and overall poor team play from the Bears, and not making the Pro Bowl is pretty much the only way to cap this disastrous year.
The question is whether Urlacher is past his prime, or if he can regain his title as the league’s top middle linebacker. He’ll turn 30 before next season starts, and his speed will probably begin to slip a little, if it hasn’t already. The NFC’s two Pro Bowl choices for middle linebacker were San Francisco’s Patrick Willis and Seattle’s Lofa Tatupu, two players who could hold down Pro Bowl spots for a long time. Willis is a rookie and Tatupu is in his third season.
Urlacher proved on Monday that he can still be a dominating force, helping shut down Adrian Peterson, intercepting a pass, and recovering a fumble. Still, the end of Urlacher’s prime seems to be approaching. If he can get healthy and have a great season next year, the Bears could certainly rebound for a miserable 2007. It just may be unrealistic to expect him to challenge for Defensive Player of the Year again.
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Comments
BobbyStompy
said
Oh, wow.
Sean Taylor also "misses" Pro Bowl.