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Brian Urlacher calls his former team’s bluff.
The Chicago Bears have gone on record as saying they are moving from the Windy City to Hammond, Indiana, announcing in June that they were “moving forward.”[ing]” his stadium project in the city.
But Urlacher is still hoping to at least stay in the state of Illinois.
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Former Chicago Bears player Brian Urlacher 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 still a ploy to try to get the state of Illinois to do something more than what they’ve done, which is nothing,” Urlacher recently told Pak Gazette Digital. “The Bears bought the land in Arlington Heights. They have it there, ready to go. They just need a little funding from the state to build the stadium.
“I just can’t watch the Bears leave Illinois. It drives me crazy. And I don’t want them to leave Soldier Field, honestly. I wish they could come up with something to keep them there, but they want a dome, they want Super Bowls, they want Final Fours. They want all those big things. I get it. I just hate the fact that they’re leaving Soldier Field. That place is iconic.”
“I understand that Indiana is giving them great deals in terms of taxes: $2.5 billion to build the stadium. That’s a big deal. As a businessman, as owners have to be these days, it makes sense to go. Unless Illinois gets something, I don’t see them staying there,” he added.
Perhaps Urlacher’s son Kennedy can be a Hammond legend: He’s currently a safety at USC after playing his first season at Notre Dame. He played in the national championship with the Fighting Irish, but it was time to move on.
“NIL has been fantastic for him,” admitted Urlacher. But the Urlachers also knew Kennedy would start for the Trojans.
Maybe the last name helped Kennedy get a little more money, but Dad said Kennedy wants to make it all on his own.
Kennedy Urlacher of the Southern California Trojans looks at the crowd during a game between UCLA and USC at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photos by Melinda Meijer/ISI via Getty Images)
CHICAGO BEARS LEGEND BRIAN URLACHER BEATS ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS AS TEAM PREPARES TO LEAVE THE STATE
“I’ll tell you what he does: He works his ass off. I don’t care what his name is. His name could be Johnson. It doesn’t matter. This guy plays hard. He works hard, man. Every time I call him, he’s working out, he’s doing something. He doesn’t want to get anything 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 he worked his ass off. a– and he got there…” Urlacher said.
“He doesn’t want anything because of his last name. He wants it because he earned it.”
Urlacher said, even though he doesn’t like what the NIL has done to college sports, he obviously wishes he played in that era. “As long as the NCAA doesn’t get the money, I like it,” he said of paying athletes.
But the Hall of Famer is making up for lost time by investing in Joey’s nicotine pouches.
Joey’s has 36 different flavors and Urlacher knows that “the bag space is inflated.”
“Everyone I play golf with, everyone I’m with, they’re always trading these bags. I had the opportunity to invest and it was a no-brainer for me,” he said. They sent me the deck and I thought, ‘This looks like a home run.’
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher No. 54 lines up against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on November 18, 2011, in Miami, Florida. The Bears defeated 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 what’s crazy is how quickly it’s caught on. Everyone’s doing them. My daughter brings her friends and all three of them take them. I’m like, ‘Wow, she’s making them too.’ I mean, these are a big problem.'”
Although the FDA has authorized the sale of nicotine pouch products in the US, health experts warn about the effects they can have, especially on younger people. A recent national study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology also suggested that smokeless alternatives could increase the risk of serious eye diseases compared to quitting nicotine completely.
