An interesting locker room conversation coming soon to Notre Dame…
I can’t be the only guy that grew up debating with friends which of our dad’s would win in a fight.
With recent additions to Notre Dame’s roster, I can’t help but wonder if that discussion is going to come up in the Fighting Irish locker room a year from now.
Except it won’t be so much a fight being discussed, but instead a time when one daddy bus made another’s dad essentially road kill.
Kennedy Urlacher joined Notre Dame as a member of the 2024 recruiting class and is participating in spring practice this year as he enrolled early. He’s of course the son of legendary Chicago Bears running back Brian Urlacher.
A short time ago Jerome Bettis, Jr. announced his commitment to Notre Dame as the wide receiver is now a part of the outstanding 2025 recruiting class for the Irish.
That simply got me thinking: How long until the elder Bettis’ run over the Hall of Fame linebacker gets brought up?
It was the winter of 2005 in what wound up being the start of a streak that saw the Steelers win out, something they had to do just to make the playoffs.
They’d then go onto a Super Bowl, their fifth in franchise history, when they beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Urlacher and the Bears would make it to the big game but fall to the Colts the following season.
Just some fun to help get us a day closer to kickoff…
Making the case for Lance Briggs to be the next Bears player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Chicago Bears saw a few of their all-time greats make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last week — Devin Hester, Steve McMichael and Julius Peppers. The Bears were the first team to have three players (at least four years with the team) who made the Hall of Fame in the same year since the San Francisco 49ers in 2000.
These guys will be celebrated and rightfully so. It will also drive the conversation about who from the Bears’ storied history deserves to make it to Canton. A few really good candidates come to mind, but linebacker Lance Briggs is at the top of the list.
Briggs spent a lot of incredible years as a linebacker for the Bears after they drafted him in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. From that moment on, he became a franchise legend. He should be in the Hall of Fame based on all of his accomplishments.
Was he as good as Brian Urlacher? No, he was not. Playing the same position at the same time as Urlacher might make some people question his legitimacy as a Hall of Fame candidate but it shouldn’t. Two elite players can play together at the same time. Just because one was slightly better doesn’t mean that the other should be punished.
There are a few numbers to support Briggs as a Hall of Famer with or without Urlacher around. For one, Urlacher missed the entire 2009 season after suffering an injury in Week 1. Briggs went on to lead Chicago in tackles with 118 that year. That effort earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl.
Briggs is a three-time All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler and among the 100 greatest Bears of All-Time.
He also had a total of six career defensive touchdowns, which are the third most in team history. Five of those were interceptions, which is the second most interception touchdown returns for any Bear ever. He had one in each of his first three NFL seasons, which are the most ever. There is no doubt that this guy was as impactful as anyone during his time.
We don’t know when Briggs’ time is going to come, but it should be soon. He’s been among the original 100-plus nominees, but he hasn’t yet made it to the semifinalist stage. Briggs is one of the best linebackers from his era and deserves to be recognized as such.
The Bears have a quarterback decision to make. Chicago legend Brian Urlacher weighed in on what they should do.
The Chicago Bears have a quarterback dilemma.
Do they keep Justin Fields, who they drafted 11th overall in the 2021 NFL draft, or do they use their first overall pick in 2024 on USC quarterback Caleb Williams? It is a debate sweeping the NFL world right now. It is a national conversation just as much as it is a local focal point.
A lot of people have an opinion on the direction that general manager Ryan Poles should take. That includes Bears legend and Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, who played 13 seasons with the Bears, so people respect his thoughts on the current state of the team.
He gave an interview on “The 33rd Team” and revealed his opinion on the current Bears quarterback situation. He believes that if you are questioning whether or not someone is still going to be your franchise guy after three years they are probably not. With the number one pick, he thinks the Bears should be taking Caleb Williams.
“If people are still asking if Justin is the guy, then he’s probably not the guy,” Urlacher said. “…In my opinion, they probably have to draft a kid.”
#Bears legend Brian Urlacher on Chicago's QB situation: "If people are still asking if Justin [Fields] is the guy, then he's probably not the guy. … In my opinion, they probably have to draft a kid."
The theory does make a lot of sense. Fields has not taken enough big steps with the Bears during his tenure with the team. We’ve seen plenty of other quarterbacks come in and make an impact much quicker. Fields has shown flashes but has never made anyone confidently say that he is their franchise player.
It is a shame because he is a very good person and people seem to like being around him. The fact of the matter is that he doesn’t move the needle for the offense. He has weapons around him and the offensive line has improved so the excuses are wearing thin.
This doesn’t mean that Williams is going to come in and be a superstar, but the potential for that is there. Many scouts have claimed him to be amongst the best quarterback prospects in recent history. Names like Andrew Luck and Trevor Lawrence come to mind when thinking of other players who got that kind of praise.
The thing is, he can’t be much worse than a 10-28 quarterback. Wins aren’t necessarily a good quarterback stat, but Fields hasn’t helped this team do much winning and that is a fact. Listening to Urlacher might be a good idea for Poles and his staff. It is good to hear Bears legends chiming in though as they are up to date with the team.
Bears legend Devin Hester on being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: “This is a wild dream that I never imagined.”
Devin Hester is the greatest return specialist in NFL history. Now, the Chicago Bears legend stands alone as a primary returner in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Third time was the charm for Hester, who finally had his name called for football immortality. He was one of three Bears named to the Class of 2024, joining Steve McMichael and Julius Peppers.
For Hester, this is a moment years in the making. While many believed Hester should’ve been a first-ballot Hall of Famer, none of that matters now that Hester has finally taken his place among the NFL’s greatest.
“This is a wild dream that I never imagined,” Hester said, via the Sun-Times. “This is bigger than everything. This is not only a dream, but this is something that I felt as a kid was impossible. That was just too much out of the picture. It’s like hitting the lotto.”
The Bears have a rich history that Hester has known since he arrived at Halas Hall as a rookie back in 2006. With Hester and McMichael being named to the Hall of Fame, that makes 32 Hall of Famers — who played primarily with the Bears — the most of any NFL team.
“You start thinking these guys are immortal — they’re the superheroes of the NFL,” Hester said. “You have Pro Bowl players, you have All-Pro players, but then you have the Greek gods, which is the Hall of Famers. To be in that category and to be listed as a Hall of Famer, man, is amazing.”
Hester, a three-time first-team All Pro and four-time Pro Bowler, forever changed the game as a return specialist. He has more punt returns than anyone in NFL history with 14, his 20 total non-offensive touchdowns are also the most in league history, and he has the highest average yards per punt return among those with at least 300 returns in NFL history.
“He changed the game — he changed our games,” Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher told the Sun-Times. “Those are the guys you want in the Hall of Fame. He’s the best to ever do it at his position.”
Brian Urlacher offers his verdict on what the Chicago Bears should do with their No. 1 pick.
Brian Urlacher is the best Chicago Bear of the 21st century. The four-time NFL First-Team All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler helped the Bears win the NFC championship in the 2006 season and face the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Urlacher became an elite Chicago Bear linebacker, becoming the latest Hall of Famer for the Bears at that position.
What Dick Butkus was for the Bears in the 1960s, Mike Singletary became in the 1980s. Urlacher followed in the tradition of legendary Bear linebackers and, in the process, made himself a beloved figure in Chicago.
Bear fans might be interested in what Urlacher has to say before an NFL draft in which Chicago has the No. 1 pick. Should the Bears keep the pick and use it on Caleb Williams, or should they trade it and build around Justin Fields? It’s the first and biggest question at the draft. Urlacher has made his feelings plain on the matter. He doesn’t have the final say, but it’s noteworthy where he lands on this question as the Bears prepare to make a hugely consequential decision which will shape the rest of the 2024 draft board.
Built in 1948, it’s ready for a renovation led by Andy Staples.
MESA, Ariz. — A U.S. Open champ, two prominent PGA Tour stars and an NFL Hall of Famer call it home. Now Mesa Country Club, a true gem in the greater Phoenix area, is getting ready for a major renovation.
Located in an older part of the third largest city in Arizona, the club sits across the street from a cemetery and just blocks away from Hohokam Park, home to the Oakland A’s spring training.
What makes the place, though, is topography that features sometimes astounding elevation changes for a course that’s almost smack dab in the middle of the generally flat greater Phoenix area.
“Built in 1948 by William P. Bell, the Golden Age architect,” said Andy Staples of Staples Golf Design, the Scottsale-based firm hired for the renovation. “We think it was one of the first courses William P. Bell and his son William F. Bell designed together.”
What’s also attractive to many of its members is its location. The Loop 202 is just a mile to the north. Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is less than 15 minutes to the west. Scottsdale residents – including honorary members and PGA Tour stars Max Homa and Joel Dahmen – are about 35 minutes away.
Other members include PGA Tour Champions golfers Steve Jones, who won the 1996 U.S. Open, and Michael Allen. Don’t forget 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher.
“I first played here in 1982. Just old school. Love it,” Jones said. “You don’t get tired of this course. Small greens. You gotta have your irons under control. It’s a challenge. And the membership is just the frosting on the cake.”
A flag, golf ball and signed scorecard commemorate Joel Dahmen’s course-record 58 at Mesa Country Club in Arizona. (Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
The laid-back Mesa Country Club isn’t trying to keep its membership rolls a secret, nor does it have someone stationed at the front desk reminding everyone to take off their hats indoors. It is a private club with a relaxed atmosphere, none of the stuffy pretenses found elsewhere.
“Mesa Country Club is a special spot in the Valley, which has a lot of high-end private courses, but it’s a great country club but also has great people and has a blue-collar attitude,” Dahmen said. “You can show up in jeans, you can show up in a T-shirt. It’s just a really special spot for me. It’s like how I grew up playing golf. It’s a little more laid back, not as many rules.”
Old-school golf in the desert
As for the layout, it’s unlike most of the desert golf common in the Phoenix metropolitan area. That’s partly due to the age of the venue.
“We’re not really thought of as being an historic state for great old classic golf courses, which is one of the reasons I was hired because I have those tendencies,” Staples said.
MCC has a lot in common with Phoenix Country Club (host of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the PGA Tour Champions) and Arizona Country Club, also in Phoenix. All three layouts are old-school, parkland-style designs with rolling hills, huge trees and lots of grass.
Mesa Country Club has too much grass, in fact, and a reduction is a major part of the renovation. Staples said his redesign will take it from about 125 acres of sod to about 100. As you play the course, you can easily spot several areas where there will be no grass in the future – these are areas that don’t need it, as they are for the most part out of play.
Mesa Country Club
The course was built on a mesa, with several steep climbs most noticeable on:
The par-5 fifth hole, with a dramatic downhill fairway that if managed properly could lead to getting home in two.
The par-3 seventh, which has a canal rushing next to the tee box before meandering across the front of the green.
The 10th hole, a par 4 on which the back tees are on a deck right off the clubhouse, requiring a tee shot over the road that leads cars to the parking lot.
The par-3 16th, with an elevated tee box aimed at a small green that becomes narrow if there’s a back pin in play.
The par-5 18th, which will see most golfers hitting a third shot up a steep hill to a green situated just off the clubhouse deck.
Mesa Country Club in Mesa, Arizona (Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
There’s a canal that slithers about the property, crossing several fairways and forcing some golfers to rethink their second shots on a couple of the par 5s. It comes into play on five holes. There also are a couple of lakes along the ninth hole, which features the trickiest green on the course.
The course was long overdue for a renovation, with the irrigation system in greatest need of an upgrade. Staples is big on conservation and responsible water consumption, calling it a “core value of sustainable golf design.”
He’s not just looking to renovate for next season but for decades down the road.
“What I try to do in all my golf courses is do it in such a manner that is looking 20, 30, 40 years down the line. Water efficiency, labor efficiency, those costs are only going up. So water is a huge aspect.”
A major re-do of all the greenside bunkers is planned. There won’t be any new bunkers, but the existing ones will be reshaped with added depth as needed and new sand added to all of them. Fairway bunkers, meanwhile, will be left as is, as there aren’t infinite resources available. The fairway bunkers will be reworked at a later date.
A rendering of the new seventh green at Mesa Country Club in Arizona
The greens, meanwhile, suffered from the common problem of shrinkage. They’ll be restored to their original sizes and brought up to modern standards.
Brian Reed, Mesa Country Club’s vice president of the board, confirmed the course will close on Feb. 18, 2024, with a goal to reopen on Nov. 1. He said the club is committing $10 million to the project.
Staples, who likes to tell a self-deprecating joke that he’s not the son of a famous golf course architect nor does he have a major championship or two on his playing resume, does have an impressive list of renovations and new builds in his portfolio. Most notable among his renovation work is Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois. Of the seven courses he built, Sand Hollow Resort’s Links Course in Hurricane, Utah, and the Match Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, stand out.
As far as the future of Mesa Country Club, Staples says it’s probably not too far down the road before the golf club invests in TifTuf, a strain of Bermuda grass that can thrive year-round around Phoenix, even in the brutal summer heat. That will render the days of overseeding with rye grass for the winter a thing of the past, giving three weeks of playing time back to the membership.
The key to this renovation, though, is keeping the course grounded in its historical style, Staples said.
“I’d like to think that my tilt towards classic architecture tipped it in my favor.”
#Bills’ Terrel Bernard stat draws comparison to HOFer Brian Urlacher (via @TejasVemparala):
The Buffalo Bills defense was phenomenal in their game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
The BillsWire Player Of The Game was everywhere on defense, generating turnovers and putting pressure on Commanders quarterback Sam Howell.
The third-round pick from Baylor in 2022 notched seven tackles, two sacks, a fumble recovery, and an interception in Week 3 as the Bills suffocated the Commanders.
Washington turned the ball over five times as the Bills in total picked off four passes along with Bernard’s fumble recovery.
The linebacker’s career day received plaudits by many.
Turns out, though, that Bernard’s day was in elite company.
Bernard is the first player since Hall Of Famer Brian Urlacher to record two-plus sacks, catch an interception, and recover a fumble in a single game:
Terrel Bernard is the first NFL player to record 2+ sacks, an INT & a fumble recovery in a single game since Bears HOF LB Brian Urlacher in 2007 (12/17 at Min.) pic.twitter.com/KNlkExRJuM
If you’ve been paying attention to Notre Dame recruiting class for 2024 then you’re plenty aware that some familiar last names are apart of it. The class features the sons of two Pro Football Hall of Famers (Brian Urlacher and Bryant Young) while the 2025 class could possibly see another (Jerome Bettis).
Urlacher was recently asked by the Max Preps staff to give a scouting report on his son Kennedy plays safety in Arizona. If you haven’t seen any highlights of the younger Urlacher playing, you’ll certainly at least enjoy what his old man had to say about what he brings to the table:
Plays down hill, does so fast, and REALLY likes the physicality. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those commitments we look back on and say “how the heck was he a three-star?” in a few years.
Urlacher (6-foot-0, 190 pounds) also had offers from 19 other programs, including Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Stanford and Washington. He told Hayes Fawcett at On3 that education and relationships were a big factor.
“The one thing that ultimately stood out to me about ND was the education and network that there is over there, another thing that helped was the relationships I have built with the coaching staff over there…. I’m probably closest with coach Bowden… He’s great because he’s straight up and genuine, and very high strung. The plan coach Golden and Coach O’Leary have for me is to be an impact player at safety when my time comes.”
Going by the composite rankings, Urlacher is No. 57 among safeties in his class and No. 13 overall in the state of Arizona.
Urlacher makes 13 hard commits for Notre Dame’s class of 2024, which ranks No. 5 in the nation.
Notre Dame recruiting has been as hot as two rats…you know what, let’s pass on making an analogy about how hot the Irish have been on the recruiting trail. Instead, just know that they’ve been red-hot and continue to be.
The latest commitment came from three-star safety [autotag]Kennedy Urlacher[/autotag] out of Chandler, Ariz. Urlacher chose the Irish over Miami, Penn State, TCU, Illinois, and Kansas State.
As always is the case, college football fans took to Twitter to react to the news of the commitment. It just so happens that a good amount of these fans are either Chicago Bears fans or NFL fans because their reactions were largely what you would expect many of them to be.
