Urlacher's legacy hangs in the balance

The perception is that the jobs of Lovie Smith, Jerry Angelo and Ted Phillips are at stake during the rest of this Bears' season.

Yet a case could be made that the next couple of months next couple of years actually are more important to Brian Urlacher than anybody else.

You see, the Bears' middle linebacker just might be playing for his legacy.

It's common to hear Urlacher mentioned as a certain Pro Football Hall of Famer, which inspires me to let out a huge “Hmmmmm.”

I'm not so sure Urlacher's plaque is being bronzed yet. More likely, he needs this season and even longer to attain immortality.

However, I haven't ever been in the room during balloting and don't have a good grasp of what the qualifications are for the Hall.

So a couple of months ago I asked a friend, a current and longtime voter, whether Urlacher is a Hall of Famer.

“No,” he said. Wow, just like that, a solid “No.”

Bears fans might be shocked because Urlacher's image as a player has been lofty. He has had the Grabowski-like name and haircut; the blend of size, speed and athleticism; the benefit of playing one of the NFL's hallowed positions as Bears middle linebacker.

No wonder Urlacher's jersey became one of the league's best sellers and remained so through most of his career.

But Urlacher's name also surfaces on some lists of overrated NFL players.

My voter friend said he doesn't know what the rest of the electorate thinks, but he invoked the cliché, “He's in the Hall of Very Good.”

Then he asked, “What's he won?” Ah, so that's it.

Urlacher, 32, was a perennial Pro Bowl pick earlier in his career and the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.

But the question referred to what Urlacher's teams have won during his 10 full NFL years. The answer is the Bears have had one conference title, a Super Bowl loss, four winning seasons and six losing seasons.

That prompted me to ask whether Urlacher was a better candidate for the Hall of Fame than Richard Dent.

“No,” the voter said again.

Separating them, in his mind, is that Dent was on the Bears team that won Super Bowl XX.

Maybe a Super Bowl victory also separates Ray Lewis from Urlacher as the premier middle linebacker of their time.

Finally, maybe being on the Bears' only Super Bowl winner separates former Bears middle linebacker Mike Singletary from Urlacher.

A lot of players Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers for example made the Hall of Fame without winning a championship.

However, fairly or not, being a champion helps because sometimes a player is judged by the company he kept and success they had together.

Urlacher might be a better middle linebacker this century than Singletary was last century. Heck, last week the former broke the latter's franchise record for tackles.

However, during his playing days Singletary was considered a favorite to make the Hall of Fame. Why? Because he won a Super Bowl and helped anchor what still is considered one of the NFL's all-time best defenses.

Urlacher might make the Hall of Fame anyway, but it sure wouldn't hurt if the Bears win a Super Bowl during whatever remains of his career.

If legacies are more important than jobs, the stakes indeed are higher for Brian Urlacher these days than for anyone else at Halas Hall.

mimrem@dailyherald.com