Urlacher: Kreutz will be missed
Fallout and reaction from the Bears' failure to keep six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz continues, and it's likely to be a season-long issue.
“It's sad,” said linebacker Brian Urlacher. “I learned a lot from Olin. I don't play O-line, but just from watching him when I was a rookie and the last 11 years watching the way he works. He plays hurt, plays injured, never complains, just goes out there and practices and does his job. It's too bad they couldn't get it done.”
Right guard Roberto Garza played shoulder-to-shoulder with Kreutz for seven years, and he might be the player who is most affected by the 13-year veteran's departure.
“It's tough to see him go,” Garza said. “He means a lot to this entire team, to this organization, and we're going to miss him. He taught us a lot of things about how to play football and how to go about doing the every-day grind. We're going to take that and keep using what he taught us.”
Safety Chris Harris can relate to the business side of the game. He found out while he was on the practice field at training camp in 2007 that he had been traded by the Bears to the Panthers, who dealt him back to the Bears before the 2010 season.
“What you see is a game, but behind closed doors it's a business,” Harris said. “They get paid to make those decisions and we get paid to play.”
Kreutz's absence leaves a leadership void on the field and in the locker room, but his former teammates are confident there are enough experienced veterans to pick up the slack.
“I'm the old guy now,” the 32-year-old Garza said. “I've been here the longest (on the offense) and been around a great leader. It's tough to fill his shoes, but you've got to step into the role that's asked.”
It's safe to say that no one will have the same presence as Kreutz did.
“No one's going to be like he was,” Urlacher said. “There are going to be a lot of guys who are going to have to do it. We'll get it done somehow on the offensive side of the ball, but it's not going to be easy.
“We're a veteran team. We have guys that will step up and fill that role. The offensive line will be different because he's been the guy for 13 years over there. (But) we've got Garza. He'll do a good job. And hopefully (new center Chris) Spencer will do a good job, too, stepping in there.”
Kreutz wasn't one to prattle on, but when he had something to say, he commanded attention. Urlacher said a team with such a veteran presence doesn't need a holler guy.
“That stuff doesn't really mean too much to me,” Urlacher said. “The rah-rah guys, we've never had any guys like that who run around yapping their mouths all the time. We just have guys who go out there and do their jobs. The yapping, what does that do?”