Brian Urlacher's 5 most amazing stats
Brian Urlacher will receive the ultimate NFL honor Saturday night when he's inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Urlacher will become the 28th member of the Bears - the most of any NFL franchise - to have his bust permanently housed in the halls of Canton alongside his fellow football immortals. Although there is no shortage of incredible statistics across his 13 seasons that help illustrate the impact of one of the greatest playmaking linebackers ever, we had fun paring the long list down to a handful of stats reflective of Urlacher's spectacular career.
1. Urlacher, a safety at the University of New Mexico prior to being selected ninth overall by the Bears in the 2000 draft, is one of only five NFL players with 40-plus sacks and 20-plus interceptions in his career (Ray Lewis, Karlos Dansby, Seth Joyner and Wilber Marshall). Urlacher's range, instincts and ball skills, in addition to his 4.59 40 time at 258 pounds, meant there were very few plays he couldn't make, spectacularly.
2. Providing more context to Urlacher's uncanny knack for not only being in the right place at the right time but punctuating his presence, his 90 passes defensed rank fourth among linebackers since 2004, his 16 fumble recoveries since 2000 rank third and his 4 defensive touchdowns trail only fellow LB Lance Briggs and DBs J.C. Caroline and Eddie Macon among full-time Bears defenders in franchise history.
3. The all-time tackles leader on the NFL's charter franchise, Urlacher's 1,358 tackles rank fourth among all NFL linebackers since 2000. Urlacher tallied double-digit tackles in 29 games from 2002-12 and brought down ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage 138 times.
4. During Urlacher's 13-year reign, the Bears finished in the top five in points and/or yards allowed five times. They ranked in the top five in turnover differential four times despite middling QB play by the likes of Josh McCown, Chad Hutchinson, Kyle Orton and Jay Cutler, to name a few.
5. Since 1960 when Pro Football Reference began tracking AV (Approximate Value), its attempt to attach a value to every player each season, Urlacher led Chicago four times - more than any player in team history not named Walter Payton. His AV of 21 in 2001 - when Urlacher tallied 6 sacks, 3 interceptions, 8 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles and an NFL-high 101 fumble return yards to go with his 116 tackles - is the highest number on record by a Bear.
• Visit profootballweekly.com to purchase tickets to a Sept. 8 event in Crystal Lake featuring Brian Urlacher and other Hall of Fame legends as the PFW staff reveals its "Team for the Ages." "Mean" Joe Greene, Anthony Munoz, Lawrence Taylor, Dan Hampton and Randy White will also be there.