Few players in Chicago Bears history understand the pain Brian Urlacher had to live with. The pain of enduring an endless train of inadequate quarterbacks who routinely couldn’t get it done when it mattered. Still, the Hall of Fame linebacker had some bright moments in his career. A couple of guys who at least did enough to help the team win.
So who was his favorite? Was it Rex Grossman who guided the team to the Super Bowl in 2006? Maybe Jim Miller back during that unforgettable 2001 season? Or of course there was Jay Cutler, most talented of the bunch by far and reached an NFC championship in 2010? As it turns out, none of them met his criteria for what he felt the Bears needed.
During an interview on ESPN’s First Take, Urlacher was asked why Chicago has struggled so much to get that position right. In the middle of answering, he revealed who his favorite Bears quarterback was in his 13-year career.
Brian Urlacher has remained a steadfast Orton supporter
One thing Urlacher has always been big on is loyalty. His support of Orton remains strong 11 years after the two parted in 2009. That was the year the Bears traded the QB and multiple 1st round picks to Denver for Cutler. It was a move GM Jerry Angelo felt was necessary to put them over the top. Urlacher stated after he retired that the team could’ve done it with Orton.
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“As good as our defenses were for a couple of years, if he would have been our quarterback I do think we would have won a Super Bowl. Our defenses were so good all we had to do was just hold on to the football and take care of it and we would have won a bunch more games than we did.”
People love to crap on Orton.
Nobody is saying he was the greatest passer in the world. Far from it. That said, the guy understood the role he played in Chicago. Much better than Grossman or Cutler ever did. It’s easy to forget he was 21-12 as a starter for the Bears. His last season in 2008 saw him throwing to Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, and Brandon Lloyd as primary receivers. Is Urlacher right? Could he have done more with better weapons?
It’s worth noting he topped 3,800 yards passing his first year with the Broncos. That season he had Brandon Marshall, Jabar Gaffney, and Eddie Royal. So he could produce when he had weapons. If the Broncos had the Bears defense that year, he would’ve made the playoffs. It remains a major what-if to this day.