Why Brian Urlacher’s Unexpected Beef With The New Stadium Reopens An Old Wound

The Chicago Bears stadium odyssey has been headline news for four years now. Every time it pops up, there is another reminder of how bad the team brass is at negotiating and also how painfully duplicitous the state government can be. Now the Bears have shifted their focus to leaving Illinois, hoping to build their new venue somewhere in Hammond, Indiana. Arguments have raged about this for weeks. Many feel this would unravel over a century of team history. The Bears have called Illinois home since 1920. However, that isn’t the biggest problem Brian Urlacher has with all of it.

The Hall of Fame linebacker built his career playing at Soldier Field on the lakefront. He lives and breathes Bears football. One would think the idea of leaving downtown, much less the state, would have him pretty upset. While he admitted to Kevin Clark on his This Is Football podcast that it’s a sore spot, Urlacher stated that his biggest issue isn’t so much where they. It is what they will play in.

“I do not like the Bears playing anywhere but Soldier Field. Even if they went to Arlington Heights, which is in Illinois, they’re going to be in a dome, and if they go to Indiana they’ll be in a dome. I don’t like the idea of them playing in a dome anywhere…

…It’s the only advantage the Bears have. You go to Soldier Field in November, December? It’s gonna suck. The weather is not gonna be good. You’re not gonna like it. And playing there, you practice in it, you get used to it, there’s some advantage to that.”

Brian Urlacher raises a sensitive point with Bears fans.

The franchise has operated in the outdoors since its founding. Playing in the cold and elements is a core part of its history. Everybody remembers the frigid 1963 NFL championship game, the wild Fog Bowl in the 1988 playoffs, or the game in 2005 against San Francisco where gusts reached upwards of 30 mph. The weather has provided unforgettable moments for the franchise. Has it provided an advantage? Not really. In the Super Bowl era, the Bears have played 14 home playoff games where the temperature was 32 degrees or lower. They are 7-7 in those games. They were 2-3 against warm-weather/dome teams.

That is not to say moving to a dome will suddenly make the Bears a better team. Only two other northern franchises have moved to domes in the Super Bowl era. Minnesota and Detroit. Neither has reached a Super Bowl since making the transition. In fact, a fixed dome team has won a championship just once. That was the Saints in 2009. If you count retractable roofs, you can add the Rams in 2021 and the Colts in 2006.

This is more about football in its purity.

The NFL built an incredible legacy on playing in all types of weather. It’s part of the aesthetic. This sanitization by putting every team in a dome removes a core element of what makes the game fun to watch. Watching the Bears slug it out with opponents in rain, wind, or snow has never not been enthralling. Brian Urlacher recognized that during his storied career. It is a key part of what built his mystique. It will be a little harder to take this team seriously as an imposing bully without the elements at their back.

Sadly, the endless pursuit of more profits always finds a way to make things worse. We’re already seeing it with the Great Reblanding across the entire business landscape. Companies are trading their bright, quirky, and colorful brands for a minimalist approach with muted colors. It sucks the soul right out of you. That is what the Bears will be doing by moving into a dome. We’ll still love them and cheer for them like crazy. It won’t be the same, though.