Linebacker Brian Urlacher will enter the Hall of Fame this year, going one-for-one in his effort for inclusion.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that Urlacher has made it, in his first year of eligibility.
Urlacher, a top-10, first-round pick in 2000, played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Bears, helping the team earn a berth in Super Bowl XLI. He has 41.5 sacks, 22 interceptions, 12 forced fumbles, and two touchdowns.
Versatile and athletic, Urlacher had played safety at New Mexico. As Biggs explains it, the Bears needed a little while to figure out Urlacher’s best spot. Once in the middle of the second level, Urlacher became a natural -- and the next great middle linebacker in a line that traces back to Mike Singletary and Dick Butkus.
Urlacher will now join both of them in Canton.