Yahoo Lifestyle Bears chairman George McCaskey would like a word with Brian Urlacher over controversial Instagram post
Brian Urlacher no longer works for the Chicago Bears.
But his controversial Instagram post in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake shooting created an uproar around the Bears icon, so much that the team felt compelled to address it directly. What reflects poorly on Urlacher, reflects poorly on the Bears, it seems.
Now the team brass would like to speak with Urlacher about it. Bears chairman George McCaskey told reporters on a video conference Wednesday that he didn’t believe the post really came from Urlacher when he first saw it.
“My first thought was that maybe his account had been hacked,” McCaskey said, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
Urlacher blasted NBA protests
Urlacher wrote the post in August after NBA players refused to take the court to protest the police shooting of Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police shot Blake several times in the back, leaving him paralyzed below the waist, according to his family.
Here is the text of Urlacher’s post:
“Brett Favre played the MNF game the day his dad died, threw 4 TDs in the first half, and was a legend for playing in the face of adversity.
“NBA players boycott the playoffs because a dude reaching for a knife, wanted on a felony sexual assault warrant, was shot by police.”
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said that investigators found a knife in Blake’s vehicle after the shooting. Blake had been charged with third-degree sexual assault. Some people and media outlets pointed to those revelations as justification for police to shoot Blake multiple times in the back.
Bears brass want to speak with Urlacher
Urlacher was among them. Urlacher also liked an Instagram post calling for freedom for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old white man charged with murder after allegedly shooting three protesters in the street with an assault rifle, killing two of them.
The Bears quickly distanced themselves from Urlacher, releasing a statement in response.
“The social media posts in no way reflect the values or opinions of the Chicago Bears organization,” the statement read.
Now McCaskey would like to speak with Urlacher.
“Having known him for 20 years and knowing the type of person he is, I’m not going to judge him until I talk to him,” McCaskey said Thursday.
Urlacher hasn’t played for the Bears since 2012. He’s not obligated to the franchise. But the Hall of Fame linebacker played his entire 13-year career in Chicago and is a team icon.
When Urlacher stokes controversy, it makes its way back to the Bears. And the team remains upset about this incident.
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