At no point in our history was “stick to sports” an actual reality, but these days very few even try to pretend that this theoretical concept legitimately exists.
Sure, you have some holdouts, but quite often they’re guilty of expressing their own political beliefs at the same time that they are being involved with sport. “Stick to sports” actually means “stick to sports when you express political beliefs I disagree with, but if you’re espousing political beliefs I do agree with, then that’s fine, be an activist.”
A couple years ago I had an exclusive with Brian Urlacher. It was at a fun low key branded event, with a charity objective. Really had nothing worthwhile to say. He was so bad I left him out of my book, and the article itself was a challenge. Now I see- when he talks, it's worse https://t.co/i4GU7BVjaG
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) August 28, 2020
In the case of Chicago Bears club legend Brian Urlacher, he might serve himself best by just sticking to sports. That’s because his understanding of sociopolitical issues is usually so off that he makes himself look awful any time he speaks out on these topics.
By no means am I saying he shouldn’t vocalize in opinion. In the words of N.W.A. “Express Yourself!”
He absolutely should say whatever he wants on the issues of the day whenever he feels like it. However, freedom of speech is not a license to then be incredibly ignorant and/or offensive.
As you can see from the tweet above, just in case you haven’t heard already, Urlacher has absolutely no clue what the NBA walkouts were about this week. MLB, MLS and even the NHL followed suit, as a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
This was about professional athletes being way past the point of being fed up with systemic racism and police brutality. They get what’s going on just across the border in Wisconsin right now, and if you don’t understand that, by now, well, I still hope that some day you will.
The comment @BUrlacher54 posted is void of empathy, compassion, wisdom and coherence. But full of pride and ignorance! I pray for those who have been blinded by their wealth, privilege and earthly fame that breeds arrogance in their hearts. And those who refuse to
-continued-— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) August 28, 2020
Brian Urlacher apparently never will as he’s seemingly full on MAGA. He follows Don Jr. and Kayleigh McEnany on social media, and in June he went on Grant Hill’s Instagram page to strongly disagree with what the former NBA All-Star posted and defend his beloved Trump.
He was at the RNC this past week. A lot of the stereotypes you might hold about old white male former jocks, well many of them apply here.
We need to just accept that this is simply who Brian Urlacher is, just like we’ve had to realize what Mike Ditka is many years ago. The signs have been there all along. He has a barb wire bicep tattoo, a marking that a lot of people joke about as is the male version of the tramp stamp.
And although Brian Urlacher didn’t open too much, most of the time, with media during his playing career, he did do the TV Analyst gig in retirement, and it didn’t work out.
Brian Urlacher just isn’t very good at public speaking on serious matters of substance and depth. Just like Iron Mike.
No big deal, just accept it and move on. Put your Chicago Bears fandom aside for a minute and focus on the human being, not the player or coach.
Ditka has consistently shown a persistence to be on the wrong side of history on almost every issue. Again. And again. And Again. And Again. That’s fine, he’s made his millions (he’s been nothing but a professional product endorse for more than a quarter century anyway), now he can go away.
Same for Urlacher. But it’s on us to make them irrelevant. Just don’t look.
Who actually looks for insight on serious sociopolitical topics, in order to shape their own opinions, from football players anyway?
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.