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Bears' Urlacher has neck surgery -- chicagotribune.com




www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080207-chicago-bears-urlacher-surgery,0,5390443.story
chicagotribune.com
Bears' Urlacher has neck surgery
Procedure not expected to keep him off the field

By David Haugh

Tribune staff reporter

10:44 PM CST, February 7, 2008



Carrying the Bears' defense late in the season apparently strained
Brian Urlacher more than anybody realized.

 Urlacher recently had neck surgery to correct a problem detected
during a routine postseason physical, sources confirmed Thursday
night.

 Surgeons performed a procedure on Urlacher's lower neck region to
address something believed to be affecting the cervical curve of the
spine, according to a person familiar with the surgery. Urlacher was
said to be experiencing soreness before the surgery.

 The exact nature of the surgery remains unclear. But as one NFL
source put it, there is no such thing as minor neck surgery for a
linebacker — especially for one who will be 30 in May and has
withstood eight seasons of frequent, high-impact collisions.

 Yet the situation wasn't believed to be serious enough to keep
Urlacher off the field if the Bears had made the playoffs. The middle
linebacker is expected to recover fully and be 100 percent by training
camp next July, if not sooner.

 The Bears had no comment on the surgery. Contacted by the Tribune,
Urlacher also had nothing to say.

 But the feeling inside Halas Hall is that the surgery wasn't serious
and that the perception of a lingering health problem will outweigh
the reality. A source close to the matter compared the surgery to
typical postseason medical maintenance many players have performed,
such as defensive tackle Tommie Harris' recent arthroscopic knee
procedure, which had no lasting effect. Similar arthroscopic
procedures and microsurgeries that involve quicker recoveries also can
be done in the neck region.

 Urlacher's surgery was unrelated to the arthritic back condition he
acknowledged around midseason when he said, "There is no clear-cut
solution to give me relief."

 He never missed a game last season and, after a rare stretch of play
that wasn't up to his standards, played the final month of the season
like a guy miffed by missing the Pro Bowl for the first time in his
career. Urlacher led the Bears in tackles in the final two games after
dominating Dec. 17 against Minnesota with an interception, a fumble
recovery and two sacks. He finished the season with a team-high 158
tackles and became only the third player in Bears history with five
sacks and five interceptions in the same season.

 When and if the Bears address the Urlacher situation, they will
insist he can return to that form and attribute any hand-wringing this
procedure creates around Chicago to a fact of NFL life for the Bears'
franchise player.

 But with Lance Briggs less than a month away from probably signing
with another team after he becomes a free agent and Urlacher
recovering from neck surgery, it's understandable why a Bears fan
might worry a little.

 Especially the ones who have studied team history and have learned
not to take such injuries lightly. Neck surgery can affect the arc of
a football career.

 Jerry Azumah had neck surgery on a herniated disc in 2004 that caused
him to miss the first four games of that season. That injury
eventually contributed, along with a hip condition, to his retirement
at the end of the next season, when he was just 28.

 Azumah had reinjured his neck in the playoff loss to the Carolina
Panthers on Jan. 15, 2006.

 It was after Azumah's announcement that Urlacher was quoted as
saying, "When it comes to your livelihood and being able to walk and
all that good stuff … don't mess with your neck."

 Guard Ruben Brown missed the final six games of the 2004 season to
have neck surgery. Upon his return the next season, he told the
Tribune, "I had some doubts in the back of my head, but I suppressed
them because I wanted to go back and play and finish the season and
really prove to people that I could still play."

 Brown did that with strong seasons in 2005 and '06 before the injury
bug bit again last season and he missed the final eight games with a
shoulder problem.

 More than a decade ago, in 1996, Bears quarterback Erik Kramer
suffered the second herniated disc in his neck during his Chicago
tenure and missed the final 12 games of the season. Three years later,
an unrelated nerve condition in his neck forced Kramer to retire from
the San Diego Chargers after team doctors told him he would be risking
paralysis if he didn't.

 Even if Urlacher returns with minimal complications next season, the
neck surgery makes the contract extension both sides had discussed an
off-season risk the Bears have even less reason to take now.

 The Bears still owe $22.4 million to Urlacher for the four seasons
left on his deal, including a whopping $7.35 million salary scheduled
for 2011, when he will be 33.

 At this rate, the Bears might be happy just to have Urlacher still in
his familiar No. 54 jersey.

 dhaugh at tribune.com

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