The Bears don’t retire jerseys anymore, but Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher’s number had, out of respect, been kept out of circulation since he last played a snap for the Bears in 2012.
Not anymore.
Logan Jones, the Iowa center the Bears drafted in Round 2 last month, wore No. 54 at Bears rookie minicamp Friday and plans to do so in the regular season.
The Bears reached out to Urlacher, who gave his blessing.
“It’s such an honor to be able to wear that number,” Jones said after the first day of rookie minicamp practice Friday.
Jones was issued his number this week alongside other members of the Bears’ draft class.
He said that Tony Medlin, the Bears’ equipment director and a team employee for the last 39 years, told him he thought it’d be “really cool” if he were the one to wear No. 54.
“And obviously it is,” Jones said. “To be able to do that, and to be able to honor his number and who he is.”
Jones wore No. 65 after switching from defensive line to offensive line at Iowa, but that number is taken by Bears second-year guard Luke Newman. The famous 54, then, is Jones’ now. That it’s on the other side of the ball will lessen any comparison between the two players.
“When you think of the Chicago Bears, that’s kind of who you think of,” Jones said. “To see that number out in practice and stuff, it just lets everybody think, ‘Oh, that’s Brian Urlacher’s number.’ So it’s kind of supporting his memory and letting everybody see the legacy he left. So to be able to wear that number is really cool, and hopefully I get the chance to meet him one day, too.”
There’s an added bonus — Jones can look into the stands at Soldier Field and see a lot of Bears fans wearing No. 54. There are plenty to choose from — Urlacher’s jersey was the most popular in the NFL in 2002 and ranked among the league’s most purchased throughout his career, which ran from 2000-12 and featured eight Pro Bowl appearances. His jersey sales spiked again in May 2013, when he retired.
The Bears’ decision to stop retiring numbers a decade ago came down to, appropriately enough, a numbers game.
The Bears have a league-high 14 retired numbers. When they retired Mike Ditka’s No. 89 in 2013, chairman George McCaskey said the team did not intend to retire any more numbers. They haven’t, despite five players — Ed Sprinkle, Devin Hester, Steve McMichael, Jimbo Covert and Urlacher — joining the Hall of Fame in the past decade.
With a 90-man roster, retiring more would have proven impossible; as it is, preseason games feature offensive and defensive players who wear the same jersey number. Unlike other teams, the Bears don’t issue 0 as a number, either.
The result has left Bears players in the modern era wearing a number that was made famous by some of the sport’s greatest players. Shea McClellin has worn Mike Singletary’s No. 50, Roschon Johnson has worn Hester’s No. 23 and Teven Jenkins has worn McMichael’s No. 76.
Friday’s hourlong rookie practice featured players in familiar, familial jerseys. Former Quincy defensive lineman Jai Williams, the son of former Bears standout James “Big Cat” Williams, wore his dad’s No. 71. Illinois center Josh Kreutz, the son of former center Olin Kreutz, wore his dad’s No. 67. Both are in camp on a tryout basis.
“Everyone in my family is not, like, one for numbers,” Josh Kreutz said. “But obviously that’s really cool — and it’s cool to be here.”
