Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher revealed that his team used to fake injuries to slow down fast-paced offenses.
Bears faked injuries, says Brian Urlacher
The former Bears linebacker admitted that his team would fake injuries to slow down opposing offenses during his playing days.
Christian Petersen
Urlacher, who retired in the offseason, made this statement during a segment on Fox Sports 1, via the Chicago Sun-Times: “We had a guy who was the designated dive guy.” He went on to acknowledge that a coach on the sideline would simulate a swimmer’s diving motion to indicate when a player “would get hurt.”
Faking injuries to slow down opposing offenses is nothing new, although it is widely frowned upon for obvious reasons. The New York Giants faced scrutiny in 2011 for suspicious injuries in a win over the St. Louis Rams, and former Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox admitted that nose tackle Joe Nash faked injuries to stop the Bengals' no-huddle offense in a 1988 AFC playoff game.
Urlacher did not name the coach signaling for fake injuries, and he didn’t say that the team enforced the practice, saying “it wasn’t coached, but it was part of our game plan.”
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