Chicago Bears: Top 25 players in franchise history
By Ryan Heckman
19. LB Lance Briggs
Lance Briggs came into a perfect situation with the Bears back in 2003. Chicago had a defense on the rise and drafted Briggs in the third round out of Arizona in hopes he would fit in nicely with a guy by the name of Brian Urlacher.
Urlacher is a guy we will get into later, but between he and Briggs, they wreaked havoc together for years. Briggs slid right in to the strong side linebacker and started out strong in 2003. As a rookie, he came up with a respectable 76 tackles, three passes defended and an interception returned for one of his five career pick-sixes.
Following his rookie campaign, Briggs ripped off six straight seasons with 100-plus tackles. Overall, Briggs totaled over 100 tackles in eight of his 10 healthy seasons. Briggs missed about half of his final two seasons with the Bears.
In 12 years, Briggs notched 1,173 tackles, 19 forced fumbles and 16 interceptions — all of this while playing next to another legend in Urlacher for the majority of his career.
Briggs will likely be one of the next Bears inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a career that ended in 2014. He will soon be eligible for one of those gold jackets next year, and deservedly so.