Jermon Bushrod explains why Brian Urlacher’s comments were so hurtful
Former Chicago Bears lineman Jermon Bushrod voiced his displeasure with recent comments made by Brian Urlacher.
Where there’s progress trying to be made, there’s always someone trying to slow it down.
Whether he knew what he was doing or not, former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was working against the current of change sweeping through sports as athletes use their platforms to demand change in America. The recent rash of police shootings — a handful in a seemingly endless line of them — has caused protests to blaze across the country and peel back the ugly parts of our society that have been willingly ignored by those in power for far too long.
After Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times, a wildcat strike saw all NBA playoff teams refuse to play their games last week with a handful of MLB teams joining the strike as well. It was seen as a historic moment that brought about actual change; as part of their agreement to return to work, NBA players convinced owners to turn arenas into polling stations for this November’s election.
That was the point of the strike, to use multimillion-dollar power for the greater good.
So when Urlacher lashed out at NBA players for striking, it did not go over well.
“Brett Favre played the MNF game the day his dad died, threw 4 TDs in the first half, and was a legend for playing in the face of adversity,” Urlacher said in a since-deleted Instagram post. “NBA players boycott the playoffs because a dude reaching for a knife, wanted on a felony sexual assault warrant, was shot by police.”
Urlacher’s former teammate Jermon Bushrod is among those disavowing the comments made.
“I thought it was in poor judgment and poor taste,” Bushrod told Da Windy City’s Mark Carman. “Your eyes aren’t open and your ears aren’t open and your heart’s not open to understanding that different people come from different backgrounds so certain instances mean a lot to them. That’s what makes it so frustrating when certain people just don’t get it.”
Bushrod said he knew where Urlacher maybe thought he was coming from, but at the end of the day was trying to put two things together that were entirely different.
“I remember when Urlacher played [after his mother had died]. He flew down to New Orleans to play in a game, like I get it you have to be tough but this is two totally different issues here.”
But Bushrod is trying to focus on the positive and how change can happen even if there are those among us pushing against it. Bushrod’s Visualize and Rize Foundation has donated close to 1 million dollars to a variety of causes in Bushrod’s home state of Virginia as well as throughout the country. His annual golf tournament, in its 10th year, is a huge part of the foundation’s schedule and is a destination for hundreds of golfers and celebrities annually from across the country. This year presented an entirely new cause in which Bushrod wanted to support, to raise support for tutor assistant COVID-19 relief programs.