The Chicago Bears: Best Players of the 2000's

The Chicago Bears have played in one Super Bowl, and made the playoffs three times in the past decade. Unfortunately for the Bears, their 2006 Super Bowl loss to the Colts was the last time they made it to the post season. They have had many talented players in the last ten years, but almost all of them have been on defense. Out of all the players that wore a Chicago Bears jersey, these are the best five of the 2000's. (Only accomplishments and stats while playing for the Chicago Bears from 2000-2009 were considered.)

1. Brian Urlacher - Picking the best Chicago Bears player of the past decade was a little bit more difficult than most people would think, but I still went with what other people would think is the obvious choice. Brian Urlacher has been the leader of not only the Chicago Bears defense, but the entire team ever since he got drafted out of New Mexico in 2000. He had 1,066 tackles and 17 interceptions in the 2000's and he even found time to make an Old Spice commercial.

2. Lance Briggs - Somehow Lance Briggs is not a household name for NFL fans outside of Chicago. Unlike Urlacher, Briggs never gets mentioned with Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, Derrick Brooks or even Patrick Willis. Did you know that Lance Briggs has had 100 or more tackles in six straight seasons? Of course not, because he plays next to Brian Urlacher and who would notice Lance Briggs when Urlacher is out there. It is scary to think of how many tackles this guy would get if he wasn't on the same team as Urlacher. Make no mistake; Lance Briggs has been just as important to the Bears in the past decade as the much-heralded Brian Urlacher. It's time for Lance Briggs to get some of the recognition he deserves.

3. Charles Tillman - Charles Tillman has played for the Chicago Bears for all seven seasons of his career and it's not too difficult to figure why. The cornerback racked up 543 tackles and 22 interceptions since his NFL debut in 2003. He has had four seasons with 80 or more tackles and could make that five if he can get nine tackles total between the two remaining games in 2009.

4. Mike Brown - If not for the injuries Mike Brown has had, he would be #3 on this list. Anybody that watched the Bears play at all in the early 2000's would be able to tell you how great Mike Brown was. The safety recorded 523 tackles and had 17 interceptions in nine seasons with the Chicago Bears. Those numbers don't even come close to showing how great Mike Brown really was. During those nine seasons, Brown missed 44 games because of injury and played countless others quite banged up. When Mike Brown was on the field and healthy, teams would run plays away from him every chance they got, and half the time, it still didn't matter, Brown would get there anyway.

5. Tommie Harris - Tommie Harris has been compared to a young Warren Sapp at times. I'm not sure he has been quite good enough to warrant those comparisons, but he has still been darn good. In the past decade, Harris has been one of the best defensive tackles in the league, recording 27 sacks and 198 tackles from 2004-2009.