First Person

Brian Urlacher

As told to Michael Silver

Brian Urlacher has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons. Bob Rosato/SI

• BRIAN URLACHER ON THE BEARS' LOSING RECORD It's been s---, terrible, frustrating. I can't get my mind off of it. We went 13-3 in 2001 and started 2-0 the next year. Then bam! -- it all fell apart. I don't know what happened. We stopped winning close games, and two years later we're still struggling. It's not fun, and the off-season is horribly long.

• ON HOW HE SLEEPS ON SUNDAY NIGHTS Win or lose, I'm up all night. I've been that way since college -- I'm going over everything in my head: woulda, coulda, shoulda. If I do manage to drift off to sleep, I flip over and wake up and start the process all over again.

• ON FAMILY LIFE My wife and I are divorced now. We get along great, but she moved to Phoenix with my daughter [Pamela, who turns four in December]. I don't see my daughter as much as I'd like to, but my ex is really good about letting her come to stay with me. She knows I can't be without her for too long. When my daughter comes to our games, I wave to her up in the box. The other night she was watching on TV, and my ex said she went and hugged the TV. When I talked to her later, she said, 'Daddy, why didn't you hug me back?'

• ON HIS BRIEF RELATIONSHIP WITH PARIS HILTON LAST FALL We met, had a good time in Vegas, and she came to a game. That was about it. She's a nice girl. And a busy girl -- she goes all out. I don't know what the big deal was. I was single, and we hung out for a while. I didn't even see the [infamous] video, man. I should've watched it; I heard it was pretty good.

• ON HIS RIGHT HAMSTRING I'd never pulled a muscle, so when I hurt it in training camp, I didn't know what to think. They told me four to six weeks; I figured three. The first two [regular-season] games it felt awesome. Then I reinjured it. It's a bad feeling, man, like it's going to pop anytime. It feels like I'm not going all out. I'm taking short steps; I can't really stride. It's probably good for me in a way. It keeps me under control more.

• ON BEING A TEAM LEADER I lead by example. But if I get pissed off enough, I say something. It usually isn't rah-rah; it's more complaining. In our game against Tampa, we gave up 10 points early and were playing terrible. At halftime I gathered the defense and expressed myself: Basically, it was 'BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP.' I usually don't do stuff like that, but when we make stupid mistakes, it makes me mad.

URLACHER, 26, HAS MADE THE PRO BOWL IN EACH OF HIS FOUR SEASONS. CHICAGO (3-5) IS AT TENNESSEE THIS SUNDAY

Issue date: November 15, 2004