Lance Briggs

Lance Briggs

refer to caption

Briggs in 2011
No. 55
Position: Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1980-11-12) November 12, 1980
Place of birth: Los Angeles, California
Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight: 254 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school: Elk Grove (CA)
College: Arizona
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 3 / Pick: 68
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles: 1,173
Sacks: 15.0
Interceptions: 16
Forced fumbles: 19
Player stats at NFL.com

Lance Marell Briggs[1] (born November 12, 1980) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft, where he played his entire 12-year career.

Early years

A Sacramento, California native, Briggs attended Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, California. While at Arizona, he was a two-time first-team All-Pac-10 Conference selection as a linebacker for the Arizona Wildcats football team. Briggs finished his college career with 308 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 36 tackles for losses, three interceptions, 10 passes deflected, five forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 33 games at strong side linebacker.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Briggs (55) at the Bears summer training camp in 2008.

Briggs was a third round draft pick (68th overall) by the Chicago Bears in the 2003 NFL Draft. In 2004, he made 126 tackles and was elected as a second alternate to the Pro Bowl. In 2005, Briggs was selected to represent the National Football Conference in the 2006 Pro Bowl. However, Briggs drew controversy when he refused to attend the Bears' summer camp, resulting in a temporary demotion.

He finished the 2006 Chicago Bears season as a clutch performer on the Bears' defense. Briggs was selected to play in the 2007 Pro Bowl, but opted to defer the invitation because of an injured foot. He became a free agent following the 2007 playoffs, leaving his future with the Bears in the air. Despite Briggs’ high price tag, commentary from NFL on Fox revealed Brian Urlacher was willing to take a pay-cut in order to keep Briggs on the team. On February 16, 2007, the Bears officially placed the franchise tag on him, which guarantees him a one-year contract for the 2007 NFL season at slightly more than $7.2 million.[2]

Lance Briggs in November 2009.

On the morning of March 3, 2007, Briggs was featured on the Mike North Morning Show, and stated he was upset with the amount of money he was currently earning. Briggs later stated he enjoys his teammates, coaches and fans, but was fed up with the organization. He later went on to state he no longer wanted to be a Bear, and demanded a trade.[3] Briggs also made his unhappiness known in a March 2007 interview with a Chicago radio station in which he said "I'll do everything that's within my power to not be with this organization." [4]

On March 12, 2007 Briggs announced he no longer considers himself a member of the Chicago Bears. During a cell phone interview with Foxsports.com Briggs said "I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me, I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again."[5] In explaining his demands, he said "The Bears have shown I'm not in their long-term plans so if that's the case, I don't want to be here." A report from Fox Sports on March 27 claimed that the Washington Redskins allegedly offered the Bears their first round pick in exchange for Briggs and the Bears' own first round pick.[6] On March 28, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo confirmed that the Redskins have made a trade offer and stated, "We'll evaluate if that's good for us and get back to them".[7] Angelo deferred the offer on April 3,[8] but later stated they were interested in negotiating a deal the following day.[9] The Bears then proposed a trade with the Redskins which included linebacker Rocky McIntosh as well as the Redskins first-round pick in exchange for Briggs.[10] Briggs did not attend the team's first meeting after their Super Bowl XLI loss, or their mandatory mini camp session in May 2007.[11][12] Despite his comments, the Bears re-signed Briggs to a six-year, $36 million contract on March 1, 2008.

On September 2, 2011 Briggs and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, formally asked the Bears organization for a trade, with three years left on his six-year contract.[13] The request came after Briggs asked the Bears for a raise.[14]

Briggs made the 2012 Pro Bowl team, but was unable to play due to an ankle injury.[15]

On April 11, 2012, Briggs was given a one-year extension, increasing his contract through 2014.[16] In week 7 of 2013 against the Washington Redskins, Briggs suffered a fracture in his shoulder.[17] He rejoined the Bears in week 16, a 54-11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.[18]

Briggs recorded 24 tackles and one interception during the 2014 NFL season. After starting the season as the Bears' weak-side linebacker, Briggs was injured during week 5 and missed three games. He commented that his future with the team was in jeopardy, as he was in the final year of his contract.[19] Briggs returned to play four more games, but injured his groin muscle during a week 13 game against the Detroit Lions. The Bears subsequently placed Briggs on their injury reserve list. He retired on September 2, 2015.[20] After becoming a free-agent, Briggs remained unsigned throughout the summer. He announced his retirement on September 9.[21]

NFL stats

Briggs (upper right) and Charles Tillman pursue Seattle Seahawks receiver Nate Burleson in a game in 2009.
Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2003 CHI 16 78 65 13 0.0 0 0 0 1 45 45 45 1 4
2004 CHI 16 126 102 24 0.5 0 0 0 1 38 38 38 1 10
2005 CHI 16 107 83 24 2.0 3 2 0 2 30 15 20 1 11
2006 CHI 16 134 113 21 1.0 4 1 0 2 18 9 18 0 9
2007 CHI 14 102 83 19 2.0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
2008 CHI 16 110 90 20 0.5 1 2 21 3 12 4 9 0 11
2009 CHI 15 118 93 25 2.5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
2010 CHI 15 89 76 13 2.0 2 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 7
2011 CHI 16 105 86 19 0.0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4
2012 CHI 16 103 74 29 1.5 2 0 0 2 110 55 74 2 11
2013 CHI 9 71 51 20 3.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
2014 CHI 8 35 24 11 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3
Career 173 1,174 936 238 15.0 16 7 32 16 256 17 74 5 86

[22]

Key

Personal life

Car accident

In August 2007 Lance crashed his new Lamborghini Murcielago into a light pole. He then left the scene of the accident and reported his car stolen. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. He was also cited for failure to give immediate notice of an accident and improper lane usage.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Briggs on Pro-Football-Reference". rbref.com. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  2. ↑ Chicagobears.com, Bears designate Briggs as franchise player Retrieved on February 17, 2007
  3. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, Briggs to Bears: Pay me or trade me Retrieved on March 3, 2007
  4. ↑ Associated Press (2007-03-07). "Briggs not happy with Bears; Angelo feels salary is just". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  5. ↑ Glazer, Jay (2007-03-12). "Bears Pro Bowler ready to sit out season". Foxsports.com. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
  6. ↑ Foxsports.com, Redskins to make play for Bears' Briggs Retrieved on March 27, 2007
  7. ↑ USAToday.com, Owners make no change to sudden-death system Retrieved on March 29, 2007
  8. ↑ ESPN.com, Bears tell Redskins draft pick swap won't do Retrieved on April 3, 2007
  9. ↑ Chicagobears.com, Bears still negotiating with Redskins Retrieved on April 4, 2007
  10. ↑ La Canfora, Jason (April 27, 2007). "Redskins May Still Trade for Briggs". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  11. ↑ Chicagobears.com, Bears determined to complete unfinished business Retrieved on April 4, 2007
  12. ↑ Yahoo! Sports, Briggs a no-show at Bears minicamp (May 18, 2007), Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
  13. ↑ Seifert, Kevin. "Hard to imagine Bears trading Lance Briggs"., Retrieved on September 3, 2011
  14. ↑ McClure, Vaughn (29 August 2011). "Bears' Briggs wants raise, not trade". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "2012 NFL Pro Bowl: Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher Ruled Out - SB Nation Chicago". Chicago.sbnation.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04..
  16. ↑ "Briggs excited about one-year extension". Chicagobears.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  17. ↑ Sessler, Marc (2013-10-21). "Lance Briggs (shoulder fracture) out 6 weeks for Bears". National Football League. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  18. ↑ Mayer, Larry (2014-03-17). "Briggs happy Bears re-signed Tillman". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  19. ↑ Wiederer, Dan (2014-11-08). "Lance Briggs faces uncertain future with resolve". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  20. ↑ Edholm, Eric (2014-11-28). "Lance Briggs lands on IR; career with Bears could be over". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  21. ↑ Schwab, Frank (2015-09-02). "Lance Briggs retires (probably) to join CSN Chicago's Bears coverage". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
  22. ↑ "Lance Briggs Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  23. ↑ usatoday.com, Bears' Briggs: 'I panicked' after crash Retrieved on December 10, 2014
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