Bears’ Urlacher Returns To The Southwest To Bury His Mother
What should have been a day of practice turned into a day of mourning for Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, as he laid his mother to rest in Lovington, New Mexico, nearly 250 miles northeast of El Paso.
Family members and teammates accompanied the 33-year-old during the service at First United Methodist Church in the town of around 10,000.
Nearly 20 patrol cars from city, county and state police guarded the service.
Urlacher had missed Wednesday’s practice following the sudden death of his mother, 51-year-old Lavoyda Lenard, at her homeon Monday night, but he returned to practice Thursday and is expected to play at New Orleans this weekend.
The Saints’ (0-1) is the first road game of the season for the Bears (1-0).
“Sometimes when you’re going through tough times like he is right now you want to get back with your support group, which is here with his teammates,” coach Lovie Smith said. “It was good to get him back, see his face and show some support that way. Football is pretty important to him. So you know he’s excited about playing the game this Sunday.”
Urlacher had 10 tackles, an interception and a fumble return for a touchdown in Chicago’s opening win over Atlanta. Urlacher is in his 12th season with the Bears.
