Chicago Bears Top 100: #24 Olin Kreutz

The ‘o6 squad was probably the best of Kreutz’s career as the Bears won the NFC Championship and represented the conference in Super Bowl XLI.  The ’06 Bears offensive line consisted of John Tait, Ruben Brown, Kreutz, Roberto Garza and Fred Miller from left to right.  You know what that group had in common?  Besides Kreutz, all of the starting O-linemen were free agents.  Only Olin was drafted by the team.  It’s no wonder those teams of the early 2000’s struggled; they had no home grown talent in the trenches.  Jerry Angelo, who took over as GM in 2001, couldn’t draft an offensive lineman worth a damn, but he sure could identify solid free agents.

Kreutz appeared in 191 games as a member of the Bears, tied with Steve McMichael for second most in franchise history behind Patrick Mannelly.  Following the lockout-shortened offseason in 2011, Kreutz opted to reject the Bears’ 0ne-year deal and end his career with the Bears.  After a brief stint in New Orleans, Kreutz retired midseason, citing a loss of passion for the game.

Kreutz made six straight Pro Bowls from 2001 – 2006 and was named an All-Pro in ’01 and ’04 – ’06.  He was named a member of the All-Decade team for the 2000’s.    Kreutz was without question the leader of the Bears offense and a major influence in the locker room and along with Brian Urlacher, defined the Bears identity through the 2000’s.

What do you think of the ranking?  Too high?  Too low?  I guess you’ll have to check back to see who finished ahead of him to judge for yourself.  We’ll be counting down a different person each day as we inch our way to the September 7th season opener.