Chicago Bears Will Play Baltimore Ravens in Hall of Fame Game

The Chicago Bears will kick off their preseason a week earlier this year.

This year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class features two dominant linebackers, the Chicago Bears’ Brian Urlacher and the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis. Their teams will square off on August 2nd to kick off the weekend’s activities when Urlacher and Lewis are inducted into the hall of fame on August 4th.

This isn’t too much of a surprise. The hall of fame likes to feature teams that have marquee players that played an extended period of time with one team. Both Urlacher and Lewis played their entire careers with their franchises so they expect a good turnout in Canton from both Bears’ and Ravens’ fans.

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Urlacher and Lewis lead a class that includes Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer, Robert Brazile, and Bobby Beathard. Many NFL analysts felt that Urlacher would have to wait until his second year eligible because of the presence of Lewis, but Urlacher was given the honor of being a first ballot hall of famer, despite another dominant linebacker on the ballot.

For the Bears, that means they will move all their timetables up this year. The team will start training camp a week earlier and they will play five preseason games as opposed to four. The extra practice time shouldn’t be considered a bad thing with a new coach in Matt Nagy and a critical year of development for quarterback Mitch Trubisky.

This is Chicago’s fifth appearance in the hall of fame game while Baltimore will be making its debut.