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Chicago Bears: 30 greatest players in franchise history

By Conor Dorney

Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Olin Kreutz, Chicago Bears
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

57. . C. 1998-2010. Olin Kreutz. 21. player

The position of center is one of the most unheralded on the entire football field, but the Bears have been fortunate to have several great ones in their history. One of those is none other than Olin Kreutz, who comes in at No. 21 on our list of the greatest players in franchise history.

Kreutz was taken in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft following an excellent career at the University of Washington, where he was an All-America selection in his junior season. He would go on to play all but one year of his professional career with Chicago, starting 183 games for the team in total.

Kreutz was as reliable and nasty as they come up front and is easily one of the team’s best offensive linemen in its history. He was named to six consecutive Pro Bowls beginning in 2001, and received a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2006, the very year that the Bears made a Super Bowl appearance.

You don’t typically realize how important a center really is until you lose a good one, and it’s no surprise that the Bears have struggled to find a long-term replacement at the position since Kreutz left the organization.

And while there aren’t many at the position currently in the Hall of Fame, Kreutz stands as good a chance as any to one day be enshrined in Canton and forever rewarded for his outstanding play.

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