Bears Blitz

Sam Hurd: NFL Reacts to Stunning Allegations Aimed at Bears WR

Published by Zachary D. Rymer on December 15, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

It’s unfortunately not very uncommon for NFL players to run afoul of the law. The league has done its best to police its players via the personal conduct policy, but there are naturally going to be at least a few bad eggs.

Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd might just be the worst of the bunch.

If you still haven’t heard the news, Hurd was arrested on Wednesday night in Chicago on drug charges. Per the Chicago Tribune, he negotiated a massive drug deal with an informant and an undercover federal agent to purchase five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana every week for distribution in Chicago.

The feds also allege that Hurd was already dealing cocaine in Chicago. Clearly, he aspired to expand his operation. Making matters even worse, the word from CBS Chicago is that the feds have a list of NFL players that Hurd supplied. This list is “in the double-digits.”

Put simply, this is a mess of a situation, one that will only get worse.

Hurd’s Bears teammates expressed surprise at his arrest, and a couple of them spoke on the record about Hurd’s predicament.

Via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, here’s what linebacker Brian Urlacher had to say:

Wide receiver Roy Williams, who spent a couple seasons alongside Hurd with the Dallas Cowboys before both of them joined the Bears, was a little more honest and direct when talking about Hurd:

As for how the Bears as a whole are going to be affected by Hurd’s arrest, linebacker Lance Briggs made it clear that they are not going to dwell on it too much:

These three quotes are a classic example of athletes “saying the right thing.” There could be more that Hurd’s teammates could say about him, but quotes like these are good for damage control.

To be fair, we can’t assume that any Bears player who ventures to speak about Hurd is being dishonest. But given that the feds have a list of NFLers who were supplied by Hurd, we can’t ignore the reality that he probably had some connections within the Bears locker room.

This would be one of the major reasons why this whole situation can only get worse.

Around the NFL, players are being surprisingly quiet. A lot of NFL players are on Twitter, and they tend to react when big news hits. So far, they’ve been largely quiet.

One of the only exceptions is Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. He decided to make light of the situation, which should not come as a surprise for those who follow him:

This is not exactly sensitive to the situation, but I for one admit that it’s pretty funny.

As for why so few other players are remarking on the Hurd arrest, this tweet from Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher pretty much says it all:

I should clarify that I’m not 100 percent positive that Oher is referring to Hurd’s arrest, but it is certainly a reasonable reaction to the situation at hand.

As for a good example of a not-so-reasonable reaction, a rather interesting story has emerged from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram concerning Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff and ESPNDallas.com writer Calvin Watkins.

Supposedly, Watkins was asking Ratliff a few questions about Hurd on Thursday and the “chat went south quickly.” Suddenly, Watkins and Ratliff had to be separated, and there was apparently some foul language involved.

I can only speculate as to what led to the little scrum between Ratliff and Watkins, but it’s pretty telling that Watkins was talking to him about Hurd in the moments before it happened.

So while the Bears are saying all the right things, there’s something odd going on around the rest of the league. There’s a lot of silence, but the reactions we do have indicate that the Hurd arrest has hit pretty close to home for a few players.

More and more is going to be revealed as go along, so I definitely recommend staying tuned. This whole thing is just getting started.