Getty Former Bears LB Brian Urlacher
Former Chicago Bulls point guard Jay Williams sat down for an interview with Heavy’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, and the two discussed everything from the NBA bubble to the future of the Bulls to the recent NBA strike. Williams, who played for the Bulls from 2002-2004, spoke articulately and passionately about the issues of racism and police brutality people of color live with, and he discussed why it’s important to have an open dialogue about these issues instead of negatively reacting on social media.
When Scoop B asked Williams about the recent comments made by Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, the former point guard revealed he contacted Urlacher personally to discuss them.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, Urlacher took to Instagram to belittle the recent NBA strike, and he also ‘liked’ a post calling for the liberation of 17-year-old Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, who is currently accused of first-degree intentional homicide after he was identified on video shooting three people, killing two, during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin this week.
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Jay Williams on Brian Urlacher: ‘I Reached Out to Him Personally’
Williams, like Urlacher, was a primary figure in the Chicago sports scene in the early 2000s, and the two were friends who hung out occasionally, according to Williams.
“I’ve known Brian for awhile, I’ve hung out with him, he always seemed like a cool guy to me,” Williams began. “The comments the other day took me back a little bit, but instead of reacting and being angry and going to social media and just responding, I reached out to him personally, cause I wanted him to come on our show and discuss it. I think what I’m learning in my life is, instead of being angry, I pursue the conversation to make it constructive. If you have the depth of intellect to see if you can empathize with me about how you comment made me feel, and if I were to say the same to you, how that would make you feel,” Williams said, before adding:
“He did not respond to me. I think the lack of response is going to be the challenge for teammates, because my thing is, if you were my teammate, I’m going to confront you head on. Now, if you lack the intellect to have a conversation with me about it, then I start to question: ‘Well, then why did you say it in the first place if you can’t back up your thought, like why are you saying it?’ If you can’t back up and tell me your ‘why’ and explain it to me, then we’re gonna have a major problem.”
Urlacher Did Respond to at Least One Former Teammate
Williams also noted that he thinks it will be important for Urlacher to have an open dialogue with his former teammates if they request it. “Our country’s getting so politicized that I think for a guy like Brian, you’re gonna have a lot of people who are gonna give him the Heisman and say: ‘If that’s how you think, if you don’t want to come to the table for a constructive conversation, then you can stay in that lane,'” Williams said.
As of now, it’s looking like the conversations Williams referenced will happen with Urlacher and his former teammates.
Friday afternoon, former Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis said in an interview on The Dan Bernstein Show that he also reached out to Urlacher, and he noted that Urlacher did, in fact, respond. Still, his former teammates comments pained him.
“To hear it, it hurt. It hurt my deeply to hear someone that I care about, someone that I call a friend, someone that I went to work with for seven years playing pro football, to read those words and have to have conversations with people — my phone was blowing up yesterday,” Davis said. “I don’t want to sit here and beat up Brian, because I still care about him, but I do feel betrayed by all of that.”
Davis also said he and Urlacher had planned to get together to discuss the Hall of Famer’s recent comments, which is certainly a step in the right direction.
You can watch Scoop B’s insightful interview with Jay Williams below:
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