Chicago Bears legend Olin Kreutz was fired from his job as an analyst for Chicago-based CHGO Sports for attacking a coworker, according to a May 2 statement from the media outlet.
Shortly after the alleged incident, which occurred the morning of Monday, May 2, CHGO Sports released the following statement via Twitter:
“On Monday morning, an incident occurred in which Olin Kreutz physically attacked a CHGO employee. Effective immediately, Olin Kreutz is no longer with CHGO. Although we were shocked by the incident, we are thankful that the employee is okay. The health and safety of our employees is of the utmost importance and we will not tolerate any action that puts that in jeopardy.”
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Kreutz Responds to His Dismissal Via Twitter
Kreutz, who retired in 2011 and has worked in the media in some capacity since 2015, responded by retweeting CHGO’s statement, along with an image of boxer Mike Tyson and the quote: “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
Details of the incident have been slow to emerge, but Jon Greenberg of The Athletic reported on May 3 it was analyst and insider Adam Hoge who Kreutz attacked.
Per Greenberg: “Hoge made a sarcastic remark about Kreutz being too negative about the Bears’ draft. At that point, Kreutz had just entered CHGO’s loft space and heard Hoge’s comment, yelling at him in response. Kreutz then charged at Hoge while he was seated on the video set. Hoge’s chair tipped back and Kreutz grabbed him by the neck before eventually letting go.”
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Kreutz Has History of Getting Physical
The former NFL center, who spent 14 seasons in the league (13 in Chicago, one in New Orleans with the Saints) has made headlines in the past for altercations with teammates. In 1996, Kreutz broke the jaw of University of Washington teammate Sekou Wiggs. And in 2005, he fractured the jaw of teammate Fred Miller in 2005.
There was also the slap.
Former Bears wide receiver Earl Bennett, who played for the team from 2008-13, told the following story on his blog about Kreutz slapping former linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer during a team practice:
I was positioned on the outside of the circle when the situation occurred and I saw people working to dislodge Hunter and Olin. After all dust settled, there was a hot-tempered Hunter, which was quite unusual and then there was Olin, who walked off as if nothing had happened. Everyone who didn’t see asked: ‘Who slapped Hunter?’ And the response from various teammates was: ‘Olin slapped him.’ But what happened? No one knew. All we knew was Olin slapped Hunter.
While Hillenmeyer hasn’t discussed the slap publicly, he did say: “I hated coming into work because of Olin,” Hillenmeyer told Matt Spiegel and Laurence Holmes of WSCR-AM 670 in 2013, via CBS Sports. “Because he was a jerk.”
In addition to his analyst gig with CHGO Sports, which is part of the All-City Network company originally founded in Denver, Kreutz has worked for NBC Sports and 670 The Score since retiring from football.
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Bears Legend ‘Physically Attacked’ Coworker, Gets Fired From Media Job