Donald Drivercan sympathize with Brian Urlacher. Driver, the Green Bay Packers' leader in receptions and receiving yards no longer was wanted by the organization. He decided to retire rather than finish his career in another jersey.
The Chicago Bears basically told Urlacher he wasn't wanted with a one-year, $2 million offer that he promptly declined.
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"I went through the same situation this year," Driver told ESPNWisconsin.com's Jason Wilde on Thursday. "When you get to a point in your career, sometimes your age catches up with you before your performance. The thing with Urlacher ... sometimes his performance did catch up with him. He wasn't the same player he was in the previous years, but one thing about it is, you have to make the decision at the end of the day, 'Do you want to be a Bear?' That's what I had to make. I had to make the decision, 'Do you want to be a Packer for life?'
"I chose that decision and decided to hang the cleats up, even though that I know I can go somewhere and still play. Urlacher has to make that decision now, if he's going to continue to play or go somewhere else."
Driver won't be a Hall of Fame candidate like Urlacher, but he was just as loved in Green Bay as Urlacher was/is in Chicago. Sources told NFL.com's Albert Breer that Urlacher is not entertaining the thought of retiring.
This was not the lovey-dovey ending Bears fans hoped for after 13 years.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
