Urlacher's Story Indicative of Emery's Cowardice

New Bears General Manager Ryan Pace will have his work cut out for him as he tries to change the culture at Halas Hall. Leadership under ousted GM Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman was non-existent, often times pushing the limits of professionalism.

There is no better example of the cowardice in which the past regime handled itself than the way it parted ways with soon to be hall-of-famer Brian Urlacher. Urlacher joined Matt Spiegel and Patrick Mannelly on the Score and revealed the reason behind his leaving the Bears.

Urlacher says it wasn't the dollar figure that he was unhappy with in Emery's final offer, it was the lack of communication between, and the "one day, take it or leave it" tenor to the negotiations. Urlacher claims if Emery had discussed with him a set of declining skills and why the offer was low, he would have understood.

I believe Brian completely. The day the Bears tweeted that they were parting ways with Urlacher, I had the chance to speak with him on the phone as he was a guest on the show I was producing at the time. As we briefly exchanged pleasantries, his voice sounding hurt and confused could only muster a "man, this sucks". It was clear from that conversation that this was a severing of a relationship not based on money, but a lack of respect and appreciation.

Urlacher's story is indicative of a culture under Emery and Trestman that would hide behind nice guy glasses while cowardly avoiding any kind of confrontation with their employees. Lance Briggs wants to miss practice opening week to open a restaurant, nothing said by either Trestman or Emery. Brandon Marshall wants to fly to New York to be on an NFL television show... Silence. Marshall with ranting incoherent press conferences about his past domestic abuse or challenging fans to boxing matches... Crickets.

For all the talk by Trestman about "growing the man" he and his boss failed to treat the players underneath them as such. It showed a lack of respect, a lack of courtesy and a lack of professionalism.

The good news is things will be different under John Fox. Fox is a pro who commands respect from his players and hires a staff that does the same. With Fox, Pace knows what he is getting because of the long track record after successful stints in Carolina and Denver. For a general manager who is the league's youngest with no experience, Fox is a perfect fit. My only advice for Pace would be to take a hard look at his predecessor and learn what not to do while running an NFL franchise.