Lance Marell Briggs is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats and was selected by the Bears in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft, where he played his entire 12-year career. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection. Briggs played alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher during his tenure with the Bears. The two would be regarded as one of the greatest linebacker tandems in NFL history.
Briggs in 2011
Briggs (55) at the Bears summer training camp in 2008.
Lance Briggs in November 2009.
Briggs (upper right) and Charles Tillman pursue Seattle Seahawks receiver Nate Burleson in a game in 2009.
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, playing closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary), but farther back than the defensive linemen.
In white jerseys, Lance Briggs (#55) and Brian Urlacher (#54) of the Chicago Bears, are positioned as linebackers on Lambeau Field in 2011.
The University of Michigan is credited with creating the linebacker position, which was first played by Germany Schulz
Chuck Bednarik of the Philadelphia Eagles, a first round draft selection in the 1949 NFL Draft and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is considered one of the hardest hitting and best linebackers in NFL history; his November 20, 1960 tackle of Frank Gifford, a New York Giants running back, is known simply as "The Hit" and is considered one of the hardest hits in the league's history.
