Bears All-Quarter Century Team: Safeties

USA Today

a day ago

Twenty-five years of Chicago Bears football are in the books since the turn of the century. Since the calendar turned over to 2000, the Bears have seen some success, but also plenty of woeful stretches. Early on, Chicago became a defensive force, claiming four division titles and reaching only their second Super Bowl in franchise history from 2000 to 2010. Since then, however, a 14-year playoff victory drought that is still ongoing and a one-sided fight with their rival Green Bay Packers have taken the spotlight.
For all the ups and downs the Bears have seen, however, they had plenty of talent over the years across offense and defense. Multiple former Bears players are already in the Hall of Fame, while many more provided years of incredible play in the navy and orange.
Here at Bears Wire, we're celebrating the best Bears players at each position over the last 25 years. Rounding out the defense are the safeties, which feature some big ballhawks and playmakers who made a lasting impact.
Mike Brown
No safety has embodied the Chicago Bears better this century than Mike Brown, who established himself as a leader on some of the league's best defenses in the 2000s. Brown, selected in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft, made an immediate impact as a starter his rookie season. In fact, he lost out on NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year to his fellow draft mate, Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher. Brown's best season came in his sophomore campaign, where he totaled a career-high five interceptions, including a league-high two pick sixes, a career-high 11 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, and well as a career-high three sacks en route to a First-Team All-Pro bid.
Brown had a nose for the football and always knew how to come away with a game-changing play to win it for his team. In his second season, Brown returned an interception for a touchdown in two consecutive overtime wins -- picking off a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers receiver Terell Owens in Week 7 and then intercepting Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch in Week 8. Brown became the first player in NFL history to accomplish the feat, and he remains the only player to have back-to-back game-winning touchdown returns in overtime in league history. Brown had quite the impressive resume, including First-Team All Pro (2001), Second-Team All-Pro (2005), Pro Bowl honors (2005), PFWA's All-Rookie Team and 100 greatest Bears of All-Time (63rd). Brown played his first nine seasons with Chicago (2000-08) before a final season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009.
Eddie Jackson
While Mike Brown stands alone as the team's best safety this century, Eddie Jackson certainly embodied that dominant, playmaking mindset when he was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft. Jackson had a breakout year in his second season, where he posted a career-high six interceptions (including two pick sixes), a career-high 15 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery (for a touchdown) and one sack en route to First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods. In his prime, Jackson was one of the league's most dominant safeties where he thrived taking the ball away. Jackson is tied with linebacker Lance Briggs for third in franchise history with six career defensive touchdowns, trailing only cornerback Charles Tillman (9) and safety Mike Brown (7).
Unfortunately, after inking a well-deserved contact extension in 2019, Jackson's play declined as five of those defensive touchdowns happened in his first two seasons. While he experienced a resurgent year in 2022, a season-ending foot injury ended his season and his Bears career and he was released ahead of the 2024 season due to his large salary cap hit. While Jackson's stock fell in the 2017 draft, due to a knee injury, he started all 100 games he played in seven games with Chicago, where he totaled 459 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss, 15 interceptions, 44 pass breakups, 10 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and six defensive touchdowns.
Mike Green
Mike Brown and Eddie Jackson are the clear-cut top safeties so far this century for the Bears, so there was certainly a gap between them and our third safety, Mike Green. The former Mr. Irrelevant of the 2000 NFL draft, Green played his first six seasons with Chicago from 2000 to 2005. Green was part of a Bears draft class that included Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher and Brown, who both also made our All-Quarter Century team.
Green started his career as a reserve and worked his way into a starting role with Chicago, where he eclipsed 100 total tackles in two seasons (2002, 2004) and proved to be a key contributor in the secondary. He finished his Bears career with 397 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, six sacks, four interceptions, 25 pass breakups, seven forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries. Green returned to a reserve role in 2005 and was eventually traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2006, in exchange for a sixth-round pick. He spent two seasons with the Seahawks before wrapping his career with the Washington Redskins in 2008.
Honorable mention: Adrian Amos
Bears All-Quarter Century Team
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