Albuquerque
Ties Bind Some
All-Time NFL Greats
Ronnie Lott is an NFL Hall of Fame safety and
is often thought to be one of the best safeties in
NFL history. Before he found greatness at USC
and later in the NFL, Albuquerque was where it all
began.
Lott was born in Albuquerque before his father,
who was in the United States Air Force, moved
the family to Washington D.C. and later Southern
California. His time in Albuquerque may have
been short, but Lott is a fantastic name to have
attached to any city’s high school football heritage.
During his time in the NFL Lott was a four-time
Super Bowl champion, ten time Pro Bowler and a
member of two different All-Decade teams.
Another defensive great and NFL Hall of Famer
who found his way to Albuquerque and had a
profound impact on football in the state of New
06 2019 Albuquerque High Schools Football Yearbook
Mexico is Brian Urlacher, who was
born in Washington state and grew
up in Lovington, attending Lovington
High School. Urlacher made his way to
Albuquerque to attend the University of
New Mexico.
Once part of the Lobos program he
proved to not only be a talented football
player, but also a versatile one. One of the
first transitions in his college career came
when he was moved from defensive back to
linebacker. With the arrival of new head coach
Rocky Long during Urlacher’s sophomore
year his career skyrocketed, especially with the
move to “Lobo Back”, a position that combined
the duties of both safety and linebacker and was
designed to take advantage of his athletic ability
and nose for the football.
As a testament to his overall athletic prowess,
it should be noted Urlacher also played wide
receiver and returned kicks for the Lobos. When
you add it all up he completed his college career
with quite a stat line – 442 tackles, 11 sacks, 11
forced fumbles, three interceptions…and six
touchdown catches and five kick returns for
scores. You don’t see that kind of combination
very often. Like never.
In 2000 Urlacher was selected by the Chicago
Bears in the first round of the NFL draft. During
his illustrious pro career Urlacher was named to
eight pro bowls, named All-Pro twice, was named
to the NFL All-Decade team for the 2000s, and
led the Bears to the 2006 Super Bowl where they
were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts.
Home is where you make it
and for many great athletes
Albuquerque is a place that
they once called home…
before taking their skills
to the next level or two,
and becoming nationally
known household names.