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In the hours following Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury on Sunday, it was impossible not to feel like we’d just watched the wrong kind of history.
Luckily, the only things we got from that thankfully short emotional ordeal were a week-to-week designation for Williams, a bunch of bad faith discourse from social media engagement bros and some pretty funny memes.
Given the alternative, it wasn’t a bad outcome.
Had it been worse — say, season-ending or career-altering — we would have been debating how high Williams’ injury would go on the list of all-time bad Bears injuries.
Because lord knows the Bears have had plenty of them.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest injuries in franchise history, measured by the impact it had on a player’s career, the outcome of a season or era … or both.
Two notes before we begin:
We’re not counting the team’s fatal tragedies as injuries. So no Brian Piccolo dying from cancer or the car accident that claimed the lives of Willie Galimore and Bo Farrington before the 1964 season.
No Kevin White. The No. 7 pick from 2015 didn’t have one specific tide-turning injury that prevented him from simply starting a meaningful NFL career, but rather a litany of them.
So with that said, let’s get to all the tendons, wrists and other assorted body parts we wish would’ve stayed intact …
10. Mike Brown — Torn Achilles (2004)
It’s hard to decide which of Brown’s injuries was the most impactful, so it seems right to tab the first, suffered in a Week 2 game against the Packers.
At that point, the safety from Nebraska was already a fan favorite. Brown played the game hard and was a undisputed team leader, appearing all 16 games in each of his first four NFL seasons.
But the checks always come due in the NFL.
2004: Missed the final 14 games with the Achilles injury.
2005: Recovered enough for a Pro Bowl appearance, yet still missed four games with a calf injury.
2006: Suffered a Lisfranc foot injury six games into the season, robbing him of the chance to play in the Super Bowl.
2007: Tore his ACL during the season opener in San Diego, ending any role he would play in the team’s NFC title defense.
2008: Played 15 games before injuring his calf against the Packers and ending his Bears career on the IR.
Brown made the most of his time on the field and will forever be remembered as a standout Chicago Bear. But there’s still a big “what if” attached to his story because of the injuries.
9. Brian Urlacher - Wrist (2009)
It’s a little strange this one has been lost to history because it would probably send Bears fans to the ledges in 2026.
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