Casey Urlacher
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- Year:
- 2003
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- Hometown:
- Lovington, New Mexico
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- High School:
- Lovington
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- Team:
- Football
Casey Urlacher grew up in Lovington, New Mexico, and attended Lovington High School, where he was a three-year letter winner in football. He was a two-time all-state selection and helped lead the Wildcats to a state championship his junior season.
After studying at New Mexico Military Institute, Urlacher transferred to Lake Forest College in 2000 and was the Forester football team’s leading tackler each of his three seasons. The linebacker was also named First Team All-Midwest Conference and Lake Forest’s Most Valuable Player all three years and served as a team captain in 2001 and 2002. He was an all-region selection his final two seasons and earned All-American and MWC Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior. After recording 116 tackles as a sophomore, Urlacher set a program record with 125 the next season and made 117 stops his senior year, giving him three of the top five single-season totals in team history. Despite playing just three years, he finished his career as the program’s career leader with 38.5 tackles for loss and ranked second in team annals with 358 tackles overall. In addition to his accomplishments on defense, Urlacher rushed for 213 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns as a senior while leading the Foresters to their first conference championship in 19 years. He finished his career with 10 rushing touchdowns, three scores on fumble recoveries, and one on a kickoff return. Urlacher finished his collegiate career by playing fullback at the 2003 Hula Bowl.
Urlacher graduated from Lake Forest College in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business. He spent the next few years playing football at the professional level, spending time with the Chicago Bears, Peoria Pirates, Nashville Kats, and Chicago Rush. He then became an entrepreneur in the fields of real estate, restaurants, and construction before adding politics to his list of career endeavors.