Casey Urlacher (born August 24, 1979) is an American politician and formerfootball player. He has been the mayor ofMettawa, Illinois, since 2013. Urlacher previously played football in theArena Football League (AFL) for two seasons for theChicago Rush andNashville Kats. He is the brother of formerNational Football League (NFL) linebackerBrian Urlacher.
Urlacher was raised inLovington, New Mexico. He attendedLovington High School, where alongside his older brother,Brian, won a state championship in 1995. Urlacher enrolled in theNew Mexico Military Institute for two years, spending one year as aredshirt and only playing one season. He relocated to theChicago area to follow Brian, who was playing in theNational Football League for theChicago Bears.[1][2][3][4]
Chad Eisele recruited Urlacher to play forLake Forest College'sForesters football team. Urlacher played three seasons for the Foresters as a linebacker and fullback, accruing 358 total tackles, 219 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns, and a kickoff return touchdown. He receivedAll-American honors and was also named theMidwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year during his senior year. Urlacher graduated with a business degree from Lake Forest College in 2003.[1][2][3][4]
| No. 37 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Fullback /Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1979-08-27)August 27, 1979 (age 46) Pasco, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 244 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Lovington (NM) | ||||||||
| College | Lake Forest College | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2003: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career Arena League statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Urlacher was not selected in the2003 NFL draft. TheChicago Bears granted him a professional try-out during their training camp in 2003, but Urlacher failed to make the final roster.[5]
TheChicago Rush arena football team signed him to play as afullback andlinebacker, but Urlacher failed to make the team's roster after training camp and was released. Upon his release, Casey signed with thePeoria Pirates ofaf2, then theNashville Kats before being cut in 2005 and joining the Chicago Rush again for a short time.[6]
In April 2013, Urlacher was elected mayor of the Village ofMettawa,Illinois, having won 61% of the vote.[7] In October of that year, Urlacher was appointed by Illinois GovernorPat Quinn (D) to the Illinois' Civil Service Commission.[8]Bruce Rauner reappointed Urlacher to the Illinois Civil Service Commission on May 8, 2017.[9] He served until February 2020, when he resigned his seat.[10]
Urlacher announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination to run for State Senate in the 26th district to succeedDan Duffy on October 1, 2015.[11] His attempt to get on the ballot was challenged, and state election officials invalidated more than 1000 of his collected signatures leaving him with only 48 above the minimum.[12] In March 2016, Urlacher was defeated in a three-way primary byDan McConchie by over 1,300 votes.[13]
After the federal indictment, Urlacher initially did not seek re-election as mayor of Mettawa in the 2021 consolidated election. However, after obtaining a pardon from President Trump, Urlacher declared as a write-in candidate for mayor. He was re-elected after obtaining 157 write-in votes.[14] Urlacher told theDaily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) that he filed as a write-in after being urged by his neighbors.[15]
In May 2021, Urlacher filed to run for state senate.[16] Dan McConchie, who defeated Urlacher in 2016, currently serves as the Illinois senate minority leader. Although Urlacher filed to challenge McConchie in the primary, the new state legislative maps put Urlacher in a different district.[17]
Urlacher was among 10 people charged in a federal indictment alleging they ran an offshore sports gambling ring that raked in millions of dollars from hundreds of Chicago-area gamblers. The ring was led by Vincent "Uncle Mick" DelGuidice, a reputed associate of theChicago Outfit who owned a gambling website registered inCosta Rica. Urlacher first was a customer of the gambling ring, before accumulating substantial debts, which he agreed to work off by recruiting new gamblers and collecting debts.[18][19][20] He was charged with conspiracy and running an illegal gambling business. He is accused of acting as an agent for the gambling ring, recruiting bettors in exchange for a cut of their eventual losses.[21] Urlacher pleaded not guilty to the charges in March 2020.[22] Urlacher was pardoned by PresidentDonald Trump during his last hours in office on January 20, 2021.[23]