We miss you, Drew Dalman. But, we understand you | Telander
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Where are you, Drew Dalman?
We miss you, dude.
But wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re happy. You deserve to be.
It’s just that, as the Bears' starting center, you were the headlight in the darkness. You were the new guy, only 27, a Bear for a season after four with the Falcons, and you plowed your way and held your ground so well in 2025 that the Bears ranked third in the league in rushing (144.5 yards per game), quarterback Caleb Williams’s sacks dropped from 68 to 24, and you made the Pro Bowl.
Outstanding.
With Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney, you were the heart of an O-line that was the envy of the NFL. Kudos to Bears general manager Ryan Poles for signing you and putting the whole thing together.
And then it was over.
On March 3, you retired from football. No warning. No advance signs. Just, boom, done.
How Drew Dalman’s retirement changes the Chicago Bears’ offseason
Chicago Bears’ Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman is walking away from the game at 27 years old. His retirement also alters the Bears’ offseason plans.
Poles quickly traded for veteran center Garrett Bradbury — a 2019 first-round pick of the Vikings, who played last year for the Patriots — and life moved on. But the chemistry of an offensive line, wherein the center makes switch calls and knows the quirks and strengths and weaknesses of every tackle and guard on his team, nobody knows if that will grow or wither.
The suddenness of the retirement is what sticks. It’s what makes one ponder, makes one reflect. Dalman walked away from money that made him the second-highest paid center in the NFL. Crazy money, if you think about normal jobs these days.
He was starting the second year of his three-year, $42-million contract, with $28 million guaranteed, and he was saying quite simply: I don’t want it.
It was silly money for most of us, but it’s even crazier when you consider that Dalman took less than he was offered by other teams. He did that because he wanted to play for Chicago, with young guy Williams as quarterback and, above all, for new head coach, Ben Johnson.
"My initial reaction just goes to the logistics of it,’’ said replacement center Bradbury when he signed with the Bears two weeks ago. "I have two young girls. We have to figure out (where they go to school, etc.). That’s honestly where my thought goes. This is the business we choose. This is the life we choose.’’
He was explaining, in his way, that none of this is simple. The real world is out there. Youth fades. Things like damage from old injuries pop up. Brain trauma that might lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy lurks. What are endless pain and beatings worth? How much does a man need? What is life after football?
Dalman’s father, Chris, was a center for eight years for the 49ers. He retired while still in his prime, at 30. Why? Because he got his neck injured in training camp in 2000, a blow that left him temporarily paralyzed. At the time, Drew Dalman was a two-year-old toddler. Said his dad, "When I first got hurt and I couldn't move, laying on the field for about 30 seconds, I knew it was probably over.’’
Of course, it was. And if you don’t think all of that was on Drew Dalman’s mind when he up and quit the Bears, well, you don’t know what tight father-son bonds are all about. Both Chris and Drew played center at Stanford, and Drew studied mechanical engineering while there. Dummies don’t study engineering
As Caleb Williams said last year of Dalman and the Bears offensive line’s success "He’s the brains behind all of it."
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This retirement, we know, was not a dumb decision. There’s no need to go through the list of CTE-damaged players, the ones who became demented, who killed themselves, who suffered horribly, who ruined their family’s lives because of their football brain trauma.
I remember talking with former All-American Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland, who retired from football in 2015 at age 24 after one promising season with the 49ers. The danger of head trauma worried him. "It’s not worth it," he said.
He had to return almost half a million dollars to the 49ers, but it didn’t matter to him. You get one brain in life. You don’t mess with it. Or rather, you shouldn’t.
I also remember hard-hitting, undersized, maniac Colts safety Bob Sanders, who famously said, "Every time I hit somebody the goal is to knock myself out."
I hope he’s doing fine in retirement.
And I hope Drew Dalman enjoys the rest of his life. We’ll miss him. But we understand him. He’s not doing something dumb. That we know for sure.
Dig deeper:
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The Source: This article was written by Rick Telander, a contributing sports columnist for FOX Chicago.