Dec. 23, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs (55) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Bears defeated the Cardinals 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

27 Days Till Arizona Football: Looking Back at Legendary LB

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Ari Koslow | Last updated Aug 3, 2025 12:00 PM ET

The countdown continues as we are now officially 27 days away from the season opener for Arizona against Hawaii. Over the next month, we will be taking a look back at some of the top players in Arizona football history by jersey number as we inch closer towards the start of the season.

We continue with former Arizona LB Lance Briggs who played with the Wildcats from 1999-02.

Briggs came to Tucson as one of the most sought out recruits out of Sacramento. As a freshman in 1999, he appeared in 10 games with two starts made at fullback. Briggs totaled 189 all-purpose yards with 163 rushing yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. He also added one reception for 12 yards.

After primarily playing fullback as a freshman, Briggs made the move to the defensive side of the ball the next year in 2000. He led the Wildcats with 113 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, seven pass breakups and one forced fumble. Overall in the Pac-10, Briggs finished the season with the second-most tackles.

Briggs finished the 2001 season with a team-best 93 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, seven sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He was named a first-team All-Pac-10 selection for the second consecutive year. As a senior in 2022, Briggs was named to the Lombardi Award and Butkus Award watch lists to cap off his career in Tucson.

Overall at Arizona, Briggs totaled 308 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 36 tackles for losses, three interceptions, five forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries across 33 games at strong side linebacker.

Briggs was a third-round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images

He would go on to form one of the NFL's most dominant linebacker tandems in league history with Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher. Briggs finished his NFL career as a two-time first-team All Pro, one-time second-team All Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler. He was also named as one of the 100 greatest Bears of all-time

As a rookie in 2003, Briggs totaled 78 tackles with one interception and four pass deflections. He would go on to record over 100 tackles across his next six seasons and eight of nine years overall. Across his 12 year career, all with the Bears, Briggs totaled 1,177 tackles with 15 sacks, 16 interceptions, 19 fumbles forced and seven fumbles recorded across 173 total games played.

This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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