Normally reticent when it comes to the media, Bears running back Marion Barber opened up to a Chicago Tribune reporter when asked about the legal troubles of close friend and former teammate Sam Hurd.
Hurd facing drug charges
Bears WR
Sam Hurd
was in jail Thursday after authorities accused him
of trying to set up a drug distribution network in the Chicago area.
"Sam is my brother," Barber said after Sunday's 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. "Whatever he needs, I'm right there for him at the end of the day; him and his family. That is what's most important, making sure (there are) positive vibes and that he and his family are doing all right."
Hurd, a wide receiver who joined the Bears this season, was arrested Wednesday night in a federal drug sting after he told an undercover agent that he was interested in purchasing five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, according to the criminal complaint. The Bears later released Hurd.
Barber, who last week had to be cajoled by the NFL into speaking to the Chicago media after making two critical errors during the Bears' loss to the Denver Broncos, declined to elaborate on his reaction to the news of Hurd's arrest.
"I don't think about those things," said Barber, who also was Hurd's teammate for five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. "That's not something I try to get into, the 'whys.' I'm all about showing the love, and Sam's been my brother for a long time. I love him to death. I'm here to support him."
Barber wasn't the first former teammate to offer support.
"Like everyone else, I was shocked and extremely saddened with the news of his arrest," Terrell Owens, a teammate of Hurd's in Dallas from 2006 to 2008, said in a statement last week. "I have not been able to reach him but hope to speak to him soon. I have spent much time with him and know his family. It would never cross my mind that Sam would ever be dealing or using drugs. This is completely out of character for him."
