Retired Chicago Bears center, Olin Kreutz, was fired from his job after initiating a physical attack between him and a fellow employee.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that the former Chicago Bears center, Olin Kreutz, who has been working at a sports media startup called CHGO as an analyst, grabbed the neck of CHGO colleague Adam Hoge in response to a “flippant remark” he made Monday.
The incident occurring at their staff meeting in CHGO’s West Loop office cost Kreutz his analyst position. Despite Kreutz’s violent outburst, Hoge did not require treatment or file a police report.
CHGO replied to this incident on Monday in a statement on Twitter saying: “On Monday morning, an incident occurred in which Olin Kreutz physically attacked a CHGO employee. Effective immediately, Olin Kreutz is no longer with CHGO. Although we are shocked by the incident, we are thankful that the employee is okay.
“The health and safety of our employees are of the utmost importance, and we will not tolerate any action that puts that in jeopardy.”
Kreutz responded with his own tweet, posting a quote from boxing legend Mike Tyson: “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
See Kreutz’s response to CHGO here on Twitter.
Kreutz has gained popularity for his analysis of the Bears, after playing for them from 1998 to 2010. Before the incident, Kreutz made regular appearances on 670 The Score and NBC Sports Chicago. The night before the incident, he also appeared on NBC 5’s “Sports Sunday.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reached out to Kevin Cross, the president, and general manager of NBC 5, Telemundo Chicago, and NBC Sports Chicago for comment. He said, “We’re aware of the situation, and we’re looking into it.”
Kreutz has been in the spotlight for more than his great analysis critics of late, especially after Bears chairman, George McCaskey, called him out during their team’s season-ending news conference this January. He addresses the story that Kreutz shared on The Score about the Bears offering him $15 an hour to be a player consultant in 2018.
“I’ve learned over the years to take just about anything that Olin says with a grain of salt,” McCaskey said. “And I look forward to hearing that story again and hope he includes it in his Hall of Fame induction speech.”
After being asked if he was saying that the story wasn’t true, McCaskey answered, “That’s the way it is sometimes with Olin. You don’t get the whole story. Olin knows what the story is.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jeff Agrest wrote that “Kreutz took to The Score airwaves” in a response saying, “If that man would’ve said that to my face, we would’ve had a problem.”
Despite any issues between McCaskey and Kreutz, Agrest reported that industry insiders were still surprised by Kreutz’s response to Hoge at CHGO since Kreutz has taken his job seriously and is always prepared.
