Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Bears great linebacker, announced his retirement today, but who can forget his then-girlfriend, entertainer Jenny McCarthy, taking center stage during the controversial negotiations between the Bears and her linebacker boyfriend this past winter. 

Those acrimonious contract meetings, when the Bears had a decidedly lower number in mind to pay Urlacher than he was willing to work for, eventually lead to the team announcing it had ended Urlacher's career in Chicago and there would be no further negotiations.

This is when Urlacher's girlfriend at the time, the ex-Playboy model Jenny McCarthy, spoke out.

McCarthy, the actress, talk show host and former friend of Jim Carrey, had dated Urlacher last year but was also a born and bred Chicagoan, having grown up on the South Side of Chicago.

She wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bears' offer to Urlacher didn't match what he is capable of. She also said Urlacher's comments in 2012 about "not caring about the fans" were taken out of context, as reported by Chicago's NBC affiliate.

"There were some negative comments from fans and columnists about a quote earlier in the season where Brian said he 'didn't care about the fans,' which left some people very bitter," McCarthy wrote." I think his fan comment was taken out of context. I believe he was trying to defend Lovie (Chicago Head Coach Lovie Smith) during a losing streak and it came out wrong. Last summer, everywhere I went with Brian, he stopped and signed every autograph and took pictures with fans. He loved the fans as much as he loved football."

McCarthy's willingness to speak up on behalf of Urlacher was a nice gesture, especially since they broke up soon after. And today, on her Twitter account, McCarthy wrote the following:

1. Jenny McCarthy ‏@JennyMcCarthy1h

   Our superhero @BUrlacher54 retired today. Amazing career. Amazing guy. Thank you for the joy you brought to Chgo & to the game for 13 yrs.

Pretty classy, wouldn't you say?