Of the 16 niches in the Hall of Fame reserved for linebackers, former standouts from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears occupy six of them. The Steelers and Bears combined also have had 24 linebackers make an aggregate 91 appearances in the Pro Bowl.

	Joey Porter had four of the Steelers' team record-tying 10 sacks in a 17-10 win over the Bucs.

So in this season of resurrection for the two storied franchises, no one should bet against one or more linebackers from the Steelers and Bears making the all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii in February, or be surprised the suffocating defenses of the teams are constructed around young but talented linebackers.

"There is a lineage here," said Steelers star Earl Holmes, who is playing a spot formerly manned by such standout Pittsburgh inside 'backers as Myron Pottios, Henry Davis, Levon Kirkland and Hall of Fame member Jack Lambert. "If you're a linebacker playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, that is kind of a special badge and you better wear it proudly. There is a certain standard (to maintain)."

The same is true, of course, in Chicago, where last season Brian Urlacher stepped into the large middle linebacker footsteps left behind by predecessors Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary, and earned a Pro Bowl berth as a rookie.

Certainly the Bears and the Steelers didn't create the linebacker position. But the teams had players who redefined their positions with Butkus at the middle spot and weakside linebacker Jack Ham, both Hall of Fame performers. None of the current starters in Pittsburgh and Chicago might end up enshrined at Canton or re-write the manual for how the position is approached, but the two groups clearly rank among the best in the NFL and are the centerpiece units for their defenses.

And while the Steelers still deploy in their familiar four-linebacker alignment and the Bears are a three-man unit, there is a common thread connecting the two. Both are marked by football savvy, plenty of quickness and solid athleticism.

In general, these are two defenses that run well to the ball and cut through the trash to make the play. The defensive blueprints are designed in both cases for the linebackers to be the primary playmakers, and that's the case for the top-ranked Steelers and No. 9 Bears.

	Bearing Down
	The Bears defense started turning things around in it's 12th game last year, holding the Jets to just 59 rushing yards. Chicago had allowed over 130 rushing yards per game in the 11 previous games, but has not allowed a 100-yard rusher and is giving up just under 74 rushing yards per game in the 10 games since. The Bears are 6-4 in those games and rank second in the NFL in rushing defense in 2001, allowing just 77.6 yards per game. Here's a look at how they have improved since the beginning of 2000.
		First 11 gms.	Last 10 gms.
	Rush YPG	133.8	73.9
	100-yd. rushers	3	0
	PPG all.	23.3	14.2
	Team W-L	3-8	6-4

Urlacher is flanked in Chicago by Rosevelt Colvin on the strong side and by Warrick Holdman on the weak side. None of the three is older than 25, and the average age for the group, thrown together in the second half of the 2000 season, is just 24. Colvin and Holdman are fourth-round choices and Urlacher was the ninth selection overall in the 2000 draft. A guy who played eight different positions in college and spent much of his time at safety, Urlacher is the key.

He was the league's defensive rookie of the year in 2000, posted 122 tackles and eight sacks, and became the first Chicago non-special teams player in the Pro Bowl since 1995. But as Urlacher has cemented the interior, his impressive play has also raised the level of the two outside linebackers as well.

Colvin and Holdman are big players, averaging 250 pounds, and don't run around on nearly as many plays as they used to. Coordinator Greg Blache likes to have his team in attack mode and the two outside 'backers have bought into that mindset.

"I think we're all playmakers," Holdman said. "We have the ability to knock the ball out, to pick it up and run it in (for a touchdown)."

Linebackers have long been the weapon of choice in Pittsburgh, and the current Steelers group is a fly-around-the-ball bunch that merits past units there, with solid run-stuffers inside and upfield pass rushers on the flanks. Holmes, who supplanted the now-departed Kirkland as the team's best defender a couple years ago, stays on the field for the passing downs but his forte is playing between the tackles.

His new interior partner, second-round rookie Kendrell Bell of Georgia, has established himself as one of the league's best first-year defenders. Bell is a step quicker than Holmes, has a good bit of coverage skill, but is also a more natural pass rusher.

	“	There is a lineage here. If you're a linebacker playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, that is kind of a special badge and you better wear it proudly. There is a certain standard (to maintain). ”
		— Earl Holmes, Steelers linebacker

Outside linebackers Jason Gildon and Joey Porter, who often line up at end on passing downs, are pure upfield rushmen. Porter notched four sacks against Tampa Bay last week, and the two come hard on the passing downs, as exhibited by their 24 combined sacks in 2000. The Steelers are always seeking quick-rush linebackers, such as Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene, to fit the outside spots in their scheme.

That means the Pittsburgh outside linebackers aren't as big as their Chicago counterparts, because they are asked to play a dramatically different style, which is not to suggest that Gildon and Porter can't be roughhouse when necessary.

"(The linebackers) are the key to what we do here," said coordinator Tim Lewis. "We can't play the way we do without really good players and athletes at the position."

The biggest question surrounding the Pittsburgh group is how much longer it will be together. Holmes and Gildon are eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring and it might be difficult to retain both of them. It would be a shame to tear apart such a young unit, one that averages 4.3 seasons of experience, but the Steelers always seem to come up with replacements to keep the line of excellence intact.

Not too far east of Pittsburgh, at Penn State, the football program long ago was dubbed "Linebacker U" for the number of standout players it turned out at the position. The Steelers, who have had 15 Pro Bowl linebackers, including 10 who made multiple trips, aren't too far behind.

"It's amazing the number of great (linebackers) they've had here," said Bell. "It's like they just stamp them out or something."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.