Hurd has only been a Chicago Bear for a short time. The 26-year-old is married to his college sweetheart, Stacee Green, who is from Calumet City. They have a young daughter and a home in Lake Forest, Ill.
Three days after undercover agents began questioning Hurd in connection with a drug operation he is accused of running, Hurd showed up for training camp with the Bears. That was in July. Agents would have several conversations with Hurd during the next few months, his first season with the Chicago Bears football team.
Hurd's arrest comes as a surprise to fellow Texan Michael C. Wright, who has followed the football player's career.
"He's a very smart, articulate, respectful guy and had tattoos all over his body of crosses and stuff and is very respectful," Michael C. Wright, ESPN.com, said, "This is a surprise that this happened to him."
Hurd signed a 3-year deal with the Bears after playing five years with the Dallas Cowboys. He received a $1.3 million signing bonus with a base salary of $685,000 this year, $865,000 in 2012 and $1 million for his last year of the deal. But the criminal complaint alleges the amount of cocaine and marijuana he wanted to deal was worth even more.
"It really does sound like football was the side job. And this is big stuff," said Carmen DeFalco, ESPN Chicago 1000.
Hurd's arrest was the talk on ESPN Radio 1000. The 26-year-old began his football career in San Antonio, Texas, where he was an All State-Receiver at his high school. He then went on to become a top receiver at Northern Illinois University, where he met his wife. After the Bears season began, Hurd moved into a townhouse development just down the road from Hallas Hall.
"I have had a ton of conversations, and he was a self-made guy in the NFL working up to the level he is at right now," Wright said.
One of Hurd's Lake Forest neighbors said Hurd was a nice guy who introduced himself to as "Sam" and never mentioned he played for the Bears.
