Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher made glaring comments during a recent podcast appearance, in which he appeared to suggest that some former NFL players have falsely claimed to have CTE.

“Here’s the problem now with all the guys with the CTE, if they do have it, I feel for them, but there’s guys who say they have it just so they can be in the f–king lawsuit,” Urlacher said last month while appearing on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast.

The former Chicago Bears linebacker, 44, had been discussing his neck surgery when he was asked if he experienced physical repercussions from the injury.

“I feel like I’m decently sharp still,” Urlacher said. “You know, there’s some things I forget, but my friends forget s–t too. I feel like I’m still doing pretty well.

“There are some guys I played with who claimed,” he continued, adding, “I don’t know” before his rant about CTE.

“They want that money from the NFL and I get it, man. You know, everyone wants to get there due, but there’s really guys that have it, that deserve to be taken care of. And there’s the guys that don’t have it who want to be — who want to have it just so they can get part of that lawsuit and that just drives me crazy,” Urlacher said.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain disease typically found in athletes and military veterans with a history of repetitive brain trauma. It’s believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head and concussions over time.

Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death through brain tissue analysis.

In 2013, the NFL and its former players reached a tentative $765 million settlement over concussion-related brain injuries, agreeing to compensate victims, pay for medical exams, and underwrite research. The settlement makes players who retired before final certification of the class eligible for potential benefits without limitations.

Urlacher’s comments come just a week after it was determined that Demaryius Thomas, a former wide receiver for the Broncos, had CTE when he died in December at the age of 33.

The news that Thomas had been posthumously diagnosed with Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy was announced by doctors at Boston University in The New York Times. Thomas was involved in a car accident in Denver in 2019 and had been suffering seizures between then and the time of his death.

Urlacher spent his entire 13-season career with the Bears, in which he earned eight Pro nods and four first-team All-Pro selections. The former first-round pick was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000 and earned the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2005.