News on Harvey Unga; Placed on Reserve List

Bears put RB Unga on reserve/left squad list


http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/...7-01061154.jpg Harvey Unga played briefly in the Bears' preseason opener vs. the Bills. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Tribune Photo)

By Brad Biggs Tribune reporter 8:11 a.m. CDT, September 1, 2011


Harvey Unga’s absence no longer may be a factor with the 80-man roster: The Chicago Bears have placed the running back on the reserve/left squad list, according to a league source.


That means they have a roster exemption for the BYU running back. Unga cannot be paid while on the list.

• Unga, whom the team selected in the supplemental draft last summer by using its seventh-round pick in 2011, has been excused for personal reasons since before the second preseason game at the New York Giants. Unga initially was excused from nearly a week of training camp to be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s second child.
  
  He returned to training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., for less than a week, but long enough to play in the fourth quarter of the preseason opener vs. the Buffalo Bills. Shortly after that, Unga was gone again, this time for personal reasons.
  
  Players and coaches have suggested that Unga left the team for good. He does not have a locker in the locker room. The team has rookies use an auxiliary locker room in the basement of Halas Hall, but Unga was with the team last season when he was on injured reserve with a pulled hamstring, so he should have a locker on the first floor.
  
  bmbiggs@tribune.com
  
  Twitter @BradBiggs

I wonder what the whole story is here? Seems like it may be family issues and that would be a valid reason for wanting to be home but if it was only that simple I wonder why they just wouldn't say so. I hope the guy hasn't given up football. He looked like he had some potential.