Veteran NFL defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff's Chicago Bears tenure came to an unexpected end Thursday afternoon, after the team announced they had released Ratliff and signed Ziggy Hood, a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ratliff, who has also played for the Dallas Cowboys during his 11-year NFL career, was actually escorted out of Halas Hall after engaging in an "animated exchange" with new Bears GM Ryan Pace on Wednesday, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Per Jahns, Lake Forest police were called and stationed outside of Halas Hall after Ratliff was escorted off the premises.
"We felt moving forward without Jeremiah was in the best interest of our team," Pace said in a statement announcing Ratliff's release. "We appreciate his contributions and wish him well. We are also excited to be able to add Ziggy Hood to our roster."
It's not the first time Ratliff has engaged in an emotional altercation with a senior member of his team's front office. While with the Cowboys, Ratliff was reportedly part of a "volcanic" exchange with Dallas owner Jerry Jones in Dec. 2012. The Cowboys public relations staff waved the incident away as two "passionate men" being caught up in the moment, but Ratliff's tenure with the team never seemed to settle after the incident.
Ratliff, 34, had started the last two games for the Bears after serving a three-game suspension for a two-year old DWI arrest to start the 2015 NFL season. In his third year with the team, Ratliff amassed 54 tackles and 7.5 sacks while in Chicago.
