Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher has revealed that his former side used to fake injuries in order to slow down an opposition's offence.

Urlacher claimed that the tactic, known as 'diving', was common amongst NFL teams and even revealed that the Bears had a designated player to "get hurt" in a match.

"We had a guy who was the designated dive guy," the former linebacker told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Urlacher also said that the coach would give the designated player a signal to go down injured, adopting a diving motion that swimmers make with their arms.

The 35-year-old confirmed that the Bears were not trained on how to fake injury, but claimed that the tactic played a part in their game.

Urlacher retired at the end of last season having spent his entire 13-year career with the Bears.