Brian Urlacher restored his hair. Now he is suing to defend his right to flaunt it.
The Hall of Fame former Chicago Bears linebacker has filed a lawsuit against Houston Hair Transplant Center, alleging the Texas hair transplant company used the story of his hair restoration to promote its services disingenuously and without consent.
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The once-notably bald eight-time Pro Bowl selection is seeking $50,000 in damages, court records show. Urlacher famously tackled his baldness after retiring from football, revealing in 2016 that a transplant by Oak Wood-based Restoration Holdings, better known as RESTORE Hair, had given gave him a full head of hair.
Since the reveal, Urlacher has been a visible spokesman for the company. Billboards vaunting his hair-adorned head have long lined roads across Chicago.
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The billboards mark “O’Hair Airport,” share support for “Da Hairs” and note that “9 out of 10 Billboards Prefer RESTORE.” The towering images of Urlacher and his manufactured mane at times seem inescapable on the road.
“We Are Everyhair,” one Urlacher RESTORE Hair billboard says.
The recent lawsuit is not the first Urlacher has filed regarding his hair. He also sued a Florida hair transplant surgeon in 2017, alleging the surgeon’s company “attempted to illegally steal and cash in on this success” by using Urlacher’s name and likeness in its advertising and marketing without asking for his permission.
In recent court filings, Urlacher’s lawyers allege that Houston Hair published a blog post about Urlacher’s hair restoration to promote its hair restoration business.
“The post was written misleadingly to make an audience believe Mr. Urlacher had an affiliation with, or received his hair restoration treatment from, Defendant Houston Hair,” the legal filing said.
Urlacher never gave the company permission to use his name or likeness, alleges the lawsuit, which was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County in December but moved to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois on Friday.
The 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year “was damaged economically and non-economically through lost profits, loss of reputation, loss of business, dilution of name” and other damages, according to the lawsuit.
The blog post appears to be no longer online, but Urlacher’s lawyers shared images purportedly showing the post in court filings. The brief post, apparently created in 2020, shares the story of Urlacher’s hair transplant in a positive light.
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The post acknowledges Urlacher is a spokesman for RESTORE but does not say what company completed the transplant. The post also shares praise for the “FUE” hair transplant procedure and includes a quote from Dr. Goran Jezic, whom court records identify as the owner of Houston Hair.
Urlacher is being represented in court by Chicago-based Barney & Karamanis, while Houston Hair Transplant Center is being represented by San Francisco-based Gordon, Rees, Scully & Mansukhani.
Dates for future proceedings in the lawsuit do not appear to have been publicly announced. Jezic, RESTORE Hair, Houston Hair’s attorneys and Urlacher’s attorneys did not immediately respond to the Tribune’s request for comment Tuesday.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
