For the life of me I don’t understand sports fans and their total fascination with big name players and coaches. Especially those on the back end of their careers.

Please, please stop the chatter about getting middle linebacker Brian Urlacher to the Detroit Lions.

 What is it about big-name players and coaches that makes intelligent fans totally unreasonable?

 Heard this has been a topic this week on Detroit sports talk radio. Why?

 The Lions spent big money on a certain middle linebackers named Stephen Tulloch a year ago. 

Their roster still has a few holes, but middle linebacker is not a concern. Tulloch does his job extremely well. He’s a play maker, a leader and his career path still trends up.

 Apparently certain sports talk hosts thought Urlacher to Detroit would be a great idea because he could show those Chicago Bears a thing or two. The Bears, under their new coaching staff, have insulted Urlacher with a $2 million offer.

 Please.

 Urlacher isn’t out for revenge, he wants to land with a good team.

 “I’m an old fart, so I want to go in there and win,” he told The Dan Patrick Show on Friday morning.

 A few teams including the Vikings, Cowboys and Cardinals have shown interest in the 34-year-old middle linebacker who turns 35 in May. His production has declined the last three seasons. He’s not the same powerful inside force as he once was.

 The Lions absolutely do not need a middle linebacker and it’s amazing to me that fans hear a big name and get enamored without clearly thinking through the process.

During my weekly live chat on Thursday several questions popped up asking if the Lions were interested in free agent wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. A big name? Yes. Same guy who was knocked out of the 2012 season in September  after a bone-jarring hit rendered him unconscious for 10 minutes. It was a serious concussion. 

How can anyone think the Lions would risk signing a player with a serious concussion history after what they have gone through with Jahvid Best?

 A friend of mine gets it. She said a few weeks ago that if the Lions signed Reggie Bush she was done being a Lions fan. She thinks the Lions signed Bush to sell tickets. (I think he’ll be able to boost the offense. We won’t know until the fall.)

 Just because a player has a recognizable name does not mean he’s the answer for every team. She understands that, but so many don’t.

 This happens all the time with players, coaches and general managers.

 Remember when the Lions hired Matt Millen as general manager? Fans loved the hire at first because they knew MiIlen as the former NFL linebacker with four Super Bowl rings, but mostly they knew him from his NFL television work. He was cool, everyone knew him. His lack of NFL executive credentials were overlooked because he was the big name guy.

 So how did that turn out?

 Of the three free agents the Lions signed from other teams, Reggie Bush is the most recognizable name. The veteran running back may add a new dimension to the Lions’ pass-happy offense. That’s what the Lions are counting on .

 However, the wisest move may have been to sign safety Glover Quin from the Houston Texans.

 He is not a household name, but he’s likely the Lions’ best signing so far.

 That’s how Lions’ fans need to think. 

 Look at the big picture, not the big names.

 Please.

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Order her new book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here. It’s also available at bookstores.)