Once an NFL wide receiver and local hero with a $5 million contract, Sam Hurd was reduced to a convicted felon in orange jail scrubs pleading with a judge to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. Hurd, 28, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for his role in starting a drug-distribution scheme while playing for the Chicago Bears. He pleaded guilty in April to one count of trying to buy and distribute large amounts of cocaine and marijuana, which carries a maximum of life imprisonment. But U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis noted that the case against Hurd centered on a "lot of agreements" to buy and sell marijuana and cocaine, rather than physical transactions of drugs. Read more http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9972906/sam-hurd-gets-15-years-drug-case