The Almost All-Time Chicago Bears Defense
Published by JW Nix on February 24, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
No other team has had more impact on the game of American football than the Chicago Bears. They were the first participants in both postseason and indoor play. One of their players invented the modern day protective padding that is still used to this day. Their success has been so great that they have put 25 men into the Pro Football Hall of Fame so far, which is the most ever in NFL history.
The first name and image on the organization is George “Papa Bear” Halas. He was an excellent athlete who played a dozen baseball games with the New York Yankees before an injury forced his retirement. That injury helped give propel the game of football that so many love.
While working with the A.E. Staley Company, a manufacturer of starch, he played both baseball and football with them. He was sent as a representative of the company to a meeting to form the fledgling American Professional Football Association in 1920. The APFA would then become the NFL two years later.
Though the team had success their first season, as the Decatur Staleys, they lost money and Halas was given control of the team. He moved them to Chicago in 1921, where they won the leagues second ever championship. They then began using Wrigley Field as their home stadium, so Halas renamed them the Bears because of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball.
“Papa Bear” was not only the owner, but he was the head coach and a star player. He once stripped Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe of the ball and ran 98 yards for a score. This achievement stood as an NFL record for 49 years.
Despite all the success the Bears were having, the professional game paled in popularity to the college game. Halas then got hometown hero Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange to sign with the Bears after he graduated from Illinois University. Grange was paid $100,000 to barnstorm with the team for 19 games over 67 days in 1925. Considering players were paid $100 or less a game, his salary was considered astounding then.
The games helped the NFL gain more notoriety from the media and fans, helping to pave the way to the success the league enjoys today. Grange left the team in a dispute, and founded the first American Football League, which lasted one year after he hurt his knee versus the Bears. He would return to play for Halas until he retired in 1934.
By this time, the NFL was an established professional sports league. Chicago led the way in making this happen. The Bears would capture six more titles from 1932 to 1946. The crosstown rival Chicago Cardinals also won two championships, though their first title is widely disputed to the point many believe the Pottsville Maroons are the true champions of the 1925 season.
After he retired as a player, Halas stayed the owner and coach until 1983. He did step down as coach intermittently, but was at the helm 40 of 48 years before he finally stopped coaching after 1967. One of the times he stepped down was to serve in the Armed Forces during World War II.
The Bears biggest rivals are the Green Bay Packers. Halas turned up the heat in 1921 by having the Packers thrown out of the league. He was intent on signing Hunk Anderson, but found out that Anderson had played some for the Packers. He charged them with tampering, which led to Green Bay’s expulsion for one year. Anderson ended up playing and being a head coach for the Bears.
The Bears currently hold a 90-82-5 edge in their series, with a scoring edge of just 116 points. Their battles are legendary, where Hall of Fame Packer coaches Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi often voiced their displeasure of the Bears. This was easily reciprocated by Halas through the years.
One important link to the Bears was the University of Chicago. The term “Monsters of the Midway” was initially used on the colleges football team that was coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg. His successor was the legendary Clark Shaughnessy, who took the mostly dormant T-formation and had it focus mostly on the quarterback. This led to teams eventually abandoning the single wing formation that was in use then.
The Bears had actually already used the T-formation in a different style before Shaughnessy helped them. Ralph Jones, who introduced the Bears to Bronko Nagurski, was the Bears head coach from 1930 to 1932. He is the first coach to send his wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs in motion before the snap of the ball. The helped the Bears capture the 1932 championship, and Halas took over the next year after Jones retired.
Shaughnessy worked alongside Halas as a consultant, and helped him scout Hall of Fame quarterback Sid Luckman while still in college during 1939. The T-formation helped the Bears capture four titles in six seasons. After coaching in college and the pros from 1940 to 1950, he officially joined the Bears in 1951 and stayed with them in the front office for 11 years. Luckman is still the Bears all time leader in most passing categories.
Another Bear, Jim Dooley, was a former player turned coach who invented the nickel package on defense. The nickel gave birth to the dime package eventually, which also can be attributed to the Bears influence on the game.
After winning the 1963 championship, the Bears went 22 years before capturing another title. One of the final moves Halas made before dying in 1983 was hiring Bears Hall of Famer Mike Ditka as head coach in 1982. Ditka oversaw a 1985 team so good, that the term “Monsters of the Midway” was temporarily reborn on their way to winning Super Bowl XX.
Since then, the team has had 11 winning seasons, nine postseason appearances, and one Super Bowl loss in 2006. Last season, they traded their 2008 starting quarterback, two first round draft picks, and a third round draft pick to acquire quarterback Jay Cutler. Though his first year in Chicago was not what most had envisioned, there is hope he can return the franchise to once again taste the fruits of a title and add a tenth championship trophy to their legacy.
Remember : This is a list of football legends who are not yet members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
