Meet the Bears A s any wilderness expert will tell you bears are powerful they feel threatened The Chicago Bears can be described in a similar way They take their name very seriously animals that can be extremely dangerous especially when The Bears use speed and power to win and the rougher the game the more they seem to enjoy it The Bears have been playing football this way for more than 90 years and few teams have matched their record of success No team in the National Football League NFL is more feared by its opponents and no team is more loved by its fans This book tells the story of the Bears It also tells the story of professional football The NFL owes a lot to the Bears They were the league’s most admired team during tough times Their owner and players changed the game Much of what you see on the field today started with the great Chicago teams of the past Linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs size up a Chicago opponent The Bears are famous for their great defense 5
Glory Days I n the early years of the 20th century sports fans had little interest in pro football They preferred the college game where amateurs played for honor and glory A businessman named George Halas believed that watching professionals play football was far more entertaining In 1920 Halas convinced a group of business leaders to form a pro football league It later became the NFL Halas played for and coached a team called the Staleys in Decatur Illinois Other stars for Decatur included Dutch Sternaman and Jimmy Conzelman The Staleys eventually moved north to Chicago and changed their name to the Bears Halas became the owner of the team at this time He would later earn the nickname Papa Bear In 1925 Halas and the Bears made a splash when they signed Red Grange who was known across the nation as the Galloping 6
Ghost Grange thrilled fans with his long touchdown runs After Grange’s first season Halas took the Bears on a coast-to-coast tour Thousands and thousands of fans bought tickets to watch Grange play and pro football began to gain national popularity During the 1930s Halas built his team into a powerhouse The Bears won the NFL championship in 1932 and 1933 They also reached the title game in 1934 and 1937 Chicago’s best player was Bronko Nagurski an enormous runner who blasted through defenses He was joined by three talented linemen George Musso Danny Fortmann and Joe Stydahar and an end named Bill Hewitt Hewitt was one of the last NFL stars to play without a helmet The Bears were even better in the 1940s Quarterback Sid Luckman led a high-scoring offense that included lineman Bulldog Turner running back George McAfee and receiver Ken Kavanaugh The Bears played for the NFL championship every year from 1940 to 1943 and again in 1946 Chicago continued to win in the 1950s The team’s stars included Johnny Lujack George Connor Bill George Harlon Hill Stan Jones Doug Atkins Willie Galimore and Rick Casares LEFT George Halas diagrams a play for assistant Clark Shaughnessy during the 1950s ABOVE Red Grange was Chicago’s first superstar 7
