Bears WR Bobby Wade eludes a tackle attempt by Chargers CB Drayton Florence.

 

The Chicago Bears are one of only two charter members of the National Football League still in existence. Their 1,000-game history began in 1920 in Decatur, Ill., when the Staley Starch Company decided to sponsor a football team. On September 17, 1920, the Staleys, with George Halas as their representative, joined the American Professional Football Association, which became the National Football League in 1922. The franchise fee was $100.

 

In 1921, the Staley Starch Company gave Halas the team and $5,000 along with permission to move the team to Chicago. All Halas had to do in return was agree to keep the Staley name for a year. In 1921, the Staleys won the league championship. In 1922, the team was renamed the Chicago Bears.

 

From the start, the Bears were one of pro football's most successful and innovative franchises. They were the first to buy a player from another team—in 1922, they bought Ed Healey from Rock Island for $100. In 1925, the Bears signed the fabled collegiate all-America, Red Grange, and showcased him before the first huge pro football crowds. In 1932, they defeated the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 to win the championship in the NFL's first indoor game. The next year, they won the first NFL championship by defeating the New York Giants, 23-21.

 

Chicago cornerback Charles Tillman breaks up a pass intended for Green Bay receiver Donald Driver

 

The Bears kicked off the 1940's with four straight NFL championship appearances. They won three, including the famous 73-0 annihilation of the Washington Redskins in 1940. Despite winning nearly 60% of their games in the 1950's, the Bears did not win an NFL title and made only one playoff appearance. In 1963, they broke their 17-year title drought by beating the New York Giants, 14-10.

 

Almost all of the Bears' successes on and off the field between 1920 and 1983 are attributable to one man: George (Papa Bear) Halas. For 64 years, he served the Bears as owner, player, coach, general manager, traveling secretary . . . virtually capacity imaginable. When he retired after the 1967 season, Halas ranked as the NFL's all-time leader in coaching victories with 324, a record that stood for 27 years. Papa Bear died on October 31, 1983, but the Bears tradition is carried on today by his grandson, Michael McCaskey, who serves as club president and chief executive officer.

 

In its first 74 years, the Bears compiled a 586-384-42 overall record. They qualified for the playoffs 21 times, won 19 division titles, eight NFL championships and one Super Bowl (XX). There are also 24 former Bears in the Hall of Fame, including Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, Sid Luckman, Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Bulldog Turner, Danny Fortmann and George Halas—legends not only of the Bears but of pro football itself.