Chicago Bears: Encyclopedia II - Chicago Bears - Franchise history

Chicago Bears - Franchise history

The Bears are one of the most storied NFL teams. Since becoming a charter member of the league in 1920, they have played in over 1,000 games. Through the 2004 season, they led the NFL in overall franchise wins with 660. They were founded in 1919 by the A.E. Staley Company in Decatur, originally as the company team, a typical start for several of the classic NFL franchises. Staley hired George Halas and Edward "Dutch" Sternaman in 1920 to run the team and turned control of the team over to them in 1921.

Halas liked the bright orange-and-blue colors of his alma mater, the University of Illinois, and the Bears adopted those colors as their own, albeit in a darker shade of each (the blue is a Navy Blue, and the orange is Pantone 1665, similar to burnt orange). As with several early NFL franchises, the Bears derived their nickname from that of their landlords, in this case the Chicago Cubs.

Their rivalry with the Green Bay Packers is one of the oldest and fiercest in professional sports. Green Bay historians still talk about an incident in the early NFL days, in which Halas got the Packers expelled from the league in order to prevent them signing a particular player, and then graciously got them re-admitted after the Bears had closed the deal with that player. Jumping ahead to their famous 1985 season, Coach Mike Ditka used 350-plus pound lineman "Refrigerator" Perry as a truly "wide" receiver in a touchdown play at Lambeau Field, flagrantly taunting the Packers. The Packers have also one-upped the Bears from time to time over the years. One example that still rouses the ire of Bears fans is the "Instant Replay Loss" game of 1989.^[1]

The Bears were responsible for triggering the NFL's long-standing rule that a player could not be signed until his senior class had graduated. The NFL took that action as a consequence of the Bears' aggressive signing of famous U of I player Red Grange, within a day after his final game as a collegian.^[2]

The Bears became a dominant team in the early 1940s, acquiring the University of Chicago's discarded nickname "Monsters of the Midway" as well as a newly-penned theme song that declared them "The Pride and Joy of Illinois". Of the many league championships in their history, the most awe-inspiring was their 73-0 victory over the favored Washington Redskins at Griffith Stadium in the 1940 league championship game. That score is still an NFL record for lopsided results.

After his partner Dutch Sternaman left the organization, Halas maintained control of the Bears until his death in 1983. Halas also coached the team off-and-on for forty seasons, an NFL record. For the most part, the Bears have stayed in the Halas family. The team is currently owned by Halas' daughter Virginia McCaskey and has been run on a day-to-day basis since 1999 by President and CEO Ted Phillips.

The Bears have won 9 league championships, including Super Bowl XX after the 1985 season in which they dominated the NFL with their then-revolutionary 46 defense and a cast of characters that recorded the novelty rap song "The Super Bowl Shuffle". The season was notable in that the Bears had only one loss, the "unlucky 13th" game of the season, a Monday night affair in which they were defeated by the Miami Dolphins. At the time, much was made of the fact that the Dolphins are the only franchise in history (through the 2005 season) to have an undefeated season and post-season. The Dolphins came close to setting up a rematch in the Super Bowl, but lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC title game. Ironically enough, "The Super Bowl Shuffle" was videotaped the next day after that Monday night loss.

Since the 1985 Championship season, the Bears have been on a downfall slide. In the last 15 years, the Bears have made the playoffs three times, and winning only one game. They have been defeated at home in the playoffs twice in the new millenium. The Bears have not played in the NFC Championship Game since 1988, when the San Francisco 49ers blasted the Bears 28-3 at Soldier Field.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Franchise history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki