Starting Up: Back in the day, a lot of teams started up as company teams in their respective cities. You know how some offices have baseball teams that the workers play on as a fun retreat? Well, that's what the Bears started out as, or rather the Staleys did. The Bears were a team made up of workers at the A.E. Staley food starch company out of Decatur, Illinois. The Decatur Staleys as they were originally known began play in 1919, and became a charter member of the NFL (then the APFL) the next year. The team moved to Chicago in 1921 and changed the team name to the Bears in 1922. They've been the Chicago Bears ever since.
Greatest Runs
The Monsters of the Midway (the 40s): The Bears won 4 championships from 1940 to 1946 and went to five championship games. The Monsters of the Midway, as these teams were known, kicked the ever loving shit out of the rest of the NFL, winning 81 games from 1940 through 1949, the most of any team over that span.
The 1985 Team: The Bears dominance wasn't limited to the days of the Great Depression and World War II. The greatest Bears team of the modern era took the field in 1985, and became just the second team to win at least 15 games in a season. This team also boasted one of the greatest defenses in football history, and rode its dominance through the playoffs, becoming the only team in history to post back to back shutouts in the postseason. The team capped off its dominant year by obliterating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX 46-10. This team is still considered to be one of the top two or three teams of the Super Bowl era.
Other Great Years: The Bears have won 9 championships in their history (1921, 1932-1933, 1940-1941, 1943, 1946, 1963, 1985), the second most in football history. They have also been within a game of the championship game or better 15 times since 1933.
Leanest Years
The Late 60s to the Early 80s: Starting with an abysmal 1-13 season in 1969, the Bears went seven straight seasons without finishing above 500, a team record for futility. The team made the playoffs in 1977 and 1979, but were quickly and embarrassingly eliminated. It wasn't until 1984 when the Bears won their first Division Title of the modern era that they started to return to form as one of the dominant teams in the NFL.
Brett Favre's Personal Punching Bags (the Early 90s to the Mid 00s): From the moment Brett Favre became the starting quarterback for the arch-rival Green Bay Packers, it meant trouble for the Bears. The Bears went 10-22 against the Packers over Favre's sixteen seasons with the green and gold, and lost ten straight games to them over five seasons from 1994 to 1998. All in all, the Favre led Packers swept the Bears an appalling eight times (half of Favre's seasons with the team) and the Bears swept them just twice, all in the Lovie Smith era in 2005 and 2007. Beyond their ineptitude against the Packers, these Bears teams just weren't very good. From 1992 to 2005, the Bear made the playoffs just three times and won one playoff game. They also experienced losing seasons in eight seasons out of nine from 1996 to 2004. Just a bleh time in Bears history.
Names You Should Know
George Halas: The Papa Bear. Halas took over the team in 1920 and was a player or coach from 1920 to 1967. He had four ten year stays as Bears head coach, and the team won six championships under his stay. Beyond that, he was an incredibly influential and savy owner during his tenure, and helped turn the NFL into what it is today. He was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He owned and was involved in the operations of the Bears until his death in 1983.
Red Grange: One of the first people who was a star in college football to transition to a pro career. College football was one of the most popular sports in the country at the time, while its professional version was a fringe sport at best. Grange's transition to the pro game legitimized it, and huge crowds came to the games he played in. He was the pro game's first true superstar, earning $100,000 on his first contract, which was an absolute shitload of money at the time (and this is in the Great Depression, mind you). He was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
Sid Luckman: The quarterback of the Monsters of the Midway Bears. Luckman was one of the finest quarterbacks of his era, second only to legendary Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh. Luckman was the first T-formation quarterback, a formation that confused its opponents and helped the Bears cruise to a 73-0 rout of the Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game, still the most lopsided game in NFL history. The Bears won three more titles in the decade in no small part due to Luckman's arm. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
Bulldog Turner: Another key contributor to the Monsters of the Midway. One of the best two-way players of his era. Back in the day, almost all NFL players had to play on offense and defense. Turner was a center and a linebacker, and was great at both. He was one of the biggest players of era (6'2'', 235 lbs), and one of the smartest (he made a point to know all eleven assignments on every play). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Bill George: The first great pure Bears linebacker. George was perhaps the first middle linebacker in NFL history, and established the new position by being one of the scariest SOBs in the 50s. Think of what a middle linebacker should do, and more than likely, it's what George did in his career. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
Dick Butkus: The greatest Bears linebacker ever, and first choice for "guy you'd shit you pants over if he was coming at you." Even forty years after he retired, he's still considered to be one of the best middle linebackers in NFL history. He only played nine seasons, but the mark he left on the game was undeniable, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
Gale Sayers: Like Butkus, Sayers was selected in the 1965 NFL Draft. In fact, he was the very next pick after Butkus, making the Bears the only team that had consecutive picks in the draft and picked two future hall of famers with them. Sayers scored 22 total touchdowns (rushing, receiving, and on kick and punt returns), scored six in a single game, and gained 2,272 all purpose yards. And that was just his first season! He had a bunch of others just like that. Like Butkus, Sayers was one of the most dominant players of his era. Also like Butkus, his career was shortened due to injuries. Regardless, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
Walter Payton: For my money, the greatest Chicago Bear ever. Walter Payton is either the greatest running back in history, or the second best behind only Jim Brown. Those two are one-two or two-one all time. No argument can dissuade me from thinking differently. When he retired, no running back had ever rushed for more yards or more touchdowns. And he was breaking these records while playing behind a usually terrible Bears offensive line. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Mike Ditka: Both a player and a coach for the Bears. In his playing days, Iron Mike was the greatest tight end who had ever played the game up to that point. He was the first tight end to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988). As a coach, Ditka presided over the great Bears teams of the 80s and (very) early 90s, becoming the first person to win a Super Bowl as a player and a coach (he won as a member of the Cowboys in 1971). Ditka has the second most wins in franchise history behind only George Halas.
Mike Singletary: The third great Bears middle linebacker, and likely the second best ever behind Butkus. Singletary was the leader of the dominant 80s Bears defenses, and was one of the most honored players of his era (10 Pro Bowl selections and 7 1st Team All-Pro nods in his career). His bruising and cerebral play landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
Brian Urlacher: Finally, we have the fourth great Bears middle linebacker. The greatest middle linebacker of his era not named Ray Lewis, Urlacher was the best player on a number of middling to great Bears teams of 2000s. His exquisite play was often overshadowed but he was still the greatest Bear of his era, and will likely take his rightful place next to the great Bears of the past when his time comes. He retired in 2013.
If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of great Bears players and coaches throughout history. In fact, more people have been inducted into the hall of fame for spending a significant amount of time with the Bears than any other team (27). And I left guys off the "you ought to know" list. Well enough about the past, let's talk about the present and future.
Five Current Guys You Should Know
Jay Cutler: The greatest Bears quarterback since Sid Luckman. I wish that wasn't a backhanded compliment. But Cutler has shown himself to be a good, even great quarterback, with some rough stretches that prevent me from putting him in the top ten. He's definitely got the tools to be one of the best quarterbacks in the game, and hopefully new Bears coach Mark Trestman can unlock that potential.
Brandon Marshall: The best receiver the Bears have had in God knows how long. Marshall was Jay Cutler's favorite target last year, and was named 1st Team All-Pro for the first time in his career. With a couple more weapons on the offense, Marshall could have as good a year, if not better than his 2012 one.
Charles Tillman: Criminally underrated cornerback. Tillman has been a good player for a long time, but has only now been recognized for his play (two straight Pro Bowls and a 1st Team All-Pro nod). He's been a fixture on the Bears defense for over a decade.
Lance Briggs: The guy who played next to Brian Urlacher. He's one of the few productive veterans left on the defense after a fairly large exodus took place this past year. Briggs has always been just as good of a linebacker as Urlacher, and even better sometimes. Plus he's comic book fan, giving hope to all of us.
Jon Bostic: Incoming Bears rookie, and likely replacement for Brian Urlacher. I'm not a big college football viewer, but in perusing his stats at College Football Reference, he seemed to be a solid player. He could really learn a lot from Lance Briggs and maybe he can be a good piece on defense for the next decade. Man I hope he's good...
And that does it for my (overly) long look at the Chicago Bears. I hope you learned something, or at the very least, found it enjoyable.
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