The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl, and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears have also recorded the second-most victories of any NFL franchise, only behind the Green Bay Packers, who they have a long-standing rivalry with.
The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated the first National Football League game on September 26, 1920 at Douglas Park. The Independents were founded in 1907 by Demetrius Clements as an independent football club. Hence, the team was named the "Independents."
The Chicago Bears American football franchise is a charter member of the National Football League (NFL), and has played in all of the league's 100 seasons. The team has captured nine NFL championships – eight NFL championships and one Super Bowl – second most all time behind the Green Bay Packers. The franchise has also recorded more victories than any other franchise (739), retired the most uniform numbers (14), and have the most members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (29). The Bears have played in over a thousand games since becoming a charter member of the NFL in 1920.
John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll was an American football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall players in the early years of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
The 1921 Chicago Staleys season was their second regular season completed in the young American Professional Football Association. The team improved on their 10–1–2 record from 1920 to a 9–1–1 record under head coach/player George Halas earning them a first-place finish in the team standings and their first league championship. The beginning of the season saw A.E. Staley turn over the team to Halas and Dutch Sternaman, who moved the team to Chicago. The team name was changed from the Decatur Staleys to the Chicago Staleys due to a contract between Staley and Halas. The Staleys were quite dominant, but all of Chicago's games were played at home. Two games were against the Buffalo All-Americans; the first, played on Thanksgiving, was won by Buffalo 7–6, giving the Staleys their only loss of the season.
The 1920 season was the Decatur Staleys 2nd season of existence, the first professional season of the franchise that would go on to be known as the Chicago Bears and their first under head coach George Halas, competing in the newly formed American Professional Football Association.
The 1923 Chicago Bears season was their fourth regular season completed in the National Football League. The team was able to improve on their 9–3 record from 1922 and finished with a 9–2–1 record under head coach/player George Halas earning them a second-place finish in the team standings earning, the third time in the last four years. As was normal for those days, the Bears played a few games on the road at the beginning of the season and then finished the season with a 9-game homestand. The Bears started very slow, losing 2 of their first 4 games and scoring only 6 points during those games. After losing 6–0 to eventual champion Canton Bulldogs in week 4, the Bears went undefeated after that. Just like in 1922, the Sternaman brothers starred, scoring 5 touchdowns, 6 field goals, and 8 PATs between the two of them. Johnny Bryan emerged as a scoring threat as well, running for 4 scores and passing for another. Most notably, in week 6's game against the Oorang Indians, George Halas set an NFL record with a 98-yard fumble return. Jack Tatum broke it with a 104-yard Fumble Return against the Green Bay Packers in 1972 and Aeneas Williams tied that feat with a 104-yard fumble return against the Redskins in 2000.
The 1924 Chicago Bears season was their fifth regular season completed in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 9–2–2 record from 1923 and finished with an 8–3–4 record under head coach George Halas earning them a second-place finish in the team standings, the fourth time in the last five years. The Bears started slow with 2 ties and a loss, but quickly gained their stride, winning 6 of their last 8 games with two ties. The Bears' only loss of the year was to the Cleveland Bulldogs, the eventual champions. Despite coming in second, the Bears did defeat the cross-town rival Cardinals twice, both shutouts, and their future classic rival, the Green Bay Packers, once in a 3–0 shutout. The Sternaman brothers again carried the team, with Joe Sternaman having his best season. The younger Sternaman scored 6 touchdowns, threw for another, had 9 field goals, and 12 PATs, finishing with 75 of the Bears' 136 points.
The 1925 Chicago Bears season was their sixth regular season completed in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 6–1–4 record from 1924 and finished with a 9–5–3 record under head coach George Halas earning them a seventh-place finish in the team standings, their worst showing to that date. However, the 1925 Bears were the most notable team in the young NFL's history to that point all because of the addition of college players, including Red Grange.
The 1926 season was the Chicago Bears' 7th in the National Football League. The team was able to improve on their 9–5–3 record from 1925 and finished with a 12–1–3 record under head coach George Halas earning them a second-place finish in the team standings, their fifth showing in that place in the last seven years. This year's Bears may have been the most talented to date, with most of their veterans still playing well and the addition of talented veteran Paddy Driscoll and hard-running rookie William Senn. The Bears opened their season with 13 undefeated games. Since ties didn't count in the standings at that time, the Bears were in first place since their main competition, the Frankford Yellow Jackets, had lost an earlier game to the Providence Steam Roller. The showdown came on December 4 at Frankford. Neither team scored for the first three-quarters of this game; the tie was broken when Senn burst through the Frankford line for a 62-yard touchdown run. Driscoll missed the PAT, leaving Frankford a chance. Frankford proceeded to complete two long passes, the second for a score. Their kicker, Ernest Hamer, made the point after and Frankford won the game. Due to more victories, Frankford was the champion. The Bears were second yet again.
The 1928 season was the Chicago Bears' 9th in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 9–3–2 record from 1927 and finished with a 7–5–1 record under head coach George Halas, earning them a fifth-place finish in the team standings, their worst record to date. The season had its high points, including two shutout wins over the crosstown rival Chicago Cardinals, a shutout win over the defending champion New York Giants, and convincing victories over Frankford, Dayton, and Pottsville. However, two losses each to Detroit and the Green Bay Packers made in 1928 a disappointment to the normally contending Bears. Chicago's problem was that the old guard was aging with Joey Sternaman, Paddy Driscoll, and George Halas, who also played, were now in their early 30s. There was not enough new talent was on the team to be competitive. Also, the Bears were now faced with an equal number of away games as at home, in the early 1920s almost all their games were at home as they drew much larger crowds than most other teams. The pace of playing 3 games in 8 days around Thanksgiving was at the time a standard practice. The Thanksgiving game was not a substitute for the Sunday game but just an extra game which also hurt the veteran Bears down the stretch as in previous years. Joe Sternaman and William Senn starred on offense with 4 and 5 touchdowns each. Sternaman also shared kicking duties with Driscoll. The passing game became more important and the Bears scored 11 touchdowns on the air, versus 13 on the ground. This was a league-wide trend, foreshadowing the ascendancy of Don Hutson and Sammy Baugh of the 1930s.
The 1927 season was the Chicago Bears' 8th in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 12–1–3 record from 1926 and finished with a 9–3–2 record under head coach George Halas earning them a third-place finish in the team standings behind the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers. Notable games during this season were a split of the season series with the New York Yankees, led by former and future Bear Red Grange, a split of the season's games against crosstown rivals Chicago Cardinals, two wins over the Green Bay Packers, and, oddest of all, a win and a tie over the Frankford Yellowjackets. What makes the games with Frankford so notable is they were played back to back on December 3 and 4, with the first game in Frankford and the second in Chicago. The Bears also played the eventual champion New York Giants, losing 7-13. Paddy Driscoll, William Senn, and Joey Sternaman again starred for the Bears. Driscoll ran for 5 touchdowns and threw 4 others; Senn had 3 rushing TDs and 2 receiving scores; and Sternaman ran and caught 1 touchdown each, while passing for another. Owner and coach George Halas continued to play well, scoring 3 touchdowns himself, 2 on defense.
The 1929 season was the Chicago Bears' 10th in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 7–5–1 record from 1928 and finished with a 4–9–2 record during head coach George Halas's final season. The showing earned them a ninth-place finish in the team standings their worst record to date and first time the club finishing below .500. Chicago scored 119 points total during the season, but the defensive squad conceded 227, most in the league.
The 1931 season was the Chicago Bears' 12th in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 9–4–1 record from 1930 and finished with an 8–5 record under sophomore head coach Ralph Jones. The club finished in third place once again behind the Green Bay Packers and the Portsmouth Spartans. The Bears opened the season well, winning three of their first four games, including victories over the Cardinals and Giants. Chicago then dropped two in a row, both at home to the Packers and Yellowjackets. Four consecutive wins in the middle of the season put the Bears back in contention; however, another weak ending, losing two of their last three, made the season somewhat of a disappointment. Grange and Nagurski again carried the team, with 9 touchdowns between them. The Bears' biggest weakness was an aging interior line, with few young linemen joining the team who had an impact. They also lacked a consistent kicking game, now that Paddy Driscoll and the Sternaman brothers had all retired. Owner George Halas would remedy these problems over the next few years and get the Bears back on top.
Edward "Dutch" Sternaman was an American player and owner in professional football for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).
The 1933 season was the Chicago Bears' 14th in the National Football League and the 11th season under head coach George Halas. The team was able to improve on their 7–1–6 record from 1932 and finished with a 10–2–1 record.
The 1936 season was the Chicago Bears' 17th in the National Football League and 14th season under head coach George Halas. The team was able to improve on their 6–4–2 record from 1935 and finished with a 9–3 record. The team also finished in second place in the Western Division behind the Green Bay Packers. After week 10, the Bears were tied with the Packers in first place with identical 9–1 records, having split their season series. However, the club swooned at the end of the year, losing their last two games on the road to Detroit and the Cardinals. Green Bay went on to easily defeat the Boston Redskins and win the NFL title.
The 1937 Chicago Bears season was their 18th regular season completed in the National Football League. The Bears started the season fast, winning their first five games, three of them on the road. After a tie to the Giants and a loss to the Packers, the Bears finished the season strong, winning their last four games. The team was second in scoring offense, behind Green Bay, and led the league in scoring defense.
The first American Football League (AFL), sometimes called AFL I, AFLG, or the Grange League, was a professional American football league that operated in 1926. It was the first major competitor to the National Football League (NFL). Founded by Charles "C.C." Pyle, (1882–1939), and General Charles X. Zimmerman, (1865–1926), as vice president and starring Hall of Fame halfback Harold Edward "Red" Grange, (1903–1991), the short-lived league with nine teams competed against the more established – then six-year-old – NFL, both for players and for fans. While Pyle's and Grange's New York Yankees team and the already established Philadelphia Quakers became reliable draws, the lack of star power and the uncertain financial conditions of the other seven teams led to the league's dissolution after one season.
The Bears–Cardinals rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals. It is the oldest rivalry in the NFL and features the only two teams that remain from the league's inception in 1920. At that time, the Bears were known as the Decatur Staleys, and the Cardinals were the Racine Cardinals. In 1922, both teams moved to Chicago, and the matchup between the teams became known as "The Battle of Chicago" for 38 years, making it the first true rivalry in the league's history.
