The 50 Greatest Players in Chicago Bears History. Robert W. Cohen
dominant team from 1932 to 1943, the Bears became known for their powerful running game that featured the league’s most physically intimidating player, fullback Bronko Nagurski, whose aggressive style of play came to epitomize the Bears of that era. Also known for their ferocious defense and exceptional line play on both sides of the ball, the Bears acquired the nickname “Monsters of the Midway” for the havoc they wreaked on opposing teams during the 1930s and 1940s. On offense, the Bears featured Nagurski, quarterback Sid Luckman, end Bill Hewitt, and standout linemen Dan Fortmann, Joe Stydahar, and George Musso. All six men also starred on defense, with Nagurski excelling at linebacker, Hewitt at end, Luckman in the secondary, and Fortmann, Stydahar, and Musso on the line.
Making a successful return to the coaching ranks in 1946, George Halas guided the Bears to a regular season record of 8-2-1 and their seventh league championship, which they captured with a 24–14 victory over the Giants in the NFL title game. Halas remained at the helm for another nine years, leading the Bears to an overall record of 67-40-1 during that time, although they failed to make another playoff appearance. Standout performers for the team during Halas’s third term as head coach included center/linebacker Clyde “Bulldog” Turner, offensive tackle/linebacker George Connor, defensive end Ed Sprinkle, and wide receivers Ken Kavanaugh and Harlon Hill.
The Bears posted a regular season record of 9-2-1 under new head coach Paddy Driscoll in 1956, earning in the process their first division title in 10 years. However, they subsequently suffered an embarrassing 47–7 defeat at the hands of the Giants in the NFL championship game, before going just 5-7 the following year. Dissatisfied with his team’s performance, Halas returned to the sidelines in 1958, remaining there for the next 10 seasons before retiring from coaching for good at the end of 1967. Although the Bears advanced to the playoffs just once during Halas’s final tour of duty as head coach, they made that postseason appearance a memorable one, winning their eighth NFL title by recording a 14–10 victory over the Giants in the 1963 league championship game, with their exceptional defense, which featured lineman Doug Atkins, safeties Richie Petitbon and Rosey Taylor, and linebackers Bill George, Joe Fortunato, and Larry Morris, rekindling memories of the “Monsters of the Midway.”
The Bears subsequently entered into an extended period of mediocrity, posting a winning record just four times between 1964 and 1983. Particularly inept from 1966 to 1976, the Bears compiled an overall mark of just 54-96-4 over the course of those 11 seasons, as Halas (1966–1967), Jim Dooley (1968–1971), Abe Gibron (1972–1974), and Jack Pardee (1975–1977) all took turns coaching the team. Yet, despite their lack of success, the Bears fielded some of the league’s most talented players during those lean years, with tight end Mike Ditka, halfback Gale Sayers, line-backer Dick Butkus, and defensive back Gary Fencik all earning numerous individual accolades. Meanwhile, Walter Payton established himself as the NFL’s premier running back, ending his career as the league’s all-time leading rusher.
With the Bears in the middle of the darkest period in franchise history, they elected to change home venues in 1971, leaving Wrigley Field for the friendly confines of Soldier Field, a historic stadium built in the 1920s as a memorial for World War I veterans that has hosted many memorable sporting events through the years, including the 1927 heavyweight boxing championship rematch between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. Located on Lake Shore Drive, on the Near South Side of Chicago, next to Lake Michigan, Soldier Field has now served as home to the Bears for nearly half a century.
After Jack Pardee left the Bears to coach the Washington Redskins following the conclusion of the 1977 campaign, former Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Neill Armstrong replaced him at the helm for the next four seasons, leading the team to an overall record of just 30-34. Things finally began to turn around, though, shortly after George Halas replaced Armstrong with Mike Ditka at the end of 1981. Ditka, whose gritty personality had earned him the nickname “Iron Mike” during his earlier six-year stay in Chicago, proved to be just what the Bears needed, with his toughness, determination, and single-mindedness helping to alter the team’s losing mindset. Before long, the Bears emerged as an NFL powerhouse, capturing five straight NFC Central Division titles from 1984 to 1988, appearing in three conference championship games, and winning their ninth NFL championship with a resounding 46–10 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
Although those Bear squads featured Walter Payton and arguably the NFL’s best group of linemen on offense, the key to their success proved to be their overwhelming “46” defense, which they used to batter their opponents into submission. Devised by legendary defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, Chicago’s scheme on that side of the ball emphasized putting an inordinate amount of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which expert defenders such as Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael, Mike Singletary, Otis Wilson, and Wilber Marshall did an exceptional job of. Particularly dominant in 1985 and 1986, Chicago’s defense surrendered only 198 points to the opposition in the first of those campaigns, before allowing just 187 points the following year. And, en route to winning the NFL championship in 1985, the Bears allowed a total of only 10 points during the postseason, shutting out both the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC playoffs.
Sadly, George Halas did not live to witness his beloved team’s return to glory. After spending the previous 15 seasons serving the Bears exclusively as owner and front office executive, the man affectionately known as “Papa Bear” died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 88, on October 1, 1983. Almost all the success the Bears experienced between 1920 and 1983 can be attributed to Halas, who, in addition to owning, coaching, and playing for the team, fulfilled several other roles at various times, including serving as traveling secretary and head of public relations. Generally considered to be the “father of professional football,” Halas retired in 1967 with a total of 324 coaching victories that stood as the NFL record until Don Shula finally surpassed it in 1994.
Following Halas’s passing, his oldest daughter, Virginia McCaskey, became principal owner of the Bears, with her husband, Ed McCaskey, succeeding Halas as the chairman of the board. Mrs. McCaskey later replaced her husband with her son, Michael, who remained chairman of the board until 2010, when his brother, George, assumed that position. Meanwhile, Mrs. McCaskey, who is 97 years old as of this writing, continues to hold the honorary title of “secretary of the board of directors.”
Mike Ditka led the Bears to two more playoff appearances between 1989 and 1992, before being relieved of his duties after the team finished just 5-11 in the last of those campaigns. Former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt succeeded Ditka as head coach, achieving very little success over the course of the next six seasons, with the Bears compiling an overall record of 40-56 and making the playoffs just once. Team ownership then turned to onetime NFL defensive back and former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, who guided the Bears to just one winning season between 1999 and 2003, although they managed to capture the division title in 2001 by going 13-3 during the regular season, before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 33–19 in the divisional round of the postseason tournament.
The Bears finally began to perform at a consistently higher level after longtime college and NFL assistant coach Lovie Smith assumed head coaching duties in 2004, winning three division titles and one NFC championship under his leadership from 2004 to 2012. Particularly impressive in 2006, the Bears outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 427– 255, en route to compiling a regular-season record of 13-3 that represented the best mark in the NFC. They then earned a hard-fought 27–24 overtime victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the postseason tournament, before winning the NFC title by defeating the New Orleans Saints by a score of 39–14 in the conference championship game. However, they came up short against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI, suffering a 29–17 defeat at the hands of their AFC counterparts. Although the Bears remained extremely competitive under Smith the next six years, posting a winning record three times and capturing another division title in 2010, team ownership ultimately decided to go in a different direction, replacing their longtime head coach with Marc Trestman, who had spent nearly three decades coaching quarterbacks, running backs, and offense at both the collegiate and professional levels. Smith left behind him a legacy that included overseeing the development of outstanding players such as linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs,