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2011 Chicago Bears Schedule

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1920's - George Halas founded pro football and the Decatur Staley's in 1920 and set membership at $100 per club. The Staley's posted a 10-1-2 record in that inaugural season as each player earned $1,900 for the season. The Bears won their first title the next season (1921) with a 9-1-1 mark and went on to post winning records in all but one season in the entire decade (1929: 4-9-2). The first major signing took place in 1925 when the Bears signed Red Grange to a contract. Halas then took Grange and the Bears on a coast-to-coast barnstorming tour in which the club played 16 games in nine weeks. The first game of that stretch was played before 36,000 at the team's home site, Wrigley Field.

1930's - Halas left the coaching ranks in 1930 and Ralph Jones led the club to a 24-10-7 record from 1930-32. The Bears won the 1932 championship before 11,198 fans at Chicago Stadium. The franchise lost $18,000 that season and Sternaman sold his half of the club to Halas. The 1933 season marked Halas' return to coaching and the beginning of the National Football League. The Bears beat the Giants 23-21 in the NFL's first championship game that year. The Bears advanced to the NFL title game twice more in the decade, but fell to the Giants in 1934 and the Redskins in 1937.

1940's - The decade began with another NFL title as the Bears buried the Washington Redskins, 73-0, as ten different players scored while Chicago unveiled the T-formation. Halas left for war duties in the middle of the 1942 season. The team continued winning, but lost the title game in Washington, 14-6. Luke Johnsos and Hunk Anderson co-coached the wartime Bears the next three seasons. In 1943, the Bears beat Washington 41-21, at Wrigley Field in the NFL title game. Halas returned in 1946 and the Bears won the title again - defeating the Giants, 24-14, before a NFL record crowd of 58,346 in the Polo Grounds.

1950's - The Bears began the decade with a title run, but lost to the Rams in the 1950 Western Division title game, 24-14. Paddy Driscoll replaced Halas as coach in 1956 and the Bears lost to the Giants in the NFL Championship game at Yankee Stadium. Halas returned for his final stint as head coach in 1958.

1960's - The Bears won their final title under Halas in 1963, beating the NY Giants, 14-10, at Wrigley Field. A new era was signaled in 1965 when the club drafted Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers in the first round of the college draft. Sayers set a NFL record with 22 TDs as a rookie, including six in a single game against the 49ers. Prior to the 1968 season, Halas retired from coaching after 40 seasons and a 324-151-31 record. Ed McCaskey was named team's vice-president and treasurer in 1967, a position he held for 17 years before being named to Chairman of the Board in 1983. Ed spearheaded the club's civic activities for many years and attends NFL meetings. Among his many civic contributions on behalf of the Bears was guiding the Brian Piccolo Fund from its inception in 1970 to 1987, raising millions of dollars for cancer research.

1970's - The Bears played their final season in Wrigley Field in 1970 before moving to Soldier Field. In the same year, Halas was elected president of the NFC as the NFL and AFL merged. In 1974, Jim Finks joined the Bears as General Manager. Finks named Jack Pardee, the first non-Bear in such a position, as head coach replacing Abe Gibron. In 1975, the Bears moved their training camp to Lake Forest after spending 31 years in Rensselaer, Indiana; and Walter Payton was the club's first-round draft choice. After a 14-year hiatus the Bears returned to the playoffs in 1977, winning their final six games to finish 9-5. The Bears again made the playoffs in 1979 under head coach Neill Armstrong. Chicago lost in the opening round in both 1977 and 1979. The organization suffered a major loss at end of the decade when team president George "Mugs" Halas, Jr. died at 54. Mugs joined the Bears front office in 1950, was named treasurer in 1953, and became president of the club in 1963.

1980's - Armstrong's tenure ended in 1982 and he was replaced by Dallas Cowboys' assistant Mike Ditka, a Bears tight end from 1961-66. In 1983, Jim Finks resigned and George Halas died at age 88. Michael McCaskey, the oldest son of Ed and Virginia McCaskey, and the grandson of George Halas, became the third president in club history. McCaskey was a business school professor and operated a consulting company in Boston before joining the Bears. In his 14 full seasons with the club the Bears have posted nine winning seasons, made three trips to the NFC title game and won Super Bowl XX.

McCaskey has served stints on the Finance, Long Range Planning, Stadium, and NFL Properties Executive committees during his tenure. The Bears returned to the NFL elite in 1984. They advanced to the NFC Championship game (losing to San Francisco) and Walter Payton broke Jim Brown's all-time NFL rushing record. The loss in the '84 title game set the stage for the 1985 season in which the Bears posted shutouts in the both playoff games before ripping the Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl XX. The Bears won the NFC Central division each of the next three seasons, but could never get past the NFC title game. Payton's jersey was retired following the '87 season.

1990's - The Bears made playoff appearances in 1990 and 1991. The 1992 season was marked by the retirement of Mike Singletary, the end of the Mike Ditka era and Kevin Butler becoming the club's all-time scoring leader. Dave Wannstedt was named the 11th coach in team history in 1993 and led the Bears to back-to-back winning seasons in 1994 and 1995. The uniform numbers of Dick Butkus (51) and Gale Sayers (40) were retired in 1994. The team moved into its new headquarters, Halas Hall at Conway Park, on March 3, 1997. The Bears became the first franchise in NFL history to win 600 games; number 600 was a 13-7 win over Tampa Bay at Soldier Field (11-23-97). On August 1, 1998, Mike Singletary became the 24th Bear inducted into the NFL Hall-of-Fame, the most of any franchise.

Information excerpted from www.chicagobears.com. ©2007 Chicago Bears. All Rights Reserved.
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