George Halas Era

Lore & Background

Halas was one of the co-founders of the American Professional Football Association (now the NFL) in 1920, and in 1963 became one of the first 17 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the oldest person in NFL history to serve as a head coach, aged 72 years and 318 days when he coached the final game of his career in December 1967, a record that stood for over 50 years until Romeo Crennel became the interim head coach of the Houston Texans in October 2020, aged 73 years and 115 days. Halas played his final NFL game in 1928, not 1930. The striped helmet design was adopted in 1940, and the 'C' logo was not added to the helmet until 1973. Halas coached the final four games of the 1973 season before retiring permanently. His official NFL head coaching record is 318 wins.

In Their Own Story

The wind howled off Lake Michigan, biting at the exposed faces of the players huddled on the frozen gridiron of Wrigley Field. Halas stood at the sideline, his trench coat buttoned tight against the Chicago chill, watching the offensive line grind forward with a rhythmic, thunderous cadence. He didn't need to shout; the silence of the crowd and the crunch of pads were enough. 'Keep it simple,' he had told them before the snap. As the quarterback took the ball in the T-formation, Halas saw not just a play, but the culmination of forty years of building something that would outlast him. The line surged, the running back found the hole, and for a moment, the entire stadium held its breath, witnessing the enduring spirit of Papa Bear's creation.

Reader's Guide

Halas was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a family of Czech-Bohemian immigrants. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, playing football, baseball, and basketball, and earning a degree in civil engineering. He helped Illinois win the 1918 Big Ten Conference football title. After serving as an ensign in the Navy during World War I, he played for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and was named MVP of the 1919 Rose Bowl. Halas played minor league baseball and then 12 games as an outfielder for the New York Yankees in 1919. He signed his first professional football contract with the Hammond All-Stars. He moved to Decatur, Illinois, to work for the A. E. Staley Company and became player-coach of the Decatur Staleys. In 1920, he represented the Staleys at the meeting that formed the American Professional Football Association. After the 1921 season, he moved the team to Chicago, renamed them the Chicago Bears in 1922, and won NFL championships in 1921, 1932, 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946. He retired as a player after ten seasons in 1930, but remained owner. He returned as coach in 1933 and coached for another ten seasons. He refined the T-formation with Clark Shaughnessy, leading to a 73–0 victory in the 1940 NFL Championship Game. Halas was in the Navy during part of World War II; the Bears won the 1943 title under Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos. He returned to coach in 1946 and won another title. After a brief break in 1956–57, he returned to coach again.

Did You Know?

• Halas missed the capsizing of the SS Eastland in 1915 because he was running late trying to gain weight to play Big Ten football.
• Halas selected his alma mater's colors—orange and navy blue—for the Staleys' uniforms.
• Halas stripped Jim Thorpe of the ball, recovered the fumble, and returned it 98 yards in a 1923 game—a league record that stood until 1972.
• Halas persuaded Illinois star Red Grange to join the Bears in 1925, a key step in establishing the league's popularity.