50 Fun Facts About Chicago Bears

The Bears franchise was founded in 1919 in which city, as a company team for a starch manufacturer?

Decatur was home to the A. E. Staley starch company, whose works team became the Decatur Staleys; George Halas took charge in 1920 and entered the club in the new professional league that autumn.

When George Halas renamed the Staleys in 1922, 'Bears' was a nod to which other Chicago team?

The Cubs shared Wrigley Field, then Cubs Park, with Halas's team, and since football players are bigger than baseball players he reasoned that if they were cubs his men were bears; several early NFL clubs borrowed baseball names.

How many NFL championships, counting Super Bowl XX, did the Bears win in the 20th century?

Nine titles: eight pre-merger championships, the last in 1963, plus Super Bowl XX, a 36-point rout of New England after the 1985 season.

The Bears' famous helmet logo is a wishbone-shaped version of which letter?

The wishbone 'C' debuted on the helmet in 1962 in white and was switched to orange with a white outline in 1974; the team colours are navy blue, orange and white.

The Bears' nickname 'Monsters of the Midway' originally belonged to which institution?

U of Chicago, whose Maroons played beside the Midway Plaisance, dropped big-time football in 1939; the Bears picked the name up in the 1940s, when Sid Luckman led them to four titles in seven seasons.

By what score did the Bears beat Washington in the 1940 NFL Championship Game?

The 73-0 rout on 8 December 1940 saw the Bears score 11 touchdowns; so many extra-point kicks went into the stands that officials asked Halas to run or pass the last conversions to save footballs.

Which offensive scheme did George Halas revive with the Bears, powering their 1940 title team?

The T-formation lines the quarterback up under centre with three backs in a row behind him, forming a T; Halas and Clark Shaughnessy added a man in motion, and Sid Luckman became its first great quarterback.

How long was the field when the 1932 Bears-Spartans playoff moved indoors to Chicago Stadium?

80 yards, 20 short of regulation, was all the indoor field allowed; the Bears won 9-0 on a disputed jump-pass touchdown, and the game's success led to hash marks and a formal championship game from 1933.

Before founding the Bears, George Halas played 12 games in 1919 as an outfielder for which baseball team?

The New York Yankees gave Halas 12 games in right field in 1919, when he batted .091 before a hip injury ended his baseball career; the next year he was running the Staleys.

In which Ohio city was the 1920 meeting that created the league held?

Canton hosted the 17 September 1920 meeting in a Hupmobile showroom that founded the American Professional Football Association, renamed the NFL in 1922; Halas attended for the Staleys, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened there in 1963.

The 1925 signing of which college halfback, followed by a sell-out barnstorming tour, legitimised the NFL?

Red Grange, the 'Galloping Ghost', debuted for the Bears on Thanksgiving Day 1925 and drew some 70,000 to the Polo Grounds days later; in 1926 he and agent C. C. Pyle launched a rival league that lasted one season.

Bronko Nagurski, the Bears' fullback and tackle of the 1930s, was born in which country?

Canada was his birthplace: Bronko Nagurski was born in Rainy River, Ontario, in 1908 and raised across the border in International Falls, Minnesota; he later wrestled as a multiple-time world heavyweight champion.

Bears quarterback Sid Luckman played college football at which Ivy League school?

Columbia's Sid Luckman, a Brooklyn native, was the 1943 NFL MVP and that November became the first to throw seven touchdown passes in a game, against the Giants at the Polo Grounds.

In which year did the Bears move from Wrigley Field to Soldier Field full-time?

In 1971 the Bears left Wrigley Field, where one end zone was cut short by the left-field wall, for the larger Soldier Field after five decades at the ballpark.

Soldier Field, opened in 1924, was dedicated to American soldiers who died in which conflict?

World War I dead were honoured when Municipal Grant Park Stadium was renamed Soldier Field in 1925; the NFL's oldest stadium lost its National Historic Landmark status in 2006 after the $632 million rebuild.

Soldier Field hosted the opening match of which international tournament in 1994?

The FIFA World Cup opened at Soldier Field on 17 June 1994, Germany beating Bolivia 1-0 before 63,117, a crowd the rebuilt stadium's 61,500 capacity could no longer hold.

Gale Sayers tied an NFL record as a rookie in 1965 by scoring how many touchdowns in one game against the 49ers?

Six touchdowns on a muddy Wrigley Field on 12 December 1965 tied Ernie Nevers' 1929 mark; Sayers finished his rookie year with 22 touchdowns and in 1977 became the Hall of Fame's youngest inductee at 34.

A 1971 TV film with James Caan dramatised Gale Sayers's friendship with which Bears teammate?

Brian Piccolo, Sayers's roommate in the NFL's first interracial roommate pairing, died of embryonal cell carcinoma in June 1970 at 26; the TV film 'Brian's Song' followed and the Bears retired his number 41.

The Bears linebacker who wore 51 and was drafted third overall in 1965 played college ball where?

The Chicago native was named 'the most feared tackler of all time' by NFL Network and later acted in Blue Thunder and Hang Time.

The annual award for the best college linebacker is named after which Bears great?

Dick Butkus, the Bears' middle linebacker from 1965 to 1973, lent his name to the award created in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando; the team retired his number 51 in 1994.

Walter Payton played his college ball at which historically Black university?

Jackson State, in Mississippi, was where Payton rushed for more than 3,500 yards before the Bears took him fourth overall in 1975; his 275-yard game against Minnesota in 1977 came while he had the flu.

How many career rushing yards did Walter Payton have when he retired, then an NFL record?

16,726 rushing yards stood as the NFL record from 1984, when Payton passed Jim Brown, until Emmitt Smith overtook it in 2002; 'Sweetness' won the 1977 MVP and died of bile duct cancer in 1999.

Which team handed the 15-1 1985 Bears their only loss, on a Monday night in December?

The Miami Dolphins won 38-24 at the Orange Bowl on 2 December 1985, preserving the 1972 Dolphins' perfect season; the Bears filmed the Super Bowl Shuffle video the next day and allowed only 198 points all year.

The 1985 Bears' defence, run by coordinator Buddy Ryan, was known by what number?

The 46 took its name from safety Doug Plank's jersey number; the 1985 unit posted the first back-to-back playoff shutouts, blanking the Giants 21-0 and the Rams 24-0 on the way to the Super Bowl.

The Bears won Super Bowl XX 46-10 over the New England Patriots in which city?

New Orleans, LA, hosted Super Bowl XX at the Louisiana Superdome on 26 January 1986; defensive end Richard Dent was named MVP, while Walter Payton was held to 61 yards and no touchdown.

Which Bears defensive lineman scored a rushing touchdown in Super Bowl XX and owns the largest Super Bowl ring ever?

William Perry, 'The Refrigerator', plunged in from the one-yard line in Super Bowl XX; his size-25 ring set the record for a Super Bowl champion, and the nickname came from a Clemson teammate after an elevator squeeze.

After a $5,000 fine for an Adidas headband, Jim McMahon wore one in the 1985 playoffs bearing whose name?

Rozelle was the name on the headband, mocking commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had fined him $5,000 for wearing an Adidas one; Rozelle reportedly found it 'funny as hell', and McMahon's Super Bowl headband read 'JDF CURE' for juvenile diabetes.

The Super Bowl Shuffle peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

41st was the peak on the Hot 100 in February 1986; the record went gold, earned a Grammy nomination that lost to Prince's 'Kiss', and sent more than $300,000 to the Chicago Community Trust.

Which Bears defensive star declined to take part in the Super Bowl Shuffle at all?

Dan Hampton, the Hall of Fame defensive lineman, refused to appear, thinking it arrogant to sing about the Super Bowl before the playoffs; Walter Payton and Jim McMahon missed the original shoot and were filmed later.

Bears linebacker Mike Singletary won Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and which other year?

1988 brought Singletary his second AP Defensive Player of the Year award; the Baylor product made 10 Pro Bowls, entered the Hall of Fame in 1998 and coached the 49ers from 2008 to 2010.

Mike Ditka was the first player at which position to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Tight end Mike Ditka, the 1961 Rookie of the Year, was the first at his position elected to the Hall of Fame; he and Tom Flores each won Super Bowls as a player, assistant and head coach.

After leaving the Bears in 1992, Mike Ditka returned to coach which team from 1997 to 1999?

The New Orleans Saints hired Ditka in 1997; he went 15-33 in three seasons and traded the club's entire 1999 draft to move up for Ricky Williams. The Bears retired his 89 in December 2013.

The Bears' second Super Bowl appearance came in the 2006 season, when they lost 29-17 to which team?

The Indianapolis Colts, led by Peyton Manning, won 29-17 in Miami on 4 February 2007, the first Super Bowl played in steady rain; Tony Dungy became the first African American head coach to win it, over Lovie Smith.

Which Bear returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a touchdown?

Devin Hester took the opening kickoff 92 yards just 14 seconds into Super Bowl XLI, the first opening-kickoff touchdown in Super Bowl history; in 2024 he became the first return specialist elected to the Hall of Fame.

How many return touchdowns did the Bears' Hall of Fame return man score, an NFL record?

20 return touchdowns: 14 on punts, five on kickoffs and one on a missed field goal, all but one with the Bears between 2006 and 2013; fans dubbed him the 'Windy City Flyer'.

Brian Urlacher, drafted ninth overall by the Bears in 2000, played his college football for which school?

New Mexico's Brian Urlacher, a Lobos safety-linebacker from Lovington, was the 2000 Defensive Rookie of the Year and the 2005 Defensive Player of the Year, spending all 13 seasons in Chicago wearing 54.

In which season did the Bears and Packers first meet, a 20-0 Chicago shutout?

1921 saw the first meeting on 27 November, a 20-0 Staleys win in Chicago; the rivalry has been played every season since except 1922 and the strike year 1982.

Which Packers lineman returned an interception for the clinching touchdown in the 2010 NFC Championship Game?

B.J. Raji, a 337-pound nose tackle, dropped into coverage and returned Caleb Hanie's pass 18 yards for the score in the 21-14 win; it was the teams' first playoff meeting since 1941.

The Bears fight song 'Bear Down, Chicago Bears' was written in 1941 by Al Hoffman under what pseudonym?

Jerry Downs was the pen name songwriter Al Hoffman used for the 1941 fight song, written after the Bears' 1940 championship; a later recording by Bill Archer and the Big Bear Band plays after every home touchdown.

What was the team's cheerleading squad, disbanded by Virginia McCaskey after 1985, called?

The Honey Bears danced on the sidelines from 1976 until the team let their contract lapse after the Super Bowl season; Virginia McCaskey, Halas's daughter, controlled the club from his death in 1983 until hers in 2025.

The team's mascot Staley Da Bear made his debut at Soldier Field in which year?

2003 was the debut, timed to the reopening of the rebuilt Soldier Field that September; Staley Da Bear is named for A. E. Staley, whose starch company fielded the original works team.

The Bears hold the NFL record for most Pro Football Hall of Famers and the most what?

Retired jersey numbers: the Bears have taken 14 out of circulation, from Bronko Nagurski's 3 to Walter Payton's 34, more than any other NFL club; Halas himself was in the Hall's 1963 charter class.

Whom did the Bears select second overall in the 2017 draft after trading up one spot?

Mitchell Trubisky went second overall in 2017 after the Bears sent three extra picks to San Francisco to move up from third; Patrick Mahomes (10th) and Deshaun Watson (12th) went later in the same round.

Bronko Nagurski's NFL championship ring, the largest recorded in Hall of Fame history, was what size?

19.5 was the ring size, the largest in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's collection, made for a man listed at 6 ft 2 in and 226 lb; a 1985 Bear's Super Bowl ring later topped it.

The Bears' team headquarters, Halas Hall, is in which Chicago suburb?

Lake Forest, on the North Shore, has housed Halas Hall since the 1970s, the current facility opening in 1997; after a major expansion the team moved training camp there in 2020, ending nearly two decades of summers in Bourbonnais.

While Soldier Field was rebuilt in 2002, the Bears played home games at Memorial Stadium in which city?

Champaign's Memorial Stadium, 135 miles south of Chicago, hosted all eight Bears home games of the 2002 season, with the team finishing 4-12; the rebuilt Soldier Field reopened the following September.

Which team did the Bears beat 14-10 in the 1963 NFL Championship Game?

The New York Giants lost 14-10 at Wrigley Field on 29 December 1963, Halas's last title; the Bears' defence intercepted Y. A. Tittle five times, and both touchdowns came on short Bill Wade sneaks.

The infamous Fog Bowl playoff game at Soldier Field pitted the Bears against which team?

The Philadelphia Eagles, coached by former Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, lost 20-12 in the divisional playoff on New Year's Eve as a dense fog rolled off Lake Michigan in the second quarter and cut visibility to about 15 yards.

George Halas coached the Bears on and off for how many seasons, an NFL record?

Forty seasons in four stints between 1920 and 1967 gave Halas 324 wins, a record until Don Shula passed it in 1993; he owned the club outright from 1932, when partner Dutch Sternaman sold his share.

In 2012 Charles Tillman set an NFL record with four forced fumbles in one game against which team?

The Tennessee Titans lost 51-20 in Nashville on 4 November 2012 as Tillman punched the ball loose four times; 'Peanut' forced 44 fumbles in his 13-season career.