1940: Bears Demolish Redskins 73-0 for NFL Title

The NFL Championship game on December 8, 1940 remains the most one-sided in pro football history. It represents an astounding domination of one championship-caliber team by another. It also served as a demonstration of the capabilities of the revamped T-formation which, over the coming decade, would replace the single-wing as the offense of choice for most pro football teams.

There were 36,034 fans at Washington’s Griffith Stadium to see the Redskins, champions of the Eastern Division, take on the first place team in the Western Division, the Chicago Bears. The Redskins, under Head Coach Ray Flaherty, ran a double-wing offense and had the league’s best passer, tailback Sammy Baugh, to direct it. He had good receivers to throw to in ends Wayne Millner and Charley Malone, and FB Jimmy Johnson and HB Dick Todd were both effective receivers out of the backfield as well. In an era when defenses operated with three defensive backs, Washington typically sent four receivers down the field, and Baugh could usually find an open one.

Chicago, under the direction of George Halas, the owner and head coach, had been using variations of the T-formation for several years, but had recently refined it. He had an outstanding quarterback to operate it in Sid Luckman, a second-year ex-tailback out of Columbia. The club also had rookie HB George McAfee, who had quickly laid claim to being the best open-field runner in the league, Ray Nolting at the other halfback spot, and FB Bill Osmanski, as well as a stable of capable players who could spell them. The line was anchored by another rookie, center Clyde “Bulldog” Turner, and contained other eventual Hall of Famers in guard Danny Fortmann and tackle Joe Stydahar.

The two teams had met three weeks previously in Washington and the Redskins won by a score of 7-3. Also owning a better record (9-2 to Chicago’s 8-3), they were the favorites coming into the title contest. However, the motivational seeds had been sown after that earlier game when several of the Bears complained about a referee’s call that had nullified a potential game-winning touchdown. Washington’s imperious owner, George Preston Marshall, publicly referred to the Bears as “cry-babies” and “first-half ballplayers” – quotes that the Chicago players took careful note of.

Not only was there a motivational element to fuel the Bears, but Halas had been meeting with his offensive consultant, Stanford’s Head Coach Clark Shaughnessy, and several new plays were developed to attack the Redskins’ defense (primarily counter plays to take advantage of the tendency of the linebackers to shift toward the man-in-motion). The club was well-prepared and sky-high emotionally upon arrival in Washington.

It didn’t take long for the Bears to strike. On the second play of the game, Osmanski took a handoff, found a big hole at left tackle, cut to the sideline, and ran 68 yards for a touchdown (pictured at top). The last two Redskins with an opportunity to catch him were taken out in a single block by end George Wilson. Chicago was up by 7-0 less than a minute into the first quarter.

Washington came right back, however, getting a good kickoff return and then running the ball effectively. On a third down play, Baugh passed for the first time and had Malone open for what would have been an easy touchdown – he dropped it and the Redskins came up empty. Chicago responded by driving 80 yards in 17 plays. Only one was a pass, and it was to McAfee for 15 yards to the Washington two yard line. Shortly thereafter, Luckman scored on a quarterback sneak from less than a yard out.

The Bears got the ball back at the Redskins’ 42, and on the first play Luckman pitched out to FB Joe Maniaci, who went the distance. It was 21-0 after one quarter of play. Baugh was pulled out of the game and played little the rest of the way. The Bears scored just once in the second quarter, as Luckman connected with end Ken Kavanaugh for a 30-yard TD, and the quarterback was rested during the second half.

Chicago poored it on in the third quarter, adding another 26 points, three on interceptions that were returned for touchdowns (15 yards by end Hamp Pool, 34 yards by McAfee, and 24 by Turner). The offense also contributed a 23-yard scoring run by Nolting. Two of the extra point attempts failed, but it didn’t matter as the Bears were leading 54-0 with a quarter to go.

HB Harry Clarke made it 60-0 in the fourth quarter with a 44-yard touchdown run, followed by a failed extra point attempt, and as there was now a shortage of footballs due to PAT attempts sailing into the stands (there were just a dozen balls available for the game), for the remaining scores Halas told the team to run plays for the extra point attempts (under the rules of the time, they still counted for just one point). FB Gary Famiglietti ran for a two-yard TD, followed by a successful pass from QB Solly Sherman to Maniaci, and Clarke ended the scoring with a one-yard touchdown, after which the pass for the extra point fell incomplete. The lead was large enough, in any event, as the Bears became NFL Champions by a score of 73-0.

The domination was complete statistically, too. The Bears rolled up 519 total yards, to 231 for Washington. The Redskins gained just five net yards on 15 carries, to 381 on 53 attempts by Chicago, and also turned the ball over nine times (eight interceptions, one fumble). The Bears suffered just one turnover, on a fumble.

Bill Osmanski, who started it all, ran for 109 yards on 10 carries. Twelve Bears ran with the ball during the course of the game, with other notable contributors being Harry Clarke (73 yards on 8 carries and two TDs), Ray Nolting (68 yards on 13 attempts and a score), and Joe Maniaci (60 yards on 6 rushes and a TD).


As a whole, the Bears threw ten passes, and Sid Luckman (pictured at left with Halas) was good on three of four attempts for 88 yards and a touchdown. Maniaci was the leading receiver with three catches for 39 yards.

Sammy Baugh was successful on 10 of 17 passes for 102 yards with two intercepted. His capable backup, Frank Filchock, completed 7 of 23 throws for 87 yards and was picked off four times; he also led the Redskins with 20 yards on two carries. Wayne Millner caught 5 passes for 84 yards.

Afterward, Baugh was asked if the result might have been different if Malone had not dropped the sure scoring pass in the first quarter. The laconic Texan reportedly replied, “Yeah, it would have been 73-7.” He also called the game “the most humiliating thing I ever went through on the football field.” Such was Chicago’s total domination.

The Bears went on to repeat as champions in 1941 and, by 1943, had gone to four straight title games and won three of them. They aptly earned the nickname “Monsters of the Midway”. Washington fell short of a rematch in ’41 but won the Eastern Division in 1942 and upset Chicago for the championship to gain at least some measure of revenge for the trouncing in 1940.

1955: Cardinals Hand Bears Key Defeat in Major Upset

The Chicago Bears were 6-3 and had won six straight games as they took on their cross-town rivals, the Chicago Cardinals, at Comiskey Park on November 27, 1955. George Halas, the owner and in his third stint as head coach, had announced that this would be his last season on the sideline and the club was focused on winning one last title for “the Papa Bear.” They were in first place in the Western Conference, a half game in front of the Rams, a club they had beaten twice.

The Cardinals were 3-5-1 and had lost their last two games coming into the annual intercity contest with the Bears. Under first-year Head Coach Ray Richards, the club had some outstanding talent in HB Ollie Matson (pictured above) and defensive halfback Dick “Night Train” Lane, but was by no means considered a match for its rival. They were 16.5-point underdogs coming into the game.

There were 47,314 fans in attendance in a heavy snowstorm, and even though it was the Cardinals’ home field, many of those were Bears fans, judging from the cheers for the Bears’ players during the pregame introductions. The turf was soft and muddy due to the weather conditions and the lights were turned on during the first quarter.

The tone for the game was set early as the Cardinals took the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards in 13 plays for the first score. QB Lamar McHan threw a pass intended for end Gern Nagler that was deflected but grabbed by end Don Stonesifer, who completed the play for a 28-yard touchdown.

The Bears took possession and were forced to punt. Matson received the kick at his own 23 yard line and returned it 77 yards for another Cardinals TD. Before the opening period was over, rookie HB Dave Mann scored on a 19-yard run to open up a 21-0 margin for the Cards.

The lead was extended to 27-0 in the second quarter after FB John Olszewski ran for a 41-yard touchdown. While PK Pat Summerall missed the extra point, it hardly mattered. The Bears finally got on the board when QB George Blanda ran for a one-yard TD, but were in a deep hole at 27-7 as the first half ended.

Any hopes that the Bears might climb out of that hole ended when they fumbled the ball away in their first two possessions of the second half. Summerall kicked field goals of 12 and 40 yards, and Mann contributed a long touchdown dash of 61 yards to add to the rout at 40-7 after three periods.

Matson and Stonesifer finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter, with the Hall of Fame halfback plunging in for a TD from a yard out and the end catching a seven-yard pass from McHan. The Bears scored an inconsequential touchdown in the last minutes as third string QB Bob Williams connected with end John Hoffman on a 23-yard pass play. The final score of the stunning upset was 53-14.


The Cardinals gained 301 yards on the ground, averaging 5.7 yards per attempt, and 175 passing for an overall total of 474, to 211 yards for the Bears. Dave Mann (pictured at left) led the club in rushing with 108 yards and two TDs. The Cards also led in first downs, 20 to 12, while the Bears turned the ball over five times (four interceptions, one fumble) to just two suffered by the Cardinals.

The Cardinals also led with 9 penalties, to four by the Bears. While tempers flared occasionally, a fight broke out near the end that caused two Bears and a Cardinal to be ejected.

The Bears, who were the top rushing team in the NFL, gained only 25 yards on the ground, with 186 through the air. QB Ed Brown, normally a reliable thrower, missed on all seven of his pass attempts. It was the worst beating the Cardinals had inflicted on the Bears since 1929, when Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns.

“When you’re a Cardinal, part of the job is beating the Bears,” said veteran Charley Trippi, a Hall of Fame halfback in his prime who was finishing his career as a punter. “We beat them at their own game, with good blocking and good tackling.”

The loss proved devastating to the Bears’ postseason hopes – they dropped behind the Rams, and while they won their last two games to end up with an 8-4 record, LA did likewise to win the Western Conference title at 8-3-1. The Cardinals went 4-7-1 and tied the Eagles for fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Ollie Matson led the NFL in punt return average (18.8 yards on 13 returns) and, with the touchdown against the Bears, was the only player in the league to return two for scores during the season. His 1325 all-purpose yards (475 rushing, 237 receiving, 245 returning punts, 368 returning kickoffs) ranked second.

Dave Mann ran for 336 yards on 85 carries and caught 16 passes. He also ran back kickoffs as he totaled 609 all-purpose yards and handled much of the team’s punting (in addition to Trippi).

Don Stonesifer (pictured below) led the Cardinals in pass receiving with 28 catches for 330 yards and five touchdowns.

As for George Halas, while he did indeed step down as head coach (while continuing to run the club from the front office), it did not prove to be a permanent retirement. He returned to the sideline in 1958 and won another championship in ’63 before finally retiring for good after the 1967 season.

1963: Bears Dominate Packers in Key Western Conference Showdown

The main headline in the Chicago Tribune on November 17, 1963 read “Nation Awaits Bears-Packers Today”, and there was no question that the contest at Chicago’s Wrigley Field between the host Bears and visiting Green Bay Packers was significant.

Head Coach Vince Lombardi’s Packers had won the Western Conference the previous three seasons and went on to win the NFL Championship in 1961 and ’62. Seasoned and solid on both offense and defense, they were 8-1 heading into the showdown at Wrigley Field, having lost the opening game to the Bears in Green Bay by a 10-3 score. The offense, however, had sustained two key losses – one prior to the start of the season when star HB Paul Hornung was suspended by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for gambling, and the second in the sixth game when QB Bart Starr suffered a broken hand. 32-year-old veteran QB Zeke Bratkowski had been obtained from the Rams, but it was John Roach, in his third season as the backup, running the offense for the fourth straight game at Chicago.

The Bears, coached by the “Papa Bear”, 68-year-old George Halas, were also 8-1, having been upset by the 49ers in Week 6. The offense, led by QB Bill Wade, was conservative and unexciting, but the defense, coached by George Allen, was excellent against both the run and pass. The line was anchored by All-Pro DE Doug Atkins; the linebacking corps of Joe Fortunato, Bill George, and Larry Morris was considered the best in pro football; and the defensive backfield featured All-Pro safeties Roosevelt Taylor and Richie Petitbon (Morris pictured above tackling Roach).

There was a capacity crowd of 49,166 in attendance on a pleasant day. The Halas game plan was to control the ball and smother Green Bay’s offense, and that is what happened. The tempo was set in the first quarter.

The Packers received the opening kickoff and gained a first down on two five-yard runs by FB Jim Taylor, but were shut down thereafter. Jerry Norton’s punt traveled only 27 yards, giving the Bears good field position at their 40 yard line. They drove to the Green Bay 22, with FB Joe Marconi starting off with a nine-yard run and TE Mike Ditka catching a 16-yard pass from Wade, and Roger LeClerc kicked a 29-yard field goal.

The next Green Bay possession resulted in a 38-yard punt which, combined with a 15-yard penalty for a personal foul on OT Forrest Gregg, put the Bears on the Green Bay 47. The resulting possession ended with a 46-yard field goal by LeClerc to extend the lead to 6-0.


Packers CB Herb Adderley returned the ensuing kickoff from three yards deep in his end zone to the 35, but fumbled when hit by Chicago end Bo Farrington and LeClerc recovered. Wade passed to split end Angelo Coia for 14 yards and then fleet HB Willie Galimore (pictured at right) raced 27 yards for a touchdown. The score stood at 13-0 at the end of the first quarter, and for all intents and purposes the outcome was decided.

The Bears had another chance to score in the second quarter after Joe Fortunato recovered a fumble by Roach at the Green Bay 33, but LeClerc missed a 19-yard field goal attempt after Chicago drove to the 12.

In the first possession of the third quarter, the Bears went 68 yards, highlighted by a screen pass from Wade to Marconi that gained 28 yards to the Green Bay 43. The drive was finally stopped at the 12 and LeClerc kicked another field goal to extend the margin to 16-0.


The teams traded punts, and then Roosevelt Taylor (pictured at left) pulled a Roach pass out of the hands of flanker Boyd Dowler at the Green Bay 43 and returned it to the 35. However, the Packers defense stiffened and LeClerc missed another field goal attempt.

Bratkowski entered the game at quarterback for the Packers, but on the first play of the fourth quarter he was intercepted by CB Dave Whitsell, leading to a successful LeClerc field goal of 35 yards. With the clock running down to nine minutes, Bratkowski went to the air again but missed WR Bob Jeter twice on long passes, and the Bears took over on downs after four incompletions.

LeClerc missed a 49-yard field goal attempt, but after HB Tom Moore ran for 18 yards, Bratkowski was intercepted by CB Bennie McRae, who returned it 46 yards to the Green Bay 5. Wade faked a pass and then ran five yards for a touchdown on second down.

The Packers finally scored with just over four minutes left to play on an 11-yard run by Moore following a 64-yard pass play from Bratkowski to split end Max McGee, but other than salvaging some pride, it was meaningless (it was also the first touchdown the Packers had scored in two games against Chicago that season).

Following Green Bay’s touchdown, the Bears ran the clock down. Fittingly enough, the last play was Taylor intercepting a Bratkowski pass and Chicago came away with a convincing 26-7 win that put them alone in first place.


The Bears threw just 14 passes but ran the ball 57 times for an impressive 248 yards while holding the vaunted Packers running attack to 71. It was a great job of ball control to complement the domination by the defense, which constantly broke through to disrupt running plays, shutting down the famed Green Bay power sweep on several occasions before it could get under way. Perhaps most significantly, the Packers turned the ball over seven times while Chicago suffered no turnovers at all.

Bill Wade (pictured above right) directed the offense well and, in keeping with the game plan, didn’t throw often – he was good on 6 of 14 passes for 92 yards, and while he threw no touchdown passes, he also gave up no interceptions. He also ran the ball four times for 28 yards and a touchdown. Willie Galimore was the top rusher with 79 yards on 14 carries, including the one score. It was a group effort by the stable of running backs – Joe Marconi added 52 yards on 14 attempts, FB Rick Casares 44 yards on 11 rushes, and HB Ron Bull had 30 yards on four carries. Mike Ditka and Angelo Coia caught two passes apiece, with Ditka gaining the most yards (32 to Coia’s 26, while Marconi had 28 on his lone reception). Roger LeClerc (pictured below left) was another key to the club’s success, making good on four of seven field goal attempts.


Green Bay’s quarterbacks were a combined 11 for 30 and suffered five interceptions. John Roach was successful on 8 of 20 passes for 92 yards with two intercepted. Zeke Bratkowski was able to complete only 3 of 10 passes for 86 yards with three picked off (Bart Starr was active for the game but his only action was as holder on the lone placekick). Tom Moore was the leading rusher with 50 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. Jim Taylor, after gaining the quick 10 yards to start the game, was held to only 13 yards the rest of the way and ended up with 23 on seven attempts. Thanks to the long reception late in the game, Max McGee was the leading receiver with three catches for 93 yards.

“They just beat the hell out of us, both ways, offensively and defensively,” said Coach Lombardi afterward.

Phil Handler, the Bears’ offensive line coach, was given the game ball in recognition of the inspired line play that allowed the Bears to run effectively and control the ball.

While the Bears tied their next two games, they didn’t suffer any losses the rest of the way and finished in first place with an 11-1-2 record. Green Bay also didn’t lose again, including one tie, to come in second at 11-2-1. The season series sweep by Chicago made all the difference – it was the first time since Lombardi’s first year in 1959 that a team had beaten the Packers twice in the same season. The Bears went on to defeat the New York Giants to win the NFL Championship – it was the sixth league title for Halas, who led the team to its first 42 years earlier.

The Bears finished at the top in total defense, including the rare distinction of being best against both the run and the pass. They allowed a league-low 144 points, intercepted an NFL-best 36 passes, and also were at the top with 57 sacks. The offense, by contrast, ranked 10th overall of the 14 NFL teams – but with only 25 turnovers (which, since the defense had 54 takeaways, gave Chicago a +29 differential), they minimized the mistakes and controlled the football enough to reach the top.

1940: Rookie George McAfee Keys Bears to Romp Over Packers

When HB George McAfee was chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 1940 draft out of Duke, the Chicago Bears traded three players for his rights. It was a move that the Bears and their owner/Head Coach George Halas never regretted. In a single-platoon era when all-around skills were especially valued, McAfee could run, pass, and kick - but the running was his most significant asset.

The 6’0”, 177-pound halfback made an immediate impression in training camp and the preseason. He won an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers with a 73-yard punt return in the last minute. On September 22, 1940 he made an even bigger impression as the Bears opened their regular season against the arch-rival Packers at Green Bay’s City Stadium.

The Packers, under founder and Head Coach Curly Lambeau, had placed first in the Western Division in both 1938 and ’39 and were the defending NFL champions. They had opened their regular season the preceding week and defeated the Eagles 27-20. There was a then-record crowd of 23,557 on hand to see the Packers face the club most likely to threaten their perch atop the division.

Green Bay scored first, on a 25-yard field goal by Tiny Engebretsen. But on the ensuing kickoff, McAfee ran 93 yards for a touchdown – his first time touching the ball in a regular season contest.

The Packers would get a further taste of McAfee’s abilities as the game wore on. In the third quarter, with the Bears leading 21-10, he tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to another noteworthy rookie, end Ken Kavanaugh. Then in the fourth quarter, McAfee scored his second touchdown of the contest on a nine-yard run.

Green Bay’s strong offense piled up plenty of yards, outgaining the Bears 333 to 290 and running off 19 first downs to Chicago’s 5. But the Packers also turned the ball over nine times and the Bears capitalized by making big plays. In addition to McAfee’s heroics, HB Ray Nolting returned the second half kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown and Kavanaugh scored a second TD to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard pass play from QB Bob Snyder. Chicago was up by 21-3 in the third quarter before Green Bay managed to score again, on a 35-yard touchdown pass from tailback Arnie Herber to star end Don Hutson. But that was it for the Packers – the Bears won decisively, 41-10.

The pattern was established during McAfee’s rookie season of inserting him selectively during a game – Halas deployed him when his big-play abilities could be put to best use. He came to be referred to as “One-Play McAfee” both because he was typically limited to 30 minutes per game, and for his ability to turn a game on a very few touches of the football.

The Bears, with a deep and talented team and revamped T-formation, did indeed manage to place first in the Western Division, with an 8-3 record to Green Bay’s second place 6-4-1, and demolished Washington in the NFL Championship game by a 73-0 score. McAfee carried the ball 47 times for 253 yards (a team-leading 5.4-yard average gain) and two touchdowns, caught 7 passes for 117 yards (16.7 avg.) and threw two scoring passes. Kickoff and punt return statistics weren’t yet kept (that would begin the following year), but McAfee’s opening-game kickoff return for a touchdown was one of just three in the NFL that year. He also intercepted four passes on defense.

McAfee would have his greatest season in 1941, placing second in rushing (474 yards), rushing touchdowns (5, tied with three others), all-purpose yards (999), and points scored (72). He tied Green Bay’s Hutson for the most touchdowns with 12 and his six interceptions were right behind the two league leaders (the Cardinals’ Marshall Goldberg and Pittsburgh’s Art Jones with 7 apiece). Moreover, McAfee averaged 11.9 yards every time he touched the ball, over three yards more than league runner-up Jones (8.2).

After that, McAfee went into military service for three years during World War II, returning to play in three games in 1945 at age 27. He played until 1950, a total of eight seasons (in three of which he played three or fewer games), and his career numbers are hardly overwhelming. He gained a total of 1685 yards rushing, on 341 attempts for a 4.9 average with 21 touchdowns, and never had more than 92 carries in a season. In an era when backs typically weren’t a big part of the passing game (and teams didn’t pass as often in any case), McAfee had 85 catches for 1359 yards and a 16.0 average with 11 TDs. By far, his career high for pass receptions in a season was 32, for 492 yards and a score, in 1947.

McAfee returned 112 punts (aside from his rookie season), and his 12.8 average is still the career high for any NFL player with at least 75 returns. Two were returned for touchdowns. Used more sparingly to run back kickoffs, he had 18 for a 27.1 average and two TDs (again, the average doesn’t count his rookie season, prior to kick returns being compiled as an official statistic). McAfee also intercepted 25 passes on defense, twice picking off six in a season and with two returned for touchdowns.

Both left-handed and left-footed, as a passer McAfee tossed three touchdown passes in six career completions and as a punter averaged 36.7 yards on 39 punts, including a 79-yard boot in 1941.

The regard with which he was held by his own coach, “Papa Bear” George Halas, and other coaches around the league was unquestionably high. Green Bay’s Lambeau referred to McAfee as “the best and most dangerous man the Packers have ever faced.” Philadelphia’s Greasy Neale, who coached Hall of Fame halfback Steve Van Buren, called McAfee “the greatest plunging and quick-opening back I have ever seen.” Bears assistant Hunk Anderson said, “I played with (Notre Dame’s George) Gipp and I saw plenty of (Red) Grange, but McAfee is better than either one of them.”

The numbers in any individual category might look insignificant, but they add up to a versatile player who could do everything well. McAfee was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

1968: George Halas Retires as Head Coach of Bears

By the spring of 1968, George Halas was a 73-year-old man with a bad hip that was hindering his mobility (it was a legacy of his brief major league baseball career with the Yankees back in 1919). Yet it was still something of a shock to pro football fans on May 27, 1968 when he announced that he was retiring as head coach of the Chicago Bears after a total of 40 years.

It is hard to do justice to the pro football career of “the Papa Bear” in just a few paragraphs. It has been said that Halas didn’t invent pro football, it just seemed that way. His involvement extended beyond a single franchise – he was a significant figure in the development of the entire NFL. Halas was present at the 1920 organizational meeting of what would become the National Football League, representing the Decatur Staleys. From that beginning, as a player, coach, and business manager, he became a part-owner of the team in 1921, when the Staley Starch Works decided to forego operating a company-sponsored football team, and moved the franchise to Chicago.

After a year as the Chicago Staleys (A.E. Staley provided Halas $5000 in startup money with the stipulation that the Staley name be kept for a year), Halas rechristened the team the Bears after working out a lease agreement to play at Wrigley Field, home of major league baseball’s Cubs. He retired as a player in 1929 and also gave up coaching, handing the reigns to Ralph Jones while working out business matters with co-owner Ed Sternaman. After buying out Sternaman, Halas returned to coaching the team in 1933 and left for a second time in 1942 to join the US Navy during World War II. Once discharged, he again took up coaching in 1946 and retired following the ’55 season. He came back one last time in 1958, after having effectively maintained control while longtime assistant Paddy Driscoll was head coach.

While Halas had the ultimate job security of owning the team, the fact was that he was an outstanding and innovative coach, leading the Bears to a title for the first time in 1921 and the last time over forty years later, in 1963. In all, he coached the team to six championships, with at least one in each of his stints (1921, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1963). They also won championships under Jones (1932) and co-coaches Luke Johnsos and Hunk Anderson (1943), with Halas still a major presence in the running of the club.

Halas pioneered in the development of the T-formation with man-in-motion, assisted by Ralph Jones and University of Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy. He was the first coach to hold daily practices and regularly analyze game film of opponents. He was an outstanding judge of talent, of coaches as well as players, surrounding himself at all times with able assistants (most notably Driscoll, Johnsos, Anderson, George Allen, and Jim Dooley) – and Halas also pioneered in the use of an assistant coach as an “eye-in-the-sky” during games. The results were reflected in a 318-148-31 record (.682) with a 6-3 postseason tally. The Bears had winning records in 34 of his 40 seasons on the sideline.

Off the field, Halas was a party to many rules changes and innovations that helped the league to gain appeal and improved the game (use of hashmarks, allowing passing from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, structuring of the league into divisions with a championship game concluding the season, etc.). He also recognized the value of revenue sharing among the teams for the good of the overall competitive balance of the league and the significance of radio and television as tools for popularizing pro football.

As a coach, Halas was a strong disciplinarian and an emotional leader who was notorious for storming up and down the sideline while berating referees during the course of a game. He took criticism for being tight with money and complicit in the unofficial color line that kept African-American players out of the NFL during the 1930s and 40s. However, he also was the first coach to allow a black and white player to room together on the road (Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo) and could be generous to players in need (during Piccolo’s ultimately losing battle with cancer, Halas reportedly paid all of his medical bills).

There were contradictions, but there could be no question that George Halas set high standards for later generations of coaches and showed farsightedness in moving the league forward. The influence of “the Papa Bear” is still felt decades after his death in 1983 – and some 90 years after he helped found the NFL.