Da Bears (or The Bears if you prefer)

The Bears recorded this prior to winning the 1985 Super Bowl.

Originally named the Decatur Staleys, the club was established by the A. E. Staley Company of Decatur, Illinois in 1919 as a company team. This was the typical start for several of the early professional football franchises. The company hired George Halas and Edward "Dutch" Sternaman in 1920 to run the team, and turned full control of the team over to them in 1921.However, official team and league records cite Halas as the founder as he took over the team in 1920 when it became a charter member of the NFL.

Along with the Arizona Cardinals (originally from Chicago themselves), the Bears are one of only two charter members of the NFL still in existence. The team relocated to Chicago in 1921, where the club was renamed the Chicago Staleys. Under an agreement that was reached by Halas and Sternaman with Staley, Halas purchased the rights to the club from Staley for US$100.

The field serves as a memorial to American soldiers who died in wars, hence its name. It was designed in 1919 and completed in the 1920s. It officially opened on October 9, 1924 (the 53rd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire), as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, changing its name to Soldier Field on November 11, 1925. Its design is modelled on the Greco-Roman architectural tradition, with doric columns rising above the stands. However, after being rebuilt, the modern stands now dwarf the columns. The new stadium seats 61,500 people - 5,444 fewer than the old one.

The Bears won their ninth NFL Championship, first since the AFL-NFL merger, in Super Bowl XX after the 1985 season in which they dominated the NFL with their then-revolutionary 46 defense and a cast of characters that recorded the novelty rap song "The Super Bowl Shuffle". The season was notable in that the Bears had only one loss, the "unlucky 13th" game of the season, a Monday night affair in which they were defeated by the Miami Dolphins.

When Ditka took over coaching the Bears in '82 the team had only two winning seasons in the last 19 years. He managed to turn that around and led the Bears to a 10-6 record and an NFC Central Division Title and was named Coach of the Year.

Ditka compiled a regular-season record of 106 wins and 62 losses, with a 6-6 record in the playoffs. He guided the Bears to six NFC Central Division titles, in addition to three NFC title games. From 1985-88, he led the Bears to 52 wins--the most ever by an NFL team in any four-year span.

During his years as head coach of the Bears from 1982-92, the highlight occurred in 1985, as he led his team to a 15-1 regular-season and captured the NFL crown in Super Bowl XX, defeating the New England Patriots, 46-10. He was named Coach of the Year by Associated Press, The Sporting News and the Pro Football Writers Association for that stellar season. Also, Ditka is only one of two individuals to have won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Played for the Bears for only four seasons. In 1967, his playing time increased as a back-up to starting tailback Gale Sayers, and in 1969, he was moved up to starting fullback, with Sayers as the tailback. He played in the NFL from 1966 – 1969 and scored five touchdowns. Shortly after he was sent for a medical exam that uncovered cancer. He's probably best known now for the movie Brian's Song.

During the 1976 NFL season, Payton rushed for over 1000 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. Following the season, he was selected to play in the 1977 Pro Bowl, where he was declared the Pro Bowl MVP. The following year, he rushed for over 1800 yards during the 1977 NFL season, and scored 16 touchdowns, becoming the league’s leading scorer for the season. He earned numerous awards that season, including the Associated Press and Pro Football Writers of America’s Most Valuable Player awards. His most memorable game of the season was against the Minnesota Vikings, where he rushed for a then-record 275 yards while combating the flu. By the end of the decade, Payton received additional accolades for his exploits as a blocker, receiver, emergency punter, and quarterback. In 1985, Payton rushed for over 1500 yards, while helping the Bears’ establish the league’s second best offense. However, the 1985 Chicago Bears were spearheaded by their revolutionary 46 defense. Payton and the Bears’ cruised to a 15-1 record, which culminated with a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots, at Super Bowl XX.

In February of 1999, Payton announced that he had a rare liver disease known as primary sclerosing cholangitis, which soon led to the growth of a cancerous tumor on his liver. Payton spent his final months as an advocate for organ transplants, appearing in many commercials to encourage others to donate organs. The following April, Payton made a final public appearance at a Chicago Cubs game with Mike Ditka, where he threw the game's ceremonial first pitch.

Like a twisting tornado on the Kansas plains from whence he came, the Chicago Bears' Gale Sayers swirled onto the National Football League scene in 1965, wreaking fearful havoc and destruction on every opposition defense that stood his way. The fluid, will-of-the wisp ball-carrying thrusts of the mercurial Sayers dazzled the pro football world in a manner that it had not experienced for a full 40 years, not since another whirling dervish runner, the fabled Red Grange, flashed into action, also as a Chicago Bear.

There is no telling what the "Kansas Comet" might have attained not fate stepped in to neutralize the flashing feet that no defense could adequately contain. A right knee injury in the ninth game of the 1968 season was a foreshadow of things to come. Yet, more determined than ever, Gale underwent a tortuous rehabilitation program, and in 1969, rushed for his second 1,000 yard season and won universal NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors.

But a left knee injury sustained in the 1970 season effectively put a stop to the glittering career after just four-and-one-half seasons of full-time activity.

In 1965, Dick Butkus was drafted by his NFL home team, the Chicago Bears, and suddenly the Midway had a brand new Monster! Picking up where he left off in college, he made 11 solo tackles in his first game and served as the catalyst for dramatically reversing the fortunes of a Bears defense that had been struggling. He was a top contender for NFL Rookie of the Year honors, but was edged out by his teammate and fellow first-round draft pick, the spectacular Gale Sayers, drafted by the Bears the same year.

Ranging from sideline to sideline with speed, quickness, and instinct, the 6-3, 245-lb. Butkus terrorized opposing ball carriers and quarterbacks. His mauling style of tackling was worthy of a grizzly bear. Adept at forcing fumbles, he recovered 27 in his nine-year career. He also excelled at pass coverage against tight ends and running backs, and finished his career with 22 interceptions. Most of all, he was the undisputed leader of the Chicago Bears defense, epitomizing the clean, hard-nosed, brutal athleticism that set the standard for every NFL middle linebacker who followed.

William Perry; known as the Refrigerator because of his size; in a league filled with big guys, we was the biggest. In his 10 years as a pro, he played in 138 games, recording 29.5 sacks and 5 fumble recoveries, which he returned for 71 yards.

From 1977 through 1985 the club's official cheerleaders were the Honey Bears, who were hired by then General Manager Jim Finks. They cheered at Soldier Field during all Bears home games and performed at halftime for the viewing public. The group's founder and choreographer, Cathy Core, was contacted by Finks on the topic of organizing the cheerleading squad, but as she didn't believe that Finks was actually calling she hung up. When she later found out the call was genuine, she apologized.

The idea of a cheerleading squad was thought up by Halas himself, who called them "dancing girls".[13] Halas was quoted as saying that the Honey Bears would be around as long as he was alive. After his death in 1983, his heirs in the McCaskey family decided to end their relationship with the Honey Bears, declining to renew their contract following the Bears' championship season of 1985. Word has it that as long as the McCaskey family owns the team, the Honey Bears will remain a memory.