George Halas

• 1. The Near-Death Escape

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  George Halas was born on the 2nd of February 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in a home filled with Czech-Bohemian immigrants from Pilsen, Austria-Hungary. His father worked as a tailor while his mother ran a grocery store. The young man planned to work for Western Electric during the summer of 1915. He intended to board the SS Eastland that fateful day. Halas arrived late because he needed to gain weight for Big Ten football. That delay saved his life when the ship capsized in the Chicago River. Eight hundred forty-four passengers died in the disaster. Halas walked away unscathed from a tragedy that claimed hundreds of lives.

• 2. A Multi-Sport Athlete

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  Halas attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after graduating from Crane High School. He played football under coach Bob Zuppke and earned a degree in civil engineering. The student also competed in baseball and basketball for the university. He helped Illinois win the 1918 Big Ten Conference football title. During World War I, he served as an ensign in the Navy. He played for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Halas won the MVP award of the 1919 Rose Bowl game. After college, he played minor league baseball before joining the New York Yankees. He appeared in twelve games as an outfielder in 1919. A hip injury ended his professional baseball career shortly thereafter.

• 3. Founding The League

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  Halas moved to Decatur, Illinois, to work for the A. E. Staley Company starch manufacturer. He became a player-coach for the company-sponsored football team called the Decatur Staleys. He chose orange and navy blue colors for the team uniforms based on his alma mater. In 1920, Halas represented the Staleys at a meeting in Canton, Ohio. This gathering formed the American Professional Football Association. The organization later became known as the National Football League. Augustus E. Staley gave Halas control of the team after financial troubles arose. Halas received a five-thousand-dollar bonus to move the franchise to Chicago. He renamed the club the Chicago Bears in 1922. The new name honored the nearby Chicago Cubs baseball team.

• 4. The T-Formation Revolution

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  Halas partnered with University of Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy in the late 1930s. They perfected the T-formation system to create a revolutionary style of play. Their strategy drove the Bears to an astonishing seventy-three-point victory over the Washington Redskins. That game took place during the 1940 NFL Championship Game. It remains the most lopsided margin of victory in league history. Every other team in the league immediately began trying to imitate the format. Halas believed he found the perfect quarterback for this offense in Sid Luckman. Luckman launched his Hall of Fame career playing quarterback from 1939 to 1950. The complex spins and turns required by the scheme limited available players. The Bears repeated as NFL champions in 1941 and 1943. This era became known as the time of the Monsters of the Midway.

• 5. War Service And Business

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  Halas entered the United States Navy again after World War II began in 1942. He served overseas for twenty months under Admiral Chester Nimitz. His duties supported welfare and recreational activities for the Seventh Fleet. He received the Bronze Star before being released in 1946 with the rank of captain. During his service, the Bears won another title in 1943 under Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos. Halas returned to the field in 1946 to coach the club for a third decade. He met with military chiefs including General Dwight Eisenhower and offered charity games. Proceeds from these games reached over two million dollars by mid-1957. Halas also established minor league farm teams like the Newark Bears in 1939. These clubs incubated talent for easy return when injured players needed replacements.