SALUTING PAPA BEAR
There are many stories about bears’ founder and longtime coach. Here are a few of them.
Capping our celebration of the Bears’ 100th season, the final installment of the Sun-Times’ “Bears Scrapbook” is dedicated to the extraordinary life and everlasting memory of the great Chicagoan who made it all happen — not just for the Bears and Chicago, but for the National Football League: George Stanley Halas.
PIONEER, INNOVATOR, BUSINESSMAN
George Halas had a great intuition about football, the business of pro football and, of course, the Bears. There was no greater example of that than quarterback Sid Luckman.
Halas identified Luckman as the key to igniting the T-formation through scouting reports when Luckman was a passing halfback at Columbia University. But Luckman was no secret and likely would be gone before the Bears could get him. So Halas ‘‘got around this obstacle by taking advantage of a loophole in the draft law,’’ as he wrote in a first-person story in the Tribune in 1967.
Sensing the Steelers would have a high pick in the 1939 draft, Halas made a deft trade with fellow owner Art Rooney, sending end Edgar ‘‘Eggs’’ Manske to Pittsburgh in exchange for Rooney agreeing to take Halas’ man in the first round and trade him to the Bears.
The Steelers (1-9-1) indeed finished last that season and, per the deal, drafted Luckman and traded him to the Bears.
It wasn’t over, though. In those days, the NFL wasn’t the slam dunk it is today. Luckman didn’t plan on playing professional football; he was prepared to join his family’s trucking business. It took some work, but Halas persuaded Luckman to sign with the Bears for $5,500 — a hefty contract for those days. And the rest is history.
Halas pulled off a similar deal the next year, making a trade with the Eagles that netted the Bears halfback George McAfee. A year after that, the NFL passed a rule that prohibited teams from trading for first-round picks without the consent of the other clubs.
It was similar to Halas’ signing of Red Grange, after which Halas himself initiated a rule that prohibited teams from signing players before their college class graduated. Like Bill Belichick today, Halas was a step ahead of everybody.