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George Stanley Halas (February 2, 1895 - October
31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr.
Everything", was an American player, coach, owner
and pioneer in professional football and the
iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago
Bears.

Halas, born in Chicago, Illinois, had a varied
career in sports. After graduating from Crane Tech
High School in Chicago, he attended the University
of Illinois, playing football for coach Bob Zuppke
as well as baseball and basketball, and earning a
degree in civil engineering. He helped Illinois
win the 1918 Big Ten football title. Serving as an
ensign in the Navy during World War I, he played
for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Training
Station, and was named the MVP of the 1919 Rose
Bowl. On a team which included Paddy Driscoll and
Jimmy Conzelman, Halas scored two touchdowns and
returned an intercepted pass 77 yards in a 17-0
win; the team was also rewarded with their
military discharges.

Afterward, Halas played minor league and semi-pro
baseball. He was so good at baseball, he
eventually earned a promotion to the New York
Yankees, where he played 12 games as an outfielder
in the major leagues in 1919. However, a hip
injury effectively ended his baseball career. He
was replaced in the outfield by the legendary Babe
Ruth.

Offered a position with a Decatur, Illinois starch
manufacturer as a company representative, player
on the company-sponsored baseball team, and
player-coach of the football team by company
founder A.E. Staley, Halas selected the University
of Illinois' colors - orange and blue - for the
team's uniforms. In 1920, Halas represented
Decatur at the meeting which formed the National
Football League in Canton, Ohio, and was awarded a
franchise he called the Decatur Staleys, in honor
of the founder's financial contribution. After
suffering financial losses despite a 10-1-2
record, the club moved to Chicago in 1921, winning
the NFL championship that year. They took the name
Bears in 1922 as a tribute to the Chicago Cubs,
who permitted the Bears to play their games at
Wrigley Field.

With the Staleys and Bears, Halas not only played
offensive end but also handled ticket sales and
the business of running the club; lore says he
even sold tickets before the game. All of that
perhaps not being enough to do, Halas also coached
the team. Named to the NFL's all-pro team in the
1920s, his playing highlight occurred in a 1923
game when he stripped Jim Thorpe of the ball,
recovered the fumble, and returned it 98 yards - a
league record which would stand until 1972. In
1925, Halas persuaded Illinois star player Red
Grange to join the Bears; it was a significant
step in establishing both the respectability and
popularity of the league, which had previously
been viewed as a refuge for less admirable
players.

After ten seasons, Halas stepped back from the
game in 1930, retiring as a player and leaving the
sidelines as coach; but he remained the owner of
the club, becoming sole owner in 1932. The lure of
the field was too much, however, as Halas returned
in 1933 to coach the Bears for another ten
seasons. During his absence from coaching, the
team had also won the 1932 championship. His 1934
team was undefeated until a loss in the
championship game to the New York Giants.

In the late 1930s, Halas - with University of
Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy - perfected the
T-formation system to create a revolutionary and
overwhelming style of play which drove the Bears
to an astonishing 73-0 victory over the Washington
Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game. Every
other team in the league immediately began trying
to imitate the format. The Bears repeated as NFL
champions in 1941, and the 1940s would be
remembered as the era of the "Monsters of the
Midway".

Halas went on a second three-year hiatus during
World War II, serving in the Armed Forces from
1943-45, while the Bears won another title in
1943. Returning to the field in 1946, he coached
the club for a third decade, again winning a title
in his first year back as coach. After a brief
break in 1956-57, he resumed the controls of the
club for a final decade from 1958 to 1967, winning
his last championship in 1963. He did not,
however, enjoy the same success as he had before
the war. He did win his 200th game in 1950 and his
300th game in 1965, becoming the first coach to
reach both milestones. In 40 years as a coach, he
endured only six losing seasons.

Halas played an integral part in the segregation
of the league in the 1930s by refusing to sign
black players for the Bears. Fritz Pollard, who in
the 1920s was the league's first African-American
coach, blamed Halas for keeping him out of the
league in the 1930s and 1940s. Halas eventually
changed course and helped to integrate the league,
drafting the NFL's first black player since 1933,
George Taliaferro, although Taliaferro did not
play for the Bears; Halas later signed Willie
Thrower, who with the Bears became the league's
first black quarterback.

A pioneer both on and off the field, Halas made
the Bears the first team to hold daily practice
sessions, to analyze film of opponents to find
weaknesses and means of attack, place assistant
coaches in the press box during games, and to
broadcast games by radio. He also offered to share
the team's substantial television income with
teams in smaller cities, firmly believing that
what was good for the league would ultimately
benefit his own team. A firm disciplinarian, Halas
maintained complete control of his team and did
not tolerate disobedience and insubordination by
players. He also insisted on absolute integrity
and honesty in management, believing that a
handshake was sufficient to finalize a deal; few,
if any, intermediaries were necessary.

After the 1967 season, Halas - then the oldest
coach in league history - retired as coach. He
continued to own the club and to be involved in
business decisions. He was honored in 1970 and
1980 as the only person involved in the league
throughout its first fifty and sixty years of
existence.

George Halas' career ledger reads as follows: 63
years as an owner, 40 as a coach, 324 wins, and 8
NFL titles as a coach or owner. He was a charter
member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963;
the Hall of Fame is appropriately located on
George Halas Drive. The NFC championship trophy
also bears his name. In both 1963 and 1965 he was
selected by The Sporting News, the AP and the UPI
as the NFL Coach of the Year. In 1997 he was
featured on a US postage stamp as one of the
legendary coaches of football. He has been
recognized by ESPN as one of the ten most
influential people in sports in the 20th century,
and as one of the greatest coaches. In 1993, Miami
Dolphins coach Don Shula finally surpassed Halas'
victory total. To this day, the jerseys of the
Chicago Bears bear the initials "GSH" on their
left sleeves in tribute to Halas.

Halas died of cancer in Chicago on October 31,
1983 at age 88, and is entombed in St. Adalbert
Catholic Cemetery. His eldest daughter, Virginia,
remains involved with the Bears in their front
office.