1925 Chicago Bears season

The Bears started slow, just like in 1924, opening the season with two ties and a loss to Green Bay (the Packers' first win ever over the Bears). The Bears regrouped, however, and won 6 of their next 7. During the fall, Bears owners George Halas and Edward Sternaman reached an agreement with C. C. Pyle to sign Illinois Fighting Illini football star Red Grange, a deal that included organizing a barnstorming tour that spanned 19 games and 67 days. As part of their agreement, the Bears received 50 percent of the ticket gate, while Pyle and Grange got the other half. The negotiations took longer than the Bears owners had expected, with Halas recalling in 1967 that he and Sternaman "figured that a middle-aged small-town theater operator who wore spats might not prove too tough a negotiator for a couple of bright young extra football executives from Chicago. But then again, we had also made other mistakes."^[1]

On November 22, after the Illini season ended, Grange formally announced his intention to sign with the Bears.^[2] That same day, he attended the Bears' 21–0 win over the Packers.^[3]

Grange made his NFL debut in the Bears'

Immediately after the Yellow Jackets game, the Bears boarded the train to New York, still wearing their dirtied uniforms; when the players noticed their gear, Pyle told Halas, "This tour will make you so wealthy, Halas, that next year you'll be able to afford two sets of uniforms."[11] On December 6, Grange and the Bears played the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds; Giants owner Tim Mara had attempted to sign Grange, and after that failed, he instead secured a game with the Bears.^[3] Although the Giants lost 7–19, the game attracted nearly 70,000 fans and saved the team from financial ruin.^[12][13]

From New York, the team traveled to Washington, D.C. to take on an all-star team. Before their game, the Bears – accompanied by Illinois Senator William B. McKinley – visited President Calvin Coolidge who greeted them, "Glad to meet you. I always did like animal acts."^[14][15] The Bears defeated Washington 19–0 with Sternaman, Johnny Bryan, and Frank Hanny scoring touchdowns.^[16]

Despite the victories, the demanding schedule led to an increase in injuries, including Grange who was hit in the left arm during the Giants game, causing it to swell by the team's next game against the

On December 13, the Bears returned to Chicago to host the Giants, but with Grange still out, many canceled their ticket reservations and only 18,000 watched as the Bears lost 9–0.[25] "No other team before or since has ever attempted such a grueling schedule as the 1925 Bears and I'm sure never will," Grange wrote in his 1953 autobiography.^[26] Grange had some success in this season, scoring three touchdowns overall. Still, the star of the team was Joe Sternaman who scored six touchdowns, threw for three more, and added three field goals and 18 PATs. Sternaman scored 72 of the Bears' 158 points.

January barnstorming tour

At the end of the 1925 season, the Bears embarked on a

Prior to their Christmas Day game against the Coral Gables All-Stars, Halas, Sternaman, and Pyle visited the game site and noticed it was merely a field of sand. To their surprise, a group of 200 carpenters quickly began constructing a temporary 25,000-seat stadium;[32] however, the poor field conditions led Halas to contact New York for new cleats. Britton, who also played kicker, received a new pair of shoes which he argued would not help him; although he had two 50-yard punts in the game, he subsequently reverted to his original footwear.^[30] The Bears won 7–0 with Grange scoring on a two-yard touchdown in front of just 8,000 (tickets were $20, over five times more expensive than an NFL game at the time).^[33][30] The stadium was demolished the next day.^[32]

On January 1, 1926, the Bears played the Tampa Cardinals in Plant Field; the Cardinals were led by Jim Thorpe, who decided to participate despite being 41, and featured several members of the NFL's Rock Island Independents.^[34][35] Thorpe struggled with fumbles as Grange and Sternaman scored in the Bears' 17–3 win.^[36][37] The next day, the Bears defeated a Jacksonville team featuring former Stanford All-American Ernie Nevers by a score of 19–6, with Grange throwing two touchdown passes, one of which went for 30 yards to Verne Mullen.^[38] Mullen was also involved in a fight with a Jacksonville player that sparked a brawl before teammates and police intervened.^[39]

After resting for a week, the team departed for New Orleans, though Halas' wife Minnie, daughter Virginia, and son George Jr. decided to return to Chicago. "My brother had been born that September 1925, and [the tour] was just before my third birthday, so I don't have any real memories," Virginia recalled in 2019. "But I have heard many stories about the traveling on the train with my mother and her sister, my aunt. And we went as far as Florida and then decided, my mother decided we would go home and not make the trip to California."^[40]

In New Orleans, a Southern-based all-star team led by former Tulane captain Lester Lautenschlager hosted the Bears. Grange scored a touchdown and recorded 136 rushing yards in a 14–0 shutout victory.^[38] From there, the Bears went westward to play the Los Angeles Wildcats, led by Washington Huskies football star and Grange admirer George "Wildcat" Wilson, who agreed to join as they offered the chance to play against him.^[41] In front of 65,000 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Grange and Joey Sternaman scored for the Bears in the 17–7 win, while Roy Baker recorded the Wildcats' lone touchdown.^[42] According to game organizer P. S. Halbriter, gate receipts amounted to nearly $135,000, including $50,000 to Grange.^[43]

The following day, the California Stars hosted the Bears on a high school field in San Diego. Chicago struck first with Oscar Knop's touchdown, while Grange added a score of his own in the fourth quarter for a 14–0 win.^[44][45][46] A day after the game, Portland Coast Baseball League president Tom Turner announced his intentions to attract Grange and the Bears to Portland for a game later in the month.^[47]

After another week of rest, the team went to

In Portland, with a "small but highly critical crowd" of between 5,000 and 6,500 watching, Grange and Britton combined for five touchdowns, including three by the latter, en route to a 60–3 blowout.[53] However, Grange left the game before halftime after suffering an injury in a pile-up; Wilson also did the same.^[54][48]

Chicago wrapped up the barnstorming tour in Seattle. Grange recorded a rushing and passing touchdown in the first half, while Wilson injured his right leg during the second quarter while trying to tackle him.^[55] Seattle's Rollie Corbett broke his leg in the game, leading to Grange, Pyle, and Wilson setting up a fund to support him for which they donated $50 apiece.^[56] The Bears won 34–0.

The Bears ended the tour with an 8–1 record.^[57] Grange was richly rewarded for his rookie year in professional football, netting salary and bonuses totaling nearly $125,000 — far more than any individual player had ever received.^[7]

Future Hall of Fame players

• Illinois
  )
• George Halas, end
• Ed Healey, tackle
• George Trafton, center

Other leading players

• Hunk Anderson, guard
• Ed Sternaman, back
• Joe Sternaman, quarterback
• Laurie Walquist, quarterback

Schedule

League schedule

Schedule against independent teams

Barnstorming tour schedule

Standings

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
* The Pottsville Maroons were suspended from the league in December, resulting in the Chicago Cardinals being named the NFL champions.

References