Established: 1919
Home Field: Chicago, Illinois
Owner(s): Virginia Halas McCaskey
General Manager: Jerry Angelo
Head Coach: Lovie Smith

The Chicago Bears are one of only two NFL teams currently playing that were in existence when the NFL was founded in 1920. The team was established in 1919 in Decatur, Illinois as the Decatur Staleys. They moved to Chicago in 1921 and became the Chicago Staleys. They were later renamed the Chicago Bears. They have the most overall victories of any NFL team, and they have the most former players enshrined in the football Hall of Fame (26).

During the early days, the Bears dominated the NFL. In fact, they posted 34 shutout games and never lost to any team more than once. Because of their dominance of the game and questionable actions when it came to business, the team developed a couple of fierce rivalries – one with the Arizona Cardinals and the other with the Green Bay Packers. There was a period in the 1950s that the Bears started to decline. However, it didn’t last long as they rebounded in 1963 when they won their 8th NFL Championship. Through the late 1960s and early 70s, the team performed well, producing such notable players as Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, and Brian Piccolo.

After the 70s, the Bears remained a fairly stable team, though they did experience a low in the late 90s when the team largely dropped out of contention, failing to make the playoffs for seven consecutive years. They’ve gone through a series of coaches with mixed success. In 2004, current head coach Lovie Smith was hired who seemingly turned the team around. He led the Bears to a Conference Championship in 2006, but since it has been a period of rebuilding for the team. They currently play in the NFC North division.

Championships

League Championships
NFL: 1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1963
Super Bowl: 1986

Conference Championships
NFL Western: 1956, 1963
NFC: 1985, 2006

Division Championships
NFL Western: 1933, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946
NFC Central: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2001
NFC North: 2005, 2006

Bears Trivia

• George Halas purchased the Decatur Staleys club (future Chicago Bears franchise) for $100.
• The Bears defeated the heavily favored Washington Red Skins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game 73-0. This score remains a record in lopsided results.
• During the 1985 season, the team came up with a rap song called “The Super Bowl Shuffle”.