George Halas was an all-around athlete who was the MVP for Illinois in the 1919 Rose Bowl and had a cup of coffee in baseball with the New York Yankees. Turning pro with the Hammond All-Stars in 1919, Halas took a job with the A.E. Staley Company and played on their company baseball and football team, the Decatur Staleys, who would be a charter member of the American Professional Football Association, which in two years would be rechristened the NFL.

The Staleys would quickly morph into the Chicago Bears, and Halas took over part ownership of the team in 1921, the first year that Chicago won the championship. Halas, who was also a coach and player, would later be named an All-Decade player for the 1920s, and while he stopped playing in 1929, he remained their head coach until 1967, though he had three intermissions away from that role.

As a coach, Halas was the first to have his football team hold daily practices. To gain additional perspective, Halas had assistant coaches in the press boxes to better view the overall field. He ran his organization and players with discipline, but integrity was Halas' calling card. If you had a cross word or opinion on Halas, it was not a reflection on Halas, but the person who said it.

The Bears won eight titles under his ownership, six of which he was also their coach. His coaching career ended with 31 wins, a record until Don Shula passed it, but had Halas not stepped away from coaching on occasion, Halas would likely still be the all-time leader in coaching wins.

Halas passed away in 1983, two years before the Bears won their first Super Bowl. To this day, the Bears have a “GSH” patch on their left sleeve to honor George Scott Halas.

We are proud to nominate George Halas for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.