

Three teams –the Las Vegas Raiders, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Dallas Cowboys – traditionally do not retire jersey numbers. Only one player, Reggie White, has had his number retired by two teams, although Peyton Manning received an acknowledgment when the Denver Broncos re-retired the number 18, which is officially retired under the name of Frank Tripucka (who granted Manning a special exception to wear the number). The Chicago Bears and the New York Giants have the most retired numbers of the teams with 14 each. Since NFL teams began retiring numbers, 163 players have had their jersey number retired. As with other leagues, once a team retires a player's jersey number, it never issues the number to any other player, unless the player or team explicitly allows it. Teams in the National Football League (NFL) retire jersey numbers of players who either are considered by the team to have made significant contributions to that team's success, or who have experienced untimely deaths during their playing career. retired numbers displayed at Candlestick Park in June 2009 JSTOR ( September 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "List of National Football League retired numbers" – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. The NFL's talent will continue to fluctuate from year to year and the passionate Chicago fan base will continue to rally behind their beloved Bears.This article needs additional citations for verification. While the team hasn't been as dominant these last few seasons, teams like the Bears never stay on the NFL's "irrelevant list" for too long. His oldest daughter Virginia McCaskey is the majority owner of the team. Today, a part of George lives on with the Chicago Bears. Six of those NFL championships were won while Halas was the head coach of the Bears, the most in NFL coaching history (tied with Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers). Halas was the integral part of the Bears eight NFL championships which were titles before the Super Bowl era began in 1967. He did, however, help assemble that very team who many call the greatest defensive team assembled in NFL history. Unfortunately, "Papa Bear" never lived to see the Bears win their lone Super Bowl in 1985, just two seasons after his passing. Image Credit: Jim Summaria (CC BY-SA 3.0) If you would like to see a complete history of the Chicago Bears' uniforms over the years, you can do so on their website at. The Bears also began wearing white jerseys with navy pants for away games that year. In 1984, the "GSH" was added to the left sleeve of every player's jersey. The Chicago Bears uniform has changed many times since they were the Decatur Staleys in the 1920's but have seen few adjustments since 1984. That all changed over time as Halas recruited players like Bobby Layne, George Blanda, Red Grange and Sid Luckman to come play for the Bears. The league was seen as a haven for the less than stellar football players throughout the country.
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(Oddly enough, George also played baseball for the New York Yankees for one season earlier in his career.) Two years later, Halas helped transition the APFA (American Professional Football Association) into the NFL (National Football League) in Canton, Ohio. Not only was Halas the owner and coach but he also was a wide receiver for the Staleys. Only they weren't called the Bears at the time, they were the Decatur Staleys. Staley, a starch manufacturer in Decatur, Illinois. The son of Greek-Slavic immigrants, Halas invented the Bears in 1920 when he took a job with A.E. Often referred to as the "Papa Bear", Halas was the Chicago Bears owner from 1920 to Halloween of 1983 when he passed away from cancer. "GSH" was added to the sleeves of the Bears' uniforms before the start of 1984 NFL season to honor it's founding father - George Stanley Halas. While this is the ultimate tribute to the club's former players, a more significant tribute has been worn on the sleeves of the Chicago Bears' uniforms for 30 seasons now.
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Once called the Decatur Staleys in 1920, the Chicago Bears have retired 14 jersey numbers the most in the NFL and the third most in professional sports. But aside from the Green Bay Packers, virtually no other NFL franchise can rival the Chicago Bears in terms of overall history. Image Credit: Mike Morbeck (CC BY-SA 2.0)Īmerica loves their Dallas Cowboys.
