The Chicago Bears play out of the NFC North division and have a storied history dating back to the 1920s in Illinois. The franchise subsequently moved to Chicago the following year and is one of only 2 active franchises that got its start from the NFL in 1920. The other being the Arizona Cardinals.
In terms of their standing within the league, the Bears have won 9 league championships and boast a Super Bowl win. Not to mention, the Chicago Bears have recorded more victories than any other franchise in the league. The principal owner of the Bears, Virginia Halas McCaskey, is the oldest owner in the NFL.
The Chicago Bears have gone through several notable eras throughout their history, and the 1983-85 period sticks out as significant. Under the tutelage of former owner George Halas along with taskmaster ‘Iron Mike’ Dikta, the Bears went on to snag a chip at Super Bowl XX. Additionally, Mike Dikta is the only person in the modern iteration of the NFL to win a chip as a player and a coach.
The organization has seen several instances of transformation from the Marc Trestman era to the present day period with Matt Nagy. The reputed franchise is currently 5-7 and is placed 3rd in the NFC North overall.
The Chicago Bears have had a few iterations in their logo design spanning all the way back to their time in Decatur, Illinois, in 1920. They used A.E Staley’s logo to help promote the company. The club introduced the famed ‘C’ logo post-1962 after having a lengthy stint with a ‘bear running with a football logo’.
1974 saw the white ‘C’ being replaced with an orange ‘C’ which remains the logo to this very day. Moreover, this hasn’t stopped the experimentation process with several alternate logos involving more blue bear designs.
The Bears are under the ownership of the McCaskey family, with Virginia Halas McCaskey coming in as the principal owner. Virginia, her children, and grandchildren control 80% of the team. Additionally, the Executive Chairman for Aon Corp, Patrick Ryan, owns 19.7% of the franchise.
The family has had some testing times with the ownership of the Bears, and there have been frequent rumors of a possible split. Despite the rumored friction, the Chicago Bears came in as the 8th richest NFL franchise as per Forbes in 2012, sitting with a $1.19 billion net worth.
The legacy franchise has tie-ups with several notable brands, including Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Verizon, and United Airlines. Additionally, the Bears announced that PointsBet would be the organization’s first Sports Betting partner. Through the Sponsorship, PointsBet will gain full usage of the Chicago Bears logo and marks.
Furthermore, the Bears were the first in the NFL to have a presenting partner with the ‘Bears Football Presented by BankOne’. They also entered into an agreement with a FOX-owned station WFLD to be an official broadcaster for pre-season games.
Quarterbacks | 9. Nick Foles 10. Mitchell Trubisky |
Running Backs | 32. David Montgomery 35. Ryan Nall 46. Artavis Pierce |
Wide Receivers | 19. DeAndre Carter 17. Anthony Miller 11. Darnell Mooney 84. Cordarrelle Patterson 88. Riley Ridley 12. Allen Robinson 83. Javon Wims |
Tight Ends | 80. Jimmy Graham 86. Demetrius Harris 81. J.P Holtz 85. Cole Kmet |
Offensive linemen | 64. Alex Bars 69. Rashaad Coward 71. Arlington Hambright 74. Germain Ifedi 72. Charles Leno 67. Sam Mustipher 73. Lachavious Simmons 78. Jason Spriggs 65. Cody Whitehair |
Defensive linemen | 97. Mario Edwards Jr. 96. Akiem Hicks 90. John Jenkins 75. Daniel McCullers 98. Bilal Nichols 92. Brent Urban |
Linebackers | 99. Trevis Gipson 45. Joel Iyiegbuniwe 52. Khalil Mack 50. Barkevious Mingo 94. Robert Quinn 58. Roquan Smith 59. Danny Trevathan 93. James Vaughters 55. Josh Woods |
Defensive backs | 26. Deon Bush 23. Kyle Fuller 38. Tashaun Gipson 36. DeAndre Houston-Carson 39. Eddie Jackson 33. Jaylon Johnson 27. Sherrick McManis 20.Duke Shelley 24. Buster Skrine 22. Kindle Vildor |
Special teams | 16. Pat O’Donnell 2. Cairo Santos 48. Patrick Scales |
The ‘Bears Care’ landing page on the community tab of their website draws back the curtain on several non-profit ventures that the Bears are involved with. The Gameday GRRReetings is a first-come-first-serve system that allows fans to write a greeting to a loved one on the LED panel at a home game. Additionally, the charitable arm of the Chicago Bears awarded $81,000 to ‘I Grow Chicago’ which is focused on skill-building and community connection in Chicago.
What’s more, the club is heavily involved in Back to School fairs in their home state, much like many teams in the NFL. The Chicago Bears have put down heavy emphasis on development and rehabilitation programs.
Founded | 1920 |
Owner | The McCaskey Family |
CEO | Ted Phillips |
Head Coach | Matt Nagy |
Stadium | Soldier Field |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Sponsors | Miller Brewing Company, Verizon, WashU Car Wash, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Invisalign Technologies, United Airlines, PNC Financial Services, Xfinity, PointsBet |
Championships | League championships (9) NFL championships (8) [pre- AFL-NFL merger]- 1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941,1943,1946, 1963 Super Bowl championships (1) 1985 (XX) Conference championships (19) NFL Western: 1956, 1963 NFC: 1985, 2006 Division championships (19) NFL Western: 1933,1934, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946 NFC Central: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2001 NFC North: 2005, 2006, 2010, 2018 |
Official Website | Chicago Bears- www.chicagobears.com |