George Halas

**George Stanley Halas Sr.** (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "**Papa Bear**", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).

Halas was also a player for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). The NFC Championship trophy is named after him.

Halas was one of the co-founders of the American Professional Football Association (now the NFL) in 1920, and in 1963 became one of the first 17 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

## Life

Halas was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Barbara (Poledna), who ran a grocery store, and Frank Halas, a tailor, were migrants from Pilsen, Austria-Hungary.

In 1915, Halas worked for Western Electric, and was planning on being on the SS _Eastland_. He was running late, however, as he was trying to gain weight to play Big Ten football and missed the capsizing, which killed 844 passengers.

Halas died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago on October 31, 1983, at age 88.

## Other websites

- Coaching record at Pro-Football-Reference.com
- George Halas Bio (Staley Museum)

## Infobox (nfl biography)

- **embed**: yes
- **image**: 1922 George Halas (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Halas with the Chicago Bears in 1922
- **position**: End (American football), End
- **number**: 7
- **height ft**: 6
- **height in**: 0
- **weight lbs**: 182
- **high school**: Crane High School (Chicago), Crane (Chicago, IL)
- **college**: Illinois Fighting Illini football, Illinois (1914–1917)
Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football, Great Lakes Navy (1918)
- **pastteams**: * Hammond Pros, Hammond All-Stars (1919)
* Chicago Bears, Decatur / Chicago Staleys / Bears (1920 APFA season, 1920–)
* Chicago Stayms (1920)
- **pastcoaching**: * Chicago Bears, Decatur / Chicago Staleys / Bears (1920 APFA season, 1920–, –, –, –)
Head coach
- **pastexecutive**: * Chicago Bears, Decatur / Chicago Staleys / Bears (–)
Owner
* Newark Tornadoes, Newark Bears / Bombers (American Association (American football)#1939, 1939–American Association (American football)#1941, 1941)
Owner
* Newark Tornadoes#Tornadoes and Bears in the American Association, Akron Bears (American Association (American football)#1946, 1946)
Owner
- **highlights**: * 8× History of National Football League championship, NFL champion (1921 APFA season, 1921, 1932 NFL Playoff Game, 1932, 1933 NFL Championship Game, 1933, 1940 NFL Championship Game, 1940, 1941 NFL Championship Game, 1941, 1943 NFL Championship Game, 1943, 1946 NFL Championship Game, 1946, 1963 NFL Championship Game, 1963)
* 2× AP NFL Coach of the Year (1963, 1965)
* National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team, NFL 1920s All-Decade Team
* NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
* _Sporting News_ 1940s All-Decade Team
* Second-team All-Pro (1920 All-Pro Team, 1920)
* Chicago Bears#Retired numbers, Chicago Bears No. 7 retired
* Chicago Bears#Top 100 greatest Bears of all-time, 100 greatest Bears of All-Time
* Second-team All-Service (1918 All-Service football team, 1918)
- **statlabel1**: Games played
- **statvalue1**: 104
- **statlabel2**: Touchdowns
- **statvalue2**: 10
- **pfr**: H/HalaGe20
- **pfrcoach**: HalaGe0
- **pfrexec**: HalaGe0
- **hof**: george-halas


## Infobox (baseball biography)

- **embed**: yes
- **image**: George Halas in 1918.jpg
- **image size**: 200px
- **caption**: Halas with the New York Yankees in 1918
- **position**: Right fielder
- **bats**: Switch
- **throws**: Right
- **debutleague**: MLB
- **debutdate**: May 6
- **debutyear**: 1919
- **debutteam**: New York Yankees
- **finaldate**: July 5
- **finalyear**: 1919
- **finalteam**: New York Yankees
- **statleague**: MLB
- **statyear**: 1919
- **stat1label**: Batting average (baseball), Batting average
- **stat1value**: .091
- **stat2label**: Home runs
- **stat2value**: 0
- **stat3label**: Run batted in, Runs batted in
- **stat3value**: 0
- **teams**: * New York Yankees ()
- **update**: February 27, 2025


## Infobox (military person)

- **embed**: yes
- **serviceyears**: 1918, 1942–1946
- **rank**:  Captain (United States O-6), Commodore
- **unit**: United States Seventh Fleet, Seventh Fleet
- **battles**: World War I
World War II
- **awards**: Bronze Star Medal, Bronze Star


## Infobox (person)

- **image**: George Halas (cropped).jpg
- **image size**: 200px
- **caption**: Halas in 1982
- **name**: George Halas
- **birth name**: George Stanley Halas Sr.
- **birth place**: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- **death place**: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- **death cause**: Pancreatic cancer
- **nationality**: American
- **children**: Virginia Halas McCaskey and George Halas Jr.