page_title: Red Grange
section_title: December tour
hierarchical_section_title: Red Grange / Professional career / The barnstorming tour / December tour
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Senator McKinley, "Red" Grange &amp; Rep. Wm. P. Holaday, 12/8/25 Abstract/medium: 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
context_page_description: Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost" and "The Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League.
  In college, Grange was a three-time consensus All-American and led his team to a national championship in 1923. He was the only consensus All-American running back in 1924 who was not a member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. The same year, Grange became the first recipient of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the Big Ten Conference's most valuable player. In 2008, Grange was named the best college football player of all time by ESPN, and in 2011, he was named the Greatest Big Ten Icon by the Big Ten Network.
  Shortly after his final college game in 1925, Grange joined the Bears and the NFL, embarking on a barnstorming tour to raise the league's attention across the country. When his rookie contract expired, he and agent C. C. Pyle formed the American Football League in 1926, with Grange playing for the Yankees.
context_section_description: Grange made his NFL debut on November 26, Thanksgiving Day, against the Chicago Cardinals. With only three days of practice in the Bears' T formation (he had played in the single wing offense in college), he recorded 92 rushing yards and an interception in the scoreless tie. A crowd of 40,000 attended the game. In the next game against the Columbus Tigers, he threw a touchdown pass and recorded 171 yards as the Bears won 14–7. Shortly after, Britton signed with the Bears, reuniting him with Grange.
  In December, the Bears' schedule grew with eight games between December 2 and 13, including three against local all-star teams. The first game, against the Donnelly All-Stars at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, saw Grange score four touchdowns in a 39–6 blowout. On December 5, he scored two touchdowns including the game winner against the Frankford Yellow Jackets. The next day, between 65,000 and 73,000 people showed up at the Polo Grounds to watch Grange, helping save the Giants' franchise from financial debt. Grange scored a touchdown on a 35-yard interception return in the Bears' 19–7 victory. Offensively, he ran for 53 yards on 11 carries, caught a 23-yard pass, and completed two of three passes for 32 yards. Before their next game against a Washington, D.C. all-star team, Pyle and Grange elected to remain in New York to promote themselves, receiving various endorsements.
  In Washington, the Bears visited President Calvin Coolidge; when he was introduced to the team and shook hands with Grange, Coolidge responded, "Glad to meet you. I always did like animal acts." Although the Bears defeated Washington 19–0, Grange recorded only 16 rushing yards, no receiving and return yards, failed to complete a pass attempt (including one interception), and missed a field goal.
  Despite the victories, the grueling schedule led to a rise in injuries. Grange had been hit in the left arm during the Giants game, causing it to swell by the team's next game against the Providence Steam Roller. The pain from the injury was too great for Grange, who could not bring himself to return a punt and allowed it to sail over his head; he was eventually pulled in the 9–6 loss. The match was widely criticized by fans and media, with a United News Service article commenting the "Grange bubble appears dangerously near the bursting point. Beneath the withering, pitiless spotlight of publicity, the red-headed youngster's fame may melt away like some of his own ice, leaving only a little dank, malodorous saw-dust." College football figures also proclaimed the game as evidence of professional football's inferiority; referee E. J. O'Brien described it as a "dismal failure." However, others like Princeton and Yale players Herbert Treat and Carl Flanders defended the sport and the Bears as their schedule was too overwhelming, and the latter added it had "a bright future."
  "I was booed for the first time in my football career in the Boston game," Grange wrote in his autobiography. "It made me aware of something I had never thought of before—that the public's attitude toward a professional football player is quite different from the manner in which they view a college gridder. A pro's performance is evaluated much more critically and he is less likely to be forgiven when a mistake is made. A pro must deliver, or else."
  Following the game, Grange hired E. B. Cooley as his personal doctor. Cooley was the father of Grange's friend and personal adviser Marion "Doc" Cooley, who was serving the position alongside their university classmate Dinty Moore. At Grange's father's request, his close friend Lyman "Beans" DeWolf also joined the team as a confidant.
  The Bears' next game against a Pittsburgh all-star group saw the team in poor condition; before kickoff, former All-American Bo McMillin visited the team in the locker room and advised Grange to not play upon seeing his arm. At the start, only ten players were on the field, forcing Halas to choose between two injured linemen to serve as the required 11th man; center George Trafton was selected as he was able to at least sta
caption: Grange (second from left) with Senator William B. McKinley and Representative William P. Holaday in Washington in 1925. McKinley introduced Grange and the Bears to President Calvin Coolidge.[52]
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