George Halas George Stanley Halas , Sr . ( February 2 , 1895 – October 31 , 1983 ) , nicknamed " Papa Bear " and " Mr . Everything " , was a player , coach , owner and pioneer in professional American football . He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL ' s Chicago Bears . He was also lesser known as an inventor , jurist , producer , philanthropist , philatelist , and professional baseball player . Early life and sports career . Halas was born in Chicago , Illinois , into a family of Czech - Bohemian immigrants . His parents were Slavic migrants from Pilsen , Bohemia , part of what would later become Czechoslovakia . George had a varied career in sport s . In 1915 , Halas worked temporarily for Western Electric , and was planning on being on the " SS Eastland " . He was running late , however , and missed the capsizing . After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago , he attended the University of Illinois , playing football for coach Bob Zuppke , as well as baseball and basketball , and earning a degree in civil engineering . He also became a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity . He helped Illinois win the 1918 Big Ten football title . Serving as an ensign in the Navy during World War I , he played for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station , and was named the MVP of the 1919 Rose Bowl . On a team which included Paddy Driscoll and Jimmy Conzelman , Halas scored a receiving touchdown and returned an intercepted pass 77 yards in a 17 – 0 win ; the team was also rewarded with their military discharges . Afterward , Halas played minor league and semipro baseball , eventually earning a promotion to the New York Yankees , where he played 12 games as an outfielder in 1919 . However , a hip injury effectively ended his baseball career . The popular myth was that Halas was succeeded as the Yankees ' right fielder by Babe Ruth , but in reality , Sammy Vick was replaced by Ruth . Later that year , he played for the Hammond Pros and received about $ 75 per game . Professional football career . After one year with the Pros ( also known as the All - Stars ) , Halas moved to Decatur , Illinois to take a position with the A . E . Staley Company , a starch manufacturer . He served as a company sales representative , an outfielder on the company - sponsored baseball team , and the player - coach of the company - sponsored football team , Halas selected his alma mater ' s colors — orange and navy blue — for the team ' s uniforms . In 1920 , Halas represented the Staleys at the meeting which formed the American Professional Football Association ( which became the NFL in 1922 ) in Canton , Ohio . After suffering financial losses despite a 10 – 1 – 2 record , company founder and namesake Augustus E . Staley turned control of the team to Halas in 1921 . Halas moved the team to Chicago and took on teammate Dutch Sternaman as a partner . The newly minted " Chicago Staleys " maneuvered their schedule to win the NFL championship that year . ( " See the 1921 Staley Swindle " . ) They took the name Bears in 1922 as a tribute to baseball ' s Chicago Cubs , which permitted the Bears to play their games at Wrigley Field . Orange and blue were chosen as the team colors as a tribute to the Illinois Illini , Halas ' alma mater . Halas not only coached the team , but also played end ( wide receiver on offense , defensive end on defense ) and handled ticket sales and the business of running the club . Named to the NFL ' s all - pro team in the 1920s , his playing highlight occurred in a 1923 game when he stripped Jim Thorpe of the ball , recovered the fumble , and returned it 98 yards — a league record which would stand until 1972 . In 1925 , Halas persuaded Illinois star player Red Grange to join the Bears ; it was a significant step in establishing both the respectability and popularity of the league , which had previously been viewed as a refuge for less admirable players . After ten seasons , Halas stepped back from the game in 1930 , retiring as a player and leaving the sidelines as coach ; but he remained the team ' s owner , becoming sole owner in 1932 . The lure of the field was too much , however , as Halas returned in 1933 to coach the Bears for another ten seasons . During his absence from coaching , the team had also won the 1932 championship . His 1934 team was undefeated until a loss in the championship game to the New York Giants . In the late 1930s , Halas — with University of Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy — perfected the T - formation system to create a revolutionary and overwhelming style of play which drove the Bears to an astonishing 73 – 0 victory over the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game . Every other team in the league immediately began trying to imitate the format . The Bears repeated as NFL champions in 1941 , and the 1940s would be remembered as the era of the " Monsters of the Midway " . Halas and Shaughnessy had created a revolutionary concept with the T - formation offense . The complex spins , turns , fakes , and all around athletic versatility required to execute the scheme , limited the possible players available . Looking for a quarterback to run his new offense , Halas was particularly impressed with Sid Luckman , a passing star at Columbia University . Although Luckman was a single wing tailback , Halas felt he was the perfect quarterback for this offense . Luckman launched his Hall of Fame career , playing the position from 1939 to 1950 . Halas was not satisfied with other players who succeeded Luckman under center . During this coaching stint , he had on the Bears roster two future Hall of Fame players , Bobby Layne in 1948 and George Blanda from 1949 to 1958 . Other notable players included Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack from 1948 to 1951 and Zeke Bratkowski from 1954 to 1960 . Blanda played in the NFL until 1975 ; Bratkowski moved on to Vince Lombardi ' s Green Bay Packers from 1960 to 1971 ; and Bobby Layne quarterbacked the Detroit Lions to three NFL championship games between 1952 – 54 , winning two . Halas entered the Navy again after the advent of World War II in 1942 , with the rank of lieutenant commander . He served overseas for 20 months under the command of Admiral Nimitz and his duties were supporting the welfare and recreational activities of the Seventh Fleet . He was awarded the Bronze Star during his recall and released from duty in 1946 with the rank of captain . While in the Navy , the Bears won another title in 1943 . Returning to the field in 1946 , he coached the club for a third decade , again winning a title in his first year back as coach . That same year , Halas met with the Army Chief of Staff , General Dwight Eisenhower , the Navy Chief of Staff , Admiral Chester Nimitz , and the Air Force Chief of Staff , General Carl Spaatz , and offered to set up an annual charity football game , with the Bears as hosts , whose proceeds would go to the relief agencies of the armed forces . By mid 1957 , proceeds from this game were $ 438 , 350 . 76 and proceeds from all games the Bears participated in between 1946 and 1957 were over two million dollars . After a brief break in 1956 – 57 , he resumed the controls of the club for a final decade from 1958 to 1967 , winning his last championship in 1963 . He did not , however , enjoy the same success as he had before the war . He did win his 200th game in 1950 and his 300th game in 1965 , becoming the first coach to reach both milestones . In 40 years as a coach , he endured only six losing seasons . Later life . After the 1967 season , Halas — then the oldest coach in league history — retired as coach . He continued as the team ' s principal owner , and took an active role in team operations until his death . He was honored in 1970 and 1980 as the only person involved in the league throughout its first fifty and sixty years of existence . His son George , Jr . served as president of the Bears from 1963 until his sudden death at age 54 in 1979 . One of Halas ' s final significant ownership acts was to hire Mike Ditka as head coach in 1982 ( Ditka was a former Halas player in the 1960s ) . In the 1971 made - for - television film " Brian ' s Song " , about the friendship between Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers , Halas was portrayed by Jack Warden , who won an Emmy Award for his performance . Death . Halas died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago on October 31 , 1983 , at age 88 , and is entombed in St . Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in Niles , Illinois . His eldest daughter , Virginia Halas McCaskey , succeeded him as majority owner , and her son Michael McCaskey served as team president from 1983 - 1999 at which time the elder McCaskey was forced to fire her own son . In the 1985 season when the Bears won their first ever Super Bowl , they recorded a song called " Super Bowl Shuffle . " In the song , backup quarterback Steve Fuller rhymes " Bring on Atlanta , Bring on Dallas / This is for Mike [ then current coach Mike Ditka ] and Papa Bear Halas . " Super Bowl XVIII was dedicated to Halas . The pregame ceremonies featured a moment of silence and the ceremonial coin toss by former Chicago Bear Bronko Nagurski . Impact on football . A pioneer both on and off the field , Halas made the Bears the first team to hold daily practice sessions , to analyze film of opponents to find weaknesses and means of attack , place assistant coaches in the press box during games , place tarp on the field , publish a club newspaper , and to broadcast games by radio . He also offered to share the team ' s substantial television income with teams in smaller cities , firmly believing that what was good for the league would ultimately benefit his own team . A firm disciplinarian , Halas maintained complete control of his team and did not tolerate disobedience and insubordination by players . He also insisted on absolute integrity and honesty in management , believing that a handshake was sufficient to finalize a deal ; few , if any , intermediaries were necessary . Halas ' career ledger reads as follows : 63 years as an owner , 40 as a coach , 324 wins , and 8 NFL titles as a coach or owner . The 324 victories stood as an NFL record for nearly three decades . He was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 . Honors . In both 1963 and 1965 he was selected by " The Sporting News " , the AP and the UPI as the NFL Coach of the Year . In 1997 he was featured on a U . S . postage stamp as one of the legendary coaches of football . He has been recognized by ESPN as one of the ten most influential people in sports in the 20th century , and as one of the greatest coaches . In 1993 , Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula finally surpassed Halas ' victory total . To this day , the jerseys of the Chicago Bears bear the initials " GSH " on their upper left sleeves in commemoration of Halas . In 1956 , Halas was awarded the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award , which is the Navy ' s highest civilian award . There are two extant awards named for Halas : the George Halas Trophy ( awarded by the NFL to the National Football Conference champion ) and the George S . Halas Courage Award ( Pro Football Writers Association ) . From 1966 - 1996 , the George S . Halas Trophy was awarded to the NFL defensive player of the year by the Newspaper Enterprise Association . The Chicago Bears retired number 7 in his honor , and the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located on George Halas Drive .