Curly Lambeau Ready to Conquer the World: From Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey of the Chicago Bears

This post was published in the Lambeau Chapter of Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and it is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

Ready to conquer the world 

It is 1929, the year of the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. Earl Louis Lambeau, the Green Bay player-coach, has other things on his mind right now. He stands out on a no frills practice field in Green Bay and barks out instructions to his team. The cold autumn wind whips through the dark wavy hair that has given him the moniker, Curly. He is 5-foot-10, handsome, and built like a prizefighter. He can still play football, but he will only cross the sideline in uniform in one game this season. Lambeau is restless, competitive, and perhaps more than anything, he is confident in everything he does. Football is a fitting game for him. It is a man’s game—something made for his temperament. It is a game that intrigues and challenges him—a channel for his endless energy. 

Lambeau’s temper flares as he looks at a player who is not following his instructions. He approaches the man and shouts out directions that he gave a few minutes ago—this time with exaggerated gestures. He is not the most patient “teacher.” He was not the most patient student either. In fact, he dropped out of two different colleges a decade ago and made no plans to go back. Laumbeau has intelligently built a team of excellent athletes over the past eight seasons in the National Football League.

He is a much more mature coach now at 31 years old than when he started. There is no college draft yet in the NFL, so Lambeau talks to whomever he wants coming from the college ranks. It has not been easy, but Lambeau is persuasive. He ably recruits players for Green Bay, a relatively small Midwestern city that is known for iron smelting, papermaking, lumber milling, manufacturing, and to some extent, meatpacking. It is a place that does the difficult. 

Some players prefer the college-like atmosphere of Green Bay and its small town feel. Green Bay has been a good place for jobs, but its population is less than 40,000. It is a tough place to live in December, January, and February when the average low temperature is under 20° and it often trails off below zero. Over 50 inches of snow routinely bury the town each year. The hard-scrabbled citizens that include many immigrants, and sons and daughters of immigrants, do not complain about the weather in Green Bay. They are hardworking people who support Lambeau and his team. In fact, the people in the community have come to own the team through stock purchases and they sustain it by attending games in great number. The newspapers praise Lambeau. The community is fond of him. The team itself is a different story. 

Coaches are not necessarily loved by their players. Lambeau motivates his men by almost any means. He threatens. He intimidates. He is quick to release any man who cannot help the team any longer. He insists on physical conditioning. He has no patience for players who are out of shape or who do not listen. But, he can manage difficult players as well as anyone in football when they are critical to the team’s success. Some players do not like him. Others do not respect him. But most are confident that he will get more out of these Packers than anyone else on the planet. 

Lambeau is a coach who takes his wins and losses personally. He can be miserable for days before a big game and even more miserable if they lose. He can be exuberant after a win, when he often tells his players in post game: “The lid’s off tonight boys, just don’t get arrested.” Coaching, like life, can be tenuous. If Lambeau’s coaching career came to an end on this cold day in 1929, the Packers might fade away as so many other early small-market teams have done. Green Bay may have remained a relatively quiet Wisconsin town—a good town where industry flourished and workers went about their business, but a town of no special note nationally. But Lambeau sticks it out and his Packers are on the threshold of winning three championships in a row. 

Under Lambeau, the Packers will win six championships overall. In a few months and continuing for years, the national media will report on a fascinating “David and Goliath” story—little Green Bay beating the big city teams. Green Bay will become famous all over the world and Curly Lambeau will become its first superstar. But today’s practice is not about notoriety or glory, fame or fortune; it’s about a local man coaching a group of men on a cold day and giving them a sense of potential and purpose with a dash of promise. 

Each chapter in Pillars of the NFL starts out with a "you are there" feature that brings to reader into the world of the coach. This $30 book is now (10/18-17) available on Amazon for just $18.  Not sure how long this will last, so order  now!

Frankford Yellow Jackets Section from Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey of the Chicago Bears

Pillars of the NFL

This post was published in Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

Frankford Yellow Jackets 

[Guy] Chamberlin moved on to play and coach the Frankford Yellow Jackets for the 1925 and 1926 seasons. The Yellow Jackets played from 1924-1931. Frankford itself is a neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia. Chamberlin settled into the area, rented a home, pitched for the American Legion in the baseball season, and worked as a truck driver in the off season. 

Pennsylvania’s blue laws prohibited professional football on Sundays so the Yellow Jackets would often schedule two games on the same weekend, a Saturday home game and a Sunday away game. 

1925 Frankford Yellow Jackets’ Season 

In 1925, the NFL was a bloated 20-team league. Scheduling was seriously out of sync. The Yellow Jackets played 19 games while the Duluth Kelleys played just three. Five teams did not win a game all season. 

The Yellow Jackets had an excellent first half of the season winning 9 of 10 games and then fell apart in the second half winning 3 and losing 6. It is likely that their heavy schedule contributed to the lapse in the second half of the season. Before their swoon, they beat the Pottsville Maroons, 20–0, on November 14. Two weeks later, Pottsville destroyed the Yellow Jackets, 49–0. They did not play the Chicago Cardinals who took the championship with a record of 11–2–1. Pottsville was runner up with a 10–2–0 record. 

1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets’ Season 

Guy Chamberlin brought it all together for the Yellow Jackets in 1926. The Yellow Jackets had another exhausting schedule. They played 17 games. They scored 236 points and allowed 49 from their opponents. There was a kind of perfect symmetry to their season record. They tied the first and last game of the season and lost game 8 to the Providence Steam Roller 7–6. They won every other game on their schedule to end at 14–1–2 for the Championship. 

On December 4, 1926, with the Yellow Jackets holding a 12–1–1 record, they played the key game of the season against the Chicago Bears who held a 12–0–3 record. For the first three quarters, the offenses struggled to get into scoring position. In the third quarter, the Bears finally got close enough for a Paddy Driscoll field goal attempt. It was blocked by Guy Chamberlin. 

In the fourth quarter, the Bears’ halfback, Bill Senn, cut loose for a 62-yard touchdown run. Chamberlin blocked the extra point attempt. The Bears held a 6–0 lead as time was pulling away from Frankford. With one last run at the end zone, Chamberlin’s Yellow Jackets moved down field on the strength of a long pass play. Then, Houston Stockton hit his tiny 5-foot-5 back, Henry “Two Bits” Homan, who caught the ball and crossed into the end zone for a score. Frankford’s Tex Hamer kicked the extra point for the win. 

On November 29, 1926, Raymond Hill of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin described Chamberlin and his play: … consistent performer all year…a brainy player and wide-awake on the field….He has been performing life saving feats for the Jackets all year, besides getting down fast under punts, grabbing passes and breaking up end runs…his play is one of the main reasons for Frankford being up in the fight.

Pillars of the NFL is available from Amazon. 

1934 Season and Sneakers Game from Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey

This post was published in the front matter of  Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

Illustration from Pillars of the NFL
Copyright 2014 by Bill Potter

1934 Season and Sneakers Game

Before the season started, the Bears played in the first Chicago College All Star Game. Before 79,432 fans at Soldier Field, the game ended in a 0–0 tie. It was not a sign of things to come for Halas’s team. 

The Bears looked unbeatable in 1934 when they went 13–0 for the season. Halas had added a new halfback, Beattie Feathers, who rushed for 1,004 yards that season. The Bears won 18-straight games and were dominating the league. 

The championship game was one for the history books, or perhaps Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. The Bears played the Giants in the Polo Grounds. The night before the game, a storm dumped freezing rain and sleet onto the field. Abe Cohen, who served part-time in the Giants’ locker room and part time in Manhattan College’s locker room, was asked to head over to the school and borrow their basketball sneakers to help the Giants improve their footing. 

On icy field conditions, the Bears took a 13–3 lead before Cohen hopped out of a cab with a supply of basketball shoes. The Giants changed from cleats to sneakers and were able to outmaneuver the Bears. The sneakered team scored 27 unanswered points for a 30–13 win. 

The game is called the “Sneakers Game.” Rather than bemoan the unfair advantage in equipment, Halas would remember the game for the freaky weather change and the sheet of ice on the field.

In Pillars, each chapter is devoted to one of the 10 greatest coaches in NFL history.  Each chapter includes various sections and special attention is given to Championship seasons and games.

Halas’s Players from Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey

This post was published in Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

Halas’s Players 

Halas had seen many of the top players in action himself. He also traveled to see others in whom he was interested. As professional football developed, Halas continued to look out for good recruits. He was drawn to tough competitive men who played aggressively. 

Abe Gibron 

One of Paul Brown’s best guards on the early 1950s Cleveland championship teams, Abe Gibron, was 5-foot-11, but he weighed 250 pounds. He was a force—quick off the ball and a strong blocker who played for the Bears in 1958-1959. He would be hired back to coach the Bears from 1972-1974. 

Beattie “Big Chief” Feathers 

In his first year with the Bears in 1934, halfback Beattie Feathers became the first player to rush for over 1,000 yards. Feathers injured his shoulder early in his career and some believe that the injury kept him from having a Hall of Fame career.

Bill George 

Bill George played the middle guard position when he joined the Bears in 1952. On pass plays, the middle guard would make contact with the offensive center and then drop back and cover. George decided that on a passing play, he would drop back before the play was underway. In this way he was able to fill the space better and disrupt the shortest of passes in the middle. Essentially, George’s middle guard position morphed into the middle linebacker position. Hall of Famer George had all the skills to cover a huge part of the field, defend against the pass and the run, pursue plays to the outside, and play with an aggression and force that became the prototype for others who followed him—Butkus, Singletary, and Urlacher. George played for the Bears from 1952-1965. 

Bill Hewitt 

Bill Hewitt, Hall of Fame end, played for the Bears from 1932-1936. Exceptional on both offense and defense, when the Bears had the ball in critical situations, Hewitt especially enjoyed trick plays that fooled unsuspecting defenders. 

Bill Osmanski 

Bears’ first round draft choice in 1939, Bill Osmanski, was one of the best fullbacks in the league. Off to the war in 1944-1945, Osmanski returned for the 1946-1947 seasons before he retired. 

Bill Wade 

Bill Wade was the Bears’ quarterback during the early to mid 1960s and a teamleader throughout his tenure in Chicago. Although a leading passer in many categories in 1961 and 1962, Wade and the Bears played a very conservative, mistake-averse game in their championship run in 1963. Bob Wetoska Bob Wetoska played tackle for the Bears during the 1960s. At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, Wetoska was a natural guard, but he played tackle most of the time. He created holes for Gale Sayers and pass blocked for Bill Wade.  

***

In Pillars, each chapter is devoted to one of the 10 greatest coaches in NFL history.  Each chapter includes various sections like "Halas's Players" in part reproduced here, which provides a representative sampling of the men who served under the great coach. 

Early Life of George Halas in Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey

This post was published in Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

Early Life 

On February 2, 1895, George Stanley Halas was born to Frank and Barbara Halas on the lower west side of Chicago. George was the youngest of eight children, but of those eight, only four survived to adulthood. He would grow up with his brothers, Walter and Frank, and his sister, Lillian. 

The Halases owned a three story building. The family lived on the ground floor and rented the upper two. They built a second building on the property to serve in part as Frank Halas’s tailor shop—a business that flourished when large clothiers started buying his ready-cut suits. The business grew, employees were added, and Barbara worked in the business as well. 

When Frank suffered a stroke, he sold his tailor business and built an apartment building with a corner store that Barbara used to open a grocery and dairy. The Halases doubled the size of this second property when they added three more apartments. While George was in high school, his father died. His mother carried on and she managed their properties with plenty of help from her children. 

The family lived comfortably, and Barbara was determined to see her boys get a college education. Tall and thin, George Halas was tough and he loved to play rough. Halas played baseball and lightweight football at Crane Tech in Chicago. He also set many records in track and field. After graduating from high school in 1913, he worked for a year at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric in Cicero, Illinois, before starting college. The Hawthorne Works was the manufacturing arm of the Bell Telephone System, an industrial city in itself, and the site of seminal industrial studies. It was a good workplace for a boy with engineering interests.  

In Pillars, each chapter is devoted to one of the 10 greatest coaches in NFL history.  Each chapter includes various sections like "Early Life" reproduced here, which coaches the early days of the coach. 

George Halas “Who do we play next week?”

This post was published in Halas Chapter of Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

George Halas “Who do we play next week?”

 George Halas stands up and stretches out in the Soldier Field stands on the evening of August 2, 1963. He is wearing a light grey summer suit and felt fedora. He is also wearing a smile. The College All-Stars have just played the NFL champion Green Bay Packers in the annual charity game. It did not go Green Bay’s way. The All-Stars won by a score of 20–17.

 Papa Bear stands next to his coaches who have watched the game with him and he looks behind him at a row of seats occupied by family members including several grandchildren. He sees the happy faces and he knows that they are aware of the importance of a Packers’ loss, any Packers’ loss. Halas rubs his hands together enthusiastically and says in a loud voice: This is very encouraging. George (Mugs) Halas, Jr. chuckles in response to his father’s comment. He knows it will not be easy to knock the Packers from the NFL championship perch they have held for 2 years, but he also knows that if anyone is up to it, it is his father.

In a few seconds, all the grandkids present are up and hopping about anxious to get back home. Halas’s daughter, Virginia McCaskey, and her husband Ed, stand and gather their kids together for the trek to their cars. Football excites the entire family and the McCaskeys love to spend time with their busy grandfather. The 68-year-old Bears’ coach and owner carries himself like a much younger man. He has a great attitude for any age. As he walks along, he reaches out to the kids with his big hands and tousles a head of hair here and gives a shoulder a squeeze there.

 When the McCaskeys reach the parking area, they wave to Uncle Mugs who gives them a beep of the horn as he pulls away. The grandchildren say their goodbyes to Grandpa before they find their seats in the family cars. Papa Bear jumps into another car that takes him up through the Chicago Loop to his apartment home along Lake Michigan. He reviews the game in his head and thinks about the Bears’ prospects for the coming season. He repeats to himself: “This is very encouraging.” 

Halas Illustration from Pillars of The NFL
by Bill Potter, Copyright 2014

Each chapter in Pillars of the NFL starts out with a "you are there" feature that brings to reader into the world of the coach. 

CONTENT OF PILLARS OF THE NFL BY PATRICK MCCASKEY OF THE CHICAGO BEARS

PILLARS BOOK

This post was published in the front matter of  Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press. The book is divided into 10 Chapters with each coach receiving coverage of his own football life as illustrated below for Coach Halas:

Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . v
The Ten Commandments of Football. . . . . . . . . vii
George Halas . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Early Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
University of Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
World War I Service . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
New York Yankees . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Back to Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 5
 Professional Football Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Staleys in 1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Professional Football Team Owner . .  . . . . . . . . . 16
Chicago Staleys’ 1921 Season . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . 16
Chicago Bears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . 17
1922 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1923 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1924 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Magnificent Red Grange . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 19
1925-1928 Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Bears and Stock Market Crash in 1929 . . .  . . . . . 22
Papa’s Bears in the 1930s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1930 and 1931 Seasons . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1932 Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1933 Season and Championship . . .  . . . . . . . . . . 23
1935 and 1936 Seasons . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1937 Championship Challenge .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1938 and 1939 Seasons . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Stunning the Nation n . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1940 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1941 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1942 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1943 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1944-1945 Seasons . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Bears in 1947-1949 . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Bears in the 1950s . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Bears in the 1960s . . . . . . . .  . . .  . . . .. . . . . . . . . 36
1963 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1964-1967 Seasons . .. . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Finks Era . . . . . . . . . .  . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Papa Bear’s Last Run at the Championship  . . . . . 42
Halas’s Contributions to the Game . . . .. . . . . . . . . 43
George Halas Timeline . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . 46 

The Ten Commandments of Football by Patrick McCaskey of the Chicago Bears

This post was published in the front matter of  Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey and is Copyright Sporting Chance Press:

The Ten Commandments of Football

I Football is a wonderful game. There’s blocking and tackling and much, much more. Be enthusiastic. II Weddings, births, and vacations should take place during the off-seasons. 

III Remember the Hupmobile and the original meeting. 

IV All previous games are preparation for the next one.

V Obey the personal conduct policy. 

VI Work for the good of the league. 

VII Win championships with sportsmanship.

VIII You shall not criticize the officials. 

IX You shall not covet other teams’ players or coaches. 

X Game times are tentative and subject to flexible scheduling. 

—Patrick McCaskey

The Origins of the Pillars of the NFL

A couple weeks ago the Bears-Packers Thursday Night Game featured some interesting footage at the beginning of the broadcast called The Original Ringers. A mini-bio on Halas and Lambeau in their very early days:  Halas's working for the Staley Starch Company which started the Decatur Staley/Bears and Lambeau's connection to Green Bay and the  Acme Meat Packing company started the Packers. The roughly 2-minute piece was a nice lead-in to the game and gave viewers a little slice of abbreviated history.

The history and creation of these teams and the roles of Halas and Lambeau is something we covered in our classic book called Pillars of the NFL by Patrick McCaskey. I am very proud of this book and for the place it holds in the literature of football. People no longer buy the best books on sports subjects, but I honestly believe this has to be one of the best--easy to access information  and covering some history (like Guy Chamberlin's career), which is rarely covered. 

Football History

Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships examines the football lives of the greatest coaches in NFL history--those won the most NFL Championships. Who were the greatest coaches in NFL history? How did they succeed? Some coached in the early days of professional football and some later, but all made vital contributions. Pillars of the NFL looks at these interesting and important coaches: Bill Belichick, Paul Brown, Guy Chamberlin, Weeb Ewbank, Joe Gibbs, George Halas, Chuck Noll, Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Walsh.

Pillars sheds light on the early lives, backgrounds, playing years, and teams of these great coaches. Contributions to the game are examined, photos and illustrations enhance the presentation. Peering into the rich history of professional football: Bill Belichick creates a dynasty in New England using old-school ideas and modern methods. Vince Lombardi establishes an unrivaled passion for football in Green Bay. Paul Brown conquers the city of Cleveland and then Cincinnati. Chuck Noll wakes up a sleepy franchise in Pittsburgh to become the most dominant force in football. Joe Gibbs accomplishes the improbable with players who overachieve. Bill Walsh takes football strategy to a new level. George Halas sculpts the NFL and shapes football from its humblest roots to the TV era. Curley Lambeau creates a football powerhouse to stand among giants. Weeb Ewbank wins the Greatest Game Ever Played and shocks the sports world in Super Bowl III. Guy Chamberlin coaches three different NFL teams to four championships in the early days of professional football. Readers see how each coach fits into professional football history; they come to understand the coach's approach to the game and they are treated to entertaining insights that delve into these great men.

Chicago Bears in the 1920s

Sporting Chance Press Book

The following passage is from Pillars of the NFL  by Patrick McCaskey, Copyright Sporting Chance Press.

In two seasons, the Staleys proved they had what it takes to win it all and perhaps win for several years. But it was almost impossible for any team to keep all of its top players. Halas would say: 

"There was no bidding for players in those days, no one had the money." 

Chicago lost a big star in Guy Chamberlin who left for Canton after the 1921 season. Halas would later say that Guy Chamberlin was one that got away and he regretted it. 

Halas however, had plenty of success. In a league that was sometimes bloated with more than 20 teams, his Staleys-Bears of the Roaring 20s managed to win, place, or show every year from 1920-1927. He was also busy in the middle of the decade working hard to recruit, sign, and promote the first superstar of professional football, Red Grange. Halas’s efforts would provide sustenance for the Bears and other NFL teams that were trying to survive. 

Halas’s work for the league would not go unnoticed by Guy Chamberlin. Chamberlin would say: 18 

"Pro football owes George Halas a great debt. Everything he has fought for over the years has been for the good of the league, not just for his own job."

George Halas Becomes Professional Football Team Owner

Sporting Chance Press Book

The following passage is from Pillars of the NFL  by Patrick McCaskey, Copyright Sporting Chance Press.

In 1921, the economy hit a downturn. The Staley Starch Company determined that it could no longer afford the juggernaut that Halas had assembled. Owner A. E. Staley seeded funds to Halas that allowed the young coach to start up his own team in Chicago.17 Halas made fellow University of Illinois alum, Edward “Dutch” Sternaman, whom he had recruited in 1920, co-owner. 

Of the original 11 professional football teams, only two would survive: The StaleysBears and the Cardinals. In the 90+ years since the league’s founding, the Bears moved from Decatur to Chicago; the Cardinals moved from Chicago to Saint Louis to Arizona. Halas worked with Chicago Cubs’ President William Veeck Sr. to arrange playing time in Cubs Park—later known as Wrigley Field. Halas was a baseball fan. He called his team the Bears given the larger size of football players. Having a great deal of experience with players of the era, Halas had an eye for talent, understood the player’s mentality, and worked diligently to establish professional football. 

For many years, professional football was a financially fragile undertaking. Players were paid on a game-by-game basis and sometimes the money was difficult to find. A poorly attended game could be financially disastrous. Few players thought of professional football providing a long term living. 

Halas's Decatur Staleys in 1920

Sporting Chance Press Book

The following passage is from Pillars of the NFL  by Patrick McCaskey, Copyright Sporting Chance Press.

Halas had recruited some of the top players in the country for the 1920 Staleys. In addition to Halas himself, the Staleys featured Hall of Famers George Trafton, Jimmy Conzelman, and Guy Chamberlin for starters. 

Trafton was a 6-foot-2, 230 pound bull who loved to mix it up. He was a tough player who was known around the league for his aggressive style of play. Conzelman was highly intelligent and played quarterback in 1920. 

Chamberlin was a game changer—a peerless defensive end, and on offense an excellent rusher and receiver. Halas’s future Bears’ partner Dutch Sternaman, could play any position in the backfield. Among others who joined the team were tackle Hugh Blacklock, back Jake Lanum, center John Mintun, and quarterback Pard Pearce. Several of Halas’s recruits were players he knew from his time at Great Lakes and the University of Illinois. 

After easily beating two semipro industrial teams, the Staleys traveled to Rock Island to defeat the tough Independents 7–0 in their first league match. The Staleys shut out the Chicago Tigers, 10–0, beat Rockford, 29–0, and then had a rematch with the Rock Island Independents that ended in a 0–0 tie. Halas’s men were too much for the Minneapolis Marines, 3–0, and the Hammond Pros, 28–7. Once again they shut out the Chicago Tigers, this time 6–0. Halas had back-to-back games against another Great Lakes pal, Paddy Driscoll, who was a player-coach with the Chicago Cardinals. In the first game, the Staleys kicked off to the Cardinals and when the ball touched a Cardinal player, fullback Bob Koehler picked it up and ran it in for the Staleys’ score. The extra point was missed.14 

Behind 6–0, Leonard Sachs picked up a Staleys’ fumble on the 20-yard line and ran it in for the score. The Cardinals’ successful extra point gave them a 7–6 win. When the Staleys played the Cardinals the following week, the Staleys won, 10–0. The final game of the season matched the Decatur Staleys with the Akron Pros. Akron’s 7–0–3 record was slightly better than Decatur’s 10–1–1 record. It would take a win for the Staleys to become champions. Halas’s friend and football adversary from the Cardinals, quarterback Paddy Driscoll, joined the Staleys for this one game in what was billed the league championship. 

The Pros had a huge star of their own—Hall of Fame running back, Fritz Pollard. African American Pollard was an excellent runner and dangerous punt and kick returner. When Pollard ran around end, Chamberlin, Halas, and others had their hands full trying to contain him. Regardless of the offensive talent in the game, defense ruled the day. Two penalties ruined promising Akron drives in the first half. One opportunity for the Staleys came in the third quarter. The Staleys drove down to the 18-yard line and moved a few yards toward center on two more plays for a field goal attempt. The kick was wide and the teams fought the rest of the way to a 0–0 tie. When the team managers got together long after the season had ended, they voted Akron the league champion.

Copyright Sporting Chance Press

Professional Football Opportunity Comes for George Halas

Sporting Chance Press Book

The following passage is from Pillars of the NFL  by Patrick McCaskey, Copyright Sporting Chance Press.

Halas was recruited to work at Staley Starch Company in Decatur in a dual management-training and athletic-director position. Staley had baseball, basketball, and football teams. Halas sharpened his sports management skills by running the Staleys football team. 

Scheduling games among unaffiliated teams was difficult; Halas sensed an opportunity to organize the teams that had been playing together to form a league. He sent a letter expressing such an interest to Ralph Hay of Canton, Ohio. Hay was working to improve the organization of Ohio teams. In many ways, Canton was the fertile crescent of pro football. 

Hay’s Canton Bulldogs had the 1912 Olympic Athlete Jim Thorpe as its player-coach at the time. Hay invited interested parties to Canton, where they outlined the basic league structure. On paper, the Staleys and 10 other teams pitched in $100 each and made up the new American Professional Football Association that would come to be called the National Football League in 1922. Halas said later that none of those at the meeting actually had $100 so the fee was never collected.

Like early professional baseball, professional football would be a precarious business investment. Popularizing professional Pillars of the NFL football was difficult because many Americans thought that college football was the highest form of the game and they believed professional football was a poor imitation of the sport that could have a corrupting influence. Halas’s Players Halas had seen many of the top players in action himself. He also traveled to  see others in whom he was interested. As professional football developed, Halas continued to look out for good recruits. He was drawn to tough competitive men who played aggressively.

Copyright Sporting Chance Press

Pillars and Post: Orders Coming in Now

GREATEST BOOK ON NFL COACHES

We published a football book in 2014: Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships written by Patrick McCaskey, the grandson of Papa Bear George Halas.  The book examines the football lives the 10 Greatest coaches in NFL history. 

Pillars is finally getting  some attention from coaches. It's about time! I'm not getting any younger. 

As a publisher, I am always concerned about the model used for each of our books--how we cover what we are covering, the depth of information--how it all looks and is organized.  A model is important because it give you continuity  and it makes it easier on the reader as he goes from topic to topic, chapter to chapter. And Pillars is a book that delivers one some succinct information about some of the most important men that helped form the National Football League. 

In Pillars, we cover the football lives of George Halas, Guy Chamberlin, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Bill Belichick.  

We wanted to keep Pillars manageable and create useful and interesting information but only go so deep. We wanted to focus  on each coach's early life, schooling, key players, coaching with an emphasis on championships, contributions, and provide a historical timeline, and highlights.  I think the concise model kept us on task and helped us include the right information. 

Look of the Book

My friend Don Torres, a graphic artist, did the design and Bill Potter provided some illustrations of the coaches, some of which resemble those biographical montages that you used to see in newspapers. 

When you publish a book like Pillars, the art is in the details.  Many of the coaches are no longer around and you gather information from other books, news stories, and organizations. Hundreds of endnotes lead readers to more information. 

So if you know any coaches, or you have NFL fans on your shopping list, buy some copies of Pillars of the NFL.