Pillars of the NFL and Notre Dame Connections --First in a Series

Patrick McCaskey

The Pillars of the NFL is published by Sporting Chance Press and written by Chicago Bears Senior Director Patrick McCaskey.  The Pillars themselves are the greatest coaches in NFL history--determined strictly by the number of championships.  Ten coaches have won three or more championships: George Halas, Guy Chamberlin, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Belichick.  

In this post,  we recall here the Pillars connections to that great school taken from Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships.  

The first Pillar is George Halas,  who coached for 40 seasons and accumulated 324 wins, 151 losses, and 31 ties. The Bears won six NFL Championships with Halas as coach. He had two more championships as owner for a total of eight. He was enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame’s charter class of 17 members on September 7, 1963. Halas was named AP Coach of the Year, the Sporting News Coach of the Year, and the UPI NFL Coach of the Year for the 1963 and the 1965 seasons.  If anyone could be called the Father of the NFL, it would be George Halas. In this way, his nickname, Papa Bear says it all. He loved the fans and was dedicated to his friends, family, and faith.

There are many professional football associations with Notre Dame football and its coaches and players. The Bears have often added Notre Dame graduates to their roster and Halas started the practice very early on. Two of Halas’s favorite Fighting Irish were George Trafton and Hunk Anderson.

George Trafton

By most accounts, players in the early days of football were very rugged men.  Hall of Famer George Trafton certainly fits this description—he was a 6-foot-2, 230 pound bull who loved to mix it up. Hated by opposing teams for his aggressive play and loved by his teammates for his winning contributions, Trafton played center for the Staleys/Bears right from the start, 1920-1932.  He was known around the league for his aggressive style of play.  According to Trafton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame biography:

Trafton was strongly disliked in every NFL city, with the exception of Green Bay and Rock Island. In those places, he was hated.

Hunk Andersen

A contemporary of George Halas, Notre Dame alum Hunk Anderson played guard and center for the Bears from 1922-1925. When his playing days ended, he became one of the most innovative coaches in football.  His blocking techniques and schemes helped modernize football and power the modified T formation that the Bears used so successfully when it dominated the league in the 1940s.  He was also creative with defense and an early proponent of the blitz.  Halas said, “When it came to line play or defense, Hunk was a genius.”

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