WEBVTT - Legacy Panel - 100 Years in the Making 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:05.600 Good morning everybody again, and welcome to a very special 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:09.080 scrap book Memory and we are We've been looking forward 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:14.320 to this one for quite a while. A lot of 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.200 great Bears history captured in the book that these two 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.040 outstanding journalists have put together. Dan Pompey one of my 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.560 dear friends, and Don Pearson, a man I respect from 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:29.360 the moment I got in this business, and all because 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:34.480 of George Hallis and this family that has created quite 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.200 the legacy over one hundred years. The chairman of the board, 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:44.720 George McCaskey, everybody, good morning. I asked Jeff and Tom 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.000 for a few minutes just to tell you how much 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:52.120 we appreciate all of us support and enthusiasm of these 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.640 Great Bears fans Friday night. It was unbelievable. At opening 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.680 ceremonies all day Saturday, the police told us that the 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:01.320 line to get in was all the way down to 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:07.240 Lawrence Avenue on River Road. Everyone has been so excited 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.760 and polite and welcoming. We're just so grateful, so humbled 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.440 by the support that you give to your Bears, and 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.360 we're very, very appreciative of it. And I also want 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.080 to thank our terrific staff for putting on this event, 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:30.680 and our players, current and former for participating as much 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:39.880 as they have. And finally, and I'll shut up for 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:44.319 a while, I want to compliment Tom and Jeff for 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:53.560 the great job they have done all week. Fantastic research, 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:59.920 great questions, and you're eliciting some great responses from your panelists. 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:03.440 And I hope that it's true of this next panel 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.320 right now. Well, George, are those of the nineteen thirty 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:14.320 six socks you're wearing? I gotta go there. I They're 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.280 not They're not regulation height for an NFL game. However, Yeah, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:24.080 so everybody's seen our new classic uniform from nineteen thirty six, 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.680 and of course we had to get the approval of 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:32.200 the owner of the team to to put this project 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:37.320 into fruition. And I showed Mom the artists rendering, and 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:39.239 the first thing out of her mouth and this is 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.079 a quote reporters, Well those socks don't turn me on. 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.040 I agree, and I said, Mom, the socks are the 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:59.760 best part. But how do you like that uniform? Is 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:05.680 it sharp? Or what? Virginia? Isn't it amazing? Well, as usual, 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:08.560 George has taken all the things that I was going 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:14.640 to say, But that is a quote, and I thank 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:19.320 you Tom for agreeing with me. Do you remember that uniform? 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:24.320 It's a throwback from nineteen thirty six, correct, that's that's 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:29.280 what they say. Yes, I was in first or second 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.160 year of high school at that point, and I wasn't 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:37.800 really paying that much attention to the uniforms. I was 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:52.280 more interested in the players who were wearing them. Your 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:57.440 talk about elictening great responses. Thank you you know that 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.800 is such a great response, because missus mccam asking, you've 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:05.760 been a daughter, a sister, a mother to the generations 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.600 of players throughout the history of the Bears. Was there 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.760 any one time in your life it was more unique 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.360 to the other or was it just part of the 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:21.840 growth process of your life through the NFL? These days 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:28.960 here in the Rosemond Center for the stend Deal celebration, 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.400 I'm still trying to find words for what they've meant 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:42.520 to me, and I hope to all of you. It 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:47.119 has made me even more grateful for what my life 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:51.640 has been. In the position that I'm in, there are 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:59.520 so many privileges and perks and blessings. I just can't 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.640 believe that I'm here and I'm enjoying life at my 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:15.839 age the way I am. So before we get to 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:20.400 Don and Dan about this and their time with Missus McCaskey, 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:26.960 Virginia had all started because of your mom honestly collecting scrapbooks. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.760 Explain what that was like for her, why she did it, 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:36.880 and how that just carried on through the generations. My 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:43.400 mother and dad were married in February of nineteen twenty two, 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.160 but before that, she and my dad had known each 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:51.080 other since. There are days in different high schools in 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:58.919 the city of Chicago, and when the Bears started in 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:06.960 Wrigley Field, it was a labor of love for my 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:14.960 mother to save whatever minimum coverage Dad was able to 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:22.960 obtain in the Chicago papers, and over the years in 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:30.760 our family it has grown until now we have this 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:40.280 outstanding book, which they lovingly called the scrap Book, and 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:45.880 it's just a beautiful thing. I hope everybody eventually will 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.799 be able to get a copy. And I can warn 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:54.560 you it's a very heavy book. You it's not something 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:58.320 you can carry around under your arm, but it is 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:05.160 worth every bit of it. And I did have a 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:09.040 copy for a weekend to look over, and then I 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:14.000 had to sign it and return it. So I'm waiting 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:22.000 for my own copy, and there was just I don't 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:26.760 know how you got all your sources, but it was wonderful. 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.560 And there's just one story that was new to me, 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:37.880 and that was the one about Bronco Nagurski after he 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:42.960 retired people had a gas station, not as an investment 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:49.240 for his own employment, and he always had a lot 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.360 of repeat business because when Bronco put on the gas 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:57.160 cap on your gas tank, it stayed on until Bronco 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:07.640 took it off. So Dan and Dan and Don Our 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.360 Dick McCann Hall of Fame writers and the Pro Football 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.640 Hall of Fame and deserving indeed Don cover the team 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.080 for a very long time, a presence at Hallius, all 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:20.360 the old Hollis Hall and Dan Pompeii. We grew up 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.040 in the business together around the same time and all 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:27.720 about football. So they have great perspective, outstanding writers that 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:32.439 capture moments. How did you guys capture one hundred years 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:38.800 of moments with fifteen hours of conversation with Missus McCaskey. Well, 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.200 I think everybody here can see what a privilege it 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.320 was for us to be able to sit down with 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.960 Missus McCaskey for as long as we did, and she 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:52.440 certainly was our primary source and has been around almost 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.640 as long as the Bears herself, and it hasn't I 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.960 don't think she's forgotten anything about anything she ever knew 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.880 about them, and so it was just great to be 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:04.839 able to sit down with her and listen to her 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:11.240 stories and respond to our questions. And one of the 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:14.480 things that was interesting for us in writing the book 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.800 was that it was such a parallel to the National 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:22.319 Football League history. The Bear's history is the National Football 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.240 League history. So I would say, at the risk of 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.960 sounding like a salesperson as well as an author, that 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.280 if you're a Bear fan or you know a Bear fan, 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.080 you have to have this book. But I would even 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.360 extend it. If you're an NFL fan, I think you 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.120 have to have this book because it really gives some 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:46.000 insight on the whole history of the National Football League. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.520 And it was a privilege to work on it and 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.920 to do research, and I kipt George. I think he 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.320 asked me to do it because, like his mother, I've 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.880 been around for most of those one hundred years as well, 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.360 and I do remember, I do remember watching the Bears 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.200 for the last of watching him very closely for over 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.120 sixty years, so I felt that I knew a little 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:14.920 bit about it, but there were all there was a 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.679 lot in the early years that I had to remind 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.719 myself of and it was really a pleasure to to 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.800 to research and to go back over the old the 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:28.439 old clips and the scrap books. And you know, Virginia's right, 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.840 they saved those early scrap books because in the beginning 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.040 her father had to pay can you imagine this, He 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.319 had to pay sports writers to write about the Bears. 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.679 How about that? That that doesn't happen anymore. So it 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.760 was it was really a pleasure to do it. Thank 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:53.120 you God, those days are in the distant path. Uh. 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:57.040 Great honor, as Don said, to be chosen for this 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.240 project by the Bears, and also great out of work 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:02.559 with Don, who is one of my heroes in the business. 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.200 And what a privilege to interview missus mc caskey for 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.640 We spent more than fifteen hours with her. I don't 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.960 know if she signed up for that initially, but we 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:16.880 eked it out of her little at a time, and 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.439 she was so gracious with her time and her stories 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:24.920 and her memory. A lot of people don't know she 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:29.520 was actually on the Red Grange Tour. So I don't 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:35.000 think there's anyone in the alive who has seen as 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.720 much of the history of pro football as Missus mc 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:42.320 caskey has, and her recall of it is tremendous. And 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:46.200 you know, for for many years she was reticent. I 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.560 think I would say, to to talk publicly very much. 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.240 You kind of like to stay in the background. But 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.120 it's been wonderful to see her come out and share 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.200 some of her stories in recent years. So what was 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.240 this What was the starting point? Like, I know what 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.440 we talk about the Bears in the nineteen twenties. What 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.920 was your initial idea that you said, Okay, this is 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.080 going to be the opening chapter, this is gonna be 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.720 the foreward of the book. What was the initial idea? 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.440 I think that's a good question because the easy way 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.160 to do a book like this would be chronological. But 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.000 I think also, with all due respect, it might be 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.480 boring for some people to read it from beginning to end. 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:31.080 And so what we did was separated into five different sections, 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:35.680 five categories, and they are ownership, which would would include 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:40.280 management and coaching, and then the players, the great players 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:44.680 and the plays and the championships would be a third area. 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:49.080 The innovations that they've had, and the rivalries, and the 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.200 reason we did this. You could you could do the 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.000 history on any team in the National Football League and 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.760 divided into those five sections. But in this case, the 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:02.240 Bears were unique in every single section. They've No team 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.120 in the National Football League has ownership like the Bears 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:10.040 had with George Hallis founding the league, founding the team 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:14.320 and his family still being involved in ownership. No team 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:24.760 has as many Hall of Fame players as the Bears. Championships, 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:28.760 the championships, they have nine championships, and there is I've 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:31.000 heard there's a team that has more than that, but 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:36.000 we won't mention that. But but the team, no team 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.520 in the National Football League has ever won a championship 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.640 game seventy three to nothing. And we make the case, 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.640 We make the case that the nineteen eighty five season 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.280 is the most memorable season in NFL history. We made 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:57.640 that case. So so that's unique. And then as far 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:02.680 as the innovations are could earn, No, there's no other team. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.800 There's no other thing in sport like the Grange Tour, 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.559 which really put pro football on the map, as well 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.600 as another innovation would be the T formation with the 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.079 man in motion, which is still the basic peoplemation. So 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.080 as far as innovations are, there's no other team that 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.440 can compare to the Bears. And then the rivalries speak 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.520 for themselves. There's no other team the National Football League 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.240 which have the rivalries that the Bears have, starting of 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:35.840 course with the team up North Soul. That's the reason 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:40.240 we put the book into that kind of format, and 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.920 I think it works pretty well because there is a 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.480 little bit of overlap. But those sections I think are 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.720 very interesting and revealing and as I say, unique, and 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.800 I think in the entire National Football League. Missus mccaski, 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.960 what are your recollections of that barnstorming tour? Because it 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.480 was completely unorthodox to even a manage and that many 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.440 games in a short period of time, traveling all over 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:10.280 the country, seventeen games in sixty one days. But it 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:15.800 was vital, wasn't it. I don't really have any direct 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:21.240 memories of that tour because I was it was just 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:33.280 before and after my third birthday, but it was some 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.920 It was such a milestone for the Chicago Bears and 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:45.560 the National Football League in terms of crowd acceptance and recognition. 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:53.720 I think it will always be a part of the 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:57.480 Bears history and the history of the National Football League. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.400 And I'd like to back up a little bit, and 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:08.200 I don't want to enco accuse anyone of deception, but 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.320 the way this book was presented to me and my 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.520 participation is that I was the only one available to 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:23.040 talk about the twenties and the thirties. So I figured, well, 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:28.000 I'll do this time with Don and Dan, and then 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:32.600 they'll find other people for the other decades. And it 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:40.320 just didn't happen. And we're very grateful that it didn't happen, 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:41.800 and I think you will be if you buy the 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.640 book as well, because she's got great antidotes that she 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.360 shared with us throughout the book. Dan, what is something 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.000 that you learned about the Bears before your time with 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.560 the Bears? Don says, it's been around for sixty years. 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.000 You and I have been around for less time than that, 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.560 And in preparation for these events, I've learned so much 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.720 about the Bears looking at footage from the forties, from 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.840 the sixty three A couple of weeks before the seventy 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.680 three to nothing game, they got beat by the Redskins 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.760 and the owner called him cry babies, and quitters. What 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.400 did you learn about the Bears that kind of shocked you? Well, 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.480 this is quite a bit. I mean, I'll share one 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:26.040 story about Sid Luckman that I found out that I 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.520 wasn't aware of. Sid, of course, the greatest quarterback in 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:34.200 Bears history, one of the greatest players ever. Sid, We've 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.880 got the Sid Luckman and cheering section. Good good to see. 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:44.399 During World War Two, he was a war hero of sorts. 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:49.560 He made seven trips over to England and France, including 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.720 that you know, we just celebrated the seventy fifth anniversary 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:57.199 of D Day and he was actually a part of 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.720 that movement, which I never knew. He was on a 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:06.560 ship that delivered oil and brought back wounded soldiers during 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:11.439 during the D Day uh invasion period. So in addition 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.320 to being this incredible quarterback, he also was a great 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:23.439 American hero. And I'd like to I'd like to answer 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.879 that question too, Tim, because people ask me, what was 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.200 the most surprising thing you found out when you're writing 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.679 the book. And it wasn't really surprised, but it was 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:35.240 a reminder and maybe it was a surprise. It was 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:40.600 a reminder of the enormous, enormous influence George Hallis had 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.280 on the National Football League. I mean we talk about 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.760 him being the founder, but he his fingerprints were on 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:51.640 everything from the shape of the ball, to the rules 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:57.359 to expansion, I mean everything about the National Football League. 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:00.280 Somehow you could trace back to George Hallis. It was 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:05.640 really fascinating to to UH to sort of review them, 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.040 and I'll tell you a good story about it. You know. 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:13.480 We talked to miss Trubisky and Ryan Pace and UH 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.120 Matt Naggie, and one of the questions we asked him 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:22.320 was when when was your first UH encounter with the Bears, 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.000 And all of them mentioned somehow the eighty five Super Bowl, 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:31.119 by the way, and UH we asked what were the 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.200 what was your favorite team growing up? And of course 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.600 Ryan is from Dalla, from Texas, so he liked the 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:42.840 Dallas Cowboys. And Matt was from Pennsylvania and somehow he 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.560 got onto the Vikings. I think it was a college 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.920 player that he followed. And of course Mitch's from Ohio 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:51.000 and he grew up right outside of Cleveland, so his 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.399 favorite team was the Browns. And what they didn't know 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.280 though I looked, I thought about the Vikings and the 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:03.440 Cowboys and and the Browns. All three of those teams 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.800 came into existence at least partly because of George Hallis. 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.640 He was the not so he not only founded the Bears, 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.040 he was the He was the chairman of the expansion 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.320 team when the Vikings and the and the Cowboys came in. 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:21.280 And the reason the Browns came into existence is because 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:27.960 George Hallis, because Archward was the was the sports editor 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.240 of the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to buy the Buffalo Bills. 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:36.080 George Allis said, we're saving h and he wanted to 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.280 He wanted to move the Buffalo Bills to the West Coast. 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:40.400 This is getting to be a longer story than I 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.440 had imagined. But they were going to move the Buffalo 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:45.760 Bills to the West Coast, and George Allis said, no, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.439 We're saving the West Coast for somebody else. So Archwards 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.600 started the All America Conference, which was the Browns. So 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:57.280 all three of these teams that Payson, Trubisky and Naggie 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:02.919 grew up liking were because of George. It was just amazing. So, 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:08.880 mister the Casky, in the whole idea of the inception 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.280 of the NFL, was there ever an era that you 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:19.639 thought the NFL might not make it. I didn't realize 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:24.840 it when I was growing up, but there were difficult 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:32.360 years in the late twenties and early thirties, and my 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:38.400 dad had the Chicago Bears, but he was also part 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:43.520 owner of a commercial laundry company. He worked in real estate. 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:49.040 He even tried selling cars. I often used the word 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:57.560 survival because that's what was involved, and fortunately for us 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:04.360 and for so many people now, it all worked out. 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.159 Your piggiebank had something to do with the survival of 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.600 the Bears too. Could you tell that story? I said, 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.320 your piggiebank had something to do with survival of the 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:22.440 Bears too. Well. At one point, my dad was so 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:27.879 desperate that he actually spoke to my brother and me 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:33.760 about borrowing the money that was in our savings account. 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:40.400 And that savings account had been established by Grandma Hallis, 0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:44.719 who sent us a Birthday check and a Christmas check 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:51.720 each year, and I think there was probably a couple 0:22:51.760 --> 0:23:04.320 of hundred dollars, but even that was borrowed because it 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:12.440 was a case of buying groceries and there were late 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:15.959 payments on the rent of the apartment. It's hard to 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.520 imagine these days with all the millions and billions of 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:26.679 dollars that people are talking about. And Kyle Fuller mentioned 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:32.720 how he feels about going to work at Hollis Hall, 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:37.639 and that resonated with me because each time I go 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:43.160 up there, I think, does this really belong to us? 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:52.159 Is this really part of our organization? I'm just amazed 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:58.000 at the expansion of Hallis Hall and can't imagine what 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:00.679 they're going to think of next to what's going to 0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:12.479 happen in the next hundred years. George So, being a 0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:16.720 former reporter, I can feel compelled to clarify the record 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:23.560 when coach Hellis borrowed money from Moms and Mugs's piggybangs, 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:30.280 he promised them, I'll pay you back, so which you did. 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:39.200 So from your perspective as a grandson and living through 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:43.439 this journey as well, how staggering is it that had 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:48.679 one hundred dollars put on the table to start professional 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:53.320 sport called football has grown into billions for every team 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:58.440 in the league and generations and generations of fans that 0:24:58.600 --> 0:25:04.359 their families are together in many respects on Sundays because 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:08.640 of Bears football and seeing George Hallis in that statue 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:11.480 every day at Barrett Hollis Hall How staggering is it 0:25:11.520 --> 0:25:15.400 for you to think about it that way? Well, every 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.400 day when I enter Hollis Hall, I pass that statue 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:23.800 and I try to think about Coach Hallis and all 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:27.800 he's meant to all of us, all he's meant to 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:31.280 the great game of football and Bears fans, and it's 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:38.000 very much a family operation for us. This morning, We've 0:25:38.040 --> 0:25:42.720 got my favorite brother in law, my Catine, my favorite niece, Natalie, 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:46.960 my favorite niece, Molly, my favorite brother Pat, my favorite 0:25:47.000 --> 0:25:50.960 sister Anne, my favorite sister Mary, my favorite sister in law, Gretchen, 0:25:51.480 --> 0:25:54.879 my favorite niece, Julie, my favorite sister in law, Kathy, 0:25:55.080 --> 0:26:01.199 my favorite brother, Ned, my favorite nephew, Daniel, anybody my 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:05.679 favorite niece, Margaret, my favorite niece Michelle. And all of 0:26:05.760 --> 0:26:09.960 us are passionate about the Bears, and all of us 0:26:10.720 --> 0:26:16.840 feel a tremendous responsibility for carrying on George Hallis's legacy, 0:26:17.480 --> 0:26:28.480 and that's what we intend to do, you know, Jeff, Jeff, 0:26:28.520 --> 0:26:32.199 Another story about that hundred dollars that they started out with, 0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:37.240 George Hallis admitted there wasn't a hundred. The idea was 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:39.879 that each of the new franchises would put up a 0:26:40.000 --> 0:26:43.879 hundred dollars. That was just to make it look legitimate. 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:47.280 He said, there wasn't a hundred dollars among them in 0:26:47.280 --> 0:26:52.120 the whole room, you know, in the In the last 0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:57.960 few months, I've never heard more conversation about the Bears, 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:02.440 about the list of the top one hundred, and just 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:05.800 talking about number one, because both of you guys have 0:27:05.880 --> 0:27:09.399 had great experiences and your life as a writer to 0:27:09.560 --> 0:27:12.240 talk to number one, and I'm talking about Walter Payton. 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:18.360 What you know? For me, there is no other consideration. 0:27:18.920 --> 0:27:21.080 Before I ever came to the Bears, he was my hero. 0:27:21.480 --> 0:27:23.280 When I got to stand in a huddle with him, 0:27:23.320 --> 0:27:25.480 I was in such awe of him it was hard 0:27:25.520 --> 0:27:30.600 to stare away from him. How did that discussion begin 0:27:30.680 --> 0:27:34.680 and end when you started filtering through all of the 0:27:35.040 --> 0:27:40.920 generations of greatness of the Bears players. Well, I think 0:27:41.000 --> 0:27:43.280 number one was kind of a no brainer for us. 0:27:43.359 --> 0:27:47.320 There wasn't any discussion about number one, in part because 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:54.240 both Missus McCaskey and Mike Ditka believe that Peyton was 0:27:54.280 --> 0:27:57.640 the greatest Bear, and those are two pretty powerful voices. 0:28:04.119 --> 0:28:07.000 But in terms of the rest of the list, uh 0:28:07.240 --> 0:28:09.560 Down and I were very happy that nobody disagreed with 0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:11.520 any of the or the order of any of the 0:28:11.560 --> 0:28:16.919 one hundred players. But you know, it was it's a 0:28:17.000 --> 0:28:21.120 highly subjective exercise. It's very difficult to exercise because we're 0:28:21.160 --> 0:28:27.160 comparing so many players in different eras, players who whose 0:28:27.200 --> 0:28:31.120 positions no longer exist, or whose positions were invented at 0:28:31.160 --> 0:28:34.520 some point during the hundred years, players who played a 0:28:34.600 --> 0:28:37.600 long time and had an impact over time, versus players 0:28:37.640 --> 0:28:44.000 who had short term contribution, current players whose legacies really 0:28:44.000 --> 0:28:47.640 aren't complete or close to complete in some cases. So 0:28:48.000 --> 0:28:51.560 it was very difficult time from that standpoint. We tried 0:28:51.560 --> 0:28:54.280 to have fun with it, uh we we We kind 0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:56.960 of went back and forth on a number of guys 0:28:57.000 --> 0:28:59.200 at the end down and I were just talking about 0:28:59.200 --> 0:29:01.600 this in the blue room in the back that you know, 0:29:01.640 --> 0:29:04.520 if we had another week or another month, we probably 0:29:04.520 --> 0:29:07.120 would have changed the list another ten or fifteen times. 0:29:07.120 --> 0:29:09.560 It was one of those deals. You know, there are 0:29:09.560 --> 0:29:11.840 a number of players we left off that you could 0:29:12.040 --> 0:29:15.920 you could second guests and question yourself about, and we 0:29:15.960 --> 0:29:19.720 have been second guests in questioned a few times. Actually, 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:21.920 we wanted to make it easier than it was by 0:29:22.200 --> 0:29:25.000 arguing that we wanted to really make three lists. We 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:28.520 wanted to make an offensive list, a defensive list, and 0:29:28.600 --> 0:29:31.600 a two way player list, because there are really three 0:29:31.640 --> 0:29:36.680 different areas of expertise in football. But I want to 0:29:36.720 --> 0:29:40.320 say that it wasn't that we didn't have any discussion 0:29:40.360 --> 0:29:43.000 about number one. Because the Bears have so many great players. 0:29:43.080 --> 0:29:46.280 We could have made other players number one, but Walter 0:29:46.440 --> 0:29:50.760 Payton checked the most boxes. That is, we tried to 0:29:51.000 --> 0:29:54.440 use as much objective criteria as we could for a 0:29:54.480 --> 0:30:00.400 really highly subjective process, and longevity and durability were one. 0:30:00.520 --> 0:30:04.120 Production was one, honors or one. Impact was one. And 0:30:04.160 --> 0:30:06.360 if you go down the list, if it were just 0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:10.080 longevity and durability, Gaelo. Sayers might not have made the list. 0:30:10.160 --> 0:30:14.080