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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The upcoming 2019-20 National Football League
3(NFL) season will be the 100th season of play for the Chicago
4Bears, a charter member of the NFL since the team's inception
5in 1920; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Chicago Bears are truly "Illinois' pro team";
7they were founded in Decatur as the Staleys and played in
8central Illinois during their inaugural year before moving to
9Chicago in 1921; they changed their name to the Bears in 1922;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, The founding of the Bears, their move to Chicago,
12and their groundbreaking first decade as a professional
13football team were the work of George S. Halas, an Illinois
14native who, during the course of his 63-year career, played
15for, coached, and owned the Bears; and
 
16    WHEREAS, As an innovator, George S. Halas created and
17managed professional football coaching as an institution; he
18and the Bears pioneered daily practice sessions, the use of
19cameramen and game films, the hiring and use of offensive and
20defensive coordinators and assistant coaches, and the
21development of player formations that made it possible for a
22quarterback and his fellow players to create ball targets in

 

 

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1two or more separate directions and thus dominate the field of
2play; and
 
3    WHEREAS, George S. Halas's work as a principal founder, not
4only of the Chicago Bears but of professional football in the
5United States as a whole, made him one of the immortal figures
6in American sports; in 1963, he was named as one of the
7inaugural class of honorees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
8Canton, Ohio; beginning with the 1984-85 season, the NFL's
9National Football Conference named its conference championship
10trophy, a team's symbolic ticket to the Super Bowl, the George
11Halas Trophy; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Chicago Bears have hoisted the George S. Halas
13Trophy twice, most recently on January 21, 2007 as the NFC
14champions for the 2006-07 NFL season and even more memorably on
15January 12, 1986 as the NFC champions for the 1985-86 NFL
16season, after a game in which they defeated the Los Angeles
17Rams by a score of 24 to 0 on the way to their victory in Super
18Bowl XX; and
 
19    WHEREAS, "Da Bears" of Super Bowl XX, under head coach Mike
20Ditka, legendary Hall of Famer Walter Payton, quarterback Jim
21McMahon, Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent, and other players too
22numerous to mention, forced their way onto America's television
23screens and became "America's team"; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, As the Chicago Bears fought their way to Super
2Bowl XX, they carried the initials "GSH" on the upper left
3sleeves of their jerseys as a tribute to the inspiring life of
4George S. Halas, and team members have continued to do so to
5this day; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Virginia Halas McCaskey, George S. Halas's
7daughter, has presided over the team as owner for more than
8three decades, including the Super Bowl XX championship season;
9she has carried on the Halas heritage and principal ownership
10of the Chicago Bears into their 100th season of professional
11football; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Virginia Halas McCaskey accepted the George S.
13Halas Trophy when the Chicago Bears won the NFC championship on
14January 21, 2007; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In recognition of their 100th season and of the
16100-season history of the Chicago Bears, the NFL has invited
17the Chicago Bears to kick off the 2019-20 season; and
 
18    WHEREAS, This game will be played on Thursday, September 5,
192019, at Soldier Field in Chicago, with the Bears hosting a
20team from the neighboring state of Wisconsin; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
2HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3we congratulate the men who have played and coached for the
4Chicago Bears, the men and women who have been part of the
5Chicago Bears organization, and the great fans who have
6supported them for a century, for their parts in the story of
7an organization that has become a touchstone of Illinois'
8identity; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That we remember, with admiration and gratitude,
10the men and women of the Chicago Bears family who have moved
11through the excitement of their lives; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That we pay tribute to the Chicago Bears
13organization for their 100-year history and their contribution
14to the identity of Illinois and its people; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That we look forward to many wins and
16championships in the future of the Chicago Bears, a future
17which will be even brighter than its past; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19presented to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, owner of the
20Chicago Bears Virginia Halas McCaskey, Chairman George H.
21McCaskey, President and CEO Ted Phillips, General Manager Ryan
22Pace, Head Coach Matt Nagy, and the 2019-20 Chicago Bears

 

 

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1football team.