PAT ON THE BACK

OLD PROS OF THE EARLY BEARS
Thirty-six years ago one of the hottest professional football teams in the country was the Staley Bears of Decatur, Ill. That assemblage of bright young men brought honor to their mentors and sparked the beginning of an era of professional football brilliance that gave birth to today's Chicago Bears and launched some lustrous names into the world of sports. George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears, was coach and played end for the 1920 team, and his present head coach, John L. (Paddy) Driscoll, was a teammate. A young man named Charles (Chuck) Dressen, known to sport fans as manager of the Washington Senators, played quarterback for the Staleys. Burt Ingwersen, assistant football coach at the University of Illinois, and Leo T. Johnson, track coach at the same university, were both Staley Bears. The old Bears, now sportsmen and dignified businessmen, gathered for a recent anniversary reunion in Chicago and a look at their old photo (above). Standing in back row (left to right) are Randolph Young, Leo T. Johnson, Kile MacWherter, Ralph L. Lanum, William Walter Veach and Chuck Dressen. In the center row (left to right) are George S. Halas, George E. Trafton, James Conzelman, Roy S. Adkins, Lennie L. High, Andrew J. Feitchinger and Walter I. Pearce. Seated on the floor at right are Manley Ross Petty and John T. Mintun.

PHOTO

ARTHUR SIEGEL