Jan 20, 2007 5:26 pm US/Central
Galloping Ghost Put Chicago Bears on Map
The Bears Are Popular Now, But It All Started With Red Grange
by Mike Puccinelli
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Long before they were monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears were struggling to make a name for themselves.
But as CBS 2's West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, one particular player gave them more than a ghost of a chance--that player is the galloping ghost known as Red Grange.
Every time Devin Hester or one of the other Bears scores a touchdown this season, Wheaton College archivist Dave Malone sees a ghost.
"Knowing how some of those plays have gone recently, they've had some help," said Dave Malone, Wheaton College archivist.
Malone is talking about help from Red Grange, the legendary halfback from Wheaton who last ran for the Bears more than 70 years ago. But despite the passage of time Malone says his legacy looms large.
"Pro football wouldn't exist without Red Grange," Malone said. "The rise of the modern American football is so tied to Red Grange in terms of moving from amateur sports into professional sports and legitimizing pro football."
Grange was professional football's first superstar. George Halas signed the headline generating athlete with the Bears for the then unheard of salary of $100,000.
"I played my first pro game Thanksgiving Day in 1925. I played eight games in 11 days after that," said Harold Red Grange in a previous interview.
But before Grange's exploits on the field started filling seats, college football was king and going pro was fraught with risk.
"Grange himself said he would have been treated better if he'd been one of Capone's gang or if he married his own sister," Malone recounts.
But with time as the former ice hauler from Wheaton cut away from more and more tacklers a nation was seduced eventually falling for pro football and its leading man… Harold Red Grange.
The galloping ghost first started to run at what was then Wheaton High School. He went on to win several state championships. Not long after that, he would grace the cover of Time Magazine and countless other publications on his way of becoming one of the greatest football players ever.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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