Chicago Sports Historic Photos: The Bears At Wrigley
by Al Yellon on Jan 8, 2010 8:30 AM CST
in History
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PrintWith the NFL playoffs gearing up this weekend, I thought I'd post another photo of the Bears at Wrigley Field; follow me after the jump to find out more about this one.
I'm sure you recognize NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, #51; this photo appears to be him covering a fourth-down ball about to be snapped for a punt. The opposing team isn't clear from the photo, but from the information given me with the photo, this was taken on November 22, 1970, a 31-13 win over the Buffalo Bills. This was the first year of the merger; the Bills were one of only two original AFL teams (the Chargers were the other) who played in Wrigley Field.
Bobby Douglass, who later was a touchstone for angry Bears fans who either wanted a better QB or wanted Douglass to be converted to tight end or both, threw four TD passes in this game -- the only one he started in 1970. Another NFL Hall of Famer was a member of the Bills in 1970, but he didn't play in this game -- didn't play after November 8, so he must have been injured. Some guy named Simpson.
One other note on this photo, and one of the main reasons I posted it -- it has a very clear shot of the WGN radio & TV sign on the Waveland rooftop which now bears the Horseshoe Casino ad.
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As always, cool photo, but
what could there possibly be about the NFL playoffs starting this weekend that would make you think of the Bears?
"The Cubs are due in sixty-two." - #14
maybe you should have said
with the college bowl games going on
since the Bears are more like TCU than GB right now
Just because you talk a lot doesn't mean you're saying anything. dtpollitt 1-7-10
Very cool
I always thought a throwback game would be very cool. I doubt it would happen though. Soldier field is one of the smallest in the league as far as seating capacity. Moving to a small venue like Wrigley would cost them a lot of money
"If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me." ~ Leo Durocher
Well, they've talked about playing a college football game @ Wrigley.
Why not a Bears game? Maybe they could squeeze 50,000 in there if they carefully placed some temporary seating. I don’t know how many Bears tickets are held by season ticket holders, so unless they could take care of all of them, it might not work.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I think Soldier Field holds about 72,000
You really think the McCaskey (sp?) family, who’s wealth comes FROM the Bears and only the Bears, are going to lose that much money? Unless you doubled ticket prices, I don’t think it would work
"If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me." ~ Leo Durocher
Didn't it hold 66,944 before the renovations a few years ago?
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 8, 2010 2:52 PM CST up reply actions
Yes, but...
No Club Seats and minimal skyboxes at the old place…they’re doing more with less.
My ticket prices more than doubled, though I got a serious location upgrade at new SF.
I don't think there will ever be another
NFL game at Wrigley. The main reason is the football field didn’t quite fit in the park. The depth in one of the end zones was only 9 yards — and then a wall. They wouldn’t go back to that. A NFL field is 360 ft long and 160 ft wide; not sure if there would be a way to fit the field more optimally at Wrigley.
"The Cubs are due in sixty-two." - #14
They'd have to put the field from CF to home plate to make it fit.
Which would make a lot of the seats a lot farther from the field.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
are you sure that would work?
as the field narrows toward the infield I’m not sure the full 160’ width can be supported. I think I remember this being discussed before the Bears played that year in Champaign (while Soldier Field was being redone), and I thought they were saying at that time the only config that would work was the old one that waiting4cubs describes.
"The Cubs are due in sixty-two." - #14
Shot could've been taken from our seats ...
My Dad had Bears season tickets in the first row behind the first base dugout. Those seats were kind of in the end zone. Not only did the field not fit, but the south end zone was cut off at its eastern corner, the back of the end zone cut off to our left and behind us, and the east side of the end zone was cut off to our right. If I remember correctly, it was a five-sided end zone, not a rectangle. This was a result of the jog in the first base line wall. If you extended the end zone lines so they met to form a normal rectangle, they would have met behind our seats and to our right a little.
fesullivan
was the field crowned at that time?
…like it was prior to the work done two years ago?
If it was that must have been brutal on the players…..
Unfortunately, no.
My dad could never get tickets — they were very tough to get in the 1960’s.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Always packed
Even though my Dad had season tickets (see “Shot could’ve been taken …” above), I only got to one or two games a year because he mostly used them for business — entertaining clients. I ended up going in December, when the Bears were usually out of it (except 1963!), and the weather was awful. But it was always full, the way I remember it, no matter how bad the Bears or the weather.
fesullivan
Do you have any tapes or dvd's of a Bear game in Wrigley?
I’d love to get my hands on some from the late 60s in Wrigley.
"Any player who gets the opportunity to play at Wrigley should welcome it"
I checked YouTube.
Here’s a montage of still photos from 1965.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Nice memories
Whoever shot those had seats very close to my Dad’s. He was probably one of the silhouettes in the foreground as the Packers left the field! The visiting team’s exit was the first base dugout, which in those days ended right there at the tunnel. There was a gate just to the right (east) of the dugout/tunnel. After games they’d open it and have us walk on the field to exit through the Sheffield Ave. gate – now the “knothole.”
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
Not so nice memory
Seeing Gale Sayers from that point of view was bittersweet. From those seats we could see that he could move laterally almost as fast as he could run forward. One of the few games I did attend was the 49ers game in 1968 when he got hurt. I’ll never forget it. I brought my girlfriend (now wife!) to the game. Watching them carry Sayers off the field was gut-wrenching. He was never quite the same after that injury.
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
Also on YouTube
Enter Gale Sayers. There’s a lot of footage of him. I only watched one – an NFL films feature on the game in which he scored 6 TDs against SF. A lot of the footage is from ground level and you get a very good idea of how close the fans were to the field for football games. I assume you could do the same with Butkus and see even more.
Thankfully, I went to a pair of games at Wrigley
sitting in the corner of the south end zone (lower boxes) in 1969, at a game against Johnny U’s Baltimore Colts. The Bears blew a lead, as I remember — Unitas led the comeback in the final minutes to win. 1-13 on the season, were those Bears. That squad tied the Steelers for the worst record in the NFL. A coin flip, won by Pittsburgh gave them the first draft choice.
With it, Pittsburgh picked…… (sigh)…… Terry Bradshaw. Enough said.
In 1970 — sitting in the 3b grandstand, at about the 40-yard-line, I remember — I saw the Lions beat the Bears…..
The Bears were 0-2 in Wrigley for me, but the time with my Father was priceless.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 5:46 PM CST up reply actions
Was that the game with the instant touchdown catch
at the end? Unitas to John Mackey maybe? I listened to it on the radio, but my parents were there. The supposed catch happened right in front of my Dad, in that cut off corner of the end zone. He had a better view than the ref. My Dad came home completely depressed insisting that the receiver never had possession of the ball. Not for an instant … not never. The ball went right through his arms but was ruled a touchdown.
fesullivan
I believe so.
We had to be sitting somewhat close to that area, too, those lower boxes, right corner — I remember the rickety RF erector set bleachers to be very close. I couldn’t have been more than 10-15 rows from the field.
I’d have to go back and research this when I have time, but as a kid I knew Johhny U was going to charge down the field to snatch a victory, as he did — as time was expiring.
I don’t remember controversy at the end, but at 14 I might not have been able to realize there was any controversy.
I believe my mother said “take a camera” it’s your first in-person Bears game, but I didn’t follow up.
How I wish I had done so.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 7:37 PM CST up reply actions
Nope.
Memory does not serve me correctly…..Unitas manuvered the Colts to a game winning FG.
My memory probably was of the drive prior to that one, RB Terry Cole with a rushing TD to tie the game at 21.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 7:56 PM CST up reply actions
And in that 1969 season....
… the only game they won was vs. the Steelers. Had they lost that game, they’d have had the #1 pick without the coin flip.
And probably STILL wouldn’t have taken Bradshaw.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Unitas always killed the Bears
One of the best 2-minute QB’s ever. The instant, or phantom, touchdown must have been one of the other dozen times he did it to the Bears.
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 10:03 PM CST up reply actions
I believe that is the game the Bears
dedicated to Brian Piccolo and then blew late.
I checked and it was.
Piccolo took himself out of a game in Atlanta the week before because he couldn’t breathe. He was brought back to Illinois Masonic for tests and his cancer was discovered. He was still in Illinois Masonic when the Bears played the Colts the following Sunday.
So while SCJM sat in the stands prior to the game, Gale Sayers was giving his famous speech in the Bear locker room about winning the game for Brian Piccolo. When teammates visited Piccolo later at the hospital he famously made fun of them for blowing the game.
The following week Piccolo flew to NY and had surgery. At the time the operation had only been performed 400 times but doctors were optimistic. And for a time it looked like he might indeed survive.
Look where Butkus is in the photo,
5 yards or more in front of the center, his front right leg in flex about to do his thing that the rules committee changed….meaning that the long snapper was vulnerable and Butkus liked to time his assault when the center was still down and grind him backwards.
Piniella: "This is a tougher job than I thought it would be, I'm going to be honest with you."
This particular game was actually interesting in one respect.
When Douglass hit Seymour for a TD pass over 50 yards, the ball nearly travelled 70 yards in the air. Seymour caught the ball in the endzone after a Douglass scramble. After the game it was discovered that Douglass had a broken bone in his wrist. For the next few seasons Bobby Douglass backers would say, “He threw that pass seventy yards to Seymour with a broken wrist. Imagine what he could do with a good wrist!” Of course, we later saw what he did with a good wrist… run a lot.
It was too bad, because...
… Douglass did have a really strong arm. He just could never locate his receivers.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
He should have been a Cub
We used to joke that if he was going to play at Wrigley Field, he’d be better off in the Cub bullpen. And he could pinch run …
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 11:12 AM CST up reply actions
The White Sox signed him to a minor league contract as a pitcher...
… in 1979, and sent him to Iowa (then their AAA team). He pitched in four games, threw seven innings and gave up only six hits.
And 13 walks, with no strikeouts. Like his NFL career, he could throw hard, but never knew where it was going.
Here’s his minor league stat line. The page says he was born in 1949, but all the NFL pages have him born in 1947.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Great stuff
Forgot all about that. Or maybe just wanted to forget about Bobby Douglas entirely.
Wikipedia says 1947, and they say he married a Playboy model. So he knew how to make a pass, just not how to throw one.
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 11:25 AM CST up reply actions
I was going to
mention the same thing about Douglass wrist. I remember watching that game and was in awe that he could throw like that with an injury. BTW, I was at one game in 1962, & all I remember as a 10 yr. old was how packed in we were. When the crowd stood to cheer, they raised me right out of my seat along with them!
"It's a funny old world. Man's lucky if he gets out of it alive." W.C. Fields
I remember a Bears vs. Chicago Cardinals game
in 1958 at Wrigley Field. It was December and cold. My most vivid memory is of all the booze. I was only 8 but noted that just about everyone had a flask. By the fourth quarter fights were breaking out everywhere between Cardinals fans and Bear fans. Bears won, but it was one ugly afternoon.
fesullivan
Sounds like 2 weeks ago...
… in the 400 level of Soldier Field.
Dum spiro spero... | Follow me on twitter or else: @andrewjstone.
Were you at that game?
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 9, 2010 12:22 PM CST up reply actions
Some things don't change,
Bobby Douglass, who later was a touchstone for angry Bears fans who either wanted a better QB
Was he really as bad as you make him out to be, Al?
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 8, 2010 12:07 PM CST reply actions
More frustrating than bad
in my opinion. He had a gun for an arm, but couldn’t hit anyone, or threw so hard that nobody could catch it. He ran like a fullback, but was quarterback. All that talent, never harnessed.
fesullivan
by waiting4cubs on Jan 8, 2010 12:23 PM CST up reply actions
As a passer, yes, he was that bad.
As a scrambler, runner he was one of the best. 968 rushing yards by a QB held up a long time as the record before Vick broke it.
But look at his passing stats….43% completion rate, 36 TD’s, 64 interceptions, 48% QB Rating.
Nobody cares about your fantasy baseball team
by carmen_fanzone on Jan 8, 2010 12:37 PM CST up reply actions
That's exactly right.
Douglass had a great arm, couldn’t find his receivers, but knew how to scramble. He had really big hands — that’s why some suggested moving him to tight end.
At one point the Bears seriously considered changing to orange helmets to make it easier for Douglass to find his receivers. I am not making that up.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
And then there was the time Coach Jim Dooley move into
Douglass’ bachelor pad for a week to teach him the game plan. Turned out to be a Bear win in Detroit but it was tainted a bit when Lion Chuck Hughes died on the field.
I remember that game and
remember Butkus looking down at Hughes and signaling that he needed help. Very disturbing.
fesullivan
Yeah. A bunch of people who hadn't even seen the game
claimed Butkus had killed him but he was nowhere near him. I don’t even think Hughes got hit on the play. I think he died of a heart attack. I also remember Butkus signaling for help.
You're right
It was a heart attack. Butkus just happened to be the first one to notice him on the ground.
fesullivan
I remember that game, too.
If you google around, you’ll find a still photo of this. I didn’t post it because the one I found was signed by Butkus, which I find a bit creepy.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
You will also notice in that pix of Butkus
the rare time the Bears were NOT in their normal unis, with the rounded font. It’s old-school squared font. For whatever reason, they wore these strange unis for a few road games that year, but dropped them immediately.
No “Uni Watch” in those days. Teams did whatever they wanted to.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 5:52 PM CST up reply actions
I did notice that.
I remember them wearing uniforms like that for practice, but never for games. Still have no idea why they wore them for those road games in ’71.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
The Packers had odd uniforms in the mid-1980s, too.
They still practiced in them into the 1990s, but I believe they only wore the uniforms while Forrest Gregg was the coach.
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 9, 2010 12:21 PM CST up reply actions
Saw that game too
I will never forget that. Watched it on TV. Butkus waving, Hughes motionless. Still makes me shudder.
On another note, the main picture of Butkus in Al’s post just drives home what a monster Butkus was. Who in their right mind would look forward to seeing him on the other side of the line?
"When they signed Fukudome, I knew they were trying to get me fired". - Ron Santo, January, 2008
Not on the same level as Butkus, but kinda close...
Had a co-worker who played DE in college for Rice. Rice was to the SWC like Northwestern used to be in the Big10 – the academic school that all the other schools beat the snot out of. So Rice didn’t have the greatest of athletes but they still had fun even if they were getting their butts kicked every week by Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc.
There was one game on the schedule though where my buddy said the offensive linemen definitely did not have fun. The locker room would be extremely quiet before the game and more than one lineman would be in the bathroom throwing up. Then they’d come back and just sit in front of their locker, head down, muttering.. “he’s gonna kill me. he’s gonna freakin’ kill me…”
That game was Baylor, the object of their fears was Mike Singletary.
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Loved Singletary's fire but he was not even close to Butkus
as a complete player. The mind boggles at how devastating Butkus would have been had he played with a defensive line as good as Singletary’s and outside LBs as good as Wilson and Marshall.
Something like six career interceptions for Singletary? It seems almost impossible to play that long and not have more.
Now you can say Singletary would have piled up more stats on a bad team. Probably true. But i saw them both play and there’s really no question who the best one was.
No arguments there
I wasn’t putting Singletary in Butkus’ class – I was responding more to BeerCub’s point about who in their right mind would want to play against Butkus. I had a story about something similar so just wanted to share.
Now if someone like Singletary had offensive linemen throwing up before the game, just imagine what Butkus’ opponents were doing.
Probably throwing up during the game… ;-)
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Butkus was flat mean
and hated anyone lined up against him. Singletary had the smarts and would be able to read the defense better. I think they are impossible to compare because of that.
If Butkus didnt have the mean streak he did, he doesnt make it. If Singletary isnt as smart as he is, he doesnt make it.
Two different era’s, two different styles, two different methods of training (Butkus was during the era that weight lifting was not that big of a deal for starters).
I will not say one or the other is beter or worse for it, but both were difference makers in the game.
and sadly, no I never got to see Butkus play live, so I am going based on passed down stories about him more than anything
Just because you talk a lot doesn't mean you're saying anything. dtpollitt 1-7-10
Butkus was feared because he was mean.
But he was good because he was a great athlete and had football smarts. He absolutely would have made it without being mean. Go to YouTube and watch some features on him. He could cover from sideline to sideline like few I’ve ever seen.
I’m not sure about Singletary’s smarts. I knew a guy who played for the Redskins in the 80s and they used to laugh about how Madden loved Singletary’s eyes but never criticized him for the bad angles he took or his inability to shed blocks. His inability to shed blocks was masked of course by the talent he had playing on wither side of him.
I think we can all agree......
… It’s hard to beat the Bears on their middle linebacker lineage. Bill George, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher, all great.
"When they signed Fukudome, I knew they were trying to get me fired". - Ron Santo, January, 2008
And, as Irv Kupcinet probably said on WGN radio to Jack Brickhouse....
….during the game broadcast, “…Dat’s right, Jack.”
Which passed as color commentary in that era.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 7:40 PM CST up reply actions
Ouch.
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 8, 2010 2:53 PM CST up reply actions
Al, you know more about the history of that rooftop than me...
Back then, did WGN have “free sponsorship” with the use of the roof (ie not have to pay the building’s owner)?
When did the WGN come off that roof and why? Was Budweiser the ad that replaced it?
Nobody cares about your fantasy baseball team
I don't know what kind of deal WGN had with that rooftop.
IIRC, it lasted from 1963 until the early 1990’s, when WGN’s deal ended — apparently they were told NO other ad was going up, then suddenly the Budweiser ad appeared.
I’ll defer to someone else who remembers it better than I do.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I think that was the picture Al didn't want to show.
If you look carefully, Dick Butkus has signed it.
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart."
-Anne Frank-
by Vermont Cubs Fan on Jan 9, 2010 12:20 PM CST up reply actions
Yep, that was the one.
I’m really surprised Butkus signed that.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
And, as long as we are discussing Chicago NFL Football in baseball parks
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 8, 2010 8:12 PM CST reply actions
My step-father......
…. used to work for Marshall Goldberg in the late 60’s, early 70’s in the Machine Tool business.
"When they signed Fukudome, I knew they were trying to get me fired". - Ron Santo, January, 2008
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