1919 Decatur Staleys season

The 1919 Decatur Staleys season was the first in the team's long existence, later becoming known as the Chicago Bears. It was also the only season in which the Staleys/Bears were an amateur team, not a member of the National Football League or managed by George Halas. The 1919 Staleys were a works team, made up purely of regular A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company employees, and finished with a 6–1 record to win the Central Illinois Championship.

"Football is the latest phase of athletics which our versatile organization has undertaken. This newly organized team can boast as its coach one of the greatest quarterbacks Illinois ever produced, none other than our construction superintendent, James Cook. [...]
"Apparently Mr. Cook is going to weld that bunch of recruits into a splendid fighting machine of which Staley's can be proud. They'll just have to be good because M. P. O'Brien said we would have a good team or none at all, and of course, that settles it."

A. E. Staley founder Augustus Eugene Staley never intended to create a national powerhouse. He founded the Staley athletic program because he thought that employees participating in sports, either actively or as spectators, would grow to value the lessons learned of being a team player, good sportsmanship, character building as well as building a sense of team/factory loyalty. On September 20, 1919, he organized a meeting with members of the Staley baseball team – which was founded in 1917 – who were interested in forming a football branch. He provided $1,000 to the group for equipment, while Staleys outfielder Fred P. "Fritz" Wasem was named team manager. To assist him, he appointed company Superintendent of Construction James "Jim" Cook and former Millikin University head coach Robert E. Brannan as coaches.

The team's roster was made up of the existing pool of Staley employees, many of whom had experience playing college football, though Wasem also held tryouts for those interested; he proclaimed his group was "going to have the best independent team Decatur has ever had." Chuck Dressen competed with Pete Devore for the starting quarterback job and won the position, while other players included brothers Walt "Red" and Charlie "Baldy" May, both of whom were teammates with the Taylorville Independents, Millikin fullback Jake Lanum, and lieutenant Robert Crisp. For salaries, the players received shares from gate receipts; although they were estimated to be paid $10–20 per game, the number was lower due to travel expenses and opposing teams also getting their split of the ticket sales. The Decatur Daily Review speculated those who were signed to play occasional games may have received more.

The first practice took place on September 24, with the Staleys wearing maroon jerseys. The team played their home games at Staley Field, the Staley Manufacturing athletic field, which had a seating capacity of 1,500 with another 1,000 standing. Fans were charged $1 to attend games and company employees received a 50% discount. When the field was used for football, the goal posts were placed in the outfield of the baseball configuration. Staley Field was later used by the minor league baseball team Decatur Commodores.

The team played their games mostly on Sundays, the company day off, apart from their road game against the Taylorville Independents.

October 5, 1919, at Lake View Park

The Staleys played their first game against another industrial team by the name of Peoria Tractors, which represent a nearby branch of the company later called Caterpillar Inc. The previous week, the Tractors won their season opener against a Clinton, Iowa team 27–0. Despite poor weather, the game saw "over 1,000 fans".