Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. They are one of two remaining franchises from the NFL's founding in 1920, along with the Arizona Cardinals (originally the Racine Cardinals of Chicago). The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field on the Near South Side, adjacent to Lake Michigan. The team headquarters, Halas Hall, is in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois. The Bears practice at adjoining facilities there during the season, and began hosting training camp at Halas Hall in 2020 after major renovations. The franchise was founded in Decatur, Illinois on September 20, 1919 as the Decatur Staleys, a works team of the A. E. Staley starch company. They became professional on September 17, 1920 as charter members of the American Professional Football Association (forerunner of the NFL), and moved to Chicago in 1921. They became the Bears in 1922. The Bears played home games at Wrigley Field on Chicago's North Side through the 1970 season; they have played since then at Soldier Field. The team have won nine NFL Championships, eight before the AFL–NFL merger and one Super Bowl. They hold the NFL records for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears' NFL championships and overall victories are second behind the Green Bay Packers, with whom they have a long-standing rivalry. The Bears reached their greatest modern period of success in the 1980s under head coach Mike Ditka, with whom they won Super Bowl XX in the 1985 season. The Bears appeared in their second Super Bowl during the 2006 season, which they lost to the Indianapolis Colts. Since 2006,...