Red Grange and the Chicago Bears Barnstorm to Jax

[Metro Jacksonville]

Red Grange and the Chicago Bears Barnstorm to Jax



Ken Bowen, the author of Big League City: 100 Years of Football in Jacksonville, shares the story of Jacksonville's first professional football game.


Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-jul-red-grange-and-the-chicago-bears-barnstorm-to-jax

[spuwho]

I grew up in Red Grange's hometown, Wheaton, Illinois.

There is a section of the DuPage Historical Society in downtown Wheaton dedicated to Red Grange and his accomplishments.

For many years the town had an arrangement with the State of Illinois to get licenses plates for residents that started with the word "RED".

After Grange became a national entity, he rarely visited the town again.  They built a whole new high school in 1924 right after he left for University of Illinois, because the original high school didn't have a football field, they played at the local park.  Naturally the football field was called "Grange Field".  They tore down the 1924 high school in 2012.  The high school built in 1973 now holds the football field name "Red Grange Field".  I know it well because I competed in track meets there for 4 years.

I will have to check, but he still held several records before the school closed.  I know his 220 yard dash time was a still a school record until it was finally broken by Dana Noel in 1977 (who went to play for the Colts).  I still remember them announcing it over the PA system. The crowd went nuts.

Because of Illinois high school rules, the championship trophies that Wheaton High School won while Grange played cannot be displayed in the newer high school.  So most of them were moved to the historical society for display.  IHSA has strict rules that trophies won by a school can only be displayed in that school. If the school is closed and the students moved to a new one, the trophies can be stored in a warehouse or donated to a museum.

When the Grange part of the museum opened, it took a lot to get Red up to Wheaton from his Lake Wales home.  He did not like publicity.

With regards to Pyle (his agent), no one loathed him more than George Halas, but the ole man knew if the Bears were going to survive as a professional team, it was going to have to work between them. Halas made a lot of money during the Grange days (as did Grange due to his mandatory salary and requirements), just enough to get him through the depression (barely).

As a favor to the Mara family, Halas had Grange play his first game with the Bears against the NY Giants at Ebbets Field.  The gate from the game saved the Giants from bankruptcy and to this day, the Mara and Halas family are friends.

I was not aware that the barnstorm football tour brought them to Jacksonville.  And I find it interesting that the clamoring for recognition and respect for Jaxson's was present in the 1920's as much as it is today.