1959 Chicago Bears (NFL) |
| 2nd place • Western Conference • 8-4-0 .667 |
| Head Coach: George Halas |
| George Allen | Defense |
| Paddy Driscoll | Assistant Coach |
| Phil Handler | Line |
| Luke Johnsos | Assistant Coach |
| Sid Luckman | Quarterbacks |
| Chuck Mather | Backfield |
| Clark Shaughnessy | Defense |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/15/1959 | A | Green Bay Packers | 19-16 | W | Milwaukee, WI | County Stadium | 28286 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1959 | N | Philadelphia Eagles | 24-21 | W | Lynn, MA | Manning Bowl | ||
| Sat | 8/29/1959 | N | Pittsburgh Steelers | 54-17 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 28000 | |
| Sat | 9/5/1959 | N | Washington Redskins | 52-14 | W | Jacksonville, FL | Gator Bowl | 28245 | |
| Fri | 9/11/1959 | H | New York Giants | 18-6 | W | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 43485 | |
| Sat | 9/19/1959 | A | Cleveland Browns | 31-33 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 25316 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1959 | A | Green Bay Packers | 6-9 | L | Green Bay, WI | City Stadium | 32150 | |
| Sat | 10/3/1959 | A | Baltimore Colts | 26-21 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 57557 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1959 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 21-28 | L | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 47036 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1959 | H | Baltimore Colts | 7-21 | L | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 48430 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1959 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 17-20 | L | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 59045 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1959 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 26-21 | W | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 77943 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1959 | H | Green Bay Packers | 28-17 | W | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 46205 | |
| Sun | 11/15/1959 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 14-3 | W | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 44406 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1959 | A | Detroit Lions | 24-14 | W | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 54059 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1959 | A | Chicago Cardinals | 31-7 | W | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 48687 | |
| Sun | 12/6/1959 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 27-21 | W | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 41476 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1959 | H | Detroit Lions | 25-14 | W | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 40890 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| John Adams | 39 | FB | 6-3 | 235 | 22 | UCLA; Santa Monica JC; Los Angeles State | 12 | 0 |
| Doug Atkins | 81 | RDE | 6-8 | 257 | 29 | Tennessee | 12 | 12 |
| John Aveni | 89 | K | 6-3 | 212 | 24 | Indiana | 12 | 0 |
| Erich Barnes | 24 | RDH-LS | 6-2 | 201 | 24 | Purdue | 12 | 12 |
| Bill Bishop | 73 | RDT | 6-4 | 248 | 28 | North Texas | 12 | 12 |
| Don Bishop | 45 | DB | 6-2 | 209 | 25 | Los Angeles CC | 1 | 0 |
| Zeke Bratkowski | 12 | QB | 6-4 | 204 | 28 | Georgia | 12 | 2 |
| Ed Brown | 15 | QB-P | 6-2 | 209 | 31 | Hartnell JC; San Francisco | 12 | 10 |
| Rudy Bukich | 14 | QB | 6-1 | 202 | 29 | Iowa; Southern California | 5 | 0 |
| J.C. Caroline | 25 | LDH | 6-1 | 190 | 26 | Illinois | 12 | 12 |
| Rick Casares | 35 | FB-P | 6-2 | 226 | 28 | Florida | 12 | 12 |
| John Damore | 50 | C | 6-0 | 228 | 26 | Northwestern | 8 | 0 |
| Willard Dewveall | 88 | ROE | 6-4 | 224 | 23 | Southern Methodist | 11 | 6 |
| Jim Dooley | 43 | ROH-OE | 6-4 | 198 | 29 | Miami (Florida) | 12 | 10 |
| Merrill Douglas | 36 | ROH-LOH-FB | 6-0 | 204 | 23 | Utah | 12 | 1 |
| Joe Fortunato | 31 | LLB | 6-0 | 225 | 29 | Virginia Military Institute; Mississippi State | 12 | 12 |
| Willie Galimore | 28 | ROH-LOH | 6-1 | 187 | 24 | Florida A&M | 12 | 2 |
| Bill George | 61 | MLB | 6-2 | 237 | 30 | Wake Forest | 12 | 12 |
| Abe Gibron | 67 | LOG | 5-11 | 243 | 34 | Valparaiso; Purdue | 12 | 12 |
| Don Healy | 60 | LOG-ROG | 6-3 | 259 | 23 | Maryland | 12 | 0 |
| Harlon Hill | 87 | LOE | 6-3 | 199 | 27 | North Alabama | 11 | 10 |
| Chuck Howley | 54 | LB | 6-3 | 228 | 23 | West Virginia | 3 | 0 |
| Jack Johnson | 20 | RS-P | 6-3 | 198 | 26 | Miami (Florida) | 6 | 6 |
| Pete Johnson | 49 | S | 6-2 | 200 | 22 | Virginia Military Institute | 7 | 0 |
| Stan Jones | 78 | ROG | 6-1 | 252 | 28 | Maryland | 12 | 12 |
| Dick Klein | 79 | ROT | 6-4 | 255 | 25 | Georgia; Iowa | 12 | 12 |
| Herm Lee | 70 | LOT | 6-3 | 244 | 28 | Florida A&M | 12 | 12 |
| Earl Leggett | 71 | LDE | 6-3 | 264 | 26 | Hinds CC; Louisiana State | 12 | 12 |
| Bill McColl | 83 | ROE-LOE | 6-4 | 230 | 29 | Stanford | 12 | 7 |
| John Mellekas | 76 | C | 6-3 | 255 | 26 | Arizona | 12 | 9 |
| Johnny Morris | 47 | LOH | 5-10 | 180 | 24 | UC Santa Barbara | 12 | 12 |
| Larry Morris | 33 | RLB | 6-2 | 226 | 26 | Georgia Tech | 12 | 9 |
| Ed Nickla | 72 | LDT-LDE | 6-3 | 240 | 26 | Tennessee; Maryland | 12 | 1 |
| Richie Petitbon | 17 | LS-RDH | 6-3 | 206 | 21 | Loyola (Louisiana); Tulane | 12 | 12 |
| Bill Roehnelt | 69 | RLB | 6-1 | 227 | 23 | Bradley | 12 | 3 |
| Larry Strickland | 55 | C | 6-4 | 248 | 28 | Tyler JC; North Texas | 3 | 3 |
| Charlie Sumner | 26 | RS | 6-1 | 194 | 29 | William & Mary | 12 | 6 |
| Lionel Taylor | 32 | LOE | 6-2 | 215 | 24 | New Mexico Highlands | 8 | 0 |
| Fred Williams | 75 | LDT | 6-4 | 249 | 30 | Arkansas | 11 | 11 |
| Vic Zucco | 48 | DB | 6-0 | 187 | 24 | Wayne State (Michigan); Michigan State | 2 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 7 | Don Clark | B | Ohio State |
| 2 | 21 | Richie Petitbon | QB | Tulane |
| 3 | 32 | Pete Johnson | B | Virginia Military Institute |
| 5 | 57 | John Adams | B | Los Angeles State |
| 6 | 68 | Fred Cole | G | Maryland |
| 7 | 75 | Jim Tucker | E | Tennessee-Chattanooga |
| 8 | 92 | Dick Clark | B | Baylor |
| 8 | 94 | Willie Smith | T | Michigan |
| 9 | 105 | Maury Youmans | T | Syracuse |
| 10 | 116 | Bobby Coronado | E | Pacific |
| 11 | 129 | Ed Gray | T | North Texas |
| 12 | 140 | Justin Rowland | E | Texas Christian |
| 13 | 153 | Gene Jones | B | Rice |
| 14 | 164 | Joe Robb | T | Texas Christian |
| 15 | 177 | Roger LeClerc | C | Trinity (Connecticut) |
| 16 | 188 | Don Redding | T | North Carolina |
| 17 | 201 | Willie Neal | B | Jackson State |
| 18 | 212 | Ken Asbury | B | Missouri Valley |
| 19 | 225 | Chris Plain | T | Stanford |
| 20 | 236 | Tony Carcaterra | E | Elon |
| 21 | 249 | Donnie Stone | B | Arkansas |
| 22 | 260 | Lennie Rubal | B | William & Mary |
| 23 | 273 | Bob Haller | T | Truman State |
| 24 | 284 | Bobby Spain | T | Baylor |
| 25 | 297 | Tom Huhn | C | St. Joseph's (Indiana) |
| 26 | 308 | Bob Kunde | T | Capital |
| 27 | 321 | John Aveni | E | Indiana |
| 28 | 332 | Bob Williams | B | Notre Dame |
| 29 | 345 | Eddie Southern | E | Texas |
| 30 | 356 | Cliff Jackson | B | North Carolina Central |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 62 | 92 | 71 | 27 | 252 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 34 | 45 | 96 | 196 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 190 | 69 | 110 | 11 | / % | / % | 66 | 597 | |
| Opponents Totals | 208 | 95 | 91 | 22 | / % | / % | 62 | 553 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Casares | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | ||
| John Aveni | 0 | 28 | 32 | 87.5 | 10 | 19 | 52.6 | 0 | 58 |
| Willard Dewveall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Jim Dooley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Willie Galimore | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Harlon Hill | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Johnny Morris | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Merrill Douglas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Ed Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Larry Morris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Richie Petitbon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Earl Leggett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 32 | 28 | 32 | 87.5 | 10 | 19 | 52.6 | 1 | 252 |
| Opponents Totals | 26 | 26 | 26 | 100.0 | 4 | 17 | 23.5 | 1 | 196 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Aveni | 10 | 19 | 52.6 | 0 | 46 | 3/5 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 3/6 | 0/2 |
| Team Totals | 10 | 19 | 52.6 | 0 | 46 | 3/5 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 3/6 | 0/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 4 | 17 | 23.5 | 1/ | 1/ | 1/ | 1/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Casares | 177 | 699 | 3.9 | 47 | 10 |
| Johnny Morris | 87 | 312 | 3.6 | 33 | 0 |
| Willie Galimore | 58 | 199 | 3.4 | 36 | 1 |
| Ed Brown | 33 | 108 | 3.3 | 48 | 1 |
| Zeke Bratkowski | 7 | 86 | 12.3 | 41 | 0 |
| Merrill Douglas | 24 | 47 | 2.0 | 9 | 2 |
| Rudy Bukich | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harlon Hill | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Adams | 4 | -13 | -3.3 | 8 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 392 | 1438 | 3.7 | 53 | 14 |
| Opponents Totals | 429 | 1783 | 4.2 | 11 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Brown | 247 | 125 | 50.6 | 112 | 1881 | 7.6 | 15.0 | 88t | 13 | 5.3 | 10 | 4.0 | 162 | 1719 | 76.7 | |
| Zeke Bratkowski | 62 | 31 | 50.0 | 26 | 403 | 6.5 | 13.0 | 36 | 2 | 3.2 | 5 | 8.1 | 25 | 378 | 48.0 | |
| Rick Casares | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 13 | -13 | 0.0 | |||
| Rudy Bukich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Team Totals | 310 | 156 | 50.3 | 138 | 2284 | 7.4 | 14.6 | 88t | 15 | 4.8 | 16 | 5.2 | 211 | 2073 | 69.3 | |
| Opponents Totals | 333 | 144 | 43.2 | 167 | 2147 | 6.4 | 14.9 | 14 | 4.2 | 22 | 6.6 | 254 | 1893 | 51.5 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Dooley | 41 | 580 | 14.1 | 41 | 3 |
| Harlon Hill | 36 | 578 | 16.1 | 88t | 3 |
| Rick Casares | 27 | 273 | 10.1 | 43t | 2 |
| Willard Dewveall | 20 | 420 | 21.0 | 76t | 3 |
| Johnny Morris | 13 | 197 | 15.2 | 51t | 2 |
| Willie Galimore | 10 | 125 | 12.5 | 34t | 2 |
| Bill McColl | 8 | 94 | 11.8 | 26 | 0 |
| Merrill Douglas | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 156 | 2284 | 14.6 | 88t | 15 |
| Opponents Totals | 144 | 2147 | 14.9 | 14 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erich Barnes | 5 | 67 | 13.4 | 29 | 0 |
| J.C. Caroline | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 8 | 0 |
| Richie Petitbon | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 33t | 1 |
| Charlie Sumner | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 15 | 0 |
| Bill George | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Joe Fortunato | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Larry Morris | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Jack Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 22 | 199 | 9.0 | 33t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 16 | 96 | 6.0 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Brown | 64 | 2634 | 41.2 | 66 | 0 | |||||
| Rick Casares | 3 | 139 | 46.3 | 71 | 0 | |||||
| Jack Johnson | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 68 | 2805 | 41.3 | 71 | 0 | 360 | 36.0 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 61 | 2579 | 42.3 | 243 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Morris | 14 | 171 | 12.2 | 78t | 1 | |
| Richie Petitbon | 11 | 72 | 6.5 | 17 | 0 | |
| Vic Zucco | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 26 | 243 | 9.3 | 78t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 46 | 360 | 7.8 | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Morris | 17 | 438 | 25.8 | 58 | 0 | |
| Willie Galimore | 11 | 229 | 20.8 | 33 | 0 | |
| Richie Petitbon | 4 | 68 | 17.0 | 28 | 0 | |
| Bill Roehnelt | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 33 | 735 | 22.3 | 58 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 38 | 754 | 19.8 | 0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erich Barnes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Bishop | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Brown | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 | |
| J.C. Caroline | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rick Casares | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Damore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Willard Dewveall | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| Joe Fortunato | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Galimore | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bill George | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Harlon Hill | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chuck Howley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Stan Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 |
| Dick Klein | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Earl Leggett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John Mellekas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Morris | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Larry Morris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 1 |
| Richie Petitbon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charlie Sumner | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fred Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 26 | 16 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 37 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 38 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 0 |
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