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Chicago Bears: 30 greatest players in franchise history

By Conor Dorney

Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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57. . QB. 1939-50. Sid Luckman. 9. player

They say that 6-foot-tall quarterbacks can’t make it in the NFL, so consider Sid Luckman the Russell Wilson/Drew Brees of his era, coming in at No. 9 on our countdown of the greatest players in Bears franchise history.

While we obviously don’t have much media to digest of players from Luckman’s era, there’s no doubt that he was one of the most impactful players for the Bears organization and for the sport of football.

Luckman came to the Bears via the second overall pick in the 1939 NFL Draft out of Columbia, and quickly established himself as a Bears legend. In a league that was, well, let’s just say run-heavy, Luckman is credited with revolutionizing the forward passing game.

It’s hard to imagine the forward pass being a novel concept in today’s NFL landscape, but that’s exactly what it was at the time and Luckman was the Tom Brady of that era’s passing attack.

Luckman threw for double-digit touchdowns seven times over the course of his career and helped lead the Bears to four championships, cementing his status as a Bears legend. Incredibly, his single-game record of seven touchdown passes still stands to this day. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

Luckman’s contributions to not just the Bears organization, but the advancement of the sport as a whole, give him the legacy of being one of the greatest players the football world has ever seen.

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