Grange Helps Put NFL on the Map

More than any other player, Harold “Red” Grange turned the NFL into a major sports league 80 years ago today. The Chicago Bears’ George Halas, who had just signed the Illinois running back, scheduled a game at the Coliseum against a team of Pacific Coast all-stars. Grange and the Bears won, 17-7, but the story was the paid attendance: 65,270, the National Football League’s largest crowd up to that time. Grange’s share of the gate came to $49,000. It was an era when NFL teams played on high school fields and star players made $250 per game and washed their own uniforms.