The Armed Forces Benefit Football Game was an American football game held annually from 1946 to 1970. Organized by the Chicago Bears with the support of the United States Armed Forces, it was a preseason exhibition game in which the Bears played against National Football League teams to fundraise for military relief funds. The games raised over $1 million.
As the host team, the Bears won 15 times with nine losses and a tie. All but one of their opponents were from the NFL's Eastern Conference as the Western Conference-based Bears wanted to play against teams whom they were not scheduled to meet in the regular season. The Cleveland Browns and New York Giants were the Bears' most common opponents in the 1950s, while they only played the St. Louis Cardinals from 1963 to 1969. The Pittsburgh Steelers faced Chicago twice while four teams—the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, fellow Western Conference team Minnesota Vikings, and the now-defunct Boston Yanks—had one appearance each.
In celebration of the military, the game had ceremonies before the start and for the halftime show that usually consisted of bands and exhibition drill teams from the armed services. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the future President of the United States who helped create the game when he was General of the Army, lent his name to the Eisenhower Trophy that was given to the most valuable player. Military leaders also attended the games as guests of honor, to present the trophy to the winner, or were tasked with coordinating the pageantry.
The Armed Forces Benefit was exclusively played in Chicago. Wrigley Field and Soldier Field alternated hosting the game before permanently being moved to the latter in 1955, where it remained until cancellation. Soldier Field became the Bears' permanent home in 1971.
Creation While serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Bears owner George Halas thought of hosting a charity football game to support the military. The concept was common during the conflict as wartime professional gridiron football, which included meetings between NFL franchises and against military teams, doubled as drives to sell war bonds or support armed forces charities. Such games began as early as January 1942, a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor and American entry into the war, when the 1941 champion Bears won the NFL All-Star Game and raised over $25 thousand for the Navy Relief Fund. Chicago would also play against a United States Army all-star team in a 1942 preseason meeting that donated $36 thousand to an Army relief fund.
In March 1946, Halas and Chicago Herald-American editor Ralph Cannon were invited to Washington, D.C., where they met Eisenhower, Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker on behalf of Gen. Carl Spaatz of the Army Air Forces. Halas proposed the Bears host an exhibition against an opponent whom they were not scheduled to play in the regular season. Eaker was receptive since the NFL had donated substantially to the military during the war, especially to the Air Corps, while Nimitz appreciated the patriotic fervor that Chicagoans showed in supporting the war effort and expected they "again will demonstrate their awareness of the tasks remaining for the Navy Relief Society and its fellow relief agencies."
The plan was publicly revealed on March 22 with the inaugural matchup set for September 1 and the Redskins confirmed to play in 1947. Proceeds were donated to the Army Emergency Relief, Army Relief Fund, Army Air Force Aid Society (later the Air Force Aid Society), and Navy Relief Fund. The Bears' media guides described the game's goals as helping to provide "financial assistance to widows and orphans of servicemen, care and assistance to service personnel, to wounded servicemen and their families, hospital-medical attention to needy families and dependents of servicemen, prenatal and obstetrical care to needy servicemen's families, and cash grants to service personnel and dependents in emergencies." Eisenhower called the game a "patriotic gesture" and "another profound demonstration of the gratitude of everyone for the sacrifices of our sons and daughters in the armed forces."
Organization
The Armed Forces Benefit Game was sponsored by Chicago's newspapers throughout its life. The Herald-American was the sponsor for the first two editions, then the Chicago Sun-Times took over from 1949. In 1955, the sports departments of all four local publications—the American, Daily News, Sun-Times, and Tribune—joined as the Chicago Newspaper Publishers Association to back the game. Eisenhower, who was President at the time, submitted a telegram to the association saying he was "happy to learn" of the deal and that it would "result in a significant contribution to the official relief agencies of our armed forces. I am confident that the benefit game will be supported wholeheartedly by the people of the Chicago area."
Bears business manager Rudy Custer was the game's executive director. He served in the Navy with Halas before being hired by the team in January 1946.
Wrigley Field, where the Bears primarily played their home games, hosted the inaugural Armed Forces Benefit in 1946. It alternated with Soldier Field through 1954 before the latter became the permanent venue. Soldier Field rarely hosted pro football at the time, which was limited to benefit games like the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game that invited NFL teams to play against a roster of college all-stars. The first professional game at the venue, between the Bears and Chicago Cardinals in 1926, was also done for charity. If higher attendance was expected, temporary bleachers were installed.
Local radio broadcasts for the game were done by the station already covering the Bears. WGN was often the carrying network, though WBBM had play-by-play coverage too like in 1951. The visitors' local stations also broadcast the games such as WJZ in New York calling the Bears–Giants matchup in 1946.
Television coverage varied. ABC did a "preview of the professional football season" by airing the 1946 game with Harry Wismer as commentator; Wismer also called the game for WJZ. The 1951 game was not televised in Chicago whereas WKZO-TV did in Kalamazoo, Michigan, while CBS picked up the rights to show the 1952 edition nationally. WBBM-TV aired the games on a broadcast delay throughout the 1960s.
Games 1940s The first game was held on September 1, 1946, at Wrigley Field in front of 32,367 spectators. A spectator recalled the visiting Giants had worn brown helmets without chin straps for the game, resulting in helmets coming off each play and players diving for them after mistaking them for the ball; Redskins general manager Dick McCann joked ahead of the 1947 Benefit Game that a repeat would not occur since his team's helmets were "nailed on, and if they're still big enough, we fill our players' heads with air." The Bears had a poor start as they only advanced four yards on the opening drive, but improved afterward as Hugh Gallarneau ran for two touchdowns and rookie Joe Osmanski added a third. The United Press described Chicago as "somewhat less than sensational in recent years" yet "showed flashes of their pre-war power", the latter a comparison also echoed by the Tribune. Bears star George McAfee only appeared for five minutes in the second quarter since Halas opted to play rookies and backups. McAfee entered the game after Giants quarterback Frank Filchock threw an interception (one of three by New York) before leading the Bears on an 89-yard scoring drive. At halftime, an all-time College Football All-America Team curated by sportswriters was introduced; former Bears greats Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski were among those recognized as was Chicago starting center Bulldog Turner, who played in the game. The game, ending in a 19–0 Bears win, raised $69,395.29.
1947 was Soldier Field's first time hosting the game. Chicago, the defending league champions, defeated Washington 28–7 in front of a then-Chicago pro football record 54,732 fans. While the meeting was touted as a quarterback duel between Chicago's Sid Luckman and Washington's Sammy Baugh, the latter did not play due to rib injuries. Luckman threw two touchdown passes to Ken Kavanaugh while Bob Fenimore and Gallarneau ran for one each. The Redskins' lone touchdown was a 15-yard throw from Jim Youel to Hugh Taylor while down 21–0.
The game returned to Wrigley for 1948. Playing the Yanks, Luckman and Bears rookie quarterbacks Bobby Layne and Johnny Lujack combined for five touchdown passes: Luckman threw one to Kavanaugh in the first quarter, Lujack completed another to Max Bumgardner in the second quarter despite an ankle injury, and Layne had 68- and 66-yard scores to Frank Minini and Jim Keane in the second half. McAfee intercepted Boston's Frank Dancewicz and ran 61 yards for a touchdown, while Jim Canady ran for a three-yard score. The Bears went up 28–0 at halftime before completing the game with a 42–7 victory, the Yanks' lone score coming in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Bill Paschal.
Lujack suffered a shoulder injury early in the 1949 game, leaving Luckman and rookie George Blanda as the Bears' quarterbacks against the Giants. Blanda led a 76-yard drive on his first drive, culminating in a touchdown throw to George Gulyanics, and also kicked a 22-yard field goal to put the Bears up 10–0. Emlen Tunnell intercepted a pass to set up Charlie Conerly's 14-yard score to Ray Poole for the Giants' first points of the game. Gulyanics and Joe Scott exchanged touchdown runs in the third quarter. In the final period, Poole tied the game at 17 apiece with a 19-yard field goal. With seconds before the end of regulation, Conerly attempted a quick kick on third down from the Giants' 35-yard line, but the punt was blocked by Ed Sprinkle and recovered by Bill Milner. Luckman drove the Bears to the one-yard line, where rookie quarterback George Blanda kicked the game-winning field goal.
By the end of the decade, the games had raised over $176 thousand.
1950s
The first two Armed Forces Benefit Games of the 1950s saw the Bears play the defending league champions. 1950 pitted them against the Philadelphia Eagles, whose only loss in their 1949 championship season was to the Bears. The Eagles led by three points until Luckman took over for Lujack in the third quarter. He guided the Bears on a 49-yard scoring game that ended with an 11-yard pass to Gulyanics. Lujack added a 14-yard field goal in the fourth to clinch a 10–3 win.
Soldier Field resumed hosting the game in 1951 when the Bears played the Cleveland Browns. Despite having won each edition to this point, Chicago was viewed as underdogs since they took on a team that had won a title in every season of their existence, including the 1950 NFL Championship Game. The Bears were overwhelmed for much of the game, falling behind 23–0 at halftime via Lou Groza kicking three field goals and touchdowns by Dub Jones and Otto Graham to Dante Lavelli. Groza converted a fourth field goal to put the Browns up by 26 after three quarters. Bears quarterback Bob Williams was intercepted on three consecutive passes before being pulled following a sack by three Browns defenders. Chicago tried to respond in the final quarter, when the Browns had already deployed their backups, with three touchdowns—a goal-line run by John Dottley to cap off a 60-yard drive, an 80-yard punt return touchdown by Wilford White, and a four-yard rush for Dottley—but was unable to close the gap. Cliff Lewis scored the Browns' only touchdown in the second half with a 52-yard throw to Bob Oristaglio that gave them a 32–7 lead. The game set the Chicago record for most fans at an exhibition game with 67,342.