1970 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Chicago Bears 1970 6–8 4th NFC Central Jim Dooley George Halas Wrigley Field Did not qualify Bears seasons The 1970 Chicago Bears season was their 51st regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6–8 record, a significant improvement over the 1–13 record of the previous season, the worst in franchise history. After losing the coin flip for the number one pick in the 1970 NFL draft (which Pittsburgh used to select quarterback Terry Bradshaw), the Bears traded the second pick to the Green Bay Packers for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey, running back Elijah Pitts, and center Bob Hyland.https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-08-25-0408250329-story.html These deals didn't work Chicago Tribune August 25, 2004 This was Chicago's final season at Wrigley Field. They moved into Soldier Field beginning the next season, and would play there until the 2002 season. Offseason June 16, 1970 – After a seven-month battle with cancer, running back Brian Piccolo died at age 26.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O3UfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YigEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3867%2C3283575 Milwaukee Journal press dispatches Cancer fatal to Piccolo of Bears at 26 June 16, 1970 13, part 2 June 2023 InternetArchiveBot yes https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KiBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7215%2C338436 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Brian Piccolo is dead at 26 June 17, 1970 19https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JKVRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1511%2C3237907 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press Sayers, Halas praise Piccolo's courage June 17, 1970 1-part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot NFL draft 1970 NFL draft 1970 Chicago Bears 3 58 George Farmer Wide receiver UCLA yes 4 79 Lynn Larson Tackle Kansas State no 4 100 Ross Brupbacher Linebacker Texas A&M yes 6 133 Bob Cutburth Quarterback Oklahoma State no 6 139 Jeff Curchin Tackle Florida State yes 8 183 Dana Stephenson Defensive back Nebraska no 9 210 Linzy Cole Wide receiver TCU yes 10 235 Glen Holloway Guard North Texas State yes 11 262 Ted Rose Tight end Northern Michigan no 12 287 Butch Davis Defensive back Missouri yes 13 314 Jimmy Gunn Defensive back USC yes 14 339 Jim Morgan Wide receiver Henderson State no 15 366 Phil Abraira Defensive back Florida State no 16 391 Robert Helterbran Guard North Texas State no 17 418 Joe Brunson Defensive tackle Furman no no no Undrafted free agents + 1970 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeFrank GrimmGuardTulsaDick HillWide receiverUT ArlingtonGary KerrWide receiverCal Poly Roster 1970 Chicago Bears 11 Jack Concannon 16 Kent Nix 46 Craig Baynham 29 Ronnie Bull American football 33 Mike Hull fullback 22 Ross Montgomery American football 24 Don Shy 25 Linzy Cole y 43 George Farmer wide receiver, born 1948 y 45 Dick Gordon American football 84 Jim Seymour American football 21 Cecil Turner 37 Rich Coady y center 38 Ray Ogden 72 Jim Cadile G 70 Jeff Curchin T 61 Glen Holloway y G 50 Bob Hyland C 65 Randy Jackson offensive lineman T 74 Wayne Mass T 68 Howard Mudd G 69 Ted Wheeler American football G 78 Harry Gunner DE 75 Dave Hale DT 85 Willie Holman DE 87 Ed O'Bradovich DE 67 George Seals DT 76 Bill Staley DT 31 Ross Brupbacher y OLB 55 Doug Buffone OLB 51 Dick Butkus MLB 60 Lee Roy Caffey OLB 30 Jimmy Gunn y OLB 63 John Neidert MLB 29 Phil Clark American football SS 23 Dick Daniels FS 47 Butch Davis defensive back y CB 44 Garry Lyle FS 26 Bennie McRae CB 27 Terrell Ray no CB 48 Ron Smith defensive back CB/S 20 Joe Taylor cornerback CB 88 Bobby Joe Green P 83 Mac Percival K 12 Bobby Cutburth y no QB Military 10 Bobby Douglass QB IR 86 Jim Hester TE IR 32 Ralph Kurek RB IR 40 Gale Sayers RB IR 89 Bob Wallace American football TE IR Regular season As an experiment, the Bears hosted their first home game of the season at Northwestern University's Dyche Stadium in Evanston. The Bears' Wrigley Field landlord, the Chicago Cubs, were in a pennant race and might play in the National League Championship Series and World Series, and that Wrigley Field would be unavailable (at least for installation of temporary seating in right and center field) until well into October.http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1970/07/22/page/49/article/bears-over-sue-evanston-n-u-over-use-of-dyche-stadium Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s 4 August 2023 (The Cubs were in contention in the National League East until the final week of the 1970 season, thus rendering the anticipation moot.)https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=repWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=le0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5816%2C89367 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Pennant race at a glance September 16, 1970 16https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1970-schedule-scores.shtml 1970 Chicago Cubs Schedule In addition, the NFL was pressuring the Bears to move out of Wrigley Field, because it had no lights (installed in 1988) and its seating capacity was under 50,000 (even with additional seating in right field for football games), stipulations of the AFL–NFL merger agreement. The Bears planned to move to Evanston for the 1971 season, but Evanston residents petitioned city officials to block the move, and the Big Ten Conference ultimately barred the Bears from using Dyche Stadium;Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s – Newspapers.com the Bears moved to Chicago's Soldier Field.Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s – Newspapers.com Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 19, 1970 at New York Giants W 24–16 1–0 Yankee Stadium 62,936 2 September 27 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–16 2–0 Dyche Stadium 53,463 3 October 5, 1970 at Detroit Lions L 14–28 2–1 Tiger Stadium 58,210 4 October 11 Minnesota Vikings L 0–24 2–2 Wrigley Field 45,485 5 October 18 San Diego Chargers L 7–20 2–3 Wrigley Field 45,278 6 October 25 Detroit Lions L 10–16 2–4 Wrigley Field 45,632 7 November 1 at Atlanta Falcons W 23–14 3–4 Atlanta Stadium 58,850 8 November 8 San Francisco 49ers L 16–37 3–5 Wrigley Field 45,607 9 November 15 at Green Bay Packers L 19–20 3–6 Lambeau Field 56,263 10 November 22 Buffalo Bills W 31–13 4–6 Wrigley Field 41,015 11 November 29 at Baltimore Colts L 20–21 4–7 Memorial Stadium 60,240 12 December 5, 1970 at Minnesota Vikings L 13–16 4–8 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900 13 December 13 Green Bay Packers W 35–17 5–8 Wrigley Field 44,957 14 December 20 at New Orleans Saints W 24–3 6–8 Tulane Stadium 63,518 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Season summary Week 1 at Giants Chicago Bears 1970 2; text-align:center collapsed Week One: Chicago Bears (0–0) at New York Giants (0–0) September 19 8:00 p.m. EDT Bears 7 3 7 7 Giants 10 3 0 3 Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York Clear, 71 F C Fred Silva WBBM Brent Musburger and Jerry Kramer Box Score First quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 25-yard field goal. Giants 3–0. CHI – Cecil Turner 95-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick). Bears 7–3. NYG – Ron Johnson 12-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick). Giants 10–7. Second quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 20-yard field goal. Giants 13–7. CHI – Mac Percival 28-yard field goal. Giants 13–10. Third quarter CHI – Jack Concannon 1-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 17–13. Fourth quarter NYG – Pete Gogolak 45-yard field goal. Bears 17–16. CHI – Dick Gordon 19-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick). Bears 24–16. Top passers CHI – Jack Concannon – 15/29, 148 yards, TD, INT NYG – Fran Tarkenton – 23/39, 277 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers CHI – Gale Sayers – 17 rushes, 43 yards NYG – Ron Johnson – 13 rushes, 24 yards, TD Top receivers CHI – Bob Wallace – 6 receptions, 82 yards NYG – Ron Johnson – 8 receptions, 85 yards, TD Week 2 Eagles 6 3 0 7 Bears 7 10 0 3 September 27 Dyche Stadium • Evanston, Illinois 1:00 p.m. CST 52 F • Wind 9 mph on Fred Swearingen Jack Whitaker and Tom Brookshier CBS yes 1 CHI Cecil Turner 96-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick) Bears 7–0 1 PHI Gary Ballman 7-yard pass from Norm Snead (kick failed) Bears 7–6 2 CHI Mac Percival 17-yard field goal Bears 10–6 2 PHI Mark Moseley 42-yard field goal Bears 10–9 2 CHI Dick Gordon 12-yard pass from Ronnie Bull (Mac Percival kick) Bears 17–9 4 PHI Lee Bouggess 10-yard run (Mark Moseley kick) Bears 17–16 4 CHI Mac Percival 36-yard field goal Bears 20–16 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Bears 10 3 7 3 Falcons 0 7 7 0 November 1 Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta 1:00 p.m. 62 F; wind 7 mph on yes Q1 CHI Shy 1 yard run (Percival kick) CHI 7–0 Q1 CHI Percival 30 yard field goal CHI 10–0 Q2 ATL Gipson 20 yard pass from Berry (Vinyard kick) CHI 10–7 Q2 CHI Percival 47 yard field goal CHI 13–7 Q3 ATL Mitchell 17 yard pass from Berry (Vinyard kick) ATL 14–13 Q3 CHI Turner 94 yard kickoff return (Percival kick) CHI 20–14 Q4 CHI Percival 31 yard field goal CHI 23–14 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14. Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Bills 6 0 0 7 Bears 0 14 7 10 November 22 Wrigley Field • Chicago 1:00 p.m. CST 43 F • Wind 22 mph on John McDonough yes 1 BUF Butch Byrd 23-yard interception return (kick failed) Bills 6–0 2 CHI Dick Gordon 36-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick) Bears 7–6 2 CHI Jim Seymour 36-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick) Bears 14–6 3 CHI Jim Seymour 53-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick) Bears 21–6 4 BUF Marlin Briscoe 17-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (Grant Guthrie kick) Bears 21–13 4 CHI Mac Percival 37-yard field goal Bears 24–13 4 CHI Dick Gordon 28-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick) Bears 31–13 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears Packers 3 0 0 14 Bears 14 7 7 7 Sunday, December 13 Wrigley Field, Chicago 1:00 p.m. CST 32 F, wind 11 mph on Fred Silva Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com yes 1 Bears Dick Gordon 15-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 7–0 1 Bears George Farmer 42-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 14–0 1 Packers Dale Livingston 32-yard field goal Bears 14–3 2 Bears Jack Concannon 15-yard run (Mac Percival kick) Bears 21–3 3 Bears Dick Gordon 25-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 28–3 4 Packers Donny Anderson 7-yard run (Dale Livingston kick) Bears 28–10 4 Bears Ray Ogden 6-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 35–10 4 Packers John Hilton 29-yard pass from Rick Norton (Dale Livingston kick) Bears 35–17 yes Week 14 Bears 0 7 3 14 Saints 0 3 0 0 December 20 Tulane Stadium, New Orleans 1:00 p.m. CST 65 F; wind 7 mph on Jack Reader Jack Drees and Eddie LeBaron CBS yes Q2 NO Dempsey 47 yard field goal NO 3–0 Q2 CHI Seymour 22 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick) CHI 7–3 Q3 CHI Percival 50 yard field goal CHI 10–3 Q4 CHI Seymour 2 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick) CHI 17–3 Q4 CHI Gordon 14 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick) CHI 24–3 yes Jack Concannon 26/50, 280 Yds Dick Gordon 9 Rec, 119 Yds Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14. Standings References Chicago Bears Category:Chicago Bears seasons Chicago Bears Category:1970 in Chicago