1961 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Chicago Bears 1961 8–6 T–3rd NFL Western George Halas George Halas George Halas Wrigley Field Did not qualify Bears seasons The 1961 Chicago Bears season was their 42nd regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with an 8–6 record under George Halas, which was an improvement over the 5–6–1 record of the previous season. Offseason thumb|right|350px|1961 Bears offensive line practicing for the Armed Forces Benefit Football Game On January 14, Chicago Bears End Willard Dewveall played out his option and joined the Houston Oilers of the American Football League. He became the first player to move deliberately from one league to another.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 282 The Bears were notable for taking part in an exhibition game in their first ever game outside of the United States, taking on the CFL's Montreal Alouettes (the original team), winning 34–16.http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?STORY_ID=7241 Bears played game in Canada in 1961 2012-03-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20120824145437/http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?STORY_ID=7241 2012-08-24 dead Draft 1961 NFL draft 1961 Chicago Bears 1 5 Mike Ditka Tight end Pittsburgh yes yes yes 2 20 Bill Brown Fullback Illinois yes yes 3 33 Hoot Gibson Cornerback NC State no 4 48 Ernie Ladd Tackle Grambling no 5 61 Keith Lincoln Running back Washington State yes no 6 76 George Fleming Running back Washington no 7 89 Mike Pyle Center Yale yes yes 8 104 Ed Ryan Back Michigan State no 9 117 Bobby Bethune Safety Mississippi State no 10 132 Jason Harness End Michigan State no 11 145 Sam Fewell Tackle South Carolina no 12 160 Howard Dyer Quarterback VMI no 13 173 Bob McLeod Wide receiver Abilene Christian no 14 188 Jim Tyrer Tackle Ohio State yes no 15 201 Chuck Linning Tackle Miami (FL) no 16 216 Wayne Frazier Center Auburn no 17 229 Rossie Barfield End North Carolina Central no 18 244 John Finn Tackle Louisville no 19 257 Ben Charles Quarterback South Carolina no 20 272 Gordon Mason Back Tennessee Tech no Undrafted free agents + 1961 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeArt AndersonTackleIdahoDon MullinsSafetyHoustonRoosevelt TaylorSafetyGramblingPaul WardDefensive endWhitworth Roster 1961 Chicago Bears 15 Ed Brown P 12 Dick Norman  9 Billy Wade 39 John Adams 49 Charlie Bivins 38 Bill Brown 35 Rick Casares 28 Willie Galimore 46 Angelo Coia 43 Jim Dooley 84 Bo Farrington 47 Johnny Morris 89 Mike Ditka 79 Art Anderson T 60 Roger Davis G 65 Stan Fanning T 73 Stan Jones G 67 Ted Karras G 70 Herman Lee T 50 Mike Pyle C 63 Bob Wetoska G/T 81 Doug Atkins DE 74 Bob Kilcullen DT/DE 76 John Mellekas DT 75 Fred Williams DT 82 Maury Youmans DE 31 Joe Fortunato OLB 61 Bill George MLB 53 Ken Kirk OLB 54 Roger LeClerc MLB/K 33 Larry Morris OLB 25 J. C. Caroline CB 87 Harlon Hill FS/WR 20 Bobby Jackson SS 86 Pete Manning CB 40 Don Mullins FS 17 Richie Petitbon SS 24 Rosey Taylor FS/CB 23 Dave Whitsell CB * 71 Earl Leggett DE/DT (IR) 7px Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 17 at Minnesota Vikings L 13–37 0–1 Metropolitan Stadium 32,236 Recap 2 September 23 at Los Angeles Rams W 21–17 1–1 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 53,315 Recap 3 October 1 at Green Bay Packers L 0–24 1–2 City Stadium 38,669 Recap 4 October 8 at Detroit Lions W 31–17 2–2 Briggs Stadium 53,854 Recap 5 October 15 Baltimore Colts W 24–10 3–2 Wrigley Field 48,719 Recap 6 October 22 San Francisco 49ers W 31–0 4–2 Wrigley Field 49,070 Recap 7 October 29 at Baltimore Colts W 21–20 5–2 Memorial Stadium 57,641 Recap 8 November 5 at Philadelphia Eagles L 14–16 5–3 Franklin Field 60,671 Recap 9 November 12 Green Bay Packers L 28–31 5–4 Wrigley Field 49,711 Recap 10 November 19 at San Francisco 49ers L 31–41 5–5 Kezar Stadium 52,972 Recap 11 November 26 Los Angeles Rams W 28–24 6–5 Wrigley Field 45,965 Recap 12 December 3 Detroit Lions L 15–16 6–6 Wrigley Field 51,017 Recap 13 December 10 Cleveland Browns W 17–14 7–6 Wrigley Field 38,717 Recap 14 December 17 Minnesota Vikings W 52–35 8–6 Wrigley Field 34,539 Recap Note: Intra-conference opponents in bold. Standings thumb|right|Program for the December 10 game against the visiting Cleveland Browns. Game summaries Week 1 Bears 0 6 0 7 Vikings 3 7 14 13 September 17 Metropolitan Stadium 32,236 61 F; wind 13 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 2 Bears 7 0 7 7 Rams 3 7 0 7 September 23 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 53,315 65 F; wind 10 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 3 Bears 0 0 0 0 Packers 7 3 7 7 October 1 City Stadium 38,669 46 F; wind 19 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 4 Bears 0 7 3 21 Lions 10 0 7 0 October 8 Tiger Stadium 53,854 60 F; wind 7 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 5 Colts 0 7 0 3 Bears 3 7 0 14 October 15 Wrigley Field • Chicago, Illinois 48,719 50 F • Wind 13 mph yes 1 CHI Roger LeClerc 14-yard field goal Bears 3–0 2 BAL Johnny Unitas 7-yard run (Steve Myhra kick) Colts 7–3 2 CHI Johnny Morris 8-yard pass from Ed Brown (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 10–7 4 BAL Steve Myhra 32-yard field goal Tie 10–10 4 CHI Willie Galimore 84-yard pass from Ed Brown (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 17–10 4 CHI Rick Casares 1-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 24–10 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 6 49ers 0 0 0 0 Bears 0 14 7 10 October 22 Wrigley Field 49,070 49 F; wind 8 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 7 Bears 0 7 7 7 Colts 7 7 6 0 October 29 Memorial Stadium • Baltimore, Maryland 57,641 52 F • Wind 8 mph yes 1 BAL Joe Perry 21 -yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Steve Myhra kick) Colts 7–0 2 BAL Lenny Moore 68-yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Steve Myhra kick) Colts 14–0 2 CHI Mike Ditka 19-yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) Colts 14–7 3 BAL Alex Hawkins 1-yard run (kick failed) Colts 20–7 3 CHI Johnny Morris 41-yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) Colts 20–14 4 CHI Rick Casares 5-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 21–20 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 8 Bears 7 7 0 0 Eagles 3 7 6 0 November 5 Franklin Field 60,671 68 F; wind 9 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 9 Packers 7 21 3 0 Bears 7 0 7 14 November 12 Wrigley Field 49,711 52 F; wind 13 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 10 Bears 7 3 7 14 49ers 17 3 21 0 November 19 Kezar Stadium 52,972 48 F; wind 7 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 11 Rams 7 0 3 14 Bears 7 14 0 7 November 26 Wrigley Field 45,965 49 F; wind 12 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 12 Lions 0 9 0 7 Bears 3 3 6 3 December 3 Wrigley Field 51,017 44 F; wind 10 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 13 Browns 14 0 0 0 Bears 0 0 0 17 December 10 Wrigley Field 38,717 30 F; wind 15 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-05. Week 14 Vikings 14 7 7 7 Bears 7 14 24 7 December 17 Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois 34,539 33 F; wind 13 mph yes 1 MIN Hugh McElhenny 81 yard punt return (Mike Mercer kick) MIN 7–0 1 MIN Jerry Reichow 30 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Mike Mercer kick) MIN 14–0 1 CHI Angelo Coia 62 yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) MIN 14–7 2 CHI Willie Galimore 8 yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Tie 14–14 2 CHI Mike Ditka 2 yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) CHI 21–14 2 MIN Jerry Reichow 11 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Mike Mercer kick) Tie 21–21 3 CHI Angelo Coia 16 yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) CHI 28–21 3 CHI Roger LeClerc 17 yard field goal CHI 31–21 3 CHI Mike Ditka 30 yard pass from Bill Wade (Roger LeClerc kick) CHI 38–21 3 MIN Gordie Smith 10 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Mike Mercer kick) CHI 38–28 3 CHI Charlie Bivins 30 yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) CHI 45–28 4 MIN Jerry Reichow 24 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Mike Mercer kick) CHI 45–35 4 CHI Willie Galimore 60 yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) CHI 52–35 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com References 35em Chicago Bears Category:Chicago Bears seasons Chicago Bears Category:1961 in Chicago