Cornstarch and pigskin have absolutely nothing in common, at least on the surface. The former is a gluten-free powder that adds crispness to certain foods and helps prevent clumping in baked goods. The latter is a flexible, breathable hide of pigs and has been used to make products such as shoes, purses, wallets and early forms of sports equipment.
But with the help of two larger-than-life personalities, the two products came together over 100 years ago in Decatur, Illinois, to help create what ultimately became pro football and the Chicago Bears.
In 1920, Decatur was a fast-growing central Illinois city with an emerging industrial base and a strong blue-collar core. One of its major businesses at the time was the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., which manufactured cornstarch and its derivative products. Its owner, the dynamic Augustus Eugene “Gene” Staley, firmly believed in the business prospects of starch and invested heavily in the business — and in the community.
By early 1920, Staley determined that sponsoring a company sports team would be good for both business marketing and employee morale. He reached out to young University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate George Halas, a railroad bridge designer, who was known locally for his athletic talent and sports organizational skills. The deal was that Halas would form a football team whose players would become employees of, and be paid by, the Staley Co. These were no “sham” jobs; the players were actually expected to work in the starch mills.
Halas leaned into the new job with zeal, using his earlier barnstorming connections to both recruit and coach players, while organizing a makeshift league called the American Professional Football Association. The APFA’s inaugural 1920 season featured 14 teams in cities ranging from Chicago (the Cardinals) to Cleveland, and from Buffalo to Rochester, with smaller stops in between. Halas’ “Starchmen” bulldozed through the schedule to the unofficial championship game in Chicago, which resulted in a tie with the Akron Pros.
But off-the-field finances threatened the future of the team. By early 1921, the company’s payroll obligations for 25 football-playing employees proved to be too much of a burden for Staley. Right before the scheduled start of the season, in what would become a truly historic sports decision, Staley offered Halas $5,000 to move the team to Chicago, on the condition that the team would keep the “Staleys” name for one year.
On Oct. 6, 1921, Halas formally accepted the offer, quickly negotiated a contract with Cubs President William Veeck Sr. for the soon-to-be renamed Bears to play at Wrigley Field (as they did for almost 50 years) and took the Staleys north.
The rest, they say, is history — and quite the history indeed, for all involved.
Staley prompted the expansion of his starch company into a well-known food products company with a broad range of offerings. His greatest business legacy was guiding the company into the soybean field, for which he became a true visionary. The company was sold in 1988.
Halas, of course, owned the Chicago Bears for his entire life, coaching the team for over 35 years and winning eight NFL championships. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. The book “Papa Bear” by author Jeff Davis is an authoritative resource on Halas’ extraordinary life and career.
The APFA officially changed its name to the National Football League in 1922, with only the Bears and the Cardinals remaining as league members from the original 1920 group of 14 teams. The NFL is the most popular sports league in the United States. According to the global market research firm Statista, it is also the most lucrative U.S. sports league, with annual revenue exceeding $21 billion.
Once known as the “Soybean Capital of the World,” Decatur remains a proud and vibrant community, despite suffering a loss of both major industry and population. Prominent companies such as ADM and Caterpillar remain a significant local presence, and the city is highly recognized for its extensive park system and water recreation areas.
Staley is reported to have said that “big men don’t do small things” when referring to his business and civic goals. Halas would no doubt have agreed with that perspective. For history will view both Staley and Halas as big men, who did indeed do big things. Both were men of incredible drive and vision; of resilience and fortitude; of controversy and great success: Staley in the development of the soybean industry and Halas in his leadership of Chicago’s favorite sports team.
And by their October 1921 agreement, they laid the seeds for what has become one of the biggest things in terms of both Chicago and American culture.
Staley and Halas: erstwhile partners whose brief collaboration led to the new American pastime. That’s something to remember the next time you reflect on the initials on Bears jerseys and on the name of the team mascot.
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Michael Peregrine is a retired Chicago lawyer and a graduate of Oak Park High School.
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