Two Chicago Bears legends were immortalized at Soldier Field on Tuesday, as the Bears unveiled statues for Hall of Famers George Halas and Walter Payton.
Virginia Halas McCaskey, Jarrett and Brittney Payton, Mike Ditka and Dan Hampton all spoke at the unveiling, honoring two of the franchise’s most impactful people.
“At the risk of being overly obvious,” said Hampton, via ChicagoBears.com, “it is only fitting that these two most colossal of all figures in a long line of gigantic characters of the Chicago Bears will forever be immortalized—to symbolize the greatness of the Chicago Bears or more importantly to symbolize what the Bears mean to Bears fans not only here in Chicago but across the nation.”
Halas’ legacy is one that has impacted not only the Bears but the entire NFL. Halas, who was a player, coach and owner, founded the Bears as the Decatur Staleys in 1920, and he was instrumental in the creation of what would become the National Football League.
He led the Bears to six NFL championships in 1921, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946 and 1963.
“The story of George Halas is not only unbelievable as the player, the coach and the creator of the NFL and the Chicago Bears,” Hampton said. “Think of the millions of lives that his passion has touched and changed in the last 100 years. It’s incomprehensible.”
Then there’s perhaps the franchise’s greatest player of all-time, Walter Payton, who was the epitome of what a football player should be, on and off the field.
He played his entire 13-year career with the Bears, making nine Pro Bowls and setting 16 NFL records and 27 Bears marks. He was the NFL’s all-time leading rusher before he retired, and he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“We know that dad is definitely smiling down on all of us,” said Brittany Payton, Walter Payton’s daughter, via NBC Sports Chicago.
The statues, sculpted by Fisher Sculpture and designed by Populous, are 12-feet tall and weigh 3,000 pounds. They are now permanent fixtures outside Soldier Field, which means fans can check out these impressive monuments depicting two of the greatest ever in the NFL.
