From McAfee to Hester, the Bears have a history of “One Play” players:
The first time Bears halfback George McAfee touched the ball in the NFL — against the defending NFL champion Packers in 1940 — he ran 44 yards on a fake punt. The next time he touched the ball, he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.
That’s how McAfee earned the nickname “One Play” on his way to the Hall of Fame. He opened the following season with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Ken Kavanaugh against the Packers. The next week, McAfee scored on a 97-yard kickoff return against the Rams. The week after that he scored on a 59-yard run and a 74-yard punt return in a 53-7 rout of the Cardinals.
McAfee’s big plays helped fuel the Bears’ dominant run of four NFL titles from 1940-46. He finished his career with 10 scoring plays of 50 or more yards — including the 97-yard kickoff return, a 75-yard punt return, a 65-yard pass reception, a 70-yard run, a 54-yard interception return, and the 63-yard pass.
No Bear has quite matched that kind of variety, but others have eclipsed McAfee’s big-play production. Among them:
Harlon Hill — The lanky wide receiver from Florence (Ala.) Teachers College scored 14 touchdowns of 50 or more yards, including six of 70 or more yards — 88, 86, 84, 79, 76 and 70. Hill averaged 38.2 yards on his 40 touchdown receptions.
Gale Sayers — The Hall of Fame running back scored 18 touchdowns of 50 or more yards in his first 45 games in the NFL — with a 103-yard kickoff return, an 85-yard punt return, three 80-yard pass reception and a 61-yard rush. In his memorable six-touchdown performance against the 49ers in 1965, Sayers scored on a 80-yard reception, a 50-yard run and a 85-yard punt return.
Devin Hester — The most prolific kick returner in NFL history had 30 plays of 50 or more yards in eight seasons with the Bears, with 22 of them touchdowns. Twice in 2007, Hester scored on a kick return and a 50-plus reception — against the Vikings (89-yard punt, 81-yard catch) and the Saints (55-yard catch, 64-yard punt).
Top 10: big plays
1. Bill Osmanski’s68-yard rushing touchdown on the second play from scrimmage sparks the Bears to a 73-0 victory in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.
2. Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff in Super Bowl XLI 92 yards for a touchdown at Dolphin Stadium in 2007.
3. Mike Ditka breaks seven tackles on a gritty 63-yard catch-and-run against the Steelers in 1963 that sets up a tying field goal for a 17-17 tie that keeps the Bears on a path toward the NFL championship game.
4. Hester’s 83-yard punt return touchdown with 2:58 to play gives the Bears a 24-23 victory over the Cardinals on “Monday Night Football” in 2006 after they trailed 23-3 late in the third quarter.
5. Harlon Hill catches a 66-yard touchdown pass from Ed Brown — who had taken a handoff from quarterback George Blanda — with 25 seconds left to give the Bears a 31-27 victory over the 49ers at Kezar Stadium in 1954.
6. Hester, who had an 89-yard punt return touchdown to open the scoring, catches an 81-yard touchdown pass from Brian Griese with 1:38 to play for a 31-all tie with the Vikings at Soldier Field in 2007. The Vikings responded with a field goal to win 34-31.
7. Nathan Vasher returns Joe Nedney’s missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown — the longest play in NFL history — on the final play of the first half to spark the Bears’ 17-9 victory over the 49ers at Soldier Field in 2005.
8. George Halas returns a Jim Thorpe fumble 98 yards for a touchdown against the Oorang Indians at Cubs Park in 1923 — an NFL record that stood until 1972, when the Raiders’ Jack Tatum broke it with a 104-yard fumble return.
9. Charles Tillman returns an interception 95 yards to the Packers’ 7-yard line with six seconds left in the half to set up a Robbie Gould field goal in a 19-7 victory over the Packers in 2005 — the Bears’ first victory over Green Bay at home in 13 years.
10. Safety Mike Brown returns an Ahman Green fumble 95 yards for a touchdown in a 21-10 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak vs. Green Bay.
Bears forever: remembering Willie Galimore and Bo Farrington
Running back Willie Galimore and wide receiver John “Bo” Farrington are forever linked in Bears history by the tragic car accident that killed both players during training camp in 1964. They also were teammates on the 1963 NFL championship team and productive players with big-play capability.
In 1961 against the Lions, Farrington set a franchise record that still stands, when he scored on a 98-yard pass from Bill Wade. Galimore clinched a 31-17 victory that day with a 53-yard touchdown run.
Because of his abbreviated career and being followed by Gale Sayers, Galimore is one of the most overlooked players in Bears history. He scored 10 touchdowns of 50 or more yards, including a 99-yard kickoff return, pass receptions of 84 and 97 yards and runs of 77 and 67 yards.
Farrington, a 16th-round draft pick out of Prairie View in 1960, played only 45 games for the Bears. Besides the 98-yard catch, he also had receptions of 58 and 51 yards. He had 21 receptions for 335 yards (16.0 avg.) and two touchdowns for the 1963 championship team.
Washington Redskins Jimmy Johnston (31) is tackled by Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears in the NFL championship game at Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 1940. The Bears won, 73-0. Also converging on Johnston are Bears Joe Stydahar (13), Bill Osmanski (9), John Siegal (6), Dan Fortmann (21) and George McAfee (5).
AP
The big-play Bears of the Luckman era
In 1939, the reloading Bears were still a step behind Curly Lambeau and the Packers in the battle for NFL supremacy when Sid Luckman made big plays in back-to-back games that signaled the dawn of a new era.
Luckman’s 45-yard pass to Bob MacLeod led to Bill Osmanski’s three-yard touchdown in the final minutes that beat the first-place Packers, 30-27 at Wrigley Field. The following week, Luckman threw a tie-breaking 85-yard touchdown pass to Bob Swisher that sparked the Bears to a 23-13 victory over the first-place Lions.
The Packers won their third consecutive NFL title that season, but the Bears closed with a flurry — four consecutive victories to finish 8-3. And the best was yet to come.
With the addition of McAfee, the Bears became the NFL’s dominant team and the big-play kings of professional football by the end of the 1940 season.
Osmanski’s 68-yard touchdown ignited the 73-0 rout of the Redskins in the 1940 championship game. In 1941, the Bears scored 12 touchdowns of 50 or more yards — no other team had more than four — en route to their second consecutive NFL title. Though Luckman was a catalyst, five players threw touchdown passes of 50 or more yards in 1941 — Luckman (65, 56 yards), McAfee (63), Bob Snyder (59), Young Bussey (54) and Ray Nolting (53).
The Bears had 12 more 50-plus touchdowns in 1942 and nine in 1943. In fact, from 1939-43, the Bears had 45 touchdowns of 50 or more yards — and went 48-9 with three NFL championships.
