Gene Schroeder’s bond with the Chicago Bears was forged as a first-round draft pick back in 1951. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he remembered hating the team growing up.
“I hated the Bears, they always beat my Redskins,” he said, recalling how he sat on his father’s lap to listen to the games on the radio. But “to be drafted, to be praised” changed everything.
He played six seasons with the Bears, and has spent the last six decades as a devoted fan. Now, having just turned 95 on Sunday, he’s believed to be the oldest living former player for the franchise.
The game has changed profoundly in the years since he retired in 1957 — too much in some ways, he says — but he’s still as big a fan as ever. He never misses a game. And even though he never played at Soldier Field, he says the Bears need a new stadium to remain competitive.
“We’re on the way back,” Schroeder said in an interview at his home in northwest Indiana last week.
Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Gene Schroeder, believed to be the oldest living former player for the franchise, cradles a game ball from Oct. 7, 1956 —the Bears’ first win of that season against the Green Bay Packers — as he sits down for an interview with a Chicago Sun-Times reporter in his St. John, Indiana, home, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Schroeder celebrated his 95th birthday on March 3.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Schroeder played under Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and Bears legend George Halas. He says he was picked because of his speed at wide receiver, at a time when the league was moving away from a gritty ground game toward one centered on passing.
“The Los Angeles Rams were faster than everybody else, and other teams [were] trying to catch up in speed,” he said.
Schroeder recalls having a close relationship with Halas at the time.
“Coach Halas was wonderful to play for and never raised his voice,” Schroeder said. “He was like a father to me.”
Halas “liked two things: He liked you to be married and he liked you to be in Chicago. Because then you had two people keeping track of you and keeping you out of trouble,” he added, chuckling.
Schroeder even asked the coach for a $2,500 advance on his contract — about a quarter of his its value — to help him put a down payment on a home for his family when he told Halas he wanted to live in Chicago. Halas told his secretary to put together the check without any paperwork or IOUs.
Schroeder laments the loss of that family dynamic in the game today. “That’s gone like dinosaurs,” he said. But he believes current general manager Ryan Poles has done an “absolutely outstanding job.”
“He has brought in some really good players,” he said, “and we’re only going to get better.”
His favorite player on the current Bears roster is wide receiver DJ Moore because of his speed and ability to cut through defenders.
Time for QB Justin Fields to move on, he says
As for the Justin Fields situation, he said he doesn’t feel fully qualified to weigh in but said it would be a “huge mistake to keep him here after what happened to him. ... What kills a quarterback is to be in two or three different systems with two or three different coaches. Whether he’s the right guy or not, I don’t think he should stay here.”
When it comes to the future of the team, Schroeder stressed that the Bears need a new stadium — either in Chicago or Arlington Heights.
“The Bears have a hell of a problem, they’ve got to be in a new stadium,” he said. “They’ve got to get in this ballgame with the stadium or else they’re not gonna be competitive.”
Schroeder, who celebrated his birthday over the weekend with family and his senior community in Indiana, said he’s been blessed in so many ways. In 1974, he founded Trialco Aluminum, a Chicago Heights-based aluminum alloy producer that’s still open today. And his family has grown to include four grandchildren and five great grandchildren, although his wife passed away a decade ago.
He holds his memories of his time with the Bears close. Some of his keepsakes include a helmet gifted to him by the Bears and a game ball from Oct. 7, 1956 that he received after the team’s first win of the season. The ball was signed by the entire 1956 team.
Whether it was about football or life itself, it always came back to family.
“When people ask me why I’m still here, I will tell you right now it’s 60 wonderful marriage years to a wonderful woman and a wonderful family,” Schroeder said. “And the fact that I had a career after football that I thoroughly enjoyed.”
Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Gene Schroeder, believed to be the oldest living former player for the franchise, has his 1952 rookie card on display on a desk in his St. John, Indiana, home, among birthday cards, family photos and other Bears memorabilia, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Schroeder celebrated his 95th birthday on March 3.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Gene Schroeder, who is approaching his 95th birthday and among the oldest living NFL players, shows off his football memorabilia as he sits down for an interview with a Chicago Sun-Times reporter in his St. John, Indiana, home, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Schroeder celebrated his 95th birthday on March 3.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Gene Schroeder, believed to be the oldest living former player for the franchise, shows off a birthday card from his daughter and son-in-law as he sits down for an interview with a Chicago Sun-Times reporter in his St. John, Indiana, home, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Schroeder celebrated his 95th birthday on March 3.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
