1956 Chicago Bears (NFL)

1st place Western Conference 9-2-1 .818

George Connor	Assistant Coach
Phil Handler	Assistant Coach
Harry Jagade	Fullbacks
Luke Johnsos	Assistant Coach
Sid Luckman	Quarterbacks
Bulldog Turner	Assistant Coach

SCORES
Day	Date		Opponent	Score		Location	Venue	Attendance	Notes
Sat	8/18/1956	N	Chicago Cardinals	31-7	W	Jacksonville, FL	Gator Bowl	22000
Fri	8/24/1956	A	Philadelphia Eagles	28-21	W	Philadelphia, PA	Connie Mack Stadium	30011
Sat	9/1/1956	N	Washington Redskins	17-3	W	Little Rock, AR	War Memorial Stadium	16000
Sat	9/8/1956	A	Pittsburgh Steelers	21-10	W	Pittsburgh, PA	Forbes Field	22194
Sat	9/15/1956	N	New York Giants	21-16	W	Dallas, TX	Cotton Bowl	25000
Fri	9/21/1956	H	Cleveland Browns	14-24	L	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	56543
Sun	9/30/1956	A	Baltimore Colts	21-28	L	Baltimore, MD	Memorial Stadium	45221
Sun	10/7/1956	A	Green Bay Packers	37-21	W	Green Bay, WI	City Stadium	24668
Sun	10/14/1956	H	San Francisco 49ers	31-7	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	47526
Sun	10/21/1956	H	Baltimore Colts	58-27	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	48364
Sun	10/28/1956	A	San Francisco 49ers	38-21	W	San Francisco, CA	Kezar Stadium	53612
Sun	11/4/1956	A	Los Angeles Rams	35-24	W	Los Angeles, CA	Memorial Coliseum	69894
Sun	11/11/1956	H	Green Bay Packers	38-14	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	49172
Sun	11/18/1956	H	Los Angeles Rams	30-21	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	48102
Sun	11/25/1956	A	New York Giants	17-17	T	New York, NY	Yankee Stadium	55191
Sun	12/2/1956	A	Detroit Lions	10-42	L	Detroit, MI	Briggs Stadium	57024
Sun	12/9/1956	H	Chicago Cardinals	10-3	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	48606
Sun	12/16/1956	H	Detroit Lions	38-21	W	Chicago, IL	Wrigley Field	49086
Sun	12/30/1956	A	New York Giants	7-47	L	New York, NY	Yankee Stadium	56836	League Championship

Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.

ROSTER
No	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Age	College	GP	GS
81	Doug Atkins	RDE-LDE	6-8	257	26	Tennessee	6	2
46	Don Bingham	DB-OHB	6-0	182	27	Sul Ross State	12	0
73	Bill Bishop	RDT	6-4	248	25	North Texas	12	12
16	George Blanda	QB-K-P	6-1	210	29	Kentucky	12	0
73	M.L. Brackett	LDE-RDT-MG	6-5	248	23	Auburn	12	1
15	Ed Brown	QB-P	6-2	209	28	Hartnell JC; San Francisco	12	12
41	Harland Carl	LOH	6-0	192	25	Wisconsin	9	0
25	J.C. Caroline	LDH-LOH	6-1	190	23	Illinois	12	12
35	Rick Casares	FB-P	6-2	226	25	Florida	12	12
22	Jesse Castete	LS	5-11	178	23	McNeese State	8	3
65	Herman Clark	LOG	6-3	258	26	Oregon State	12	12
43	Jim Dooley	LOE	6-4	198	26	Miami (Florida)	3	0
31	Joe Fortunato	RLB	6-0	225	26	Virginia Military Institute; Mississippi State	12	12
61	Bill George	MG	6-2	237	27	Wake Forest	12	12
62	Kline Gilbert	ROT	6-2	233	26	Mississippi	12	12
14	Ken Gorgal	LS	6-2	200	27	Purdue	6	4
11	Jim Haluska	QB	6-0	190	24	Wisconsin	5	0
51	Wayne Hansen	LLB	6-2	231	28	Texas-El Paso	12	12
80	John Helwig	DB	6-2	208	29	Notre Dame	6	0
87	Harlon Hill	LOE	6-3	199	24	North Alabama	12	12
82	Jack Hoffman	LDE	6-5	234	26	Xavier (Ohio)	12	11
89	John Hoffman	ROH-LOH	6-2	215	31	Arkansas	12	11
21	Perry Jeter	LOH	5-7	178	25	San Bernardino Valley JC; Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo)	7	2
78	Stan Jones	ROG	6-1	252	25	Maryland	11	11
54	Dick Klawitter	C	6-7	277	27	South Dakota State	5	1
83	Bill McColl	ROE-ROH-LOH	6-4	230	26	Stanford	12	10
86	Ed Meadows	RDE	6-2	221	24	Duke	12	10
76	John Mellekas	LOT	6-3	255	23	Arizona	12	4
29	McNeil Moore	RS	6-0	188	23	Rice; Sam Houston State	11	8
67	Tom Roggeman	ROG	6-0	235	25	Purdue	12	1
88	Gene Schroeder	ROE	6-3	192	27	Virginia	11	6
39	J.D. Smith	RS	6-1	205	24	North Carolina A&T State	6	3
20	Ray Gene Smith	RDH	5-10	188	28	Cameron JC; Midwestern State	12	12
55	Larry Strickland	C	6-4	248	25	Tyler JC; North Texas	12	11
40	Stan Wallace	LS	6-3	208	25	Illinois	6	6
45	Bobby Watkins	LOH	5-9	196	24	Ohio State	9	7
72	Bill Wightkin	LOT	6-2	235	29	Notre Dame	12	8
75	Fred Williams	LDT	6-4	249	27	Arkansas	12	12

DRAFT LIST
Round	Overall	Player	Pos	College	Notes
1	10	Tex Schriewer	E	Texas
2	22	M.L. Brackett	T	Auburn
4	47	John Mellekas	T	Arizona
5	58	Willie Galimore	B	Florida A&M
7	82	J.C. Caroline	B	Illinois
8	95	Dick Klawitter	C	South Dakota State
9	106	Ken Vargo	C	Ohio State
10	119	Dick Lucas	E	Boston College
11	130	John Jankans	E	Arizona State
12	143	Buddy Cruze	E	Tennessee
13	154	Dick Grogg	G	Minnesota
14	167	Milt Graham	E	Colgate
15	178	Dick Fitzgerald	B	Notre Dame
16	191	Ray Brown	B	Florida
17	202	Tom Adams	E	UCLA
18	215	Earl Payton	B	Prairie View A&M
19	226	John Smith	B	UCLA
20	239	Chuck Maxime	G	Auburn
21	250	Jimmy Waddell	B	Compton JC
22	263	Joe Billings	T	Memphis
23	274	Lou Holt	E	Howard Payne
24	287	Jesse Castete	B	McNeese State
25	298	Jerry Hentschel	T	Sam Houston State
26	311	Don Orr	B	Vanderbilt
27	322	Waylon Buchannon	E	Texas A&M-Commerce
28	335	Bob Alexander	B	Trinity (Connecticut)
29	346	Billy Kreitemeyer	B	Vanderbilt
30	358	Jim Buckler	G	Alabama

SCORING BY QUARTERS	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Team Totals	51	123	93	96
Opponents Totals	31	87	66	62

TEAM STATS	TOP	1ST DOWNS	Rushing	Passing	Penalty	3RD DOWN EFFICIENCY	4TH DOWN EFFICIENCY	PEN	YDS
Team Totals		244	140	92	12	/ %	/ %	67	553
Opponents Totals		207	80	113	14	/ %	/ %	60	624

SCORING	TD	X1	X1A	PCT	FG	FGA	PCT	PTS
Rick Casares	14	0	0		0	0		84
George Blanda	0	45	47	95.7	12	28	42.9	81
Harlon Hill	11	0	0		0	0		66
J.C. Caroline	4	0	0		0	0		24
Bill McColl	4	0	0		0	0		24
Perry Jeter	3	0	0		0	0		18
Bobby Watkins	3	0	0		0	0		18
Ed Brown	2	0	0		0	0		12
John Hoffman	2	0	0		0	0		12
Don Bingham	1	0	0		0	0		6
Harland Carl	1	0	0		0	0		6
Joe Fortunato	1	0	0		0	0		6
Gene Schroeder	1	0	0		0	0		6
Team Totals	47	45	47	95.7	12	28	42.9	363
Opponents Totals	34	33	34	97.1	3	18	16.7	246

FIELD GOALS	MADE	ATT	PCT	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
George Blanda	12	28	42.9	4/	4/	3/	1/	0/
Team Totals	12	28	42.9	4/	4/	3/	1/	0/
Opponents Totals	3	18	16.7	2/	0/	0/	1/	0/

RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Rick Casares	234	1126	4.8	68t	12
Perry Jeter	60	316	5.3	51	2
Bobby Watkins	68	276	4.1	25	2
John Hoffman	56	272	4.9	39	2
Ed Brown	40	164	4.1	31	1
J.C. Caroline	34	141	4.1	26	2
Harland Carl	29	66	2.3	12	1
George Blanda	6	47	7.8	17	0
Don Bingham	7	36	5.1	12	0
Harlon Hill	2	24	12.0	12	0
Team Totals	536	2468	4.6	68t	22
Opponents Totals	384	1483	3.9		14

PASSING	ATT	COM	PCT	INC	YDS	Y/ATT	Y/COM	LG	TD	TD%	INT	INT%	TS	YL	NYP	RTG
Ed Brown	168	96	57.1	60	1667	9.9	17.4	70t	11	6.5	12	7.1		103	1564	83.1
George Blanda	69	37	53.6	28	439	6.4	11.9	69t	7	10.1	4	5.8		21	418	82.9
Bill McColl	4	1	25.0	1	79	19.8	79.0	79t	1	25.0	2	50.0	0	0	79	79.2
Jim Haluska	4	1	25.0	3	8	2.0	8.0	8	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	8	39.6
Harlon Hill	1	0	0.0	1	0	0.0			0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	39.6
Perry Jeter	1	0	0.0	1	0	0.0			0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	39.6
Rick Casares	3	0	0.0	2	0	0.0			0	0.0	1	33.3	0	0	0	0.0
Team Totals	250	135	54.0	96	2193	8.8	16.2	79t	19	7.6	19	7.6		124	2069	77.3
Opponents Totals	332	159	47.9	150	2413	7.3	15.2		16	4.8	23	6.9		220	2193	59.5

RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Harlon Hill	47	1128	24.0	79t	11
Bill McColl	24	322	13.4	69t	4
Rick Casares	23	203	8.8	33	2
Gene Schroeder	20	315	15.8	32	1
John Hoffman	7	85	12.1	35	0
Perry Jeter	5	52	10.4	23	0
Jim Dooley	4	47	11.8	15	0
Harland Carl	2	31	15.5	20	0
Bobby Watkins	2	3	1.5	6t	1
Don Bingham	1	7	7.0	7	0
Team Totals	135	2193	16.2	79t	19
Opponents Totals	159	2413	15.2		16

INTERCEPTIONS	INT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
J.C. Caroline	6	182	30.3	59t	2
Ray Gene Smith	4	90	22.5	41	0
McNeil Moore	3	30	10.0	22	0
Joe Fortunato	2	30	15.0	27t	1
Jesse Castete	2	26	13.0	26	0
Bill George	2	9	4.5	9	0
M.L. Brackett	1	24	24.0	24	0
Wayne Hansen	1	11	11.0	11	0
Fred Williams	1	11	11.0	11	0
Stan Wallace	1	7	7.0	7	0
Team Totals	23	420	18.3	59t	3
Opponents Totals	19	343	18.1		1

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	BL	RYDS	NET
Ed Brown	42	1644	39.1	53	1
Rick Casares	1	51	51.0	51	0
George Blanda	1	33	33.0	33	0
Team Totals	44	1728	39.3	53	1	243	33.8
Opponents Totals	64	2559	40.0			195

PUNT RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Don Bingham	13	7	.5.0	7	0
Perry Jeter	6	66	11.0	51t	1
Ray Gene Smith	6	65	10.8	22	0
McNeil Moore	3	28	9.3	25	0
J.C. Caroline	2	29	14.5	16	0
Team Totals	30	195	6.5	51t	1
Opponents Totals	29	243	8.4		1

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
Don Bingham	17	444	26.1	100t	1
Perry Jeter	5	105	21.0	26	0
Harland Carl	4	102	25.5	45	0
Rick Casares	3	95	31.7	49	0
J.C. Caroline	2	32	16.0	18	0
Bill McColl	2	4	2.0	4	0
McNeil Moore	1	19	19.0	19	0
Ray Gene Smith	1	16	16.0	16	0
Stan Wallace	1	13	13.0	13	0
Doug Atkins	1	0	0.0	0	0
Team Totals	37	830	22.4	100t	1
Opponents Totals	47	1249	26.6		1

FUMBLES	NO	LOST	OWN	OPP	REC	YDS	TD
Don Bingham	1		0	0	0	0	0
George Blanda	2		0	0	0	0	0
M.L. Brackett	0	0	0	2	2	14	0
Ed Brown	3		2	0	2	3	1
Harland Carl	1		1	0	1	0	0
J.C. Caroline	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Rick Casares	5		2	0	2	0	0
Joe Fortunato	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
Bill George	0	0	0	3	3	0	0
Wayne Hansen	0	0	0	2	2	8	0
Jack Hoffman	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
John Hoffman	2		1	0	1	0	0
Perry Jeter	2		0	0	0	0	0
Stan Jones	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
John Mellekas	0	0	0	1	1	2	0
McNeil Moore	0	0	0	1	1	19	0
Gene Schroeder	1		0	0	0	0	0
J.D. Smith	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Larry Strickland	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
Stan Wallace	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Bobby Watkins	1		0	0	0	0	0
Fred Williams	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Team Totals	18	10	8	15	23	53	1
Opponents Totals	24	15	9	10	19		0