DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - As the NFL's 100th season is set to conclude this weekend with Super Bowl LIV, a local historian is reminding sports fans one of the NFL's few remaining inaugural franchises started right here in Central Illinois: the Decatur Staleys, who eventually became the Chicago Bears.
 
Historian Mark Sorensen says the Staleys were initially founded in 1919 by businessman A.E. Staley as an amateur workplace team for his company, the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company.
 
"Most of the (players)... had jobs at Staley or were given jobs at Staley," he said. "And they weren't getting any pay to practice or to play...I would say their motivation was fun and competition."
 
A year later, football was growing from a college pastime to a legitimate business. When the National Football League - then called the American Professional Football Association - formed in 1920, the Decatur Staleys became one of its inaugural teams.
 
"Being a professional athlete, especially in football, would have been much of a part-time job (then)," said Sorensen. "And that's what Staley offered, is job security during the season, working with the company, and then being able to play football."
 
The move to the professional ranks was motivated by A.E Staley's desire to expand his brand's visibility.
 
"In 1920, he decided that you could upgrade this and make it better and make it more national in scope," Sorensen said. "So in 1919, they only played a couple of teams in Central Illinois. In 1920, teams were playing from here to New York."
 
The Staleys had an impressive 1920 season, finishing 10-1-2, good for 2nd place in the new league. The success came in large part due to the addition of player-coach George Halas, who recruited several former college stars to join the team.
 
"George Halas was the leader of the team, Dutch Sternaman was basically his assistant and the most valuable player on the team," Sorensen said. "They had players like George "Beast" Trafton, and he was hated everywhere for his play... They were a very good team, because they were one of the few pro teams that actually got to practice every day."
 
However, 1920 would prove the Staleys only full season in Decatur as a professional team. During the 1921 season, the Staleys moved to Chicago.
 
"When they played a game in Decatur, at Staley Field, they could maybe only fit 2,000 people in, and maybe only charge 50 cents a person to come see the game," Sorensen said. "If they played at Cubs Park (in Chicago), they could get 5-000-10,000 people to come on Sunday, and charge more for the programs, and more for the admission to the games."
 
The Staleys won the league championship in 1921, and were re-named the Chicago Bears in 1922. The franchise that began as an amateur factory team in Decatur would go on to produce 9 NFL championship teams, including the 1985-86 Bears Super Bowl champion team, considered by some the best in the sport's history.
 
"It's important to realize that George Halas always gave credit for the founding of the Bears for A.E. Staley and Decatur," Sorensen said. "And he would say in the 1950's, if it weren't for A.E. Staley and Decatur, there would be no Chicago Bears."