Jumbo Joe, the first Bear
The First Bear
With the 2022 NFL Draft finally, upon us, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some Bears history. Specifically, who was the first Bear ever drafted? Technically the first player ever drafted in the inaugural 1936 NFL Draft was the first-ever Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. He was drafted by the Eagles but his rights were traded to the Bears, and seeing as football was not a high-paying job back then he ended up never actually playing in the NFL.
So that leads us to our actual first-ever pick, Hall of Famer Joe Stydahar in the first round as the sixth pick in the 1936 draft. Jumbo Joe, as he was often called was from Kaylor, Pennsylvania. He played college football and basketball for West Virginia Mountaineers. He played nine seasons for the Bears from 1936-to 1942 and 1945-to 1946. Joe went All-Pro for five consecutive years from 1936-to 1940 and won three NFL Championship games with the Bears in 1940,1942, and 1946.
After his playing career ended, Stydahar was the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams during the 1950 and 1951 seasons and the Chicago Cardinals during the 1953 and 1954 seasons. His 1950 and 1951 Rams teams both advanced to the NFL Championship Game and the 1951 team won the championship. He also served as an assistant coach for the Rams (1947�1949) and Bears (1963�1965). Stydahar missed the 1943 and 1944 NFL seasons due to military service during World War II. He served as a lieutenant and gunnery officer in the United States Navy on the USS Monterey light aircraft carrier. Joe was as tough a Bear as they come, and here's to hoping we get some more Jumbo Joes in this year's draft.
