On Friday night, the Chicago Bears unveiled their new throwback uniform during the Opening Ceremonies of the Bears100 Celebration Weekend at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
You guys ready for these??
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) June 8, 2019
Our classic look is officially here for #Bears100. https://t.co/1IuMbo1iEr
The uniform is a recreation of the one the team wore for one season in 1936. It features white jerseys with the Bears100 patch, navy and orange stripes on the shoulders and sleeves, navy numbers and letters, navy pants, and navy and orange striped socks.
“Our classic uniform in our centennial season was a one-hit wonder in 1936,” said Bears chairman George H. McCaskey. “Bronko Nagurski and his teammates wore these on their way to a 9-3 record. We can only imagine what the fans’ reaction was to the uniform way back when. We hope today’s fans like it; they’ll certainly be talking about it.”
The helmet that accompanies the uniform is navy with three orange stripes.
The Bears will wear the classic jersey in two games this season: against the Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 29 and versus the Cowboys on Thursday night, Dec. 5, both at Soldier Field.
McCaskey said that it was difficult to select a unique classic uniform because the Bears have made very few uniform changes over the years. But resurrecting the 1936 version was a no-brainer.
“This one really stood out because it was for only one year,” McCaskey said. “We thought it would be a great idea to bring it back and see if our fans like it. For that time, you think of uniforms being pretty drab, but this was a pretty dramatic statement, especially those socks. I love the socks. The socks make the uniform, in my opinion.”
McCaskey said that the 1936 uniform was the one that he and longtime equipment manager Tony Medlin had targeted from the beginning of the process.
“This is the one that Tony Medlin and I kind of had our eye on from the start,” McCaskey said. “He takes his responsibilities as caretaker of our uniforms pretty seriously, so I knew that if it passed muster with Tony that we’d be in pretty good shape.”
The jersey replaces the 1940s classic jersey the Bears wore twice last year. They will also wear their alternate orange jersey once in 2019 in addition to their regular navy and white jerseys.
