The Packers and Bears Have Been Helpful to Each Other in Their Storied History

I recently wrote a slideshow which included information about the all-time series record between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, which dates back to 1921.

The Bears hold a slim 92-89-6 edge in the regular season, while the teams are 1-1 in the postseason.

The two teams will play for the 188th time in the regular season on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

In terms of overall championships in NFL history, the Packers have won 13 in their rich history, which is tops in the league, while the Monsters of the Midway have won nine, which is second in NFL annals.

Included in that total are the four Super Bowl wins by the Packers and the one Super Bowl win by the Bears. 

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is adorned with players/coaches from both the Packers and the Bears. Chicago has 26 enshrined in Canton, Ohio, while the Packers have 22. No two teams in the NFL have more.

The list would obviously include Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi and George Halas as coaches.

Throughout the near-century that the two teams have played, there has been no doubt about the heated rivalry that the two teams have with each other. But even with that, the two teams have been helpful to each other.

Much has been said about the intense hatred that Halas and Lambeau had towards one another, but that was more a reflection of their teams at the time. Still, both teams lent a helping hand when needed.

For instance, it was Halas who played a significant role in getting other league partners in 1922 to allow Green Bay back into the league after the Packers were banned for using college players illegally. Ironically, it was Halas who originally discovered that infraction.

The Packers and Lambeau paid back Halas and the Bears during the Great Depression, when they lent the Bears $1,500 to meet payroll. 

Years later, and after Lambeau was gone, Papa Bear helped to rally the people of Green Bay to vote for a new City Stadium (later Lambeau Field) which was built in 1957.

But there were two other instances that really helped out the team from Green Bay. 

For one, both Halas and Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns highly recommended Vince Lombardi to the Packers, as they were searching for a new head coach in 1959. 

That foresight would come back to bite Halas, as Lombardi and the Packers had a 13-5 record against the Bears from 1959-1967, not to mention the five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowl wins that Lombardi and his Packers won.

The Bears did win the 1963 NFL title during that era, however.

But the biggest contribution Halas ever made to help the small-town franchise in Green Bay was in revenue sharing. 

Owners like Halas and the Mara family of the New York Giants helped the Packers get an equal share of the revenue that was given to the teams in the NFL with the advent of television contracts, which have made the NFL the most popular pro sport in America.

Bottom line, the Packers and Bears have a rivalry which dates back 93 years. No two teams have won more championships than these two have, nor put more people in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There is no doubt that both Green Bay and Chicago have looked at the big picture overall and helped each other out when assistance was needed in the past.

That has made the NFL a much better league.