History of the football helmet gridiron until 1939 and were not made mandatory in the National Football League until 1943 As a side note, "the last NFL player to play in a game without a helmet was Dick Plasman an end for the Chicago Bears in 1940." There is a photograph of him without one taken during the 1940 NFL Championship Game in which Chicago defeated the Washington Redskins 73–0. Before the invention of the football helmet, players would often grow their hair long, because they believed it would protect their heads. The man largely credited with inventing the first helmet was George Barclay. In
History of the Chicago Bears in a second place tie with an 8–4 record, one game away from the Championship Game. The Bears closed out the decade in 1959 with yet another 8–4 finish that was only good enough for second place in the division. The 1950s gave way to Bear greats such as Ed "The Claw" Sprinkle, Bill George, George Connor, and Harlon Hill. The end of the decade also marked the first time in team history that the Bears did not win an NFL Championship during a decade. This was a sign of the downfall that the Bears were about to encounter. Halas,