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 seemingly lost effort. With less than twenty minutes remaining, the Bears’ defense and special teams mounted a comeback that allowed the team to overcome a 20-point deficit and win the game, 24–23. After a decisive 41–10 crushing of the 49ers, where the Bears scored 41 points in the first half, tying the record by the 1940 Championship Game victory, Grossman had another turnover ridden performance against the Miami Dolphins (which reminisced the 1985 season), where the Bears lost 31–13, the most points the team allowed that season. The team bounced back with a staunch performance against the New York Giants,