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
2006 Chicago Bears–Arizona Cardinals game St. Louis Cardinals (the team was also briefly known as the Phoenix Cardinals). Earlier in the year, in the preseason, the Cardinals defeated the Bears at Soldier Field 23–16 in a Friday night game. The Bears were having a great season, being undefeated heading into the game at 5–0, having their best start to the season since 1989, having committed only 5 turnovers all season and averaging an NFL-best 31.2 points per game, and scoring 156 points compared to allowing only 36 points. This was the Bears' first Monday Night Football appearance since 2003. The Bears' 3rd year coach Lovie