As one of the most illustrious and storied teams in NFL history, the Chicago Bears have plenty of moments worth celebrating. Here’s one list of five top moments in Chicago Bears history (in no particular order):

Sept 17, 1920

On this day in Chicago Bears history, the Stayles, owners of the Staley Starch Company, along with George “Papa Bear” Halas, joined the American Professional Football Association (which later became the National Football League). In their more than 90 seasons since, the Bears have won nine NFL championships.

Walter Payton Breaks the Record

On October 7, 1984, Walter Payton broke Jim Brown’s all-time rushing record. Later, Payton’s coach, Mike Ditka, would say, “When God said He would make a halfback or a fullback, He might have said Gale Sayers or…Jim Brown. But when He said He would make the best football player who ever lived, He probably said two men: Jim Thorpe and Walter Payton.” Payton’s record-breaking run is one of the top moments in NFL history and Bears history both.

Bears Win Super Bowl XX

The Chicago Bears’ victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX stands as one of the proudest moments in team history. The Bears won the game 46-10, finishing off one of the best seasons in NFL history. Although Payton didn’t score a touchdown in the game, this win was an important jewel in his crown.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Chicago Bears have released veteran safety Chris Harris after he asked for a trade, ending his second run with the team.

Harris started in the Bears’ 24-18 victory over Tampa Bay in London on Sunday with Major Wright nursing a hip injury. He had been benched for the Bears’ win over Minnesota the previous week.

That led to him requesting to be dealt, something that did not happen before the trade deadline. Harris had missed three games with a hamstring injury and struggled in a Monday night loss to Detroit before that Vikings game.

The Bears announced the move on Thursday. Harris was in his second stint with the Bears after being traded back from Carolina last year.

The Chicago Bears and running back Matt Forte have not yet come to a contractual agreement for the 2012 season and now sources say the team will use the “franchise” tag on their star running back should contract negotiations fail.

Under the NFL franchise player tag Forte would be paid the average salary of the top five 2011 running back salaries, a number that is expected to fall from $9.45 million this season to $7.71 million for the 2012 roster.

Forte and Bears general manager Jerry Angelo failed to reach an agreement during the preseason and the GM said talks would be tabled until after the 2011 season draws to a close.

According to ESPNChicago.com the best offer made to the running back thus far includes an offer that maxed out at $13 to $14 million with guarantees.

Making an appearance on Rome is Burning last week Forte said the franchise player tag would make him feel undervalued:

 ”That’s not something I’m looking forward to,” he said, while adding, “I don’t want a one-year deal. I want a long-term extension. I think if they use the franchise tag that’s kind of a cheap way to go out. That’s not what I’m looking forward to. I want a long-term extension. I’ve been drafted by Chicago. I want to stay there so it’s not something I’m looking forward to.”

It would be foolish of the Bears to not reach an agreement with their star RB who is leading the NFL this season with 1,091 yards from scrimmage in just seven games, the fastest time a player has reached that milestone since 2004.

Do you believe the Chicago Bears should act quickly to offer Forte a deal that will keep him happy and playing in Chicago over the long-term?

LAKE FOREST — Never mind the record, things sure feel different this time around for the Chicago Bears.

Just like last year, they’re 4-3 at their break; only they’re rolling, not stumbling, into it. They’re looking more like a playoff team, not one that was coming apart. And the question now is whether they can keep it going, not whether they can turn it around.

“I’ve seen the identity of our team,” coach Lovie Smith said. “I’ve seen what I would like for it to look like. Our foundation is based on running the football. We’ve been able to do that lately, well. On the other side of the football, it’s about stopping the run. We’ve done that well the last couple weeks. We know what we can do with our special teams. From there, we’ll just continue to grow.

“I like having the entire roster available for us. When we get back, we’ll have some tough decisions to make on game day, and you want to be in that position.”

Back-to-back wins over Minnesota at home and Tampa Bay in London got the Bears on track after a rough start, with the offense starting to click and the defense holding its ground. They’ve gained two games on second-place Detroit in the NFC North and trail the Lions by just one.

They still have room to improve, but at least they’re looking better than they did a year ago.

The Bears stumbled into the break with three losses in four games, hardly looking like a team that would win the division and advance to the NFC championship game. The way Jay Cutler was getting knocked around, Matt Forte ignored and the blockers plowed over, they looked more like a bunch in dire need of a makeover. But they turned things around in a big way, finishing 11-5 and making the playoffs for the first time since the 2006 team’s Super Bowl run.

A schedule that helped their cause last year — they faced some weak teams and backup quarterbacks — isn’t so kind this fall. They go to Philadelphia for a Monday night game after the bye, then host Detroit and San Diego before playing at Oakland. Even so, there’s less angst heading into this bye week despite some awfully familiar sights in the early going.

Cutler got pounded. The run got ignored. The blockers gave defenses free passes, and when the quarterback had enough time, Forte had no room to run. At times, it seemed Mike Martz was again trying to force-feed his system to a team that wasn’t suited to run it. And a defense that was expected to lead the way wasn’t helping matters, allowing too many big plays and forcing too few turnovers.

The past few weeks have been a different story.

The Bears clamped down against Minnesota, limiting Adrian Peterson to 39 yards rushing in a 39-10 rout. Against Tampa Bay, they made Josh Freeman miserable, intercepting him four times in a 24-18 victory. That was more like it for a team that leads the league in takeaways since Smith took over as coach in 2004. And while the defense did its job, Forte went wild again.

He ran for 145 yards against the Buccaneers and is third in the league with 672 this season. No one has as many yards from scrimmage as Forte (1,091), who could challenge the record set by Tennessee’s Chris Johnson (2,509) in 2009.

And with Earl Bennett eyeing a return from his chest injury next week against Philadelphia and tackle Gabe Carimi (knee) inching closer to a comeback, the offense figures to get a boost in the coming weeks.

“There’s so much football to be played in the second half,” Cutler said. “November and December is really where you kind of come together, and where playoff teams are made. So we feel good about what we’re doing.

“We’ve just got to keep improving, and take a look at what we’ve done the first seven games — what we’re good at, what we’re not good at — and get a good game plan for going forward.”

Although every team has its share of embarrassing moments, the Chicago Bears have a largely illustrious history. One of the NFL’s most storied franchises, the Bears are best known for their contributions to the game’s traditions, not the NFL Films blooper reel. Nevertheless, the Bears have had some embarrassing moments. Here’s a list of three that come to mind:

Chicago Bears playing the Green Bay Packers in 2004.
Wikipedia Commons

Bears Draft Cade McNown

One of the Chicago Bears’ most embarrassing plays of all time didn’t even occur on the field. Instead, the decision to draft Cade McNown in the first round of 2000 draft with the 12^th overall pick. McNown was a total disaster on the field, logging 19 interceptions but just 3,111 passing yards over three seasons. McNown also appeared to alienate his teammates with his arrogant personality. McNown turned out to be a long three year embarrassment for the Bears.

Holding Call Reverses Knox Return

Down 17-27 to their rival Green Bay Packers, the Bears called one of the coolest, most successful plays in history. The Packers punted the ball, and the whole stadium expected return mastermind Devin Hester(notes) to field the punt and try to work his magic. With all eyes on him, Hester ran up to the center of the field and appeared to prepare to take a fair catch. But the punt had sailed toward the sideline, where Johnny Knox(notes) caught the ball and sped to the endzone. So what’s so embarrassing? The Bears were called for holding, nullifying one of the coolest plays in NFL history. You can watch the video here.

Smith’s Second Touchdown Catch

In the Bears’ 2006 NFC Championship matchup against the Carolina Panthers, the Bears defense was embarrassed by an early 58-yard touchdown strike to Panthers receiver Steve Smith. But the defense’s embarrassment peaked in the second half. Smith caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme(notes), demonstrating the Bears’ total inability to make adjustments over halftime in order to prevent the obvious big play potential of the Panthers’ offense.

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