Staley Da Bear up for nomination to Mascot Hall of Fame
WHITING, Ind. (CBS) -- Bears fans – now is your chance to help put someone from the team in the Hall of Fame.
No, not the Pro Football Hall of Fame – which, as it happens, has 30 former Bears players or coaches in it. This member of the Bears is a contended for the Mascot Hall of Fame.
The Mascot Hall of fame, located in Whiting, Indiana, has 18 nominees from across the world of sports up for consideration this year.
Among them is the Bears' mascot, Staley Da Bear. Staley debuted in 2003 – and is named after the original name of the Bears franchise, the Decatur Staleys.
The Decatur Staleys were in turn named for the original owner of the team, A.E. Staley – who was also the founder corn processor the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company.
The Staleys moved from Decatur to Chicago in 1921 – two years after their founding. They became the Bears in 1922.
Also up for consideration for the Mascot Hall of Fame this year are Bailey (Los Angeles Kings), Blitz (Seattle Seahawks), Buzz (Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets), Cozmo (Los Angeles Galaxy), Freddie Falcon (Atlanta Falcons), Goldy Gopher (University of Minnesota Golden Gophers), Jaxon de Ville (Jacksonville Jaguars), Miles (Denver Broncos), Otto the Orange (Syracuse University Orange), Punter (Edmonton Elks), Rameses (University of North Carolina Tar Heels), Slugger (Portland Sea Dogs), The Bearcat (University of Cincinnati Bearcats), The Blue Devil (Duke University Blue Devils), TORO (Houston Texans), Wally the Green Monster (Boston Red Sox), and YoJo (motivational and educational children's comedy mascot).