Chicago Bears 34

Montreal Alouettes 16

Aug. 5, 1961

The Bears and the Alouettes met at Molson Stadium in Montreal on August 5, 1961. The Quebec populous were intrigued by the prospect of a contest between the two leagues in the days before the game. Of course, the American teams were expected to be much stronger. Perry Moss, former Packer star and the youngest college head football coach in the US at Florida State, was the newly acquired head coach of the Alouettes in ’61. Montreal had offered Moss 5% of the team and a substantial raise to head north. He would go on to coach in the NFL, WFL, USFL and Arena League. Moss told the press before the game, "We perhaps will lose 50-0 or 80-0, maybe it will be closer, I do not believe that it is important. What is important is to prove with the majority our players, who have never faced the talent of the NFL, that they also are human beings; that they also make errors."  George Halas, founder of the NFL, was the legendary coach of the Chicago Bears.

The game was played with 12 players on the field, as is the rule in Canada. As for the other game rules, they were Canadian in first half, in particular with three downs per team per possession, and those of the NFL in second half. The 16,393 spectators present expected a true and hard played game as the "Monsters of Midway" were protecting their reputation. And, that’s exactly what they got. The Bears were befuddled by the Canadian rule interpretations and this kept the game close in the first half. The Alouettes hung tough, trailing only 13 to 9. The frustration spilled over onto the playing field as a fight erupted in the second quarter clearing the benches. Two players from each side were ejected.

The Alouettes opened the scoring at at 4:40 of the first quarter when Bill Bewley kicked a 32 yard field goal.  The Bears came back to take the lead at the end of the first quarter on a 30 yard touchdown pass from Ed Brown to John Farrington.  Montreal regained the lead early in the second quarter on a 60 yard touchdown pass from Tom Dimitroff to Don Clark.  Bewley's extra point was no good and the score was 9-7.  Late in the second quater, Bill Wade connected with Rick Cesares on a touchdown strike and the score was 13-9 at the half.
 

Under American rules n the second half, George Halas’ men took control. In the third quarter, Brown threw 47 yards to Angelo Coia early in the third quarter to make the score 20-9.  Late in the 3rd quarter, Wade hit Harlon Hill for a 19 yard touchdown and, halfway through the 4th quarter, Cesares carried the ball in from 3 yards out to bring the score to 34-9.  Late in the game, Montreal's George Deiderich intercepted a pass from Bears' rookie Dick Norman and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.  The final score was 34-16.

The Bears, physically dominant, wore down the Alouettes in the final period.  Montreal acquitted themselves well considering they were outgained by the Bears 516 to 206 in total yards.  The Bears racked up 401 yards passing and 115 on the ground.  The quarterbacking trio of Ed Brown, Bill Wade and Dick Norman combined to complete 29 of 41 passes.
 

Regular Season:

In 1961, Montreal finished 4-9-1, last in the Eastern Division and failed to make the playoffs. Montreal’s stars were Don Clark, Milton Crain, and Marv Luster on offense and Billy Ray Locklin, Bobby Jack Olivier and Ron Brewer on defense. The Bears were 8-6-0 and finished 5th in the Western Conference. Chicago was led by quarterback Bill Wade, fullback Rick Cesares and tight end Mike Ditka.

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