The 1964 College All-Star Game
George
Halas was over 70 years old when he brought his Chicago Bears team into
the 1964 All-Star Game before a crowd of 65,000 fans. The Bears had
mourning bands on their white jerseys due to the deaths of two
teammates, Willie Galimore and John (Bo) Farrington, in an auto accident
just 2 weeks prior to the game. The Bears were said to have been in a
mean mood during the game and several flare-ups occurred between
players. The All-Stars and their coach Otto Graham, though not expected
to win, played well and earned the applause of the fans during the
evening of August 7, 1964. On the team that year were George Mira,
quarterback from Miami, Florida, Ted Davis of Georgia Tech, Dick
VanRaaphorst of Ohio State and Charles Taylor (MVP) of Arizona State.
Both teams were scoreless in the first period. After a 72-yard drive in
the second quarter, Buckeye Dick Van Raaphorst kicked a 14-yard field
goal to begin the scoring for the All-Stars. As the second period
progressed, the Bears managed to take the lead with a spate of passes by
QB Bill Wade, one of them a 14-yarder to Mike Ditka in the end zone. The
extra point by Bob Jencks gave the Bears the lead, 7-3. Still in the
second quarter, Charles Taylor of Arizona State recovered a fumbled punt
on the Bears’ 18-yard line. On the next play Taylor threw a 14-yard
halfback pass to Ted Davis who scored. VanRaaphorst kicked the extra
point and the Stars had the lead, 10-7 at halftime.
Wade
continued the Bears’ passing attack in the third quarter and after a
31-yard toss to Johnny Morris at the 1-yard line, Wade scored on a
quarterback sneak. Jencks converted and the Bears had the lead, 14-10.
Following the ensuing kickoff, Doug Atkins recovered a fumble on the
All-Star 20-yard line. Wade passed to Gary Barnes for the score and with
Jencks’ conversion the score was 21-10 by the end of the third quarter.
In the last period the Bears took over the ball on their own 20-yard
line after the All-Stars failed on a fourth down passing attempt. Rudy
Bukich hit Ditka with a pass at the All-Star 30-yard line and followed
that with a long toss to Charles Bivins who raced over for the score.
Jencks kicked the extra point and the Bears had extended their lead to
28-10. With less than a minute remaining and using a new formation, the
Stars’ George Mira passed 5 yards to Taylor for a touchdown.
VanRaaphorst kicked the extra point but it was not enough to overcome
the deficit and the Bears won 28-17.
More on Bears History:
