Edward Carl "Dutch" Sternaman (February 9, 1895 – February 1, 1973) was an American player and owner in professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). A star halfback for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, Sternaman was one of the key offensive players for the Bears during their formative years. A half-owner of the Bears club together with his former Illini teammate George S. Halas, Sternaman fell into financial difficulty because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and sold his stake in the team to Halas for $38,000 in the summer of 1931.

Early life

Dutch Sternaman was born February 9, 1895, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He grew up in Springfield, where he attended Springfield High School. During the 1910s, Sternaman and

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

both excelled on the

Illinois Fighting Illini football The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of ...

team, with Sternaman a star halfback and Halas a gritty

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

. Sternaman was elected captain of the 1918 team, but was drafted into

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in May of that year and was unable to assume this leadership role. Instead, Sternaman found himself that fall playing for the divisional football team of

Camp Funston Camp Funston is a U.S. Army training camp located on the grounds of Fort Riley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston (1865–1917). It is one of sixteen such camps that were established at ...

, Kansas. In 1919, Sternaman was contacted by executives from the

Arcola, Illinois Arcola is a city in Douglas County, Illinois, Douglas County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,927 at the 2020 census. The city was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad was built through the county. The railroad itsel ...

(Independents) football team and asked to assemble a roster strong enough to exact revenge on A. E. Staley's team following a 41–0 loss. Although Sternaman agreed, the Staleys were not present when they became aware of the plan. Staley later approached Sternaman to increase the team's competitiveness, but he declined as he was close to finishing his mechanical engineering degree at Illinois.

Professional football

In 1920, Halas assumed control of the Staleys, and on June 14 Sternaman became the first player to sign with the team. During the 1920 season, Sternaman would rush for 11 touchdowns. He was also known for his kicking prowess, finishing his career with 21 field goals and 28 extra points when including 1920. When the team moved to Chicago in 1921, Halas "offered" 50 percent of the club to Sternaman. At season's end, the two competed with agent Bill Harley for ownership of the Staleys. The other owners in the American Professional Football Association (now

) decided in favor of the Halas/Sternaman partnership by an 8–2 vote. For the next decade, Halas was the face of the franchise, representing the Bears at league meetings. Although Sternaman was a full partner, he largely stayed in the background. The Staleys were renamed the Bears in 1922.

Joey Sternaman Joseph Theodore Sternaman (February 1, 1900 – March 10, 1988) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for eight seasons for the Chicago Bears and Duluth Kelleys of the National Football League (NFL). At 5'6" and 13 ...

, Dutch's younger brother, also played for the team. Professional football was the weak sister to the college game throughout the 1920s and 1930s, with most franchises losing money by the boatload. The coming of the

dramatically worsened the financial situation, with the Bears managing to barely avoid insolvency.Lars Anderson, ''The First Star: Red Grange and the Barnstorming Tour That Launched the NFL.'' New York: Random House, 2009; p. 216. Sternaman found himself unable to pay the mortgage on either his apartment or the gas station he had invested in and in the summer of 1931 he approached Halas to buy out his half of the Bears for $38,000 (the equivalent of approximately $785,000 in 2025). The request was difficult for Halas to meet, but he set about borrowing funds from friends and family, and was eventually able to raise the necessary sum, cashing out Sternaman. By the start of the 1931 Chicago Bears season, Halas was in a position of sole ownership of the team.

Life after football

In 1934, Sternamen purchased and fenced off a lakefront property at Lake Ivanhoe, WI, a small, predominantly black, middle-class vacation community, intending to turn it into a white resort. He subsequently lost in a civil lawsuit by black neighbors on grounds that the beach and parks around Lake Ivanhoe were a

public good In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good)Oakland, W. H. (1987). Theory of public goods. In Handbook of public economics (Vol. 2, pp. 485–535). Elsevier. is a commodity, product or service that is bo ...

. In 1948, he coached at

North Park University North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side in the North Park community area and enrolls more than 2,600 undergr ...

in Chicago.

References

Sources

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