Decatur Staleys

The Decatur Staleys were a professional American football team founded in 1919 in Decatur, Illinois. Originally formed by a local grocery company as a way to promote their products, the team became a competitive franchise and joined the American Professional Football Association in 1920, which later became the NFL. In 1921, they moved to Chicago and eventually evolved into the Chicago Bears, one of the league's oldest and most successful teams today. The Staleys played a key role in the early development of professional football in the United States.