Bill Wade, an All-Pro quarterback who was a first overall draft pick with the Rams and won a championship with the Bears, has died at the age of 85.
After a great career at Vanderbilt that saw him named SEC Most Valuable Player in 1951, Wade was chosen by the Los Angeles Rams as the first overall pick in the 1952 NFL draft.
He played well for the Rams, leading the league with 2,875 passing yards in 1958, but after the 1960 season he was traded to the Bears, and in Chicago he was a two-time All-Pro and had his greatest career success.
In 1963, Wade led the Bears to an 11-1-2 regular-season record and a berth in the NFL Championship Game, where on a bitter cold day at Wrigley Field, the Bears beat the Giants, 14-10. Wade ran for both the Bears’ touchdowns in that game, a great performance he would later say was enabled in part by his decision to wear long underwear in defiance of coach George Halas: Papa Bear felt that his players should exude toughness by dressing like it wasn’t really cold, but Wade stayed warm and helped the Bears win the title.
Wade retired after the 1966 season but remained a passionate supporter of the game of football for life. Wade encouraged children to play football and spoke passionately about what it meant to his life.
“I was happy to play football,” Wade recalled in a 1985 interview. “I played every year. I enjoyed every practice. There was no time that I didn’t enjoy being on the field. If I wasn’t passing I was catching or running or doing something. It was a very enjoyable experience, the whole thing. I love the game of football.”
