At age 77, former coach Jim Dooley, who took George Halas’ place, died Tuesday. After being at the hospital for three solid weeks, the coach finally ended his ten years of suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He stayed at the intensive care unit and eventually developed pneumonia. All the complications led to his death.
Jim Dooley was an ex-American football player and coach. He had a significant career during his term with the National Football League’s Chicago Bears. He is known to have wanted to practice a career in Medicine but ended up being discovered as a talented football player.
His last match as a player was way back in 1962. After that, Dooley officially retired. He then became an assistant coach. After three years, he was assigned as a wide receivers coach, prior to his being a defensive coordinator. He was then hired by the Bears as an offensive consultant
The Bears improved and seemed to be on their way for a major improvement by winning five of their first seven games in one season. However, at some point of the campaign, it became a disaster. Dooley was then fired, making him the first ever Bears coach to experience that doom. After the unfortunate events, Dooley soon signed a contract as the linebacker coach for the Buffalo Bills. He, however, resigned after just one season.
In the year 1997, he was given an award by his alma mater with a position in the Miami Hurricanes’ Ring of Honor. With all his achievements and awards, he is considered as a significant part of football history.
