The 20 Biggest Baddest Bears of all Time; #12 Rick Casares

No. 12 Rick Casares

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Rick Caseres


A hybrid sort of back, a cross between running back and fullback, Casares was a nasty runner who Doug Buffone called “probably the toughest player pound-for-pound that ever played for the Chicago Bears,”


At 6’2”, 226 lbs, Casares was a Golden Glove boxing champion and was offered a professional boxing contract at the age of 15. His mother forbade him to sign the pro contract, so he tookup high school sports back in Tampa.

Casares led the Bears in rushing for five seasons, including one season in which he led the NFL with 1,126 yards. The following year, Caseres was second in the NFL in rushing behind the great Jim Brown.


Casaras’ Bears rushing records, set in the 1950s and part of the ’60s, lasted until they were shattered by Walter Payton in the 1980s. Caseres is still third all-time on the Bears’ rushing list behind Payton and Neal Anderson and just ahead of Hall of Fame runner Gale Sayers.

Had Casares not played in the same era as Jim Brown then he probably would have been considered THE stud RB of his day. Like Brown he was listed as a FB but in reality he was far more of an all purpose back who could run both inside and outside.

When he eventually teamed with the great Willie Galimore at HB the Bears had one of their greatest RB combos of all time. When 50 years after his retirement he still ranks with the likes of Payton, Anderson and Sayers you know he was a special football player.