Chicago Bears: 15 greatest linebackers of all time
By Usayd Koshul
LB. 1940-52. 10. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Clyde Turner. player. 57
More commonly known as “Bulldog Turner“, Clyde Turner would play 12 seasons with the Bears from 1940 until his playing career ended in 1952. A first-round pick of the Bears, Turner would have an impact as an offensive lineman, but also played linebacker.
During Turner’s first season with the Bears, he’d intercept Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh, which he’d return for a touchdown in the 1940 NFL Championship game, helping lead the Bears to a 73-0 victory over the Redskins.
In just his third season in the NFL, Turner would lead the NFL in interceptions with eight and would also score two touchdowns as a defensive player that season. Throughout the early parts of the 1940s, Turner was one of the leading causes behind the Bears being the most dominant team in football.
A four-time NFL champion and two-time Pro Bowler, Turner’s two greatest accomplishments while playing for the Bears are that he was named a First-Team All-Pro on eight different occasions and be named to the NFL’s 1940s All-Decade Team.
After his career would end in 1952, Turner would take up coaching and have two separate stints with the Bears. His first stint would last just a year, but he’d be a guards and centers coach for the Bears.
His second stint, which started in 1954, consisted primarily of being a modern-day defensive coordinator, as he’d sit in the press box every game and talk to Bears founder and coach George Halas about what opposing defenses were doing.
Currently, Turner has a special place in Bears’ history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Bears retired his jersey (No. 66), a special honor considering the Bears announced that they would stop retiring jerseys in 2013.