Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991) was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League. He was a charter member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was named the best college football player of all time by ESPN, and in 2011, he was named the Greatest Big Ten Icon by the Big Ten Network.

Grange was born in Forksville, Pennsylvania as the third child of Sadie and Lyle Grange. His father was the foreman of three lumber camps. When he was five, his mother died and his father moved the family to Wheaton, Illinois, where four brothers had settled. When they arrived, Grange’s father worked hard and became the chief of police. At Wheaton High School, Grange earned 16 varsity letters in four sports (football, baseball, basketball, and track) during the four years he attended, notably scoring 75 touchdowns and 532 points for the football team. As a high school junior, Grange scored 36 touchdowns and led Wheaton High School to an undefeated season. In his senior year, his team won every game but one in which they lost 39-0 to Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio. Knocked out in this game, Grange remained unconscious for two days, having difficulty speaking when he awoke. In addition to his success in football, Grange was an all-state track and field runner. In 1920 Grange was a state champion in the high jump, while placing 3rd and 4th in the 100 yard dash and the 220 yard dash respectively. In 1921 he won the state title in both the long jump and the 100 yard dash, and finally in 1922 he placed 3rd in the 100 yard dash and won the 220 yard dash.

George Stanley Halas, Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears. He was also lesser known as an inventor, jurist, producer, philanthropist, philatelist, and professional baseball player.

Halas was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a family of Czech-Bohemian immigrants. His parents were Slavic migrants from Pilsen, Bohemia part of what would later become Czechoslovakia. George had a varied career in sports. In 1915, Halas worked temporarily for Western Electric and was planning on being on the Eastland. He was running late, however, and missed the capsizing. After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago, he attended the University of Illinois, playing football for coach Bob Zuppke as well as baseball and basketball, and earning a degree in civil engineering. He also became a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He helped Illinois win the 1918 Big Ten football title.

Jonathan Figueroa (born April 26, 1982) is a professional wrestler better known by his ring name, (The) Amazing Red, or simply Red for short. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former three-time X Division Champion, while also working on the American independent circuit. Figueroa is also one of the head trainers of the House of Glory wrestling school, based in Ridgewood, Queens, New York City. He is the cousin of wrestlers Joel and Jose Maximo and Rosita.

Figueroa originally wrestled as Red, but Savio Vega decided to expand his ring name to include the word "Amazing" while he worked for the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico, giving origin to his more common pseudonym, Amazing Red. Red, who was already known for his work in the United States independent circuit, joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at its 2002 inception, quickly establishing himself in its X Division. During his first run in TNA Red held both the TNA X Division Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Lynn, simultaneously. While working for TNA he also wrestled for Ring of Honor as a member of the three man tag team The S.A.T. with cousins, Jose and Joel Maximo. Eventually he began to team with "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles, becoming known together as Amazing Phenomenon. The team would go on to win the ROH Tag Team Championship from Christopher Daniels and Donovan Morgan.

Sidney Luckman, known as Sid Luckman, (November 21, 1916 – July 5, 1998) was an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1939 to 1950. During his 12 seasons with the Bears he led them to four NFL championships.

Luckman was the first modern T-formation quarterback and is considered the greatest long range passer of his time. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1943, and Pulitzer prize winning sports writer Ira Berkow wrote that Luckman was "the first great T-formation quarterback". Following his retirement from playing, Luckman continued his association with football by tutoring college coaches, focusing on the passing aspect of the game.

Luckman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965, and in 1988 he was declared a joint winner of the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award.

Luckman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrants from Germany. His father sparked his interest in American football at age eight, by giving him a football to play with. He and his parents lived in a residence near Prospect Park and it was here as a youngster that Sid first started throwing the football around.

Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football. Payton, a nine-time Pro Bowl selectee, once held the league's record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards, and many other categories. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Hall of Fame NFL player and coach Mike Ditka described Payton as the greatest football player he had ever seen—but even greater as a human being.

Payton began his football career in Mississippi, and went on to have an outstanding collegiate football career at Jackson State University where he was an All-American. He started his professional career with the Bears in 1975, who selected him as the 1975 Draft's fourth overall pick. Payton proceeded to win two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards and won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears. After struggling with the rare liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis for several months, Payton died on November 1, 1999, aged 45, from cholangiocarcinoma. His legacy includes the Walter Payton Award, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, and a heightened awareness of the need for organ donations.