Chicago Bears: Top 10 defensive linemen in franchise history

7. Stan Jones (1954-65): 144 games, 7 Pro Bowls, 3 All-Pros

Stan Jones is another one of the revolutionary Chicago Bears players. Today, weight training is one of the most important (if not the most important) aspect to help a player succeed. Back in the old days of the sport, however, it wasn’t. Jones was the first player to use weight training and it got him to the Hall of Fame. Of course, many followed suit and today you cannot find the field if you don’t have proper weight training.

6. Ed Sprinkle (1944-55): 132 games, 4 All-Pros

When you think of Chicago Bears defensive players you think of tough, mean players. Ed Sprinkle was just that. He was Dick Butkus before Butkus came to the league. Around the league, players viewed him as the meanest player in the NFL. Many who see how he played back then would cringe at how he mauled opposing players.

Perhaps he played so hard because he was a small guy — he was just 6-1 and weighed 205 pounds. He played a lot bigger and tougher than that, and the league voted him to the All-decade team of the 1940s.

5. William “Link” Lyman (1926-28, ’30-31, ’33-34): 2 All-Pros

Continuing the talk of revolutionary Bears players we present Link Lyman. Lyman was the first player to introduce shifting before the snap. He also started the stunting and slanting on defense that is common today. He played with Red Grange and helped the Bears win the 1933 title.