Full Text of SR0513 95th General Assembly
SR0513 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of former Chicago Bears Coach Jim Dooley of | 4 |
| Lake Forest, who passed away on January 8, 2008; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim Dooley presided over four difficult years in | 6 |
| Bears history as head coach from 1968 through 1971; he was the | 7 |
| first coach after George Halas' permanent retirement; he came | 8 |
| to the job as the culmination of a Bears career that began as | 9 |
| the team's first-round draft choice in 1952 and featured major | 10 |
| contributions as an assistant to Coach Halas on offense and | 11 |
| defense; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim Dooley was an outstanding defensive back and | 13 |
| receiver on the Hurricanes at the University of Miami in his | 14 |
| native city; he lettered at the University in 1949-1951 and was | 15 |
| All-America his senior year; he intercepted four passes in the | 16 |
| Gator Bowl; he was inducted into the University of Miami's Ring | 17 |
| of Honor in 1997 and his jersey number 42 has never been worn | 18 |
| since his induction; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, He led the Bears in interceptions as a rookie and | 20 |
| led the team in pass receptions his second year; his main | 21 |
| playing contributions came as a receiver in tandem with Harlon | 22 |
| Hill; when he retired, Jim Dooley was third on the Bears' |
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| career receiving list with 211 catches despite missing two | 2 |
| seasons while serving in the Air Force; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, His first coaching assignment under Coach Halas | 4 |
| was to help defensive coach George Allen incorporate the | 5 |
| strategy the New York Giants employed under defensive | 6 |
| coordinator Tom Landry; for the first time, pass coverage by | 7 |
| linebackers became coordinated with defensive backs; Coach | 8 |
| Allen popularized the "nickel" defense of substituting a fifth | 9 |
| defensive back for a linebacker, called the "Dooley Shift"; he | 10 |
| also experimented with zone blitzes, dropping linemen into pass | 11 |
| coverage, a tactic considered revolutionary when other teams | 12 |
| adopted it in the 1990s; after the Bears won the 1963 NFL title | 13 |
| with a stifling defense, Dooley switched to offense and helped | 14 |
| coach the high-scoring 1965 team featuring league-leading | 15 |
| passer Rudy Bukich, rookie Gale Sayers, fullback Andy | 16 |
| Livingston, and receivers Mike Ditka, Dick Gordon, and Johnny | 17 |
| Morris; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, Jim Dooley returned to the Bears at Coach Halas' | 19 |
| request in 1981 as an assistant coach and remained with the | 20 |
| Bears until 1990; he had the good fortune to coach Hall of | 21 |
| Famers Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, and the bad fortune of | 22 |
| seeing both go down with knee injuries that would shorten their | 23 |
| careers; and
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| WHEREAS, He proudly displayed a replica 1985 Super Bowl | 2 |
| trophy in his apartment that was presented by Bears' owner | 3 |
| Virginia McCaskey; late in his life he gathered some of his old | 4 |
| Bears pictures to raise money for a soup kitchen at his | 5 |
| family's church, Our Lady of Lourdes, on Chicago's North Side; | 6 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Jim Dooley is survived by his wife of 56 years, | 8 |
| Elaine; his children, Jim Jr., Patrick, Tim, Bill, and Lisa; | 9 |
| and his sixteen grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 11 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 12 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Jim Dooley; and be it | 13 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 |
| presented to the family of Jim Dooley as a symbol of our | 16 |
| sincere sympathy.
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