Gene Schroeder, oldest living Chicago Bear, says team needs new stadium, is ‘only going to get better’

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Gene Schroeder’s bond with the Chicago Bears was forged as a first-round draft pick back in 1951. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he remembered hating the team growing up.

“I hated the Bears, they always beat my Redskins,” he said, recalling how he sat on his father’s lap to listen to the games on the radio.