Dawning of the Chicago Charities College...

The Chicago Charities College All-Star games, also known as the College All-Star Football Classic, was a preseason exhibition game that pitted the previous year's NFL champion against a roster of All-Star college players from the year prior. 

The lone exception to having the NFL champion play took place in its inaugural 1934 game, when the NFL runner-up, the Chicago Bears, played in the contest. The game was played from 1934 to 1976, except in 1974, when it was skipped due to the NFL strike. At its inception, the proceeds of the game benefited local Chicago-area charities and were almost always played at Soldier Field in the Windy City, except in 1943 and 1944, when it was hosted by Northwestern University at Dyche Stadium.

A Newspapers.com-supplied July 24, 1934, edition of the Austin American provides an in-depth look at the team that would play the Bears in the inaugural charity game, scheduled for August 31, 1934. The article states that as of July 24, the vote on whether college players should have a coach to lead them was still pending. Early ticket sales indicated that nearly 100,000 people were expected to attend, according to the United Press. That figure may have been inflated to draw attention to the event, as with the benefit of hindsight, the attendance was listed at 79,432, which witnessed the 0-0 tie between the Bears and the All-Stars.

This brilliant concept of an exhibition was the product of Arch Ward, the editor of the Chicago Tribune and creator of the MLB All-Star Game. Speaking of Arch Ward, what an interesting figure in sports history this man was! Ward, according to Britannica.com, initiated the Major League Baseball All-Star game in 1933, the College Football All-Star game in 1934, and the Golden Gloves Boxing competition in 1926. Arch is also credited as one of the orchestrators of the All-American Football Conference, which started in 1946 and eventually had three teams: the Browns, 49ers, and Colts, which merged into the NFL.

In the 42 games played, the College All-Stars won 9 of them, and the game ended in a tie twice, with 31 victories going to the favored NFL champions.