HR0252 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0252 LRB099 11361 MST 32131 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The 3-day National Football League Player Selection Meeting, commonly known as the "NFL Draft", is one of the most widely-viewed sports events on worldwide television that does not involve an athletic contest; and

WHEREAS, The signing by the Chicago Bears of University of Illinois great, "Red" Grange, in 1925 was the first significant transition of a college football superstar to the National Football League, setting the stage for the coming century of "America's game"; and

WHEREAS, The owner and founder of the Chicago Bears, George Halas, is a key figure in the history of the National Football League, recognized as such through the George Halas Trophy, awarded annually to the champion of the National Football Conference within the National Football League; and

WHEREAS, Twenty-nine of the 500 firms listed in the Fortune 500 list are headquartered in the greater Chicago area, including many firms that partner with the National Football League and its 32 teams in a variety of ways; and

WHEREAS, The 2015 Draft will be hosted at the Auditorium Theater of the Roosevelt University in Chicago, the first time the draft has returned to Chicago since it was held in the Sheraton Chicago Hotel in 1964; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago area will continue to be a superb location and headquarters for the annual NFL Draft; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we invite the National Football League to continue to hold the National Football League Player Selection Meeting in the Chicago area as a gesture to the heritage of the NFL and a gesture toward the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League, George Mccaskey, Chairman of the Chicago Bears, and the 31 other teams of the National Football League.