Meet 94-year-old Gene Schroeder, who is believed to be oldest living Chicago Bear

If you prick one of Gene Schroeder’s veins, he is confident the blood will flow blue and orange.

Schroeder, 94, of St. John, is a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, but more than that, the nonagenarian is now believed to be the oldest living member of the Chicago Bears to once take the field. Schroeder moved into the spot a week and a half ago, when his friend and former teammate Johnny Lujack died at the age of 98.

“I was sad. John was a dear, dear friend. He was quarterback my first year. He was a super, super nice guy. He took me under his wing. I can’t say enough about him; he was a great guy,” Schroeder said of his late teammate.

Neither the Bears nor the Bears Alumni Association returned inquiries this week to officially confirm Schroeder’s status.

Schroeder, a wide receiver, was the Bears’ first round draft pick in 1951 after he graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics. He was chosen 11th overall that year and went on to be named to two Pro Bowl teams, the first in his rookie year then again in 1952.

“I just love playing ball. Football has been very good to me,” Schroeder said from his apartment in a St. John senior living community.

Once a towering 6-foot-3 inches, hints of his past athleticism shine through his aging body. Schroder has remained a devout Bears fan in the 67 years since he last stepped on the field and can talk specifics of each weekly game.

A signed game ball sits on a shelf, one of Schroeder’s more treasured mementos. In 1956, the Bears were the Western Conference Champs, an accomplishment Schroeder fondly remembers. The team went 9-2-1 that season and averaged 32 points a game.

A framed jersey, given to him by his friend, Rev. Mark Wilkins of First United Methodist Church in Crown Point, hangs framed on the wall. Wilkins first met Schroeder, who has been a member of the church for 47 years, when he took over as pastor 17 years ago. The duo became fast friends over their shared love of the Bears.

Wilkins said he has had the opportunity to go to a number of alumni events with Schroeder and was always amazed by the reverence the young players have for the former great.

“They are always in awe of him,” Wilkins said.

At the time Schroeder was drafted, the young rookie from Washington D.C. was an all-around athlete. He was ranked world class for speed in track in the 100-meter and 220-meter dash and turned down a chance to race in the 1952 Olympics because he would have had to postpone his football career.

“Football was what I wanted to do,” he said.

Schroeder spent his six-year career as a wide receiver, racking up a career average 18.3 yards per catch and 13 touchdowns, according to sports-reference.com. He recalled the one time in his career he played a different position, safety. It was his first year in the Pro Bowl. Injuries and family emergencies wiped out the team’s safeties prior to the game and Coach Buddy Parker tapped Schroeder to change spots.

He had never played the position before and went to Parker saying “You’re going to make me go before 80-something thousand people in the Coliseum and play this position I never played before?” he recalled.

“Welp, I played safety and I played pretty good,” he said. One of his interceptions, a moment capture perfectly by a sideline news photographer, was logged in the game.

Shortly after that, Schroeder joined the military and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Base where he continued to play football. It was there he tore his ACL, which ultimately would lead to the end of his professional career a couple seasons after he returned to the NFL.

His final seasons were spent dealing with the problems from the torn ACL. At the time, there were no surgical procedures to repair the damage. Schroeder said the team practiced at Wrigley Field, and as the season wore on and the ground hardened from the cold, it became harder and harder to take the field.

“That changed my whole outlook. I went to Coach Halas for my exit interview and said I can’t do it anymore,” Schroeder said, adding Halas convinced him to finish the season playing only third downs and if someone else was injured. The deal came with a raise and a bonus and led to Schroeder playing in the conference title win.

It was his roughest year in the NFL. Schroeder recalls going to the hospital on Saturday to get his knee drained for the Sunday game. He would return to the hospital on Monday to repeat the procedure. His injury forced him to the bench for the championship game, which the Bears ultimately lost.

Schroeder has his opinions about the organization and the publicity — both good and bad — it has received over the years.

“All I know is I was blessed being able to play for the Chicago Bears,” Schroeder said.

He bristles at reports George Halas was cheap and unfair. He affectionately refers to Halas as “the Old Man,” a moniker he said he and his teammates used. He described Halas as a father figure who was loyal to his men.

“I simply can’t tell you how great a man George Halas was,” Schroeder said.

“When I played in the league, everyone wanted to play for the Bears,” he continued.

Staying current on the news about the team, Schroeder is on top of the plans to relocate the team to Arlington Heights and calls the move out of Chicago necessary and inevitable.

The way the NFL is set up, the only revenue generated that is not shared equally among teams is stadium revenue.

“That’s why everyone is building Taj Mahal stadiums,” he said.

He said despite the occasional discussion, Northwest Indiana would never really be a contender when it comes to location.

He does not fault today’s players for their big pay days. When he was a player, in the offseason, Schroeder worked as a steel salesman. The job earned him about as much as his football career — roughly $7,500 a year. Since most players had offseason jobs, training camp was always brutal as they tried to get back in shape for the season.

Today’s athletes work year-round to stay in shape.

“If the owners are making that kind of money, then the players should,” Schroeder said.

Still, he thinks some of today’s young athletes are spoiled rotten. He does not like to hear athletes complaining about things like the running back being the worst position while pulling down a $10 million paycheck.

He has watched how football has changed over the years and lambast the move away from a strong running game. Today, he said, fans want to see 100-point games and every change to the rules in the past decade have been made to facilitate that.

“I don’t like it. To me, it’s not the way football is known. We ran the football,” Schroeder said.

cnapoleon@chicagotribune.com