stadium; however, the poor field conditions led Halas to contact New York for new cleats. Britton, who also played kicker, received a new pair of shoes which he argued would not help him; although he had two 50-yard punts in the game, he subsequently reverted to his original footwear. The Bears won 7–0 with Grange scoring on a two-yard touchdown in front of just 8,000 (tickets were $20, over five times more expensive than an NFL game at the time). The stadium was demolished the next day. On January 1, 1926, the Bears played the Tampa Cardinals in Plant Field; the Cardinals were led by Jim Thorpe, who decided to participate despite being 41, and featured several members of the NFL's Rock Island Independents. Thorpe struggled with fumbles as Grange and Sternaman scored in the Bears' 17–3 win. The next day, the Bears defeated a Jacksonville team featuring former Stanford All-American Ernie Nevers by a score of 19–6, with Grange throwing two touchdown passes, one of which went for 30 yards to Verne Mullen. Mullen was also involved in a fight with a Jacksonville player that sparked a brawl before teammates and police intervened. After resting for a week, the team departed for New Orleans, though Halas' wife Minnie, daughter Virginia, and son George Jr. decided to return to Chicago. "My brother had been born that September 1925, and [the tour] was just before my third birthday, so I don't have any real memories," Virginia recalled in 2019. "But I have heard many stories about the traveling on the train with my mother and her sister, my aunt. And we went as far as Florida and then decided, my mother decided we would go home and not make the trip to California." In New Orleans, a Southern-based all-star team led by former Tulane captain Lester Lautenschlager hosted the Bears. Grange scored a touchdown and recorded 136 rushing yards in a 14–0 shutout victory. From there, the Bears went westward to play the Los Angeles Wildcats, led by Washington Huskies football star and Grange admirer George "Wildcat" Wilson, who agreed to join as they offered the chance to play against him. In front of 65,000 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Grange and Joey Sternaman scored for the Bears in the 17–7 win, while Roy Baker recorded the Wildcats' lone touchdown. According to game organizer P. S. Halbriter, gate receipts