Chicago owners to withdraw their merger proposal, hoping it would increase the chances of the Pennsylvania teams' request succeeding. Halas and Bidwill agreed, while the Eagles/Steelers merger was approved and became the Steagles. Now on their own, the Bears rebuilt their roster by acquiring players from the shuttered Rams, including running back Dante Magnani and end Jim Benton. After his signing, Magnani commented, "I now get to play with the Bears instead of against them. I don't get beat up anymore." War Manpower Commission investigation In September, the Bears wrote a press statement about five players – Magnani, ends Hampton Pool and Al Hoptowit, center Bulldog Turner, and running back Harry Clark – who left their offseason jobs at war plants to join the team for the upcoming season. The release drew the suspicion of the War Manpower Commission (WMC), which launched an investigation into the Bears, who, the commission felt, were a secondary employer to the military. WMC regional director William H. Spencer ordered the players to provide certificates of availability; should they fail to give such documents, they would either have to return to the factories or be automatically placed into the Selective Service System (military draft; 1–A). Brizzolara defended the team, while NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden cooperated with the WMC and proclaimed "[t]he war comes first". While some teams like the Steagles required all players to maintain wartime jobs in addition to playing, a ruling against the Bears would have affected professional sports as a whole. New York Herald Tribune writer Arthur E. Patterson warned a similar situation in Major League Baseball would have ended the league for the 1944 season if players were "frozen to their war jobs". On September 23, three days before the season opener, Brizzolara met with Spencer, who also visited Layden a day later. Spencer eventually agreed the five players would be allowed to play for the Bears, who also announced four other players – running backs Bill Geyer and Bill Osmanski, tackle Bill Steinkemper, and defensive end John Siegal – would be enlisting in the Navy. Return of Bronko Nagurski After losing to the Redskins in the 1942 NFL Championship Game, Halas sought revenge against Marshall for the game. While stationed on a ship in Milne Bay near New Guinea, Halas considering bringing fullback Bronko Nagurski, who retired after the 1937 season to enter professional wrestling after Halas refused to increase