Professional Career
Casares was selected in the second round (eighteenth pick overall) of the 1954 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, and, after fulfilling his military service obligations, he played for the Bears from 1955 to 1964. Casares led Chicago in rushing from 1955 through 1960. In 1956, Casares led the NFL in rushing with 235 carries for 1,126 yards. At the time, this was the second most yards gained in a single season in the NFL. Behind Casares' hard-nosed rushing, the Bears advanced to the 1956 NFL Championship Game. However, the Bears' championship game opponents, the New York Giants, completely stifled Casares and crushed the Bears, 47–7.
During the following 1957 season, Casares again led the NFL with 204 rushing attempts, but his 700 yards was eclipsed by Jim Brown's 942 yards on two fewer carries. After ten seasons with Chicago, Casares was the Bears' all-time leading rusher with 1,386 carries, 5,657 yards, and forty-nine rushing touchdowns. His Chicago Bears rushing records weren't broken until Walter Payton shattered them in the 1980s, and he remains the third all-time rusher in franchise history, immediately behind Payton (16,726 yards) and Neal Anderson (6,166 yards), and immediately ahead of Gayle Sayers (4,956 yards).
Casares finished his professional career with the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1965, and in 1966 with the AFL's Miami Dolphins, receiving only limited carries in his final two seasons.
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