The Bears (8–2–1) hosted the Lions (9–2) at Wrigley Field and needed a win to claim the Western Conference title.
Early in the second quarter, Meadows' vicious hit behind the play, a pitchout to running back Gene Gedman,[2] knocked Detroit's hall of fame quarterback Bobby Layne out of the game with a concussion.
Detroit head coach Buddy Parker felt strongly that the late hit on Layne was both cheap and illegal, and appealed to NFL Commissioner Bert Bell to suspend Meadows,[6][7][8] but no action was taken.
[10][11][12][13] After sitting out the 1960 season, he played three games with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1961, but chronic shoulder injuries led to his release in August 1962.
Meadows was later in the tire business in North Carolina; he died at his home near Morehead City in 1974 at age 42, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.