There’ve been few untouchable owners in Chicago, where passionate fans frequently look for someone to blame when things go wrong, often starting at the top.
But Chicago Bears principal owner Virginia McCaskey, who died Thursday at age 102, was the exception to the rule.
Michael and George McCaskey, two executives in charge of running the Bears during their mother’s long reign, were always subject to the usual criticisms and mocking that go with the job. When you’re making decisions for a franchise that hasn’t enjoyed much success, you have to expect some blowback. Even George Halas, old “Papa Bear” himself, was forced to defend himself and the organization from time to time, especially later in his life.
But Virginia almost always was exempt, escaping the brunt of fans’ barbs no matter how bad things got. Part of her immunity was in deference to her age, and assuredly some fans just couldn’t be nasty to a nice, elderly woman who just happened to own their favorite NFL team.
But Virginia Halas McCaskey always was respected and admired in Chicago and in NFL circles alike. Bears fans and knowledgeable football fans all over mourned her passing Thursday as the last link to the man who started the league.
Several former Bears players sent their condolences on social media, and many fans pointed out that Virginia’s last Bears game as owner was splendiferous — a last-second win over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in the season finale.
What could be better than that?
Some called her “NFL royalty,” and “The First Lady of the NFL.” Others noted that her passing ended an era that began in 1920, when George Halas helped found the NFL. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a statement, said McCaskey “leaves a legacy of class, dignity and humanity” to the world.
“Faith, family and football — in that order — were her north stars and she lived by the simple adage to always ‘do the right thing,’” Goodell said. “The Bears that her father started meant the world to her and he would be proud of the way she continued the family business with such dedication and passion.”
As most Bears fans know well, it was never in the plans for Virginia to be put in charge of the iconic NFL franchise. When she was born, on Jan. 5, 1923, George Halas had been expecting a boy.
“I already had visions of drawing my son into the thick of the Bears,” he wrote in his autobiography, “Halas By Halas.”
Two years later, George and Min Halas became parents again, and their newborn son, George Halas Jr., was brought up to follow in his father’s footsteps. Nicknamed “Mugs,” George Jr. became the Bears treasurer in 1950, general manager in 1960 and then president in ’63, while Virginia and her husband, Ed McCaskey, grew their family of 11 children in Des Plaines.
That all changed when Mugs died of a heart attack on a December morning in 1979, just before the Bears beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Virginia would inherit the leadership role of the franchise as principal owner when George Halas died in 1983 and was at the helm in their only Super Bowl-winning season in 1985.
She retained the title of secretary of the board after her father’s death and named her oldest son, Michael, as team president. While she mostly remained out of the spotlight, Virginia was outwardly overjoyed to own a team that not only dominated on the field in ’85 but changed the way players and teams marketed themselves. And her unequivocal love of coach Mike Ditka, whom she compared to her father in personality and coaching ability, was never in question.
“When dad died, I know how he felt about the Bears,” she told the Tribune’s Bob Verdi after their NFC title game win over the Los Angeles Rams. “He felt especially good about Mike Ditka coming back to the organization. I’m not a football expert. I don’t pretend to be a prophet. My main feeling is one of appreciation for Mike Ditka, how he’s grown with this job, and all the good things he’s done since he got here.”
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey in her own words
The Bears would go on to win Super Bowl XX in New Orleans, and it looked as though Virginia McCaskey’s reign might even top her dad’s. That, of course, was not to be. For reasons that have been debated for the last four decades, the Bears have never won a Super Bowl since and never developed or acquired an elite quarterback to lead them.
George McCaskey publicly revealed Virginia’s private feelings about the losing after the firing general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman in 2014 following the Bears’ 5-11 season.
“She’s been very supportive,” George said. “She agrees with the decisions that we’ve made. She’s pissed off. I can’t think of a 91-year-old woman that that description would apply, but in this case, I can’t think of a more accurate description. She’s been on this Earth for eight of the Bears’ nine championships, and she wants more. She feels that it’s been too long since the last one, and that dissatisfaction is shared by her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. She’s fed up with mediocrity. She feels that she and Bears fans everywhere deserve better.”
Boom. Virginia’s private ranting quickly became part of the team’s lore.
Who is Virginia McCaskey? 8 things to know about the owner of the Chicago Bears.
Bears fans could relate, and Virginia’s comments, whether embellished or not, went viral. Even at 91 she seemingly understood the pain and heartache that went with rooting for the team she owned. Of all the comments she made over the years, that’s probably the only one most Bears fans remember. Virginia was really one of them.
The respect and admiration for Virginia McCaskey could not mute the anger some fans felt toward the team and the family’s failure to build a winner. And even before the mourning subsides and the tributes end, all eyes turn to the succession plan and the big question:
“Who will own the Bears now?”
It’s a question that has been asked as long as Virginia has been in charge.
“Could I ever see the Bears leaving the family?” she said in 1985. ‘No, we’ve had to do things our own way, but no, I could not see that.”
Whether she was upset by the chants of “sell the team” at the Bears’ home finale on Dec. 26 is unknown. But we know how George, the current leader, feels about the family’s stewardship, and it’s doubtful change is coming anytime soon.
As for now, the loss of the matriarch of the Bears family will be felt by family, friends and many who knew Virginia McCaskey only as the owner of their favorite team.
Hopefully Bears fans will celebrate the long and eventful life she lived and toast a fellow Chicagoan who always did things her way.
