Chicago Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey passed away this week at the age of 102, leaving behind a long legacy at the helm of one of the NFL’s charter franchises.
McCaskey had served as the team’s owner since 1983 when her father George Halas passed away, and under her watch the Bears made 14 playoff appearances, including winning the Super Bowl in 1986 and reaching the championship game again in 2007.
Fittingly, the final game the Bears would play during McCaskey’s life was against the Green Bay Packers, and the contest had special significance in multiple ways.
The game marked the first time the Bears had beaten Green Bay since Dec. 2018, snapping a losing streak of 11 games against their hated rivals. What’s more, kicker Cairo Santos, who had a field goal attempt blocked against the Packers at Soldier Field that could’ve ended the streak earlier, knocked through a 51-yard field goal to win the game at the buzzer at Lambeau Field.
Finally, the date of the game, January 5, happened to be McCaskey’s 102nd birthday.
McCaskey served on the Bears’ board of directors for decades, but assumed ownership when Halas died in 1983. She oversaw a team that won the Super Bowl in 1986, and during her long life she became the longest-tenured owner in the NFL and the oldest owner in all of professional sports in the United States.
In recent years she has taken on a more behind-the-scenes role, serving on the board of directors but leaving her son George McCaskey as the team’s chairman since 2011. Kevin Warren also serves as the team’s president.
McCaskey still attended most of the team’s games during the later years of her life, and always viewed them as an integral part of the fabric of the city of Chicago.
“She never sought the spotlight. She understood the importance of emphasizing to family members how important the legacy of the franchise was, not in terms of money or value, but in terms of what the team meant to people in Chicago and beyond,” the team said in a statement.
McCaskey is survived by nine children, along with 21 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren, according to the Bears.
