Longtime Chicago Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey died at the age of 102, the Bears announced Thursday. For more than four years, McCaskey had been the longest-tenured owner in the NFL. McCaskey is survived by 11 children and more than 40 grandchildren.
“While we are sad, we are comforted knowing Virginia Halas McCaskey lived a long, full, faith-filled life and is now with the love of her life on earth,” the McCaskey family said in a statement. “She guided the Bears for four decades and based every business decision on what was best for Bears players, coaches, staff and fans.”
McCaskey, the daughter of Bears founder and NFL legend George Halas, took ownership of the Bears in 1983, guiding them for more than 40 years and a Super Bowl title. She spent her entire adult professional life running Chicago’s historic football franchise, taking over the team in 1983 after the passing of her father.
“Virginia Halas McCaskey, the matriarch of the Chicago Bears and daughter of George Halas, the founder of the NFL, leaves a legacy of class, dignity, and humanity,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement on Thursday. “Faith, family, and football — in that order — were her north stars and she lived by the simple adage to always ‘do the right thing.’ 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. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the McCaskey and Halas families and Bears fans around the world.”
Just two seasons into her stewardship, Chicago’s legendary defense won Super Bowl XX, the team’s only championship following the NFL and AFL merger.
Born Virginia Marion Halas in Chicago in 1923, McCaskey’s entire life touched the Bears franchise, who was hired in 1920 to run the team and did so for more than 60 years. As a young girl, McCaskey attended the 1932 NFL Championship game as well as the first-ever indoor NFL football game that same year.
McCaskey remained largely private in her work with the Bears, especially in recent years when she empowered her children to take a hands-on approach with the team, although she was certainly an active owner for much of her tenure with the franchise.
She fired her son Michael as team president in 1999, hiring Ted Phillips to replace him and eventually bringing in Kevin Warren for the position in 2023. McCaskey famously did away with the Bears cheerleading squad, “The Honey Bears,” in 1986, arguing their presence was “sexist and degrading to women.”
When the franchise won the NFC Championship in 2007 (before eventually falling short of another Super Bowl title to Peyton Manning and the Colts), McCaskey was awarded the “Halas Trophy” given to the NFC title game winner, and called it “her happiest day so far.”
Always a bit of a firecracker, McCaskey was once described by current Bears chairman of the board George McCaskey as “pissed off” when the Bears went 5-11 during the 2014 season.
“She’s been very supportive. She agrees with the decisions that we’ve made,” George said in the wake of then Bears coach Marc Trestman and GM Phil Emery being fired. “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.”
McCaskey was named a Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist in 2023. She was the oldest owner in American professional sports for more than a decade until her passing.
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