Chicago Bears proprietor Virginia Halas McCaskey passed away this week at the age of 102, forsaking an extended legacy on the helm of one of many NFL’s constitution franchises.
McCaskey had served because the workforce’s proprietor since 1983 when her father George Halas handed away, and underneath her watch the Bears made 14 playoff appearances, together with profitable the Tremendous Bowl in 1986 and reaching the championship recreation once more in 2007.
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Fittingly, the ultimate recreation the Bears would play throughout McCaskey’s life was in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers, and the competition had particular significance in a number of methods.
The sport marked the primary time the Bears had overwhelmed Inexperienced Bay since Dec. 2018, snapping a dropping streak of 11 video games in opposition to their hated rivals. What’s extra, kicker Cairo Santos, who had a area purpose try blocked in opposition to the Packers at Soldier Subject that might’ve ended the streak earlier, knocked by a 51-yard area purpose to win the sport on the buzzer at Lambeau Subject.
Lastly, the date of the sport, January 5, occurred to be McCaskey’s 102nd birthday.
McCaskey served on the Bears’ board of administrators for many years, however assumed possession when Halas died in 1983. She oversaw a workforce that received the Tremendous Bowl in 1986, and through her lengthy life she grew to become the longest-tenured proprietor within the NFL and the oldest proprietor in all {of professional} sports activities in the USA.
In recent times she has taken on a extra behind-the-scenes function, serving on the board of administrators however leaving her son George McCaskey because the workforce’s chairman since 2011. Kevin Warren additionally serves because the workforce’s president.
McCaskey nonetheless attended many of the workforce’s video games in the course of the later years of her life, and at all times seen them as an integral a part of the material of the town of Chicago.
“She by no means sought the highlight. She understood the significance of emphasizing to relations how necessary the legacy of the franchise was, not when it comes to cash or worth, however when it comes to what the workforce meant to folks in Chicago and past,” the workforce stated in an announcement.
McCaskey is survived by 9 kids, together with 21 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren, based on the Bears.
