With the common goal of keeping the Bears franchise in the McCaskey family for the generation to come, Michael McCaskey announced Wednesday he will retire as chairman of the board and his younger brother George Halas McCaskey will replace him at the end of the season.
Whether or not the move leads to perceptible changes in the running of the club remains to be seen.
George McCaskey, 54, has served as the director of ticket operations since 1991, giving him more personal interaction with the team’s fan base than any other family member.
He’s valued as a diligent worker in what can be a thankless job, successfully pulling off a season in Champaign in 2002 followed by the transition to the new Soldier Field in 2003 and the introduction of personal seat licenses. Those who know him in the building laud the way he has worked with his staff and have an appreciation for his sense of humor.
George McCaskey, who resides in Kingston, Ill., and is married with one son, is the eighth of Virginia McCaskey’s 11 children and the grandson of George Halas, one of the founders of the NFL and the original owner of the Bears with a $100 investment.
George McCaskey served as the assistant state’s attorney in Lee County and DeKalb County before joining the Bears in 1991. He attended Arizona State University where he studied broadcasting, graduating in 1978, and then graduated from Arizona State’s law school in 1981.
“It’s a privilege to continue George Halas’ legacy,” George McCaskey said. “That’s one of the goals of the Halas/McCaskey family. (My parents) Ed and Virginia McCaskey have shown the way, and it’s our job to carry on that legacy.
“Of course, the main goal always is to win championships. That’s our family’s goal, that’s the organization goal, and everything we do is geared toward achieving that goal.”
Both George and Michael made it clear President Ted Phillips will remain in control of the daily operation of the team, but whether the Bears change direction after George assumes control in early 2011 is anyone’s guess.
George McCaskey then will begin serving as the Bears’ front man on the league level, acting as the representative at NFL meetings at a time when labor unrest with the players association could shut down the game.
George McCaskey repeatedly deferred labor questions and talk of a lockout after this season to Michael, saying the team has a chairman of the board at this point.
“We’ll get a deal done,” Michael McCaskey said. “It’s just too good for all the parties concerned. The question is when will it get done? I think it’s entirely possible to (settle without a work stoppage) and that’s what we’ll work real hard to do.”
Labor unrest easily could be the dominant football story once Super Bowl XLV is completed, and as a member of the old guard and in the league’s second largest market, the Bears will be watched closely.
The labor situation isn’t the only major issue facing the Bears and the NFL as they look to create new revenue streams and think globally.
The change was made final at the family’s annual organizational meeting over the weekend. Both McCaskey brothers stressed it was about finding the time that was right for Michael to step aside.
For this season, George will remain involved in the ticket operation while also working with Michael in a transition period as he gets up to speed with league issues and the people behind them. Lee Twarling will be promoted as the new director of ticket operations.
The Bears become the third major sports franchise in town to make a recent and significant change in power after the Blackhawks, who had Rocky Wirtz succeed his late father Bill, and the Cubs, who were sold to the Ricketts family by Tribune Co.
In an era when it is becoming increasingly more difficult for sports enterprises to remain family owned, the McCaskeys will face challenges maintaining control of the team in a league that was founded when a pioneering George Halas attended a meeting at Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile showroom on Sept. 17, 1920.
Asked about some of his earliest recollections with the team, McCaskey talked about spending a summer at training camp in Rensselaer, Ind., when he was 8.
“I had no idea I was going to be staying,” he recalled. “Mom asked if I wanted to ride down with my older brothers. I didn’t notice it at the time but the entire morning she was bustling about, pulling things out of dresser drawers, this, that and the other thing. We got down to Rensselaer (Ind., at St. Joseph’s College) and I was asked would I like to stay? Oh boy, that was a great feeling. Few better places to be than in the presence of your heroes in the middle of Indiana cornfields.
“Just being with my brothers in kind of a little bit of heaven. When you’re that age, picking up socks and jocks is viewed as a good time. Three squares a day, blue skies, it was a lot of fun.”
Michael McCaskey has been in his role as chairman of the board since Phillips was promoted to president in 1999 after the team’s botched attempt to hire Dave McGinnis as coach. Michael McCaskey was named president and CEO in 1983 and in 27 seasons he witnessed a lot, including Super Bowl XX, the building of Halas Hall and the reconstruction of Soldier Field.
“My mom and I are both in good health, but you never know what’s coming next,” Michael McCaskey said. “We lost Walter Payton and that certainly affected me. Walter said it very well, `Tomorrow’s not promised to anyone,’ so you just don’t know what’s coming ahead. It makes all the sense in the world to have in place a good succession plan.”
Dan Rooney, the second-generation owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, passed along his congratulations to Mike in a statement to the Tribune.
“We have always had a great relationship with the Halas family, including Mike,” Rooney said. “I think he was a great addition to the NFL and I wish him nothing but the best.”
Now, George McCaskey will be rubbing elbows with the Rooneys and other power brokers in an exciting time in the NFL. A future in the league isn’t promised to future generations of McCaskeys, but that is what the new leader is setting out to secure.
“It’s going to be difficult, but we think we’re up to the challenge,” George McCaskey said. “Our entire family supports the notion of being the owners of the Chicago Bears for as long as possible.”
