It is with great sadness the Chicago Bears and the McCaskey family mourn the loss of Michael B. McCaskey, 76, after his lengthy battle with cancer.
“Mike was already successful in every sense of the word when he took over for George S. Halas after the passing of ‘Papa Bear’ in 1983,” said the McCaskey family. “We are grateful to Mike for overseeing arguably the greatest team in NFL history, and for his many years of service to the Bears and to us. The oldest of eleven siblings has many duties thrust upon him, not all of them pleasant, yet Mike handled them all with grace and patience. Although Mike’s passing was not brought on by the novel coronavirus, our family, like so many people, is not able to gather and grieve together at this time. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Our focus in the coming days will be to celebrate Mike’s life, and be whatever source of support we can be to John and Kathryn and those they love.”
Michael joined the family business in 1983, when he succeeded his grandfather, George S. Halas, as President & CEO and held that position until 1999 when he became the team’s chairman. Under McCaskey’s leadership, the Bears had eight playoff seasons, claimed six NFC Central division titles and were crowned Super Bowl XX Champions. Following the 1985 Super Bowl championship, his peers voted him NFL Executive of the Year. Michael also served as Chairman of the Board of the Bears from 1999-2011.