Virginia McCaskey: Bears will remain in the family ‘until the second coming'

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The Bears have been in the McCaskey family for nearly 100 years, and that won't be changing any time in the near future.

Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, the oldest daughter of George Halas who founded the Bears in 1920, gave an exclusive interview to Dan Pompei of The Athletic and talked about a wide range of topics, including explaining why the Bears will remain in the McCaskey family after she's gone.

Here's an excerpt from McCaskey's interview with The Athletic:

“I want our family to attend so they get some idea that it isn’t just our interest in the Chicago Bears,” she said. “We are part of a much larger picture and we have a great deal of responsibility. The best things people have said to me were dad and Mugs did what was best for the good of the league rather than what was best for the Chicago Bears.”

She bid farewell to her dear husband of 60 years in 2003, but she remains surrounded and enriched by family. There are 21 grandkids and 26 great-grandkids. Every other year, she hosts an all-generations gathering at a nearby resort.

With 10 children, (Tim, her second oldest, passed away in 2011 at the age of 66), McCaskey said she is confident the Bears will be owned by her heirs long after she is gone. In fact, she quotes her son Pat and says the team will remain in the family “until the second coming.”

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The 93-year-old McCaskey also talked about how she still attends every Bears game and that she's not happy about the way the 2016 season has gone, but she looks to her late father when times get tough.

“Losing is hard,” McCaskey said. “It’s hard on all of us. 

“I think of him as a very strong presence, someone I always felt knew all the answers whether I was having problems with algebra or relationships or learning how to ride a two-wheel bike without training wheels,” she said. “I often think of him when there are decisions to be made now, and pray that he’s with me and will help me.  Whatever we do as far as the Bears are concerned, we want to do in the way he would be doing things.”

Click here to read the complete story on TheAthletic.com.

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