George McCaskey is a divisive figure among Chicago Bears fans. He's been the team chairman since 2011. During that time, the organization has experienced one of its darkest periods, with only two winning seasons. Hires like Phil Emery, Marc Trestman, Ryan Pace, and Matt Eberflus fall squarely at his feet. You can't excuse colossal misfires like that. At the same time, none of it was done maliciously. McCaskey means well. His love of the Bears has never been questioned. All he ever wanted to do was build a winner for the fans and for his late mother. It must've broken his heart knowing he never quite accomplished the mission before her passing.
Ironically, it seems as if the team has finally turned the page with the new head coach, Ben Johnson. Chicago has now won four of their last five games. Three of them came courtesy of 4th quarter comebacks. The latest and by far most dramatic came on Sunday in Cincinnati. After leading 41-27 with minutes remaining, the Bears watched it all fizzle away as Joe Flacco put up 15 unanswered points to go up 42-41. Then Colston Loveland shocked the world with a 58-yard catch and run for a touchdown to regain the lead 47-42 with 17 seconds left.
Cameras found McCaskey in the tunnel to the visitor locker room as Nahshon Wright snuffed out the Bengals' last Hail Mary heave. His reaction says it all.
George McCaskey never lied about who he is.
He's always said he is a fan first and foremost. While he understands his role as the team owner and must conduct himself accordingly, he never tried to mislead people into believing he was a football expert. His goal was always to find the actual experts and let them do their jobs. His great sin is simply being bad at that. Yet the law of averages always said George McCaskey would get it right eventually. It seems luck might finally be on his side. The Bears aren't perfect. They are still flawed, but it feels like they're pointed in the right direction for the first time in almost a decade.
Nobody can say where things go from here. The Bears are banged up in several areas and the schedule gets a lot tougher in the next couple of months. They'll need to play much cleaner football to have a chance. Still, McCaskey can at least say his process led to something good happening with Johnson's hire. That should be commended.
