Chicago Bears fans know George McCaskey well by this point. He is now the principal owner of the franchise following the death of his mother, Virginia. His reputation is that of a well-meaning family man who tries to do right by the franchise but has a tendency to make poor decisions. The past decade provides a wealth of evidence to support this. Chicago has endure four head coach and three GM changes since he took over in 2011. The Bears just achieved their third winning record in that span on Friday.
Fans have a complicated relationship with McCaskey. Still, he's never come across as anything but determined to make the fan experience great. That approach has made it easy to overlook the somewhat cheekier side. McCaskey isn't known for outlandish quotes, but it appears he finds a way to let fans of opposing teams have it when the situation arises. Apparently, the Bears' owner got into a bit of a debate on a flight to Philadelphia with an Eagles fan and her husband.
McCaskey gave her a souvenir.
George McCaskey is a master of the subtle burns.
Calling somebody delusional or stupid is all fine and good. For some reason, little digs like that sting even more. If nothing else, you have to love George McCaskey being a good sport about it. Most owners wouldn't even bother riding in the same plane with fans. They'd just have their own private plane. McCaskey is a man of the people. No owner is more involved with folks on the ground than he is. He regularly walks through tailgates, greeting fans and speaking to them. His charity work is highly-regarded. Say what you want about his football decisions, you can't say he's not committed.
This was a rare moment for him to have some fun. The Bears have been bad for a long time. Now that they're good, he was able to puff out his chest a little bit. It didn't look like a bad move either, as his team went on to crush the Eagles 24-15 later that day.
