Chicago Bears fans have had a rather consistent perspective of the McCaskey family for several years. It wasn't clear in the 1980s after George Halas died. The team was successful, so nobody cared. However, perspectives began shifting in the 1990s. The family was seen as bumbling, old-fashioned, and cheap. They were obsessed with tradition, which constantly held the organization back from evolving with the time. In situations like that, it is hard to have success. So it's not a surprise the Bears have struggled for most of their tenure in charge.
Perhaps a more interesting question is what their reputation is inside the league itself. The short answer? It's complicated. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog learned that much recently. On the one hand, many in the NFL like George McCaskey because they believe he brings a necessary moral compass to balance out the greedier owners.
“At the league meetings, Ted did all the hobnobbing and dealing for years. But George always had an aura about him. When he spoke, everyone listened. And he was something of a counter to the money grabs of Jerry (Jones) and Bob (Kraft).”
Unfortunately, this doesn't do much for them in other areas.
While the McCaskeys may win points for being good people, the same can't be said for their general knowledge of business or football.
“They are the least business savvy owners in the league. And I can’t imagine there is a close second. The other legacy owners – Hunt, Rooney, Mara – they know the business of the league as good as anyone. The rest of the owners made their money in business. The McCaskeys are these weird outliers.”
The Chicago Bears remain a mess of contradictions.
On the one hand, they're first class when it comes to player treatment, fan engagement, and inclusion. On the other, they remain painfully ill-equipped to make good football decisions. It is why the Chicago Bears have too often looked so fractured as an organization. People aren't on the same page. The GM inherited the previous quarterback before drafting a new one. He hired the new head coach when many felt the Bears should've just started fresh across the board. This constant jigsaw puzzling has led to an overall lack of team vision. Nobody knows what they want the Bears to be. It starts at the top.
The McCaskeys want to win—that much is true. What they can't seem to grasp is how to get there. Such is the harsh reality of having people with little acumen for running an organization beyond "we inherited it from our grandfather."
