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As McCaskey turns 100, Eberflus remembers the Matriarch’s first message initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ailing. – Thursday is a giant day Bears as proprietor Virginia Halas McCaskey turns 100 years previous. A one hundredth birthday is a monumental day for anybody fortunate sufficient to witness it, however for McCaskey it is a reminder of the unbelievable soccer life he led.
Sunday’s season finale in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings will mark the top of Ms. McCaskey’s fortieth season as head proprietor of the Bears, making her the NFL’s longest-tenured proprietor.
Head coach Matt Eberflus has solely been part of the Bears household for 11 months, however his time round McCuskey has left a long-lasting impression. He nonetheless remembers her first phrases to him after he was employed to run his franchise.
“Very spectacular,” Eberfluss stated of McCaskey on Wednesday. “His first dialog we had collectively was on the cellphone and his final remark was that he says, “Matt, you understand I will be your largest fan.” That is what he instructed me.”
Born in 1923, McCaskey grew up studying in regards to the Bears from his father, George Halas Sr., who initially joined the membership as a participant and coach in 1920. On the time, the franchise was referred to as Decatur Staleys.
Halas has been the proprietor of the Bears for six many years and is the franchise’s winningest head coach.
Regardless of spending his whole life across the franchise, McCaskey wasn’t the primary choose to take the torch from his father. That distinction went to his youthful brother, George “Mags” Halas Jr., who labored within the entrance workplace for almost three many years. Nonetheless, Halas Jr. immediately dies of a coronary heart assault in 1979.
When Halas Sr. died in 1983, Virginia McCaskey took over possession of one of many NFL’s advertising franchises and has been an influential presence ever since.
That matriarchal affect remains to be felt in Halas Corridor because it celebrates its centennial.
“I used to be simply speaking to him on the gala and a few totally different occasions when he is been right here, he had lunch with Kelly in the future, which was nice,” Eberflus stated of McCaskey’s presence across the Bears. “I had an opportunity to speak to him then, and he was at all times encouraging, at all times upbeat, at all times considerate, and it was a pleasure to know him this previous 12 months.”
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CONNECTED. Sitting fields for the ultimate reveals the Bears see the larger image
In McCaskey’s 40 years on the helm, the Bears have earned 14 postseason bids, 11 division titles and two Tremendous Bowl appearances. Thirty Bears have been inducted into the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame below McCaske, and 2023 finalist Devin Hester has an opportunity to be No. 31.
McCaskey has seen all of it relating to the Bears, and his affect remains to be ever-present for one of many NFL’s most theatrical franchises.
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