Edward W. McCaskey (April 27, 1919 – April 8, 2003) was the chairman of the Chicago Bears. He was the husband of Bears principal owner

Virginia Halas McCaskey Virginia Marion Halas McCaskey (born January 5, 1923) is the principal owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). She is the eldest child of Bears founder and owner George Halas, who left the team to his daughter upon h ...

Military career

Upon graduating from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, McCaskey served in the 80th Division of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for two-and-a-half years. Though he was later injured, he refused the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

, and was subsequently awarded the Bronze Star Medal and a combat infantry badge.

Personal life

After the war, McCaskey became a salesman and a singer in a band, though lost out to Frank Sinatra to join the

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

Band as a singer, and in 1943, he married Virginia Halas, daughter of Bears founder, owner and head coach George Halas. However, George Halas expressed his doubts about McCaskey, sending two "agents",

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he introduced competitive parity into the NFL to improve the league's comme ...

and

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL), from 1933 until his death ...

, owners of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively, to inspect McCaskey.

Chairman of the Board

In 1967, McCaskey became vice president and treasurer of the Bears. When George Halas died in 1983, Virginia became principal owner, and Ed became chairman of the board with their son,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

as team president. The following year, McCaskey made his son operating head of the franchise. In 1999, McCaskey relinquished his position as chairman of the board to Michael, who was promoted after various incidents occurred, such as the botched hiring of

Dave Wannstedt David Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is a former American football coach. He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was also the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh foot ...

's replacement and failed attempt to get a new stadium.

Relationship with Brian Piccolo

The summer before McCaskey officially joined the Bears he befriended the Bears player

Brian Piccolo Louis Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970) was an American professional football player, a halfback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an a ...

, and the two remained close friends until Piccolo's death of cancer in 1970. As the story goes, he was the person behind the idea to put Piccolo and

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Sa ...

in the same room - the first interracial roommates in team history. After Piccolo's death, McCaskey wrote the famous speech that was immortalized in the movie "

Brian's Song ''Brian's Song'' is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro in 1965, told through his friendship with teammate Gale Sayer ...

": "I love Brian Piccolo and I'd like all of you to love him too. Tonight when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." He was also long time contributor to the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund.

Death

On April 8, 2003, McCaskey died in his

Des Plaines, Illinois Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...

home; he had been in declining health, and was survived by his wife and eleven children. At his funeral, a "plaintive piano rendition" of the Bears fight song " Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was played. McCaskey left a lasting impact on the Bears, such as befriending

, and placing him with

in the same room, making them the first interracial roommates. McCaskey wrote a speech dedicated to Piccolo that was recited by Sayers after being awarded the George S. Halas Courage Award, which was later memorialized in the film ''

'', which McCaskey was a consultant for. To honor McCaskey during the 2003 season, the Bears added an orange shamrock-shaped patch to their jerseys with his initials "EWM".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaskey, Ed 1919 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Chicago Bears executives National Football League team presidents United States Army personnel of World War II University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American singers People from Des Plaines, Illinois Halas family