Bear at home in Sycamore

LAKE FOREST – George McCaskey traveled 216,000 miles along highways and country roads in his old Honda Accord before he bought a 2010 model.

"The one before that had 212,000," McCaskey said.

The miles add up when one commutes day after day, week after week from Sycamore to Lake Forest and back again. McCaskey's trip requires about 90 minutes on the way to work and two hours on the way home, and he relies on his cellphone and satellite radio to pass the time.

By now, McCaskey knows every merge and every turn from DeKalb County to the northern suburbs. He
is in his 21st season working for the family business – the NFL's Chicago Bears.

However, for the first time, McCaskey will enter the regular season as the Bears' top executive. He was promoted to chairman of the board after his older brother, Michael, retired at the end of last season.

Since then, McCaskey has conducted daily conversations with Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips and has had frequent contact with the team's ardent fan base. His message is clear whether he's talking to a front-office executive or a longtime season-ticket holder.

"There's only one way to measure success," McCaskey said. "That is championships.

"We have more regular-season wins than any other team in NFL history, but we do not have more championships than any other team. We want to be tops in both categories.

"That's the goal every year: to win the Super Bowl. Not to make the playoffs. Not to get to the Super Bowl. To win the Super Bowl."

McCaskey, 55, is an affable man with gray hair, a skinny frame and a friendly handshake. But when he talks about championships, his eyes narrow and his voice reflects a tone of urgency.

He is the grandson of George Halas.

Winding path

Like many children who grew up in the Chicago area, McCaskey idolized the Bears. His family background set him apart from other football-fanatic classmates.

His parents were Ed and Virginia McCaskey, who inherited the Bears as Halas' daughter. George was the eighth of 11 children, and like all of his brothers, he attended what is now called Notre Dame College Prep in Niles.

When it came time to go to college, McCaskey selected Arizona State. There, he covered sports for the school newspaper as an undergraduate student before remaining in Tempe to pursue a law degree.

"I always wanted to work for the Bears," McCaskey said. "But our parents told us, 'Go live your lives. We can't promise you anything.'"

Yet the Bears always would be a part of McCaskey's identity.

His professional life began in journalism as a TV reporter. He searched for jobs with one caveat: They had to be within driving distance of Soldier Field.

McCaskey ended up in Peoria at WEEK-TV, an NBC affiliate. Before he started, he traveled from Evanston to participate in a softball game and to meet some of his soon-to-be co-workers.

That afternoon on the softball field, he struck up a conversation with one of the station's reporters. Her name was Barb, and she loaned him a baseball glove.

Years later, he gave her a wedding ring.

Career change

Even after McCaskey arrived in Peoria, he was preparing for the next phase of his professional life. He was studying for the Illinois bar exam.

Barb grew up in Dixon, and McCaskey surprised her one day when he said he wanted to talk to the Lee County state's attorney about a possible job. After a Saturday visit, he was offered a job as an assistant state's attorney.

McCaskey's boss lost the next primary election, however, and another job search was under way.

That search ended when Philip DiMarzio hired him as an assistant state's attorney in DeKalb County. McCaskey spent most of his time dealing with traffic cases and misdemeanors, and he relished his chances to speak in front of jurors.

"It's like any public speaking," McCaskey said. "There's a little bit of nervousness, but I was pretty comfortable talking to juries.

"I really enjoyed it – presenting your case from scratch, something that you've been invested in for weeks or in some cases months, and introducing the facts and the law to somebody that has no familiarity with it at all."

McCaskey didn't fully realize it at the time, but he and his family were setting the foundation for their future in DeKalb County.

Settling down

The McCaskeys gave birth to a son, Conor, soon after they moved to Sycamore.

The family moved into a house that was built by Barb's father. He was a home builder, and their home would be the last house he would build.

The house featured a wraparound porch, which was perfect for quiet mornings. The couple's commutes were short and simple as Conor progressed from St. Mary's Catholic School to Sycamore High School, where he excelled in football and baseball as well as in the classroom.

Barb was no stranger to busy days, either. She served as the music director at St. Mary's and participated in a wide variety of other activities, ranging from community theater to singing at weddings and other events.

"In DeKalb County, I'm Barb McCaskey's husband," George McCaskey said with a smile. "She's the star."

Barb McCaskey laughed at the line. Much about George makes her laugh.

"He's so funny because when I started doing community theater, he would come to every show," she said. "And it would be really hard on him because he'd be so nervous for me."

Little changed after Michael McCaskey offered George a job in the Bears' ticket office in 1991. As the years passed, McCaskey refereed youth football and umpired baseball, teaming with Conor this summer in the Sycamore Park District.

"We love the church, we love the community, we love the small-town feel," McCaskey said. "One of the things that I like the best is that people aren't very interested or impressed with the Bears connection. They're more concerned with are you a good person?"

In the spotlight

Nothing is small time about McCaskey's new role with the Bears, who were valued at $1.1 billion last season by Forbes Magazine.

McCaskey studied under Michael for a year before he became chairman this spring. He spent the previous 20 years leading the Bears' ticket office.

McCaskey's first summer in his new position was eventful.

He represented the Bears at owners' meetings alongside icons such as Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and John Mara of the New York Giants. He befriended owners such as Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers, but he stayed out of the national spotlight.

"It's been a very interesting process getting to know those people even better than I did before," McCaskey said. "I don't know that I have an interesting enough personality to adopt a profile like Jerry Jones, but I think it's like much of the rest of it: We'll just see how it goes."

Game days will not change too much.

George and Barb will pick up his mother, Virginia, on their way to Soldier Field. Conor will join the family when he can, but he's studying abroad in England this semester before returning to Notre Dame to complete his junior year.

George is sensitive to fans' emotional and financial investments in the Bears. It's something he learned as ticket director and is reminded of as team chairman.

"That's one thing that keeps coming back to us is how important the Bears are to people," McCaskey said. "That's a big responsibility.

"Someone once described it to me as when your team loses, it's like a loved one disappointing you. It hurts more because it's a loved one. We know that the Bears are important to people, and we know how much they mean to people, and it's important for us to never forget that."

Staying grounded

Likewise, McCaskey says he won't forget to live life as a normal person. For one, snobbishness is not his style. For another, his family won't allow it.

"Barb and Conor are determined to make sure I don't get a big head," he said.

McCaskey knows his new job will come with occasional complications. He and his family are certain to be targets for criticism, particularly when the Bears struggle to win or when a popular player goes elsewhere because of money.

The Bears have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire and keep players such as Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Jay Cutler and Lance Briggs. Yet, right or wrong, many fans associate the McCaskey name with stinginess.

"I warned them that there will be criticism, and that they shouldn't take it personally," McCaskey said. "It just comes with the territory. And I think they're prepared for that.

"Of course, it hasn't really happened yet, so we'll see when it does."

Barb McCaskey maintains a positive outlook.

"We're going to take some hits," she said. "But that's the way it goes."

Win or lose, the family knows their home will be there whenever they want a quiet moment or need to get away from football. So will many of their friends, neighbors and memories that they have accrued over the past two-plus decades.

McCaskey could buy a lakefront mansion. He could drive a Porsche. But he's staying in Sycamore. He's keeping the Accord.

"We've talked about it from time to time, but we have a great community and a great house, and I've got a great job," McCaskey said. "They happen to be a little bit of a distance apart.

"The way we're approaching it is that we want to stay in Sycamore as long as possible, in the same way our family wants to hold on to the Bears as long as possible."