The classy Catholic character of the Chicago Bears

It has been 15 years since the Chicago Bears last made it to a Super Bowl and 36 years since they last won a Super Bowl. However, the cold spell has not chilled the heart of Pat McCaskey, one of the Bears' owners. the 72-year-old father of three is also a published author, public speaker, co-founder of Sports Faith International, chairman of an EWTN-affiliated radio station, and member of the Chicago chapter of Legatus.

Bowled over

When asked if he remembers the team that went 15-1 in the 1985 regular season and coasted through the playoffs to win Super Bowl XX, McCaskey quickly started his answer: “January 26, 1986…” He can tell the score of that game in New Orleans against the New England Patriots (46-10), stories of camping on the Mississippi River with the team leading up to the game, star running back Walter Payton jokingly telling a security guard that he should check out McCaskey to make sure he’s okay to enter the stadium, and so on.

Those stories and many others are found in McCaskey’s nine books. The best-known might be Bear with Me: A Family History of George Halas and the Chicago Bears, released in 2009. His most recent installment is 2020’s Papa Bear and the Chicago Bears’ Winning Ways, in which he tells younger readers the multifaceted story of his grandfather, George Halas. The legendary co-founder of the National Football League won eight NFL championships as a coach and/ or owner.

Since the 1984-85 season, the National Football Conference champion has received a trophy named after Halas before moving on to the Super Bowl to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Weaving its way through all the Halas-McCaskey stories is the centrality of Catholicism. Regarding Super Bowl XX in particular, Father Nicholas Marro offered Mass for Bears’ Catholics on the Saturday before the Super Bowl and another Mass on the following day. One of the readings for that Sunday, taken from the letters of St. Paul (1 Cor 12:12-30), explained how all members are part of the one body of Christ.

“That was such an easy connection to what we had experienced throughout that 1985 season and throughout the playoffs,” McCaskey recalled. “Everyone in the Bears’ organization— players, coaches, administrators, and stadium workers—seemed to be on the same page. That’s how, ideally, the Church should function: striving for a clearly defined purpose in a selfless and coordinated way.”

Sometimes that ideal is easier to realize in sports, but McCaskey has long worked toward a vision of the two worlds of faith and football as mutually beneficial. It was with this spirit that he co-founded Sports Faith International in 2008 with Matt and Angela Tomlinson.

Since its founding, SFI has honored many practicing Catholics who have made a positive difference in the sporting world. Honorees include Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL, who has written two books about sports and faith; Father Burke Masters, who played in the College World Series and is a priest in the Diocese of Joliet, IL; and Danny Abramowicz, an All-Pro wide receiver in the 1970s who served as the Bears’ special teams coordinator in the 1990s and later co-hosted Crossing the Goal on EWTN.

Taking evangelization to new heights

Legatus founder and former Detroit Tigers owner Tom Monaghan was honored in 2010 by SFI. McCaskey remembers Monaghan saying that he would not only fly on commercial airlines but would do so in coach rather than first-class. His connection to fellow travelers in life went even further: he would take a middle seat so that he could share his faith with the people sitting on either side of him.

Person-to-person evangelization is not something people expected from a billionaire, but it is what they got. “That common touch impressed me,” McCaskey said. “It reminded me of other wonderful things I’ve encountered with Legatus since joining in 2003 with my wife, Gretchen. That was when my father, who was a Legate, died, so it was like passing on the torch.”

McCaskey has taken the torch of faith and spoken coast to coast at various Legatus events. He has shared a flurry of faith-filled stories that, unlike their visual equivalent of snow falling from Heaven, usually have a warm character. That same warmth is something McCaskey has noticed in other Legates.

“It’s not so much the business aspect of Legatus that shines through as it is the Catholic aspect. It’s the character of the people rather than the fact that they might own or run a business,” McCaskey recounted. “Even if they didn’t know how to spell the word ‘business,’ it would still be worthwhile to be numbered among their ranks, simply because they are earnestly attempting to live their lives according to the traditional teachings of the Church.”

Marches in Januarys

As a vocal pro-lifer, McCaskey knows the irreplaceable value of each human being. He has spoken at the March for Life Chicago many times—including at this year’s installment on January 8— and he was the master of ceremonies last year.

Last October, Soldier Field, the home stadium of the Bears, was the site of a fundraiser for Women’s Care Center, a pro-life pregnancy center in Lagrange, IL. The featured speaker was former Notre Dame head football coach Lou Holtz, who— unknown to many, but not to McCaskey—also coached briefly in the NFL.

McCaskey enjoyed Holtz’s speech and the time he was able to spend with him during the event. Around 800 people attended and contributed approximately $500,000 to the pregnancy center. “Of course, I enjoy the football aspect of Soldier Field, but it’s events like the pro-life one in October that matter the most. Mothers should always be able to say ‘yes’ to life, and it is so satisfying to help make that possible.”

Mighty McCaskey matriarch

While January marked the anniversary of a Super Bowl win, it also marked the 99th birthday of McCaskey’s mother, Virginia Halas McCaskey, the daughter of George “Papa Bear” Halas. She is now the oldest principal owner in the league—but, more importantly, she is the mother of 11 children, whom she raised without any hired help. A family joke is that the only time she got a break from cooking, cleaning, and other household activities was when she went to the hospital to give birth to another baby.

Despite her extensive family and business experience, Halas McCaskey does not seek out attention. “My mother is very humble,” Pat McCaskey said. “She edited the first three of my little bios or remembrances of her; she thought they were too positive.” Pared down to an acceptable standard, the fourth version has been given an imprimatur by his biological alma mater (“nourishing mother” in Latin).

After 11 children (and two of their deaths: Tim in 2011 and Michael in 2020), 21 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren, McCaskey’s respect for his mother only grows stronger. Near the close of his tribute, McCaskey wrote that his mother is his hero because she accepts God’s grace and mercy and shares it with others.

Then the tribute ends like this: “Mom” spelled upside-down is “WOW.”

TRENT BEATTIE is a Legatus magazine contributing writer.