When Bears chairman George McCaskey walks around the parking lots, concourse and the stands of Soldier Field, the fan in him takes note of what fans are wearing.
“People are so proud to wear that jersey,” he said. “I’m always interested in what numbers they choose and why.”
Sometimes it’s seeing a couple holding hands. One wore “19” while the other had “67.” McCaskey would later learn that was the year they got married.
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“One nameplate said ‘Ever;’ the other nameplate said ‘After,’ ” he said. “That’s pretty cool.”
Sometimes it’s seeing the customized jerseys that poke fun at the Green Bay Packers.
“Well, you got to salute that, too,” McCaskey said, laughing.
But he’s always on the lookout for No. 7s.
“I’ll wait for the guy to go by and see what name is on the back,” McCaskey said. “Sometimes it’s the guy’s own name but sometimes he’s got Papa Bear’s name on there. That’s always fun to see. It just takes me back to training camp, which was one of the best times of my life.”
This past week, The Athletic looked at the best and worst jerseys of all sports. It’s a conversation that McCaskey would love to be a part of because of his own passion.
“I enjoy talking about them, seeing what people think about them and I think the Bears have a pretty good jersey,” McCaskey told The Athletic over Skype. “I like to think the Yankees uniform is the Chicago Bears’ of Major League Baseball.”
When the Bears held training camp at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Ind., a younger McCaskey would spend parts of his summers as a ball boy and working with the equipment staff. It’s where his deep love of the Bears’ jerseys began and blossomed.
“You’re in charge of the socks and jocks,” he said. “That’s a big responsibility and the jerseys were just like some sort of sacred garment, especially the game jerseys.
“We used to hang up the practice jerseys above the players’ lockers in between two-a-days hoping they would dry out in time for the afternoon practice. But the game jerseys, those were treated reverently.”
Back then, there were six preseason games. One of McCaskey’s responsibilities was ensuring that every jersey was accounted for afterward.
“The idea was that after a game was to make sure every one of those jerseys that went out of the tunnel (and) onto the field went back into the laundry bin after the game,” McCaskey said. “Like I said, a sacred responsibility.”
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The jerseys that McCaskey has in his home now are sacred, too. They all have a special purpose. His collection consists of eight jerseys with No. 7 in honor of his grandfather, George Halas. But McCaskey is a fan of Ed Sprinkle, “the meanest man in football” who just went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
McCaskey has a No. 7 in every style. If a new jersey comes out, including what McCaskey called the “the classic jersey” from last season, he not only talks with Tony Medlin, the Bears’ longtime equipment manager, about its design but makes sure to add one to his collection.
The rest of McCaskey’s collection starts with two No. 34s for Walter Payton.
“Of course, you have to start with the greatest player of all time,” he said.
There is a No. 35, too. That’s for former Bears fullback Roland Harper. He got that from general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy. Before the Bears played the Jets in October 2018, players and coaches were given old Bears jerseys of their favorites.
Payton’s No. 34 was a popular pick. Nagy wore Halas’ No. 7, while former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio donned Dick Butkus’ No. 51.
“I didn’t know it but they had jerseys made up for everybody,” McCaskey said. “And I was telling Ryan that I like those guys (where) they don’t have all the ability in the world, they use their head and their heart to excel in our great game so I mentioned Roland Harper.”
There is a No. 54 for linebacker Brian Urlacher. It includes an old “Salute to Soldier Field” patch — the one that the team had before the stadium’s renovation — on the left shoulder.
“I got this one to celebrate when Brian got his Hall of Fame ring,” said McCaskey, showing off his collection over Skype from his home. “Walking around the parking lots before kickoff, I wore Brian’s jersey.”
There is a No. 56. That’s his birth year. He received it from former Bears equipment manager Ray Earley.
“I always liked that number because it’s retired at the Bears with Bill Hewitt,” McCaskey said. “You don’t see a lot of 56s around Soldier Field.”
There is a No. 86 for tight end Zach Miller. McCaskey is close with Miller. He spent time with him in the hospital in New Orleans after the tight end suffered a gruesome dislocated kneecap against the Saints during the 2017 season.
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“I had his one made through ‘T Med’ for my guy, Zach Miller when he went back to Soldier Field to say goodbye to the fans,” McCaskey said. “They did a sideline interview with him. I knew that was it coming so I wore this around the parking lot that night.”
Finally, there is a No. 89 for “Da Coach.” Mike Ditka’s jersey was retired on Dec. 9, 2013.
“I wore this to salute Mike, walking around the parking lots — and our last retired number,” McCaskey said.
His tastes are very Chicagoan, too. As always, McCaskey is drawn to No. 7. So he’s got a Jody Davis Cubs jersey and a Pit Martin Blackhawks sweater — the old black alternate.
“It’s the one that famously had the ‘WWW’ patch on it in honor of Mr. Wirtz,” McCaskey said. “So I really like that look. And, of course, the red sweater, you talk about a classic look, an iconic hockey sweater. That and the Canadiens, the Maple Leafs, the Bruins, the Rangers. Well, five of Original 6, I would say have a really cool sweater. A certain team in Michigan shall not be named.”
As part of the Bears 100 celebration last year, the organization decided to use their archives of game-worn jerseys as a way to say thank you to its former players.
Their goal was to send them to more than 1,000 former players. McCaskey called it “a team idea” but those jerseys were sent in a box that also included a signed letter from him. Players got emotional when they opened their packages.
“We’ve gotten some great notes from guys, some pretty rough-and-tumble guys,” McCaskey said. “You wouldn’t think that they would react like that so it’s been very gratifying to see.”
It’s an important initiative for the Bears that should reach its conclusion after the social distancing guidelines for COVID-19 pandemic end.
“We just wanted to tell them how much we appreciate and acknowledge their part in Bears history,” McCaskey said. “For some guys, it was many, many years. For some guys, it was just a short time. But everybody who put on the navy and orange is important to us.”
It also was a way for the Bears to show support to their staff members. Each employee received a jersey with a number of their choice on it.
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McCaskey said that a fire in the Bears’ offices in 1961 destroyed some paperwork and damaged some memorabilia. But the team’s archives, which are managed by Dan Yuska and vice president Brian McCaskey, are still expansive and the Bears display memorabilia throughout Halas Hall.
“Halas Hall is kind of like a living museum,” George McCaskey said.
Last year, the Bears even received live-action footage of George Halas playing in Red Grange’s first game with the team in 1925.
“Brian, he could barely contain himself,” McCaskey said. “He was that excited.”
The archives help McCaskey with his scrapbook of Bears’ jerseys. It’s been a project for McCaskey for nearly 20 years. With the help of other staff members, he tracks the uniforms that the Bears wear every week during the season.
McCaskey now has three binders of pictures that are about three inches thick. The challenge for McCaskey is keeping up with the needed notations for it.
“It’s the smallest details of what we wore in that game,” McCaskey said. “It’s just trying to keep track of it and you’re trying to fill in gaps from years back if you come across a photo.”
In a way, the scrapbook is an archive itself and a very personal one to the namesake of Papa Bear himself
“A lot of people might think, ‘Well, why do you care about that?’” McCaskey said. “Well, a lot of people do care.”
(Photo of George McCaskey: Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)