George McCaskey has never come across as the rebellious type of NFL owner. He tends to go along with most things the league is trying to accomplish. When there is a strong majority during votes, he is almost always the one who falls in line. Yet for some reason that wasn’t the case this past week. The Chicago Bears owner stood defiant in the face of expanding the regular season from 16 games to 17.
This is fascinating. Expectations were this vote would be unanimous. Owners wanted more games because it meant more revenue. It’s a measure they’ve worked towards going back years. Yet according to Seth Wickersham of ESPN, McCaskey didn’t go with the flow. He’s the only owner who voted against the measure. Nobody is certain why at this point.
“An expanded regular season has been a goal of NFL team owners for years, but Tuesday’s vote, which approved a 17th game, wasn’t unanimous among owners.
Bears chairman George H. McCaskey voted against the measure, according to four sources who were on the videoconference.”
McCaskey had few business reasons to do this.
More games would’ve meant more money for him and the organization. Was this nothing more than a political statement. It’s likely McCaskey knew the motion was going to pass. So he voted against it in an effort to make it seem like he was trying to look out for the players who will be the ones to endure another week of playing this physically brutal game.
The Bears owner hasn’t exactly been the most popular person. Especially after his decision to retain head coach Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace. Maybe this was a measure to gain favor it what might be a fairly tense locker room. Or he may have had other misgivings about the 17-game season in general. It will be interesting to see if somebody is able to ask him about it in the near future.
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George McCaskey better hope his decision doesn’t backfire
Right now, it’s not exactly looking great. Pace hasn’t really done much to improve the roster. He signed Andy Dalton which might be a mild improvement at quarterback. Yet he also has mostly gutted the starting secondary with Kyle Fuller and Buster Skrine being cut while Tashaun Gipson left in free agency. At best the Bears look like a team that is as good as it was last year. Which is to say mediocre.
Unless some serious moves happen in the next month, this team could head into 2021 a little more than a year older with mostly the same roster of starters. That doesn’t bold well for their chances. Not against what NFL.com is calling the third-toughest schedule in the league. George McCaskey won’t be looking so great if the worst fears of many are realized.
Maybe this vote is a way to save some face.
Then again it’s all speculation. McCaskey had his reasons. It doesn’t really matter. The Bears will be playing 17 games every year moving forward. Their additional game this time around will come against the Las Vegas Raiders. A chance at revenge from that humiliating loss in London two years ago. Hopefully, that game will mean something and not just be the Bears playing out the end of a frustrating string.
