DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – The head of the Chicago Bears recently took a symbolic long journey by foot from Decatur to Chicago.
Bears Chairman George H. McCaskey was trying to honor the legacy of his grandfather, George Halas, with a 10-day trek from the Bears’ original home to its current one. He took the 196-mile journey using four pairs of shoes while covering nearly 20 miles a day, according to the Bears' team website.
“I was pretty prepared,” he said. “I work out six days a week and started training specifically for this on Jan. 1. I think the people around Halas Hall have seen me putting in a lot of miles in all sorts of weather and I had trained on all sorts of terrain. So I was ready.”
In honor of Halas getting the job to run the Bears - originally called the Decatur Staleys - by food starch manufacturer owner A.E. Staley in 1920, McCaskey started at 22nd and Eldorado streets in Decatur, where the plant sat in those days. He then traveled to the University of Illinois, where Halas played football, then moved to the Bears’ training camp headquarters in Bourbonnais.
To get to Chicago, the team said he made the journey on surface roads, such as Routes 48,45, 52 and 50. The path took him to Midway Airport and finally to Soldier Field, where it ended.
“People were great,” he said. “Many people offered me a ride. This one couple was going in the opposite direction. They turned around and said, ‘We’ll go wherever you want to.' A lot of truck drivers would catch up to me at the next gas station or convenience store.”
McCaskey gained the role of chairman in the Chicago Bears organization in 2011, following in his family’s footsteps.
