CHICAGO — The receipt has been kept for four years. It was tucked away in the wallets of angry season ticket holders and screenshotted on thousands of phones across the South Loop. But after the Green Bay Packers walked off Soldier Field in silence last month, that receipt officially expired.
In January 2022, following a disastrous 6-11 campaign, Bears Chairman George McCaskey sat before a firing squad of reporters and uttered the words that would haunt him: “I’m just a fan. I’m not a football evaluator.”
At the time, it sounded like an admission of incompetence. Today, following a 2025 season that saw the Bears capture the NFC North crown and exorcise their Cheesehead demons in the Wild Card round, it sounds like something else entirely. It sounds like permission.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the man at the top of the Halas Hall org chart isn’t sweating the X’s and O’s. He doesn’t have to. The hiring of head coach Ben Johnson last offseason didn’t just fix the offense; it liberated the owner.
McCaskey sat down with WGN’s Jarrett Payton earlier this week, and the relief was palpable. The chairman admitted he “had a hard time getting work done” in the euphoric haze following the Wild Card victory over Green Bay. That isn’t the quote of an executive worried about his approval rating. That’s a fan who spent Monday morning re-watching highlights on YouTube.
The difference now? He has the right people in the kitchen. With Johnson calling the shots and quarterback Caleb Williams turning broken plays into highlight reels, McCaskey has retreated to the role he told us he wanted all along. He’s the guy in the luxury box screaming for a holding call.
You cannot overstate what happened at Soldier Field three weeks ago. The stat sheet says the Bears won 24-17. The city of Chicago knows it was a spiritual cleansing. Beating the Packers in the regular season is sweet; ending their season in January is legendary.
The atmosphere was feral. When the clock hit zero, strangers were hugging in the aisles of the 400 section. The wind chill was five below, but nobody left. McCaskey, watching from above, wasn’t plotting his next GM search. He was reportedly banging on the glass.
“It feels different in the building now. You walk in on Monday and the air is lighter. We know who we are. George [McCaskey] knows who we are. He doesn’t have to carry the weight of the scheme anymore. He just gets to enjoy the show like everybody else.” — D.J. Moore, Bears Wide Receiver
The 2025 awakening wasn’t just about vibes. It was tactical. Ben Johnson’s arrival unlocked the vertical passing game that Chicago has craved since the days of Sid Luckman. The Bears didn’t just scrape by; they hung 30 points on the Lions in Week 12 to seize control of the division.
Even the Divisional Round loss to the Rams—a heartbreaker in Los Angeles—couldn’t kill the buzz. The Bears went toe-to-toe with an NFC powerhouse and didn’t blink. They enter the 2026 offseason not as a rebuilding project, but as a contender with a target on their back.
The NFC North is no longer a one-team race. The Bears have formally announced their return to the table. The primary question for the 2026 offseason isn’t about the head coach or the quarterback. It’s about retention. Offensive Coordinator Johnson will likely be the hottest name on the coaching carousel again, though rumors suggest he’s staying put to see this project through.
For George McCaskey, the script has flipped. He’s no longer the target of fan ire. He’s just another guy in a navy blue coat, hoping the wins keep coming. And for the first time in a long time, that’s exactly enough.
