Once upon a time, Virginia McCaskey inherited memorabilia from a cousin, a collection that included a box of old ticket stubs. In it, she said, was a torn admittance to the NFL’s 1932 championship game between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans.

McCaskey has been the team's principal owner since 1983, when her father and team founder George S. Halas died.

The daughter of Bears founder George Halas, McCaskey watched the NFL go from a struggling start-up to the most powerful league in America.