Chicago Bears

Bears chairman explains why he's rooting for Carolina in Super Bowl

Published Jan. 27, 2016 6:31 p.m. ET

foxsports

Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey won't be a neutral observer of this year's Super Bowl. On Tuesday, he revealed that his rooting interests lie with the Carolina Panthers.

McCaskey is pulling for the Panthers to beat the Denver Broncos mostly because of the team's connections to his franchise.

Via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:

We think the world of the entire Bowlen family [the Broncos' owners]. Pat Bowlen has done so much for the league, for the Broncos, but we’re rooting for the Panthers.

It’s the NFC. You’ve got Ron Rivera, Greg Olsen, Charles Tillman, Jared Allen and, of course, [team owner] Jerry Richardson, who is one of the great men in the NFL. So we’re rooting for the Panthers.

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera was a linebacker on the '85 Bears team that won the Super Bowl. Cornerback Charles Tillman played 12 seasons with the Bears (2003-2014); defensive end Jared Allen spent 2014 and the first three games of the 2015 season in Chicago. Although Jerry Richardson is the only owner who has actually played in the NFL, he never suited up for the Bears.

The Bears haven't been to the Super Bowl since February of 2007, and they haven't won the big game since Rivera was on the team.