Every major franchise has an iconic team.
And every iconic team has someone responsible for putting it all together.
For the Chicago Bears, it’s the ’85 Bears. Super Bowl XX champions are the standard to which all Bears teams must meet. One of the architects of that team was CEO Jerry Vainisi, who has died at the age of 80. Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune has the story:
Vainisi spent more than a decade with the Bears, including as treasurer and general manager. He began that role in 1983 after replacing Jim Finks and remained in that role until the Bears were ousted from the playoffs by Washington following the 1986 campaign. Among the most important things Vainisi did was lead the Honey Bears, as the Tribune reported in November 1985. He even said the team might replace the Bears’ cheerleaders with a high school band. That never happened, and the Bears haven’t had cheerleaders since. Vainisi moved to the Detroit Lions, where he was the team’s vice president of player personnel when the team selected Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders with the third pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. This guy was very good.
In the end, Vainisi lived a solid life. To spend 80 years on this planet, win a Super Bowl and be inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame is impressive. May his family and friends find peace in this time of mourning.
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Author: Luis Medina
Luis Medina is a writer at Bleacher Nation and can be found on Twitter at address@lcm1986. To see also : Karlyn Nessa debuts as a Vikings cheerleader.
