ProCase Sports

One day back in October of 2012, I received a call from George McCaskey, Chairman of the Chicago Bears. George said that he wanted to talk to me about an upcoming project they were planning. He mentioned to me that the Bears wanted to do something special for Mike Ditka, I said, “You’re going to retire his number!” With social media, it’s difficult to keep anything a secret anymore.

ProCase has done numerous special projects for the Bears over the years, and George knows when we complete a project we want it to look perfect! George’s plan was a fairly plain case with Ditka’s game-worn jersey and maybe a picture of Mike wearing it. I asked George, “What is Ditka most known for?” George said “The Coach”. Then I told George, “I have an idea. What if we build a case with Ditka’s jersey on the left and his coaching sweater on the right?” There was a long pause, I asked, “George are you still there?” “I’m here… I’m thinking” he replied.  Another long pause went by, then he said, “I like it!!”

ProCase built a case with Ditka’s game-worn jersey on the left and his famous sweater on the right which included two pictures, one of him in the jersey and one wearing the sweater as “The Coach”.

Fast-forwarding to the presentation ceremony, it was scheduled during halftime of Thursday Night Football, a primetime game against Dallas that would be seen by the entire country. It also happened to be the coldest day for a Bears home game in years. The wind was blowing, the temperature was in the single digits, and who knows what the wind chill factor was, still everything had to go right. My job was to deliver the case and set it up on the field as soon as the 2^nd quarter was over. The Bears gave me a couple of helpers to carry the case out to the field and set it up on the platform. My job was to stand behind the case and hold on to it to make sure the case doesn’t fall over on national television. My reputation was on the line! Looking at the video of the Mike Ditka jersey retirement on YouTube you’ll see the ceremony go just as planned. Also, you can probably see my stocking hat peeking over the back of the case!

When George was introducing Mike, George said this will be the last number the Bears will ever retire, but the first sweater to ever be retired!

That was fun to hear, knowing I gave George that idea!