A 2018 book on the NFL delivered a gem on the Bears chairman. | Forum

Allow me to offer just the slightest break from our Bears fan business of gamely jousting with Eagles fans wherever they lay their head or show their hide.Instead Womens James Daniels Jersey , here is a story about George McCaskey giving Jerry Jones a public tongue-lashing in an owners meeting.I recently finished reading Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times, political reporter Mark Leibovich’s book on the NFL. Published in September, Leibovich’s book chronicles four years in the life of the league, starting chronologically in the summer of 2014 when Leibovich, a Pats fan, bagged an interview with Tom Brady (who answered Leibovich’s email query with subject line, “Tom Brady here”) and ending with the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LII.In between, Leibovich tells the story of the league through the eyes of the NFL’s power players, including Brady (an institution if ever a modern NFL player was one) and commissioner Roger Goodell. The bulk of the perspective, though, comes from the NFL’s owners, whom Leibovich coins “The Membership.”The book is fascinating for its insider’s view on the owners of the 32 teams, with the New York Times reporter Leibovich not just interviewing but spending what might be called quality time with many of the Membership’s biggest names: Robert Kraft (Patriots), Arthur Blank (Falcons), Mark Davis (Raiders), Bob McNair (Texans), Woody Johnson (Jets), Daniel Snyder (Washington) and of course Jerry Jones (Cowboys).What do I mean by “quality time”? In the course of reporting this book, Leibovich:Receives a gift of organic eggs from chickens at Kraft’s mansionPasses out stone drunk on a Cowboys team bus following too much Johnnie Walker Blue with Jones, who then scampers off to a bar for some “SEE-gars”Hangs with Goodell on the field in Carolina prior to the 2015/16 NFC championship game as Goodell tries to show off the new NFL mobile app before growing frustrated that it doesn’t work (“Watch, now it’s going to screw up,” Goodell says while fiddling with his phone)Gets close enough to the Brady family that Brady’s father reveals his feelings on Brady’s diet: “Sometimes we’ll go to Tom and Gisele’s house for dinner. And then I’ll say afterward, ‘Where are we going for dinner?’”Leibovich also spends a ton of time writing about three owners (Davis, Stan Kroenke of the Rams, Dean Spanos of the Chargers) trying to move their respective teams to Los Angeles, the owners attempting to navigate the fallout from Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling and the intersection between his political reporting and his NFL reporting via in-depth campaign trail Trump interviews whose snippets make it back to the NFL side.The best of the sports-politics cross-reporting is an anecdote from before Super Bowl LI. Leibovich published a piece in the Times that recycled unused Trump quotes from his previous interviews with the now-president Tarik Cohen Jersey , including Trump saying that his friend Kraft had “choked ... like Romney” regarding Kraft’s decision to not appeal Brady’s Deflategate suspension. Reading the piece, a disheartened Kraft asked Leibovich: “Did he really compare me to Romney?”One ownership team barely visible in the book is the Bears, with one note-worthy exception. Virginia is briefly mentioned on page 27 of this 373-page book, used as an example of the older, family-based owners. And then there is nothing on the Bears owners until page 329, when George — the eighth of the now 10 McCaskey children and the team’s chairman since 2011 — makes his first and only appearance.Like I said, Leibovich got a ton of revealing material from Jerry Jones, and it’s easy to see both why Jones has such a high opinion of himself (his innovations both of and within AT&T Stadium are professional sports game-changers) and why owners might get tired of his often aimless braggadocio. For example, in explaining to Leibovich why it’s important to have fun in your business, Jones takes a rather wide left turn into a brief story about masturbating in shoes while working as a shoe salesman. It’s all part of the endless yarn Jones seems to spin at all times and for all occasions — in an owners meeting in Irvine, Texas, in December of 2017, after Jones opined at length on the state of the league, Arthur Blank stood and said, “Jerry, you just spoke for about forty minutes, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”And that is basically the harshest rebuke any of these owners gave Jones in the book, until McCaskey was pushed just a bit too far.In an owners meeting in October of 2017, Jones prepared to deliver his opinion on Goodell’s compensation and impending contract extension, which Jones wanted to curb. He prefaced his remarks by calling himself the “senior ranking owner” in the room, despite having only purchased the Cowboys in 1989, nearly seven full decades after the league’s birth.That didn’t sit well with the so-called “legacy owners” whose teams have been in their respective families for generations. The one person to voice that dissatisfaction was George McCaskey, who did so two months later at the Irvine meeting. Writes Leibovich:McCaskey is indeed collegial and mild-mannered, and as a result his personality can be tricky to parse out. He seems very well liked within the organization, as a philanthropic leader, supporter of one of my favorite organizations and dedicated photo bomber. I enjoyed http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-jim-mcmahon-jersey , therefore, seeing this inside look at what draws his ire, and how he is carrying on the legacy of Papa Bear Halas, his grandfather.My only regret is that he won’t be able to photo bomb himself hoisting the Super Bowl trophy next month. C’est la vie. Bear Down.---Jack M Silverstein is Windy City Gridiron’s Bears historian, and author of “How The GOAT Was Built: 6 Life Lessons From the 1996 Chicago Bulls.” He is the proprietor of Chicago sports history Instagram “A Shot on Ehlo.” Say hey at @readjack. Every week will be a legitimate battle when the season gets underway."The 2019 NFL schedules are officially out in the world, and the Atlanta Falcons know exactly when and where they’ll need to be for game days this fall. The good news is that the Falcons, as they always do, have a good chance in every game they play in. They’re a really good football team at full strength and have a pretty complete roster and revamped coaching staff to work with now. But the hard part is they’ve gotten a bit of the short end of the stick with their schedule draw. This is as hard a schedule as we’ve seen in ages, though that’s going with 2018 institutional knowledge. The hard part with making schedule predictions is exactly that. Some teams get better; other teams fall off the face of the earth. Some stay their persnickety selves and give you fits you’d rather avoid. You just can’t tell, but we’ll do our best to size up the competition as it’s been scheduled and give you the best idea of where all of this is headed. September a balanced bearYou always like to get some hard games out of the way, and the Falcons can benefit from doing just that. They open the season on the road with the Minnesota Vikings, who always present a tough matchup. That vaunted 2017 defense faded a bit in 2018, and the offense struggled to be consistent. But it’s Week 1, and anything can happen. Like Atlanta, they’ll be looking to rebound. The bright lights roll into Atlanta for the home opener with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, and we don’t really need to get into recent history with those dadgum Eagles. Needless to say, it’ll be a game. Funny enough, it’ll be the first time the team has faced Carson Wentz since 2016. A road trip to see the rejuvenated Indianapolis Colts is in store for Week 3, which will undoubtedly be a toss-up. Dan Quinn has had his struggles against AFC opponents in the past, and the Colts are on the up-and-up after a strong finish in 2018. Andrew Luck, when he’s on, is hard to stop, and that defense came out of nowhere last season without a lot of talent to spare. The Tennessee Titans will take the short flight to Atlanta in Week 4 to close out the month. The Titans tend to be a “wait-and-see” team each year, though they have places where they can hurt you. Marcus Mariota is tenacious and can win games by himself. Record prediction: The Falcons have a lot to prove, and traditionally get off to strong starts under Quinn. We’ll say they go 3-1, only dropping a close road match to the Colts. No game will be a breather Womens Walter Payton Jersey , though. October just as scary As if life could slow down any, Atlanta heads on the road twice before heading home for a tricky two-game home stand against two playoff teams. The team heads down to Texas to meet former Falcons ball boy Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans to open the month. The Texans were one of the AFC’s best teams last year, with Watson and DeAndre Hopkins two of the more dangerous players they’ll see all season. That defense is no joke, either, with the revitalized J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney leading the pass rush. The late afternoon road game to see the Arizona Cardinals, on paper, is the easiest in the bunch right now, but that could change of the team takes quarterback Kyler Murray and he comes out strong. They’ll say hello to former Falcons Robert Alford, Brooks Reed, and, indeed, Corey Peters this game. When they get home, two heavyweights from the NFC West await. The Super Bowl silver medalist Los Angeles Rams may have a bit of a hangover to shake off, but Sean McVay remains a dangerous offensive mind and Aaron Donald is still the best defensive player in the game. It’ll be a tough contest to navigate. The month closes with the Seattle Seahawks, who the Falcons traditionally play well against and have the advantage of playing in friendly confines. Russell Wilson just got a massive raise, and Frank Clark just sent a tweet that may hint those trade rumors will come true. Expect another tough afternoon here. Record prediction: October games typically aren’t the prettiest football Atlanta plays in this iteration of the team, and it’s a grind of a month at that. We think they’ll go 2-2, getting wins against the Cardinals and Seahawks. The Rams game goes close, but is just one of those you’re frustrated they let slip away. November a set of familiar foesAs you might have heard, the Falcons transition into a stretch of five straight divisional games at this point of the season. It’s not ideal! But really, it’s an easier run than what they start out with, and you want your easier games pushed toward the back end of the schedule. The bye week is Week 9, followed by a Week 10 trip down to New Orleans to face the archrival Saints. The Falcons have gotten pulverized in their last two meetings in the Superdome, so you can sure bet the team will be eager to rectify that, or at least put up a better fight. That’s followed by a Week 11 game with the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, which is winnable Gale Sayers Jersey , if always a nervous conquest. Cam Newton has moments of brilliance and moments of errant play, so it just depends which Cam we get. That defense is also a wild card. Then comes the Bruce Arians-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home in Week 12, who should be much better coached this fall. Can Jameis Winston put it together this season? It’s good the team gets its first look at this version of the Bucs in Atlanta before they have to play them on the road. The month closes with another Thanksgiving Day parade with the rival Saints at home in prime time for Week 13. Surely the team can even the score after getting grilled last November in front of the whole world. Record prediction: Let’s go with 3-1. We’re going to, hopefully not haphazardly, predict a win in Carolina. They split with the Saints, and get a close one against the Bucs.December no cake walkThe month of December gets going in Week 14 with a home stand against the Carolina Panthers, which, again, can always go either way. The team has topped Carolina in Atlanta each time since 2015, which is a good sign. The team heads out to San Francisco to take on a mysterious 49ers team in Week 15, one that didn’t have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to lead it last season. Former Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan still calls a nasty game, and that defensive line is going to figure it out at some point. They’ll see old friend Tevin Coleman this week, unfortunately now back on Shanny’s chess board.In Week 16, the team then hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars, another enigma wrapped in a riddle. The team got close at a Super Bowl berth in 2017 before disappearing in 2018. The offense is not amazing, but the defense is still ferocious on paper. That’ll be an important game to score early. And just like last season, the year closes with a trip out to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. This Bucs team won’t be like the other ones, so don’t be upset if they split the record this year. Arians is a great coach! Record prediction: We hate to say it, but 2-2 is a distinct reality. They could easily drop that 49ers trip, as Shanahan knows this team well. Ditto goes for the Bucs trip; it just feels like they’ll lose one to Arians this season. So that’s the schedule. This puts the team at 10-6, which could mean a lot of things. 10-6 is nothing to be ashamed of on a schedule like this; it shows a three-game improvement from 2018 and should be enough to at least punch a spot for the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Let us know below how you think this schedule shapes up. We’ll see how these prognostications hold up one the season gets going in September.