Jerry Vainisi, the Bears’ general manager during their only Super Bowl-winning season, has died.
As GM, he oversaw contract negotiations and teamed with coach Mike Ditka and personnel director Bill Tobin to run the team. The 1985 squad, which won the Super Bowl, was the franchise’s most successful and remains iconic to this day.
Vainisi was particularly close with Ditka, with whom he also shared business interests. Ditka was emotional when contacted Wednesday and spoke exclusively with the Sun-Times’ Michael Sneed for a Sunday column.
The Chicago native left an accounting firm to become the Bears’ controller in 1972 and later served as the team’s treasurer and counsel.