Chicago Bears President, CEO Ted Phillips Will Retire In February

CHICAGO — A day after the Chicago Bears announced plans to unveil new stadium plans for Arlington Heights next week, one of the team executives behind the move announced he will step down from his role following this season.

Ted Phillips, the team’s president and the chief executive officer will retire after nearly 40 years with the Bears, the team announced on Friday. Phillips has been a key player in the Bears' plans to move the franchise away from Soldier Field and to the former Arlington Racetrack property.

Phillips called the property one of the most unique properties in all of Chicagoland after the team signed a $197 million purchase agreement to buy the site for a new stadium. Despite the City of Chicago’s best efforts to keep the team on the Lakefront, including by proposing a new stadium that could include a dome, officials said Thursday they will unveil a design for a new Bears home at a meeting next week in Arlington Heights.

“I have been truly blessed with the honor of working for the Chicago Bears for 40 seasons and look forward to leading the team through the 2022 season,” Phillips said in a news release issued by the team. “I appreciate the support of the McCaskey family and to be involved in overseeing this amazing growth of the Chicago Bears through the years, is a dream come true.

“Every day has been a true pleasure and being surrounded by so many talented and wonderful people has made my job richly rewarding on many levels. I will always bleed blue and orange and forever be proud to be a part of the Chicago Bears family.”

The search for Phillips’ successor is underway and will be announced by the Bears in the coming months, the team said. Phillips was appointed team President and CEO in 1999. He is only the fourth person to serve as president in the organization's 102-year history, and the first outside the Halas-McCaskey family following Michael McCaskey, George "Mugs" Halas, Jr., and George Halas.

“It’s difficult to put into words how much Ted has meant to the Bears and our family. The faith that Virginia and Ed McCaskey placed in him by naming him President and CEO of the Bears has been rewarded many times over,” Bears Chairman George McCaskey said. “He’s the best boss I ever had, and when I became his boss, he handled it graciously, as he has so many other situations. He is held in high regard by his peers around the league, and deservedly so. We are lucky to have had him here as long as we did.”

Added Bears owner Virginia McCaskey: “Anything that he was ever asked to take care of, he came through and did it very well. We’ve been very blessed to have him.”

Phillips served as the Bears' Vice President of Operations for six seasons starting in 1993. Before becoming Vice President of Operations, Phillips served as the Director of Finance from 1987-93. Phillips joined the Bears staff on September 28, 1983, as the team's Controller, a position he held for four years, the team said.

RELATED:

• Chicago's Soldier Field A 'Bizarre Mix Of Past And Present': Report
• Sweet Dome Chicago: Lightfoot, City Announce Soldier Field Plans
• Bears Hire Architect For Arlington Heights Stadium Design
• Bears Sign Purchase Agreement To Buy Arlington Park For $197M