Jerry Vainisi, GM of Bears’ 1985 championship team, dies

By ANDREW SELIGMAN
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears say Jerry Vainisi, their general manager when they won their lone Super Bowl championship, has died. He was 80. The team said he died Tuesday in suburban Oak Park, Ill. A Chicago native who attended Georgetown University and Chicago–Kent College of Law, Vainisi joined the Bears in 1972 as controller and worked as the team’s treasurer and lawyer. He became the team’s general manager in 1983 after Jim Finks resigned. Vainisi remained in that role for four years. He oversaw contract negotiations and worked with coach Mike Ditka and player personnel director Bill Tobin to run the team. The Bears went 47-17 during during Vainisi’s tenure and fielded arguably the greatest team the league has seen in 1985. The Bears went 15-1 and won the Super Bowl.