O'Donnell: Karen Murphy's elevated title with Bears suggests new stadium vigor
IN SEPTEMBER 2022, Ted Phillips made the unexpected announcement he would be retiring as president and CEO of the Bears.
The move was surprising. The franchise was 12 months into a campaign to get a grand new stadium and expensive adjacencies built on the 326 acres that once housed Arlington Park.
For those with deep knowledge of the organization, there was a logical successor in house.
That was Karen Murphy. At the time, she was senior VP/business strategy and CFO. Previously, she had a long run as CFO (2002-16) after being hired as controller in 1999.
Murphy was considered a methodical, expansive business mind in an NFL front office not always famous for embracing enlightenment.
Speculators deemed her gender both blessing and curse.
THE BLESSED SIDE TRACKED to her possible presidency as a compelling legacy to Mrs. Virginia McCaskey. It has been close to 20 years since the singular aura of Mrs. McCaskey began serving as the glue that has held the family operation together.
Murphy's curse was that a woman as an NFL chieftain ran counter to almost every grain on the boys club turf. Amy Trask had a revolutionary breakthrough as CEO of the Raiders (1997-2013). More recently, the Panthers anointed Kristi Coleman as their president and the Raiders selected Sandra Douglass Morgan as the first Black woman team president in league history.
But in markedly unpredictable fashion, Bears bosses passed on Murphy. Instead, they hired Kevin Warren, the first “outsider” ever as team president.
WARREN WAS A QUIZZICAL choice. He was departing the Big Ten after a turbulent three years as commissioner (2020-23). There was no groundswell among conference presidents and chancellors to retain his services.
His primary selling card for the role in Lake Forest was a 14-year stay with the Vikings (2005-19). There were some who thought that he was “the whisperer” who got that franchise's sparkling $1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium done.
That, as has been previously reported in The Daily Herald and elsewhere, is false.
The deep Vikings grinder who relentlessly pushed the new Minnesota play palace from vision to fulfillment was Lester Bagley. He remains the team's exec VP/public affairs. As a savvy company man, he continues to deflect credit for his resourceful toil in making U.S. Bank Stadium happen.
ALL OF THIS LEADS to implications from the Bears' announcement Tuesday that Murphy has been promoted to the “newly created” position of executive VP / stadium development and COO.
In a carefully crafted news release, the Bears said: “In her new role, Karen will collaborate closely with president & CEO Kevin Warren to drive forward the Chicago Bears' long-term vision and strategic objectives of developing a new, world-class stadium for Chicagoland.”
Intriguing Qs:
- Because Murphy and Warren have been working in close quarters for the past 11 months, why the need for her new title?
- Is it so she can now revisit — with greater gravitas — forces alienated already by the Bears rookie president and attempt to rebuild vital bridges (especially to Arlington Park)?
- Is the maneuver a direct sign of “no confidence” by George McCaskey and associates in the ability of Warren alone to navigate the regional political terrain and get the new Bears stadium on an accelerated path to reality?
WARREN'S INITIAL 11 MONTHS on the job have been underwhelming. In his attempt to strong-arm Arlington Park-area school officials over an annual taxing difference of approximately $3 million — chump change by NFL standards — he flashed a preemptive arrogance.
A telling moment to more hawk-eyed media watchers came last June at the Metropolis Performing Art Centre in Arlington Heights. That was the night when an invitation-only group of 300 gathered at an artificial pep rally to hear Warren speak.
Offstage, in proximity to Warren throughout, was Dennis Culloton. He is one of the region's premier crisis communications and media strategists. The services of Culloton are generally retained only by business or political entities attempting to dig out of deep imaging holes or get smart quickly.
But there Culloton was, attempting to hand hold Warren in front of a stacked house.
KAREN MURPHY ASCENDS to her new post with the Bears carrying an impressive array of credentials. She is a devout McCaskey loyalist. She is not using Halas Hall as a steppingstone to something better. She would battle to the max to protect the sanctity of a very private corporation's most confidential financials.
Some still insist she was the logical successor to Phillips as president of the Bears. For the stadium whisperer role, the organization could have brought in a facile political sort to get and keep the ball rolling,
Someone like Minnesota's Bagley, only with more Illinois and Chicagoland orientation.
Instead, the McCaskey Bears went another way.
Does Tuesday's announcement make it seem as if they still maintain unwavering confidence in their initial choice?
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.