Jerry Vainisi

Jerry Vainisi was the general manager and executive vice president of the Chicago Bears and is current chairman/CEO, as well as the former owner, of Forest Park National Bank & Trust Co.

Biography

He graduated from Georgetown University and Chicago–Kent College of Law. He was the treasurer of the Bears for 11 years, from 1972 to 1982. He also was on the In-House Counsel and the Board of Directors. On August 24, 1983, Vainisi replaced Jim Finks as the general manager of the Bears, and led the Bears to its only Super Bowl win in 1985 when the Bears defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. He was one of the people responsible for the removal of the Bears cheerleading squad Chicago Honey Bears in 1985, saying that the squad might be replaced by a high school band, despite not having done so. After being fired by the Bears in 1986, he was the last Bears general manager until Jerry Angelo took over in 2001. In 1987, he became the vice president of player personnel for the Detroit Lions, and drafted Barry Sanders. Vainisi left the Lions in 1990 to create and head the football operations of the World League of American Football (later named NFL Europe). In 1995, Vainisi retired from professional football and joined the Chicago law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson, heading the sports and entertainment division. In 2010, he was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.