1985 Super Bowl Champ Meets With Aurora Mayor At City Hall

AURORA, IL — A wide receiver from the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears visited Aurora City Hall last week to meet with Mayor Richard Irvin.

Dennis McKinnon, now retired, talked with Irvin for more than an hour about why Aurora could be an ideal new home for the Chicago Bears and why McKinnon's legendary teammate Walter Payton chose the city to open his Roundhouse restaurant in the mid-1990s, officials said in a news release.

McKinnon became a free-agent walk-on with the Chicago Bears in 1983, winning the Super Bowl with them just two years later. He caught 31 passes for 555 yards and made seven touchdowns during the championship season.

During his post-season career, he served as the vice president of the National Football League Retired Players Association's Chicago chapter.

The meeting with Irvin was called about a month after Irvin submitted a letter of interest to the Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, adding the city to a list of suitors wanting to be considered for a new stadium for the team.

RELATED: Irvin Says Bears Would Enhance Aurora's 'Bold Vision'

Despite closing on a $197.2 million purchase agreement for the 326-acre Arlington Park Racecourse property earlier this year and beginning demolition at the site, the Bears have opened up discussions for other possible sites for a new domed stadium as talks in Arlington Heights have slowed.

“The opportunity to partner with the historic Chicago Bears as you search for the perfect new home is one we are eager to take on,” Irvin wrote in the letter, a portion of which was released by the city on Tuesday night. “Welcoming a historic organization such as the Chicago Bears would enhance our bold vision for Aurora and will provide the Chicago Bears with a new home to begin the next phase of your storied history.”

City officials have been in communication with the Bears' site selection agency to present site options, according to Chief Communications Officer Clayton Muhammad.