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[IMG alt="Steve Mongo McMichael died Wednesday after battling Lou Gehrig's disease since 2021.
He a key member of the Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985. Photo courtesy Chicago Bears"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/united_p...es_356/e0df7dea21ca8cb101096c05ff8cdb72[/IMG]
Steve "Mongo" McMichael died Wednesday after battling Lou Gehrig's disease since 2021. He a key member of the Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985. Photo courtesy Chicago Bears
April 23 (UPI) -- Steve "Mongo" McMichael, an NFL Hall of Famer and key member of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985, died Wednesday after battling Lou Gehrig's disease since 2021. He was 67.
McMichael, who later became a professional wrestler, was named the 19th best player in Bears history in 2019 by writers Don Pierson and Dan Pompei in the Chicago Bears Centennial Scrapbook.
Misty McMichael, wife of 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Steve McMichael, holds up her husband's gold jacket during a ceremony in Canton, Ohio, on August 2. File Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI
"It's a cruel irony that the Bears' Ironman succumbed to this dreaded disease," Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said in a statement about the 6-foot-2, 170-pound defensive player. "Yet Steve showed us throughout his struggle that his real strength was internal, and he demonstrated on a daily basis his class, his dignity and his humanity. He is at peace now. We offer our condolences to Misty, Macy, the rest of Steve's family, his teammates, and countless friends and fans of a great Bear."
Michael recently entered the intensive care unit at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Ill., due to the crippling effects of the disorder that affects the nervous system and robbed him of his ability to speak, and use his legs and arms.
"He's been unresponsive for the last two weeks and in and out of the hospital," Misty McMichael, his wife, told WFLD-TV.
The former NFL player and World Championship Wrestling professional wrestler was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, which is commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease.
The disease that affects brain and spinal cord nerve cells is in its advanced stages and caused McMichael to lose his muscle control.
"ALS attacks the organs and has attacked all his organs except his heart," Misty told WFLD. "His heart is perfect."
McMichael was a starting defensive lineman with the Bears for 13 seasons, 1981-1993, and a key component of its stifling defense that won the 1985 Super Bowl and six division championships in the 1980s and early 1990s.
He was among Bears performing in the Super Bowl Shuffle.
He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft after completing his college career at the University of Texas. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The Bears signed McMichael as a free agent from the Patriots a year later, and he finished his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1994.
While a member of the Bears, McMichael played in a team-record 191 consecutive games, amassed 92.5 of his career total of 95 sacks, which is second with the Bears.
He earned All-Pro honors five times, including first-team honors in 1985 and 1987.
McMichael was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024. Jarrett Payton, the son of late Bears legend Walter Payton, was his official presenter in Canton.
McMichael's condition caused the Hall of Fame staff to go to his home in Homer Glen, Ill., last summer to present him with the traditional gold jacket and bronze bust upon his induction.
He was surrounded by his family and former teammates while receiving the NFL's highest honor. They included Jimbo Covert, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary.
"I'm really excited for him," Singletary said at the time. "It's been a long haul. It's been tough. He's been through a lot: blood, sweat and tears on the field, and then from the inside out, all the things that his body has gone through and his mind, all the exasperation, I'm just very thankful that this is coming to him."
After retiring from the NFL, McMichael became a color commentator and wrestled professionally in the WCW as a member of the "Four Horsemen," along with pro-wrestling legend Ric Flair.
McMichael also hunted rattlesnakes.
Continue reading...
He a key member of the Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985. Photo courtesy Chicago Bears"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/united_p...es_356/e0df7dea21ca8cb101096c05ff8cdb72[/IMG]
Steve "Mongo" McMichael died Wednesday after battling Lou Gehrig's disease since 2021. He a key member of the Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985. Photo courtesy Chicago Bears
April 23 (UPI) -- Steve "Mongo" McMichael, an NFL Hall of Famer and key member of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX championship in 1985, died Wednesday after battling Lou Gehrig's disease since 2021. He was 67.
McMichael, who later became a professional wrestler, was named the 19th best player in Bears history in 2019 by writers Don Pierson and Dan Pompei in the Chicago Bears Centennial Scrapbook.
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Misty McMichael, wife of 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Steve McMichael, holds up her husband's gold jacket during a ceremony in Canton, Ohio, on August 2. File Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI
"It's a cruel irony that the Bears' Ironman succumbed to this dreaded disease," Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said in a statement about the 6-foot-2, 170-pound defensive player. "Yet Steve showed us throughout his struggle that his real strength was internal, and he demonstrated on a daily basis his class, his dignity and his humanity. He is at peace now. We offer our condolences to Misty, Macy, the rest of Steve's family, his teammates, and countless friends and fans of a great Bear."
Michael recently entered the intensive care unit at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Ill., due to the crippling effects of the disorder that affects the nervous system and robbed him of his ability to speak, and use his legs and arms.
"He's been unresponsive for the last two weeks and in and out of the hospital," Misty McMichael, his wife, told WFLD-TV.
The former NFL player and World Championship Wrestling professional wrestler was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, which is commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease.
The disease that affects brain and spinal cord nerve cells is in its advanced stages and caused McMichael to lose his muscle control.
"ALS attacks the organs and has attacked all his organs except his heart," Misty told WFLD. "His heart is perfect."
McMichael was a starting defensive lineman with the Bears for 13 seasons, 1981-1993, and a key component of its stifling defense that won the 1985 Super Bowl and six division championships in the 1980s and early 1990s.
He was among Bears performing in the Super Bowl Shuffle.
He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft after completing his college career at the University of Texas. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The Bears signed McMichael as a free agent from the Patriots a year later, and he finished his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1994.
While a member of the Bears, McMichael played in a team-record 191 consecutive games, amassed 92.5 of his career total of 95 sacks, which is second with the Bears.
He earned All-Pro honors five times, including first-team honors in 1985 and 1987.
McMichael was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024. Jarrett Payton, the son of late Bears legend Walter Payton, was his official presenter in Canton.
McMichael's condition caused the Hall of Fame staff to go to his home in Homer Glen, Ill., last summer to present him with the traditional gold jacket and bronze bust upon his induction.
He was surrounded by his family and former teammates while receiving the NFL's highest honor. They included Jimbo Covert, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary.
"I'm really excited for him," Singletary said at the time. "It's been a long haul. It's been tough. He's been through a lot: blood, sweat and tears on the field, and then from the inside out, all the things that his body has gone through and his mind, all the exasperation, I'm just very thankful that this is coming to him."
After retiring from the NFL, McMichael became a color commentator and wrestled professionally in the WCW as a member of the "Four Horsemen," along with pro-wrestling legend Ric Flair.
McMichael also hunted rattlesnakes.
Continue reading...
