By Canadian Press

Bears great Steve McMichael gets his Hall of Fame moment as he battles ALS

Jul 29, 2024 | 12:14 PM

CHICAGO (AP) — Steve McMichael always had that big and boisterous persona and a willingness to say whatever was on his mind, so it’s no stretch to think the Chicago Bears great’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech would have been one to remember.

“He would cut a scorcher,” his wife Misty McMichael said. “He would have been amazing.”

McMichael is in the advanced stages of ALS and won’t be able to make the trip from Homer Glen, Illinois, to Canton, Ohio, for his induction Saturday. He lost his ability to move and speak, though he will deliver a brief and heartfelt message he put together through an eye-gaze device: “Hello Chicago. Thank you, Chicago.”

The 66-year-old McMichael is part of a seven-member class that includes former Bears Devin Hester and Julius Peppers.

An All-Pro defensive tackle in 1985 and 1987, he played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games from 1981 to 1993 and ranks second to Richard Dent on the Bears’ all-time sacks list with 92 1/2. His final NFL season was with Green Bay in 1994.

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Whether he was terrorizing opponents or discussing the Bears on sports talk radio, the man known as “Ming The Merciless” and “Mongo” after the character in “Blazing Saddles” who knocked out a horse remained a prominent presence in Chicago long after his playing days ended. He also spent five years in professional wrestling in the late 1990s.

McMichael’s brash personality and willingness to say whatever was on his mind made him a natural for professional wrestling. It also got him ejected from a Cubs game in 2001 for calling out home plate umpire Angel Hernandez during the seventh-inning stretch.

He began working for World Championship Wrestling at the height of the “Monday Night Wars” with the World Wrestling Federation, starting as a color commentator and later joining Ric Flair in the “Four Horsemen” group.

McMichael told the Chicago Tribune in April 2021 that he was battling Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

“I promise you, this epitaph that I’m going to have on me now? This ain’t ever how I envisioned this was going to end,” McMichael told the Tribune.

McMichael has gone from a 270-pound giant who used to blast through NFL offensive linemen and drive wrestlers headfirst into the mat with the “Mongo spike” to someone who is bedridden and rail thin, a decline documented through photos on social media.

McMichael was born in Houston and starred at Texas from 1976-79, becoming a consensus first-team All-American as a senior. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

The New England Patriots drafted McMichael in the third round in 1980. He didn’t last long, appearing in just six games as a rookie before getting released prior to his second season. McMichael would play hard on and off the field, getting in fights in practice and taking in Boston’s nightlife afterward.

“They looked at me and said, ’Steve, we think you’re the criminal element in the league. Get out,” McMahon said in his Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame induction speech in 2019.

The same traits were welcomed by George Halas in Chicago.

“Papa Bear” made it clear. “You know what he said to me, guys?” McMichael recalled in that speech. “I’ve heard what kind of dirty rat you are in practice. Don’t change, Steve.”

McMichael became one of the most feared players on what might be the greatest defense ever assembled. With Hall of Famers Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, Dent and McMichael, the 1985 Bears demolished just about everyone in their path on the way to the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship.

He played 15 years in the NFL — 13 with Chicago. His final season was with the rival Green Bay Packers in 1994, after being released by the Bears.

Soon after his career ended, McMichael started getting involved with professional wrestling. He was also a fixture on sports radio in Chicago.

To see him now?

“It just breaks my heart,” said Dave Siden, McMichael’s friend for more than 40 years.

The two met when Siden lived across the street from the old Halas Hall at Lake Forest College.

“Changed my life, man,” he said.

Siden got prime seats at games and behind-the-scenes access at wrestling events. And when McMichael married Misty in 2001, he was a best man.

“It’s just really cool to be a part of Steve’s life and, as Steve says, bask in his reflective glory,” Siden said.

Now, McMichael gets one more moment of glory.

“He’s scared to die and he shouldn’t be because he’s the most badass man I’ve ever known inside and out,” Misty McMichael said. “He’s a good man. He’s gonna be in heaven before any of us, so I don’t know what he’s afraid of. But I’ve told him to please hang on ’til the 3rd and then, you know, I don’t want to see him suffer anymore. He’s been suffering.” ___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Andrew Seligman, The Associated Press