Bear Digest

ALS takes legendary Chicago Bears star Steve McMichael at age 67

Steve McMichael died of Lou Gehrig's disease only nine months after he went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Gene Chamberlain|
Steve McMichael's jersey was put on display at the Halas Hall lobby after his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as daughter Macy (left) and wife Misty look on.
Steve McMichael's jersey was put on display at the Halas Hall lobby after his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as daughter Macy (left) and wife Misty look on. | Julie Vennitti Botos/Canton Repository / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Chicago Bears

Steve McMichael rarely did anything quietly during his football career and then as a pro wrestler, football analyst and a beloved Chicago celebrity.

Over the past four years, though, McMichael staged a quiet battle for his life against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and finally lost in hospice care Friday with family and friends around him at the age of 67.

McMichael's death met with an outpour of affection from Bears fans and celebrities who knew him throughout his time in the public eye, whether it was as "Mongo" or "Ming the Merciless" or as a bombastic pro wrestler after his football career..

"He was a warrior," coach Mike Ditka said of McMichael while searching for words to describe his former player during an NFL Films interview.

Steve McMichael on the sidelines at Super Bowl XX with Jim McMahon after the 46-10 rout was decided.
Steve McMichael on the sidelines at Super Bowl XX with Jim McMahon after the 46-10 rout was decided. | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

McMichael actually had won his first race against the crippling illness known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.

That occurred last August when he lived for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining former Bears defensive linemen and teammates Dan Hampton and Richard Dent, linebacker Mike Singletary, offensive tackle Jimbo Covert and the late Walter Payton from the 1985 world championship team in Canton.

McMichael had a rather humble start to his career considering the raucous years that would follow, as he came out of Texas undrafted, and then failed to stick with the New England Patriots in 1981. The Bears claimed him and he gradually worked his way into Buddy Ryan's heart as an effort guy on the defensie line.

"I tell you what, he's a throwback," Ditka said in the NFL Films interview. "What I liked about Steve was he could have played in any era of football.

"He could have played in the 20s 30s, 50s, 60s, 80s or the year 2000 because he played the game the way the game's supposed to be played."

McMichael teamed with good friend Dan Hampton, defensive ends Richard Dent and Mike Hartenstine and William "The Refrigerator" Perry to destroy opposing offenses, starting with the second half of the 1983 season. The Bears made a surge the next year to the division title and then the defense, Payton, Jim McMahon and the offense raised to a higher level, as well, and they tore through the postseason in a way no team before or since has done.

McMichael and Co. remained a force defensively until almost the end of the Dikta era as coach in 1992, then a year under Dave Wannstedt and then he actually finished his career playing for the rival Packers one season.

In the process, McMichael set the Bears record for consecutive games played at 191. He made 847 tackles and 95 sacks, although those numbers are somewhat sketchy since they didn't start keeping tackles as a stat until well after he was playing in the league.

His 92 1/2 Bears sacks are second behind only Dent (124 1/2).

When McMichael retired, he went into the wrestling ring in 1996 and was a member of the famed Four Horsemen, a group that included good friend Ric Fair.

While wrestling, he actually was pitted against the great Reggie White and also Hall of Famer Kevin Greene.

McMichael was a commentator on pregame shows for ESP radio in Chicago, and also coached the indoor football team the Chicago Slaughter.

The ALS diagnosis came four years ago.

"Heartbreaking is not nearly a strong enough term," Hampton told Chicago broadcaster Dan McNeil. "It's devastating."

Gradually, McMichael lost all ability to move.

After being stricken with ALS, the push began to get him into the Hall of Fame and it was accomplished, greatly, through the efforts of Bears and NFL writer Dan Pompei.

"The one part of that equation that was always left undone was was, 'Was he really good enough to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer?" Hampton told McNeil on his podcast. "His selection verifies that yes, he was so dynamic as a player."

McMichael delivered more than his share of on-field punishment even against top competition. His bombastic style on and off the field won over Bear fans of many eras, even after his career ended.

"You know, I had the chance to play with so many special players, Walter Payton, to see what he meant," Hampton told McNeil. "He was an incredible teammate but he was an even better player. Well Steve was the exact same type of a player.

"Not only was a he a dynamic force on the field but off the field in how he prepared, how he would kind of tutor and nurture the younger players and encourage different players when they were going through some tough times. He was beloved by everybody whoever played with him."

The outpouring of affection for McMichael verifies it.

McMichael is survived by his wife, Misty Davenport, and daughter Macy Dale. They stuck by him through thick and thin in the final days.

McMichael couldn't win the last battle against ALS, but he won something else more important—the hearts of football fans everywhere.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.