Steve McMichael has always been a man unafraid to share his opinion. Especially when it comes to the Chicago Bears. He’s thrilled with where the team is at now. Playing great defenses again and winning football games. He has high hopes for them. However, he wasn’t shy about calling them out at every opportunity just a couple of years ago. The reason? Former head coach John Fox. It seems McMichael was not a fan.
In fact, several former Bears from those 1980s teams grew to dislike the former Bears head coach and weren’t shy about saying so after the man was fired in 2018.
Dan Hampton, Gary Fencik, and Tom Thayer were three such examples.
Fencik didn’t like how Fox treated fans as if they were idiots. He had no respect for them. Thayer called Fox a hypocrite for criticizing the Bears’ kicker situation when he was the one who led the charge to cut Robbie Gould in the first place back in 2016.
McMichael’s beef was more about Fox’s inability to discipline his team against constant mistakes every week. This was revealed in a piece by Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune with the former defensive tackle announcing it to delighted fans at the Bears 100th anniversary celebration.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Against convention guidelines, he grants every request for a quick photo and signs multiple items for those bold enough to ignore the one-signature-per-person restriction. A volunteer recognizes the amount of time McMichael is spending with each fan may prevent him from getting through even half the line of people waiting.
“Guys!” he orders, “Have whatever you want Mr. McMichael to sign ready when you get up here. We need to keep this moving! Please be prepared!”
McMichael laughs and stands halfway up. “Yes!” he implores. “Please be prepared! Don’t be like John Fox’s teams!”
A roar of laughter erupts and McMichael goes back to signing.
Steve McMichael probably would’ve been cut by Fox
Lack of preparation was indeed one of the biggest problems with Fox’s teams. In games that were decided by a touchdown or less over his three seasons as a head coach, Fox was 8-17. This was due in large part to the team’s inability to execute in high-stakes situations. The offense always seemed to stall and the defense would surrender big plays at inopportune times. Lack of discipline was always a major criticism with Fox. Rather than put his foot down, if a player was becoming a headache he simply got rid of them.
One can only imagine how he would’ve reacted if McMichael were on his team. “Mongo” was a personality turned up to 11 at all times. He didn’t mind causing a little trouble and making things interesting. If Mike Ditka had headaches dealing with him, one can only imagine how Fox would’ve reacted. Regardless, the Bears are no doubt happy that experience is over. McMichael being one of them.
