Steve McMichael built one of the great legacies in Chicago Bears history on the field. Cast out by his original team, George Halas took a chance by signing him in 1981 despite knowing he had a track record for being a bit of a head case. “Mongo” rewarded the organization with over 90 sacks, Pro Bowl appearances, and becoming a key member of the all-time great defense that claim their only Super Bowl title in 1985.
While the game of football gave him so much, he feared it was also taking more from him earlier this year. He started to realize that he was losing feeling and strength in his right arm. So he went to the doctor, assuming it was likely from three ruptured discs in his neck. Something from his playing days he still needed to fix. During one test the doctor raise his arm all the way up and told him to stop it from falling. McMichael couldn’t.
That was when the diagnosis shifted.
The doctor soon became certain he had ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spine. Motor neurons are degenerate and die, leading to the demise of muscles in the body. People may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe as a result. It’s a terrifying illness. One that McMichael refused to accept for some time.
When it became clear that is what he had, the former defensive tackle had to adjust to his new life quickly. It took some time for him to come to terms with what he had. That was when he decided to speak, conducting an interview with Jarrett Payton of WGN. He revealed everything including the sad fact that his time in the public eye was at an end. When asked what he wanted to say to Bears fans out there who loved him, McMichael chose to remind them about the organization they cheer for.
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“I want them to realize this about the Chicago Bears and the McCaskeys that own them. You know I filed for the benefits and stuff from the NFL that they’re a part of. But they have stepped up. There’s a wheelchair in there that they just paid for, for me. They stepped up, ‘What can we do for you, Steve?’ I want the Bear fans to be proud of that. Of who they are and what they’re doing. I mean that’s who you want them to be, right?”
Steve McMichael proves just how far loyalty goes
It would be easy for him to be bitter towards the Bears and everybody else for how his life ended up this way. Instead, he extended his eternal gratitude towards an organization that took a chance on him, made him an all-time legend in the town, and has continued to support him even in his later years. One of those wheelchairs he mentioned? They go for thousands of dollars. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. To buy him one as a gesture of goodwill is pretty awesome.
This should serve as a reminder that while people slam the McCaskey family for how they run the organization, the reality is they’re about as classy as it gets. Good people across the board who remain huge, loyal fans of Bears football. That isn’t the case of every owner in the NFL. This should serve as a reminder it’s okay to be proud of the people who own your favorite team.
Despite some of the things they do wrong, they also do a lot right.
It’s difficult to tell how much longer Steve McMichael has. People diagnosed with ALS tend not to survive beyond four years. So much of that depends on the type of care he gets and how rapidly the disease progresses. Stephen Hawking had ALS but survived 55 years because it progressed slowly and he received treatment from nurses. Knowing how tough Mongo is? This disease is in for a hell of a battle.
