Gold Jacket Spotlight: Steve McMichael’s toughness, intensity never in question
Gold Jacket Spotlight
Published on : 8/12/2024
From his earliest days on an athletic field as a kid through college and the pros, STEVE McMICHAEL demonstrated a toughness and intensity few have matched.
“He was cut from a different cloth,” Tommy Roberts told the Caller Times in an article published in May 2021.
Roberts coached McMichael on the Freer (Texas) High School football team, where the future Pro Football Hall of Famer was a three-year starter (1973-75). “He was a terror in the making. You could see it coming. He was just young,” Roberts said. “They hit as a pup, they’ll hit as a dog.”
That “dog” this week steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight, barely a week removed from an emotional ceremony welcoming him to Canton.
In his senior year at Freer, McMichael lettered in six sports: football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis and golf. A catcher on the baseball team, he batted .450 in his senior year and was deemed a pro prospect, signing a minor-league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The University of Texas at Austin would be his next stop, however, as a member of the powerhouse Longhorns program. McMichael was named a consensus first-team All-American as a senior and was defensive MVP at the 1979 Hula Bowl. He graduated as UT’s career leader in tackles and sacks.
Head coach Fred Akers described him as “one of the most intense football players on our squad.”
The New England Patriots drafted for that intensity, taking McMichael in the third round with the 73rd overall pick of the 1980 NFL Draft. After six regular-season games, the Patriots released him before the start of the 1981 season.
McMichael called it a mismatch of styles.
What didn’t fit in New England, fit perfectly in Chicago.
Looking to fill a hole on their defensive line, the Bears brought in McMichael to back up future Hall of Famer ALAN PAGE during his final season in the NFL.
The only holes over the next 13 seasons were the ones McMichael stuffed — game after game.
McMichael played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games in a Bears uniform. “Mongo” earned two Pro Bowl nods (1986 and 1987) and three consecutive first-team All-Pro selections (1985-87) and became a vital part in the Bears’ Super Bowl XX run.
From 1982 until 1991, the Bears allowed the fewest points, rushing yards and total yards in the NFL, while recording the most sacks. McMichael played a role in the Bears winning six division championships. In his lone Super Bowl, McMichael started at left defensive tackle and recorded a sack.
McMichael helped the Bears set numerous defensive team records in 1984, including fewest yards allowed (3,863) and most sacks (72; McMichael had 10). The Bears’ 72 total sacks still stand as an NFL record.
His 92.5 career sacks rank second in Bears history, behind Hall of Famer RICHARD DENT. Twice, in 1988 (11.5) and 1992 (10.5), McMichael led the team in the category, and he totaled seven seasons with eight or more.
Former Bears coach MIKE DITKA has called McMichael the toughest player he coached.
McMichael has called on that toughness over the past four years since being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable affliction commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
ALS, which attacks nerve cells that control muscles throughout the body, has taken McMichael’s ability to move or speak. Mentally, however, he remains fully aware, and he saw family and friends huddle around him for the unveiling of his Bronze Bust at his suburban Chicago home Aug. 3.
Back in Canton, Enshrinement host Chris Berman read a quote from McMichael that summed up the new Hall of Famer.
“I don’t want ALS to be my legacy,” Berman read. “What I did on the field, that is my legacy. Pushing myself to the limit farther than anyone could.”
“He was cut from a different cloth,” Tommy Roberts told the Caller Times in an article published in May 2021.
Roberts coached McMichael on the Freer (Texas) High School football team, where the future Pro Football Hall of Famer was a three-year starter (1973-75). “He was a terror in the making. You could see it coming. He was just young,” Roberts said. “They hit as a pup, they’ll hit as a dog.”
That “dog” this week steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight, barely a week removed from an emotional ceremony welcoming him to Canton.
In his senior year at Freer, McMichael lettered in six sports: football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis and golf. A catcher on the baseball team, he batted .450 in his senior year and was deemed a pro prospect, signing a minor-league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The University of Texas at Austin would be his next stop, however, as a member of the powerhouse Longhorns program. McMichael was named a consensus first-team All-American as a senior and was defensive MVP at the 1979 Hula Bowl. He graduated as UT’s career leader in tackles and sacks.
Head coach Fred Akers described him as “one of the most intense football players on our squad.”
The New England Patriots drafted for that intensity, taking McMichael in the third round with the 73rd overall pick of the 1980 NFL Draft. After six regular-season games, the Patriots released him before the start of the 1981 season.
McMichael called it a mismatch of styles.
What didn’t fit in New England, fit perfectly in Chicago.
Looking to fill a hole on their defensive line, the Bears brought in McMichael to back up future Hall of Famer ALAN PAGE during his final season in the NFL.
The only holes over the next 13 seasons were the ones McMichael stuffed — game after game.
McMichael played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games in a Bears uniform. “Mongo” earned two Pro Bowl nods (1986 and 1987) and three consecutive first-team All-Pro selections (1985-87) and became a vital part in the Bears’ Super Bowl XX run.
From 1982 until 1991, the Bears allowed the fewest points, rushing yards and total yards in the NFL, while recording the most sacks. McMichael played a role in the Bears winning six division championships. In his lone Super Bowl, McMichael started at left defensive tackle and recorded a sack.
McMichael helped the Bears set numerous defensive team records in 1984, including fewest yards allowed (3,863) and most sacks (72; McMichael had 10). The Bears’ 72 total sacks still stand as an NFL record.
His 92.5 career sacks rank second in Bears history, behind Hall of Famer RICHARD DENT. Twice, in 1988 (11.5) and 1992 (10.5), McMichael led the team in the category, and he totaled seven seasons with eight or more.
Former Bears coach MIKE DITKA has called McMichael the toughest player he coached.
McMichael has called on that toughness over the past four years since being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable affliction commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
ALS, which attacks nerve cells that control muscles throughout the body, has taken McMichael’s ability to move or speak. Mentally, however, he remains fully aware, and he saw family and friends huddle around him for the unveiling of his Bronze Bust at his suburban Chicago home Aug. 3.
Back in Canton, Enshrinement host Chris Berman read a quote from McMichael that summed up the new Hall of Famer.
“I don’t want ALS to be my legacy,” Berman read. “What I did on the field, that is my legacy. Pushing myself to the limit farther than anyone could.”
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