Steve McMichael has just secured his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with his fellow Bears by his side.
On Saturday, Aug. 3, the former Chicago Bears defensive tackle and Super Bowl XX champion, 66, was celebrated by his friends and loved ones while being presented his Hall of Fame bust from his Illinois home — as he was unable to attend the enshrinement ceremony in Canton, OH as he is living with ALS.
Footage shared on screen at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton during the event, featured in an article on the special event from the Hall of Fame, showed McMichael covered by a Hall of Fame blanket while surrounded by his wife Misty McMichael, daughter Macy, and fellow Bears Hall of Famers including Jim Covert, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary at his home in Homer Glen, Illinois.
Steve wore the gold jacket he had been presented with, as Misty and Macy unveiled the bust, which had been placed by his bedside.
“Steve, we’re here with all your world champion brothers,” Dent told McMichael during the emotional at-home presentation.
“Back in Canton, we have 378 brothers that are looking for you. You’re on a team that you can never be cut from, you never can be released from. When you die on this team, you will still be on it,” he continued.
After Dent had spoken, Macy spoke to her husband saying, in part, “We love you baby, so proud of you. You look great, your jacket fits you nice[ly].”
Misty McMichael poses with the bronze bust of Steve McMichael during the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on Aug. 3, 2024.
Nick Cammett/Getty
Over in Ohio, the crowd heard an on-camera speech from Steve’s sister Kathy, who read aloud a message that her brother had started himself before he lost his ability to speak, per the Hall of Fame.
“Hey Chicago! Bears fans and Mongo fans. Woo, hoo. I’m in the Hall of Fame, baby! I want to thank the Hall of Fame, the senior selection committee, the Chicago Bears and all the fans,” Kathy read on behalf of her brother. “The best fans in the world and the best city to play football in. I played 15 years in the NFL and loved every minute of every down. I played with the greatest players in the NFL and the greatest defense to this day, baby.”
“I want to thank all my teammates. It’s an honor to join my teammates Walter Payton, Richard Dent, Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton, Jimbo Covert, Coach Ditka, Coach Ryan and all the Bears before us,” she continued, before sharing McMichael’s familial thank you’s.
“To my wife Misty, thank you for giving me my beautiful daughter Macy. And to Macy, you’ll always be my little girl. Daddy loves you. And finally, to my mother, we made it, mama. Your baby made it. Bear down and hook ’em!”
Chris Berman introduces Steve McMichael into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 3, 2024.
Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Steve, who earned the nickname “Mongo,” made three-straight All Pro teams from 1985-87, contributed to a defense that allowed the fewest points, yards on the ground and total yards in the NFL during his first 10 seasons on the team and helped the Bears earn their 1986 Super Bowl victory, per the Hall of Fame.
He enters the Hall of Fame alongside fellow inductees Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, Devin Hester, Dwight Freeney, Randy Gradishar and Patrick Willis.
In 2021, Steve revealed that he had been diagnosed with 36-month onset ALS just months before, with his wife Misty becoming his caretaker.
In February 2024, his family revealed he had been hospitalized and admitted to the ICU while fighting a Urinary Tract Infection. Around that time, Misty shared in an interview that she hoped the enshrinement ceremony would give him the “incentive to hang on for another year,” despite doctors giving him 6 months to live.
Per the Hall of Fame, Jarrett Payton presented Steve for enshrinement in Canton, while the enshrinement host Chris Berman read aloud a powerful quote from Steve: “I don’t want ALS to be my legacy,” he read. “What I did on the field, that is my legacy. Pushing myself to the limit farther than anyone could.”
