'Mongo' remembered: Reactions to death of beloved Chicago Bears player Steve McMichael
The Pro Football Hall of Famer solidified his legacy as a member of the Bears' beloved Super Bowl XX champions, anchoring a defensive line in Chicago's famed "46 defense" — still considered to be one of the NFL's best defenses.
Advertisement
McMichael was a fixture in Chicago, earning five All-Pro nods in 13 seasons. He has 92.5 sacks with the Bears, second in team history behind former teammate Richard Dent, and played an incredible 191 games in a row — a franchise record.
"Mongo" left an indelible mark on the sports world. We took a spin around social media to get the reactions.
'Brave battle'
The Chicago Bears called McMichael a "one-of-a-kind personality," who "will never be forgotten," posting a heartfelt 90-second highlight video that included words from McMichael himself.
"What you do in life speaks eternal, baby, and I am so glad to be a Chicago Bear and part of you guys' history," he said. "It's an honor and a privilege."
The Pro Football Hall of Fame lauded McMichael's tenacity and highlighted the love shown by his teammates.
Advertisement
"Everyone who played with or against Steve shares the same opinion: No one battled longer or harder from the snap until the whistle than Steve the player," the HOF said in a statement. "That legendary will to fight allowed him to experience his enshrinement as a member of the Hall's Class of 2024. And the love his teammates showed him throughout this difficult journey says everything about Steve the man.'
NFL Draft: The Chicago Bears have made 98 first-round picks in NFL Draft since 1936. Here's the list
Mongo, pro wrestling and the Four Horsemen
McMichael spent his final year in football playing with the Green Bay Packers and performed for years as a wrestler and commentator for multiple professional wrestling organizations, including the World Wrestling Federation.
Advertisement
McMichael was one of the final members of "The Four Horsemen," a legendary wrestling quartet that began with Ric Flair, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. McMichael was part in the late 1990s.
Flair, now 76, celebrated McMichael in a post on X.com, calling him a friend, amazing athlete and human being.
"I have the fondest memories working with him, and this is an extremely heartbreaking loss for me!" Flair wrote. "I love you, Mongo! You fought one hell of a battle!"
Arn Anderson also posted a tribute, calling McMichael "one hell of a man" and ending his remembrance with a "side note to God: You're gonna have your hands full with this one."
'I'll have a speech with that umpire after the game'
In 2001, McMichael sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch during a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. before jumping into song, McMichael sent a barb to home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez, saying "I'll have a speech with that home-plate umpire after the game," referring to a perceived blown call the inning before.
Advertisement
Hernandez glared up from the field at McMichael, who then booed, hoisted a beer and burst into the song.
'Compassion'
Family friend and WGN-TV sports anchor Jarrett Payton, the son of Bears legendary running back Walter Payton, posted a video of McMichael from 2021 in which "Mongo" shares some sobering words in the face of his ALS diagnosis.
"You know what's best in the human condition, my son? Compassion. Not warrior. Not competitor. Not alpha," McMichael said. "The compassion in the human being. And with what's going on in the world today, you kinda lose faith in that, don't ya?
"But everybody that comes into my presence now that I'm in this condition, that's the first thing I see on their face ... Man, and it reinvigorates your belief in humanity."
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Chicago Bears legend Steve 'Mongo' McMichael remembered: Social media reaction
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
Buccaneers land versatile linebacker in PFF's 2021 NFL re-draft
The NFL Draft remains the second-biggest event in the NFL calendar behind the Super Bowl. Like it or not, it remains one of the biggest things fans and media enjoy revisiting to see "what could have been." Pro Football Focus has done a good job this offseason by starting a re-draft series that we have been tracking here on Bucs Wire. In their latest draft, they looked back on, it just so happens to be one of the more impactful ones in recent memory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise: The 2021 NFL Draft. Coming off a Super Bowl, the roster was expected to compete for another with a returning Tom Brady, Mike Evans, and Lavonte David. Jason Licht went for a home run and selected Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, which did not work out. Fast forward a few years, and the former Washington Husky is now with the Cleveland Browns. Ironically, that team is where we get the alternate pick for the Bucs in this re-draft in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The versatile linebacker would be a dynamic pick for the Bucs, as Trevor Sikkema explains. "The Buccaneers had Devin White with Lavonte David in their linebacker room at the time of this draft, but as we now know, that was not for the long haul. They have since been searching for a long-term answer at linebacker. JOK posted single-season PFF WAR marks of 0.25 in 2023 and 0.25 in 2021, good for sixth best and 12th best at the position. He also earned a 76.0 PFF overall grade in three of his four seasons, as well as a 91.7 PFF run-defense grade in 2024. Owusu-Koramoah is set to miss all of 2025 with a neck injury, which does cloud his projection moving forward." Sadly, Owusu-Koramoah is now dealing with some injuries and is going to miss the 2025 season. He remains one of the more prominent young linebackers in the NFL, and at age 25, he is one of the best at his position.
Axios
13 minutes ago
- Axios
The NFL's Surface tablets get an AI upgrade
The National Football League's ubiquitous — and oft-maligned — Surface tablets are getting an AI-infused upgrade, officials from the league and Microsoft tell Axios. Why it matters: The league is trying to give coaches faster access to the data they want, while stopping short of letting the AI make decisions. Driving the news: The NFL and Microsoft on Wednesday announced an expanded, multiyear extension to their longtime partnership. As part of the upgrade, Microsoft is providing teams 2,500 new Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ tablets leaguewide. The tablets, which arrived before the start of the 2025 preseason, allow coaches and players to use Copilot to quickly pull up video clips from specific scenarios such as scoring plays or those on a certain down. Zoom in: Coaches up in the booth will have access to AI copilots that help them navigate massive Excel spreadsheets to track things like personnel groupings and snap counts. In the past, coaches would track everything in the game using Excel, but often resorted to pen and paper to do their analysis of the data. The league is also expanding its use of Microsoft devices to help folks on the business side with game-day operations. Some teams, such as the San Francisco 49ers, have already been using AI to help with tracking wait times at entrances and concessions. (The league has let teams experiment with AI for non-football operations on game day but has, until now, prohibited on-field use.) Catch up quick: The NFL has been using Microsoft's tablets since 2014. There were initial glitches and frustrations — including a few memorable moments of players and coaches manhandling the tablets. "Whatever's in their hand is going to be the receiving end of the displeasure of the results," NFL deputy CIO Aaron Amendolia told Axios. Adding insult to injury, the Microsoft-branded tablets were regularly referred to as " iPad-like tools." The big picture: Harnessing massive amounts of data to make better decisions has been a trend in sports for some time. The key is to ensure the technology is reliable and equitable, Amendolia said. The NFL is also using AI to help identify unsafe plays and develop better protective gear and practices, in partnership with Amazon, as Axios showed off at last year's AI+ Summit in New York. Yes, but: The league — at least for now — is using AI to allow coaches and players to get to the information they want faster, but not allowing the technology to offer its own play call suggestions. Between the lines: The league hopes that the new devices relieve frustrations rather than adding to them. The primary goal of the tablets has always been to get teams more information faster. Coaches only have about 40 seconds between plays. Before the Surface, it used to take several minutes to see data on what worked and what didn't in a play. "There was this time lag that was preventing coaches and players from making faster decisions," Microsoft corporate VP Bryson Gordon told Axios.
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
Bills Pro Bowl left tackle coaches up Bears DE Austin Booker
Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins has faced his fair share of elite pass rushers throughout his eight-year career. The four-time Pro Bowler has gone against the likes of Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Khalil Mack, Trey Hendrickson, and many more players who could get to the quarterback at will. He knows what a good pass rusher looks like, which makes his recent comments to Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker that much more impactful. Last week, the Bills came into the Chicagoland area for their joint practice and preseason game with the Bears. Coming with them was HBO's "Hard Knocks" crew, one year after they followed the Bears themselves around training camp. The HBO series was back at Halas Hall last Friday and happened to catch a very wholesome moment between Dawkins and Booker at practice. "Bro, you drastically look different than everybody out here," Dawkins told Booker in between drills. "So you have to play different than everybody out here. If they ain't doing all that acrobatic [expletive], you got to be the one to do it. Because you're their spark." Booker was indeed a spark for the Bears' defensive line coming into the week. He had a monster performance against the Miami Dolphins in the preseason opener, finishing with three sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble in the 24-24 tie. Dawkins noticed him and how he looked during the joint practice, giving him tips on ways he can improve his game. The veteran also made sure he was available to the second-year pass rusher in case he wanted advice. "I'm here; whatever questions you've got, ask bro," he said. "We're all employees of the NFL, dog." The second-year edge rusher was drafted by the Bears in the fifth round out of Kansas as a raw prospect and seems to be turning heads everywhere he goes. Dawkins clearly sees something in him, and it's good to hear someone like him be willing to coach up a young player. For his part, Booker once again made impact plays in the preseason game. He finished with two tackles, one for a loss, a sack, and a QB hit prior to exiting early with an injury. Even though the sack didn't come against Dawkins, who didn't play, he saw what the young edge rusher can do from the sidelines. Hopefully Booker heeds Dawkins' advice as he continues to develop at the pro level. Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
