I was never a Bears fan as I was a Packer fan – but was always a Mike Ditka fan. As a result of this I always had a special place in my heart for the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl team. (Even though the Bears and Packers are bitter rivals)
Living just ninety miles away and listening to Chicago radio all the time I soon knew many on the Bears – you might recognize many of them by watching the Super Bowl shuffle video. Jim McMahon was the quarterback with Walter “Sweetness” Payton lining up next to him. Kevin Butler, fondly called Butthead, was the kicker. Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael were the two defensive tackles shoring up the tough defense on each side of the ball. Mike Singletary was the middle linebacker while “The Fridge” played offensive and defensive.
Hampton was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and McMichael the College Hall of Fame.
McMichael was known as Mongo. He had a huge personality and went on to do broadcasting. McMichael even became a Packer in 1993 before he retired and became a wrestler in the WCW – World Championship Wrestling. This was not new to Mongo as he was a collegiate wrestler at the University of Texas.
Since moving to Florida, then Michigan and now back to Florida I lost track the players on that team but will never forget how great they were. They are an inspiration of how a team is made up of many individuals, with different talents, all working together.
While going through Facebook today I saw there was a Chicago TV story about him. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsAdlj-7_ck On Saturday, Mongo will return to Soldier Field for the 20th annual ALS Walk for Life, where he will receive the Les Turner ALS Foundation's first-ever Courage Award.
I learned that he was diagnosed on April 23rd with ALS – more commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. The irony is that MK’s brother, Burnie, died of ALS on April 1st. We saw ALS ravage Burnie’s body in less than two years. The disease took away his ability to communicate verbally.
It is obvious the disease has already diminished the powerful 270 body that would destroy NFL offenses and beefy wrestlers. It also appears that McMichael is already confined to a wheelchair using a device that he blows into in order to propel it.
The TV interview puts so many things in the proper perspective. He mentioned that he loves watching football while confined to bed or the wheelchair because the season is in full swing and he watches the game much different than before. He sent a powerful message that we should not “take things for granted” in life.
Bible quotations also come to him such as: “Thy will be done” from the Lord’s Prayer and “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away – blessed be the name of the Lord” from Job 1:21.
We will all have the memories of him playing football – just like football fans will always remember Payton running the ball. They are sweet memories as the Bears were a group of individuals working together to achieve the ultimate in football – Super Bowl champions.
But the message Mongo gave us is the good stuff we need to remember every day – do not take things for granted and keep the great times and the awful times in perspective. Because as Job and Mongo tell us “Blessed be the name of our Lord!”
