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Steve McMichael (Mongo) Suffering with ALS - now HOF Bound


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33 minutes ago, Capt. Squints said:

It pisses me off that more money hasn't been spent on a cure for this horrible disease. Gehrig has been gone for a very long time.

brain conditions that result in dehabilitation like ALS, hemorrhagic strokes, CTE, etc. are not profitable for pharma or assisted living

the families are on their own unless they possess unlimited wealth for private 7x24 sheet changing

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1 hour ago, Bullneck said:

There's a segment on him on ESPN right now.

 

I lost my MIL to Alzheimer's, a disease that destroys cognitive ability while the physical body keeps going.  This seems like the inverse of that, and equally horrific.  Heart crushing...

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1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

brain conditions that result in dehabilitation like ALS, hemorrhagic strokes, CTE, etc. are not profitable for pharma or assisted living

the families are on their own unless they possess unlimited wealth for private 7x24 sheet changing

Yep. Like *they* say, it's more profitable to treat a disease than it is to cure one. What a fucked up system we have. All I need now is for that Jardiance hogsnapper to make an appearance.

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2 hours ago, slorch said:

I lost my MIL to Alzheimer's, a disease that destroys cognitive ability while the physical body keeps going.  This seems like the inverse of that, and equally horrific.  Heart crushing...

Fu k that’s hard to watch 

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I brought this up earlier in the thread a long while ago.  But before I knew about Steven's connection to UT, I just knew him as the badass DT of the Chicago Bears 'Monsters of the Midway' defense growing up in the area.  

It was the late 80's/early 90's, but he'd go on WMAQ (the NBC affiliate there) with the sports anchor, Mark Giangreco.  And they'd cover the NFL for that week and then kinda do some buddy-comedy back and forth that was entirely ad-libbed.  And it was some of the funniest and most twisted shit you'll ever see in the sporting world.  I mean they basically laid the foundation for half the long-winded bullshit you hear on sports talk radio TV but it for just like 15-25 minutes once a week for a few months a year for a few years.  But McMichael absolutely killed it.  It was insightful analysis mixed with his insane humor and personality.  Mark was kinda the straight guy but they'd mix it up as well.  

All that to say, I've tried to find some old clips over the years.  I know they exist out there somewhere, it has to be hundreds of hours that somebody there took the time to digitize.  But I don't know it's owned by NBC or Peacock or the local affiliate or what the fuck.  But y'all are more tech savvy than me.  If you can find some of them, I promise you---we could post them here and laugh and smile and enjoy the greatness of Steve McMichael in a different way, but also same-same.  I don't think the segment had a name.  It just came on after the regular 10:00p news in during the season when the Bears were in town.  It was him and Mark (or Marc, dunno).  Because there was no 'Tonight Show' on Sundays, they'd go from like 10:30ish to 10:50p-ish, and then turn it over to some latenight garbage like Morton Downey or whatever.  But Steve just fucking crushed it.  Y'all would fucking love it if anybody wants to find it on the deeper web.  

Edited by YGIFS
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On 2/11/2024 at 12:26 PM, slorch said:

I lost my MIL to Alzheimer's, a disease that destroys cognitive ability while the physical body keeps going.  This seems like the inverse of that, and equally horrific.  Heart crushing...

Yeah both ALS & Alzheimer's are the worst shit ever.  I lost my friend Leslie to ALS back in 2021 after she put up a furious fight dating back to 2017.  I still have flashbacks to when I called her to tell her I was coming to DFW from DC for our friend's birthday and that I wanted to see her.  It was during the middle of the day and I thought (to myself thankfully) "It's a little bit early to be pounding the sauce/weed this heavy".  Not but two weeks later she got diagnosed with ALS.  As the universe would have it I would drive her to our friend's hospital when he was in hospice so she could make the heart symbol with her hands to tell him she loved him ~2 years later then ~2 years after that she was gone too :(

Steve is absolutely right in this video and god speed to a Longhorn & Bear legend :tears:

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Way way waaay fuckin overdue, but happy they finally get him in while he's still around.

I'll never forget my first real job I had a Longhorn boss who played with McMichael (won't say who, he may be here for all I know..lost contact a while back) and during lunches and dinners (and many drinks of course) the stories started flowing. My fave is the one he told about a group of players going out to 6th one night, of course they had pre-gamed a bit in the dorms and were feeling good. Anyway they were walking towards Sixth and this car full of frat boys comes screeching around the corner almost hitting Steve...of course windows were rolled down and the fratturds were talking shit...and Steve didn't say a word to them...just calmly walked to the front of the car, clasped his hands together and brought them down like a sledgehammer right in front of the driver..spider webbing the windshield. Then he wordlessly (but grinning and laughing) joined the rest of the players walking to 6th Of course this was before the days of everyone having a camera and social media, you could still settle things on your own terms back then. Hookem Steve

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On 2/11/2024 at 2:25 PM, BillyGoatHill said:

Damn allergies....😢

Congratulations Bam Bam.

Same. Sitting here next to my wife and I have tears rolling down my face. He was waaaaay before my time at UT, but seeing that just hurt. He went from being built like Aaron Donald to looking like Sydney Carton. 

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86 was 6th grade for me, and we were all nfl fans. The 86 bears were a team that non rival fans could pull for. My buddies and I ate it up man, then the released the Super Bowl Shuffle …

IMG_8930.jpeg.cca41d86bb10df53b8074204694f42de.jpeg

 

seeing and hearing so many of his teammates still involved in his life really pulled on the heart strings. Many many nfl fans loved that team 

im pulling like hell that he’s there on induction day. that’s going to be a hell of a reunion 

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86 was 6th grade for me, and we were all nfl fans. The 86 bears were a team that non rival fans could pull for. My buddies and I ate it up man, then the released the Super Bowl Shuffle …
IMG_8930.jpeg.cca41d86bb10df53b8074204694f42de.jpeg
 
seeing and hearing so many of his teammates still involved in his life really pulled on the heart strings. Many many nfl fans loved that team 
im pulling like hell that he’s there on induction day. that’s going to be a hell of a reunion 

Don’t you mean the ‘85 Bears?
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Well, it was the '85 team but the '86 Super Bowl champs.  

Here's a couple stories on the show I was referencing with McMichael that ran on WMAQ-Chicago.  

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/shock-jock/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/12/10/channel-5-unplugs-mcmichael/

There must be some kinda 'embargo' on the episodes being searchable.  But fuck would I love for y'all to see them.  McMichael was do damn funny.  I mean, it came more naturally to him than playing football.  So yeah, looks like it ran from 1989-1991 or 1990-1992-ish.  By all accounts though, he was just a super guy to work with, funny, smart, warm, and kind with the staff.  But as is usually the case, some Karens got butt-hurt about some of his antics on-camera, and complained enough to get him removed from the show.  When he first got sick, I contacted WMAQ to see if they'd post some of the tapes (they did not).  I think if maybe UT Athletics reached out, from like one AV department to another...maybe they could cull a few episodes or a montage.  Hyperbole aside, you guys would fucking love it.  It was 'Peak Mongo.'  You could feel how much he was loving the show and football and life in general through the TV.  

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12 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Well, it was the '85 team but the '86 Super Bowl champs.  

Here's a couple stories on the show I was referencing with McMichael that ran on WMAQ-Chicago.  

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/shock-jock/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/12/10/channel-5-unplugs-mcmichael/

There must be some kinda 'embargo' on the episodes being searchable.  But fuck would I love for y'all to see them.  McMichael was do damn funny.  I mean, it came more naturally to him than playing football.  So yeah, looks like it ran from 1989-1991 or 1990-1992-ish.  By all accounts though, he was just a super guy to work with, funny, smart, warm, and kind with the staff.  But as is usually the case, some Karens got butt-hurt about some of his antics on-camera, and complained enough to get him removed from the show.  When he first got sick, I contacted WMAQ to see if they'd post some of the tapes (they did not).  I think if maybe UT Athletics reached out, from like one AV department to another...maybe they could cull a few episodes or a montage.  Hyperbole aside, you guys would fucking love it.  It was 'Peak Mongo.'  You could feel how much he was loving the show and football and life in general through the TV.  

Dude was a fucking legend

referring to his wife and her pals as “the Kotex Mafia.”

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Not a great update. 

Quote

Chicago Bears great Steve McMichael has contracted another infection and was undergoing a blood transfusion days after being admitted into intensive care at a suburban Chicago hospital, his family said in a statement Saturday.

The family said McMichael -- who went public with an ALS diagnosis three years ago -- contracted MRSA, a staph infection that can be difficult to treat because it is resistant to certain antibiotics.

"We are asking for your prayers to get Steve through this difficult time," the family said. "Steve and his family and close friends believe in the power of prayer. Thank you for your love and continued support for our Mongo." 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39546626/bears-legend-steve-mcmichael-undergoing-blood-transfusion

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Proposal: Let's retire his number.* College Football Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1st team All-American, 2x All-SWC, Super Bowl champ with the 85 Motherfucking Bears.... and he's dying. Who's with me. 

*As long as we're retiring numbers. I'd prefer to keep all in circulation. 

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What an unfathomably cruel disease.  God bless Misty.  I’m sure she didn’t think this is how her marriage would go.

i can’t see him making it to August but so happy that he finally got this well deserved honor.  

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Appreciate the effort, but can anyone else get those ESPN videos to play on their iPhone?

Correction: I got the other videos to play if I turned off my WiFi. Still doesn’t help with Steve’s video. ESPN must know I’ve disparaged them. 

Edited by ImissWallyPryor
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