Steve McMichael was exactly where he needed to be when he witnessed his Hall of Fame moment
HOMER GLEN, Ill. — The McDonald’s billboard down the street offered congratulations. Television crews and a few eager fans waited outside the home in the quiet neighborhood. Security guards stood in the doorway.
Inside lay a man on a hospital bed, dressed in a gold jacket, with many of the people who loved him most.
It’s fair to conclude that Steve McMichael should never have been here.
He should never have been a Chicago Bear. He should have been a New England Patriot. They picked him in the third round of the 1980 NFL Draft, but cut him the following year.
He wasn’t meant to just keep going. He became legendary by playing for 13 years and playing in more games than any other Bears player. He never missed a game due to injury, despite having his knees cut open eight times by doctors.
Steve McMichael played 13 of 15 NFL seasons with the Bears. (Manny Rubio / USA Today)
He would never be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He spent 20 years as a modern-era candidate without even being a semifinalist, and another four years as a senior candidate without being talked about as a candidate. Three of his defensive teammates were already inducted, including two linemen, and no team in history has had three defensive line Hall of Famers.
He wasn’t supposed to be home Saturday. He was supposed to be in Canton, Ohio, with the other inductees. That was the plan until a little over a month ago, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame decided it would be best for him to move the ceremony to his home.
He should never have been with us. When he was diagnosed with ALS in 2020, doctors told him he had two years to live. At times, it seemed like a challenge that he would last that long. He agreed to a do-not-resuscitate order. But during a terrifying medical emergency, he said he wanted to lift it.
McMichael was eager to experience this day.
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Former teammates gathered at the house included Trace Armstrong, Gary Fencik, Mike Hartenstine, Bruce Herron, Tyrone Keys, Emery Moorehead, Jim Morrissey, Jim Osborne, Ron Rivera and Tom Thayer. Others in attendance were his sister Kathy McMichael, his nurse Michelle Foster, Lou Canellis, Gary Haeger, Michael Kinyon, Larry Mayer, Wanda Osborne, Betsy Shepherd, Rick Telander, Larry Wert and John “Nunu” Zomot.
Then a private plane from Akron-Canton Airport arrived at Lewis University Airport. Shortly afterward, Hall of Famers Jim Covert, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary arrived with Misty McMichael, Steve’s wife, and Macy McMichael, their daughter. A Hall of Fame representative carried a box of shrimp and coffee cake, artwork, framed football cards, game balls and trinkets commemorating his career, and set it down by his bed.
It wasn’t long before everyone gathered around his bed. ESPN cameras were rolling and Jarrett Payton’s induction speech was playing on a monitor in front of McMichael. “I feel honored and privileged to present Steve McMichael for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Payton said.
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Misty and Macy unveiled the bust, which made him look like an action movie hero, with his long hair and a Hollywood jawline.
It was warm in the house and McMichael was getting a little overheated, but they cooled him down with a cold washcloth on his forehead.
Most of the time, the new inductee was expressionless and motionless, but aware. The raw power that once defined him has long since faded, but eye contact revealed the heart that led him here.
From the outside, it was a magnificent sight. It was unprecedented for an inductee to be inducted in this manner. One Hall of Fame voter called it “perhaps the greatest induction in history.”
This moment 🧡💙 photo.twitter.com/oNbcRiYKkV
—Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 3, 2024
But the people gathered around his bed didn’t feel that. What they felt was something rarely associated with McMichael: peace.
It’s the peace you feel when all the stars align and the universe unfolds as it should.
Then Dent spoke. “Steve, you’re here with all your world champion relatives,” he said. “Back in Canton, we’ve got 378 relatives looking for you. You’re on a team that you can never be kicked off. You can never be released. If you die on this team, you’ll still be on it. Welcome home, Steve. You’re in football heaven.”
Steve McMichael was somehow exactly where he was supposed to be.
(Top photo of Steve McMichael’s Hall of Fame bust and his wife Misty: Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
