Steven McMichael

Stephen Douglas McMichael (born October 17, 1957), nicknamed "Mongo", "Ming" and "Ming the Merciless", is an American former professional football player and professional wrestler.

He was a defensive tackle for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Chicago Bears.

McMichael was born on October 17, 1957, in Houston, Texas.

His parents separated before his second birthday, and his mother later remarried E.V. McMichael, an oil company executive whose surname McMichael adopted.

He has three other siblings: older brother John Richard and younger sisters Kathy and Sharon.

The family moved to Freer, where he attended Freer High School.

In his senior year, he lettered in six sports: football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis and golf.

Baseball was his preferred sport, and whilst playing as a catcher, he batted .450 in his senior year, garnering attention from the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.

McMichael's performances for his high school football team saw him being offered scholarships by 75 institutions.

He decided to attend the University of Texas at Austin.

He played as a defensive tackle for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1976 to 1979, but his freshman season was marred by the death of his stepfather.

During his time at Texas he was an All-Southwest conference choice in 1978 and 1979, the team MVP in 1979 and the backup place kicker in 1977.

In his senior season, he was a consensus first-team All-American, and he was defensive MVP at the 1979 Hula Bowl.

He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was selected by the New England Patriots in the 1980 NFL draft.

During his time with the Bears, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro, winning Super Bowl XX with the team.

He ended his football career with the Green Bay Packers, before making appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) ahead of WrestleMania XI.

He is best known for his work as a professional wrestler with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he became a member of the legendary Four Horsemen stable and was a one-time WCW United States Champion.

McMichael remained a popular figure in Chicago well after his retirement.

He was a regular presence on local sports radio for several years and was the namesake of a restaurant in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

McMichael was drafted out of Texas in 1980 by the New England Patriots but cut before his second season.

The Chicago Bears signed him as a free agent in 1981.

He became one of their starting defensive tackles and helping them to a Super Bowl win in 1985.

McMichael was named to the NFC's Pro Bowl teams for the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

He led the Bears with 111⁄2 sacks in 1988.

He had 108 tackles in 1989.

He had a streak of 101 games started until 1990, when his playing time was reduced.

McMichael gained notability in a 1991 game against the New York Jets.

With the Bears down 13–6 with 1:54 remaining, McMichael forced a Blair Thomas fumble and recovered it at the New York 36.

Quarterback Jim Harbaugh then threw a game-tying touchdown to Neal Anderson with :18 left in the game.

The Bears went on to win in overtime when Harbaugh scored on a 1-yard TD run.

He played with the Green Bay Packers in 1994 before retiring.

Aside from his "Mongo" moniker, McMichael was also nicknamed "Ming the Merciless", or "Ming" for short.

"Thank God New England got rid of me. Some teams, they want you to have a certain image. Other teams, like this one, they just want you to get down and dirty. I'm really proud to be a Bear. The Patriots, yeah, they thought I was a little weird. And I guess I am. But here they don't care, long as you play hard. The town, the coach, the team — it's Steve McMichael. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"For 13 years, I helped the Bears beat the Packers every year. I whupped their ass, right? So the last year, I went up there on my last leg and I wasn't any good anymore. So I stole their money and whipped their ass again!"

In 1999 he was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor

Bears coach Mike Ditka said in 2005 that McMichael was the toughest player he had ever coached.

From 2007 to 2013, McMichael was the head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), and later unsuccessfully campaigned for the mayor of Romeoville, Illinois.

In 2021, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

McMichael was selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024.

On July 17, 2010, McMichael was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.