Bears Hall Of Fame Hopeful McMichael Hospitalized In ICU

HOMER GLEN, IL — Steve McMichael, the former Chicago Bears star who played on the 1985 Super Bowl championship team remains hospitalized after he was admitted Thursday night into the intensive care unit, according to a family spokesperson.

McMichael, who has been battling ALS — more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — since 2021, was taken to the hospital with sepsis. He was unconscious and has been put on two IV antibiotics, the family said.

A source close to the family told Patch on Friday that McMichael’s vitals are stable and the family announced that McMichael, who is 65, is awake and is showing signs of improvement but is also dealing with pneumonia. A family spokesperson said on Saturday that McMichael will spend the better part of a week as doctors continue to monitor his condition.

McMichael was named as one of 12 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which will be voted on later this month. Misty McMichael, who has been married to the former Bears defensive lineman and pro wrestler for 22 years, told Patch this week that she is optimistic that her husband will finally be voted into the Hall. But, she said, that she fears that his chances have now reached the "now or never" stage.

“This time is different,” Misty McMichael told Patch this week.

The Hall of Fame vote is Aug. 22 and Misty McMichael believes that her husband will finally receive the recognition he deserves from the Hall of Fame. If elected to the Hall, McMichael would join fellow 1985 Bears Walter Payton, Jimbo Covert, Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, and Richard Dent — along with former Bears coach Mike Ditka in Canton.

“I hope he stays alive for the next year because I know he will if he gets inducted,” Misty McMichael told Patch. “I know he’ll stay alive. He’s tough. He’s not human. He probably should have been dead already. The doctors have been giving him six months for a year.

“But he’s hanging on, and I really hope that this gives him the incentive to hang on for another year.”

In a statement issued on Friday, Misty McMichael said her husband “needs to see himself enshrined into the Hall of Fame,” and asked fans to pray for him to get through this.