Steve McMichael put the pedal to the metal in everything he did as an athlete. From the NFL to the world of professional wrestling, the Chicago Bears legend was intense as intense can be. Often overlooked on a team that included many future Hall of Fame players, McMichael was a major part of the Bears’ success in the 1980s and played a big role in what many call the greatest defense in NFL history. He also got the chance to roll with Ric Flair in one of the greatest stables of all time and has remained a very popular figure in the Chicago area.

The NFL career of Steve McMichael

Following an All-American senior season at the University of Texas, Steve McMichael was taken by the New England Patriots with the 73rd overall pick in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft. But he lasted just one season in Foxborough and played in just six games before signing with the Chicago Bears ahead of the 1981 season.

It took a couple of years for McMichael to crack the starting lineup but once he did, he became one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. In 1983, he started 10 of 16 games and racked up 8.5 sacks. In 1984, he started all 16 games and pushed his total to 10 sacks, one of three players on the team to reach that mark. The Bears reached the NFC Championship Game that year but were embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers, 23-0. Everyone knows what happened the following year.

The 1985 Chicago Bears are easily one of the greatest teams in NFL history. They went 15-1 in the regular season, losing only to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins, and then tore through the NFC playoffs before clobbering the Patriots in the Super Bowl, 46-10. Steve McMichael was a major part of Buddy Ryan’s famed “46 defense” and earned First-Team All-Pro honors, racking up eight more sacks that season.

In 1986, Steve McMichael earned Second-Team All-Pro honors and was elected to his first Pro Bowl. The following season, he was named to his second Pro Bowl and again earned First-Team All-Pro honors. He remained with the Bears through the 1993 season and then played one final NFL season in 1994 with the Green Bay Packers before hanging up his cleats.

From the day he arrived in the Windy City, he never missed a single game for the Bears. His 191 consecutive appearances in a Chicago uniform is still a franchise record and his 92.5 sacks are good for second on the Bears’ all-time list behind only Richard Dent’s 124.5.

Upon retiring from the NFL, ‘Mongo’ wrestled in WCW

Only a few months removed from his final NFL game, Steve McMichael joined WWE for a short time during the famous Lawrence Taylor-Bam Bam Bigelow feud that would go on to headline WrestleMania 11. He was a guest commentator alongside Vince McMahon on an episode of “Monday Night RAW” at one point and accompanied LT to the ring at WrestleMania.

McMichael signed with World Championship Wrestling a few months later and joined the commentary team on “Monday Nitro” while doing his in-ring training behind the scenes.

Initially a babyface as an announcer, McMichael turned heel in his first match in 1996, a tag match which saw he and fellow NFL defensive star Kevin Greene take on Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, which is a pretty big spot for anyone’s first match. McMichael turned heel that night and joined the famed Four Horsemen, another huge honor.

In 1997, McMichael became involved in a big program with Jeff Jarrett and won the United States Championship, a title he lost 25 days later to Curt Hennig, the same night Flair disbanded the Horsemen. “Mongo” would go on to feud with the likes of Goldberg, Raven, and The British Bulldog before helping Flair reform the Horsemen in June 1998. The stable feuded with the nWo until McMichael left the company the following February.

Steve McMichael made one appearance for TNA in 2008 as a special guest referee.

Where is Steve McMichael now?

Steve McMichael has certainly kept busy over the years. In 2007, he took a job as the head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Indoor Football League and held the position until the team folded in 2013. He’s been a radio personality in the Windy City for years and also once ran for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and received 39% of the vote in the loss. He’s also the namesake of Mongo McMichael’s in Romeoville, a sports bar and grill where he can often be found hanging out when he’s not spending time with his wife, Misty, and 12-year-old daughter, Macy.

All stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference