Former Bears Hester, Peppers, McMichael make NFL Hall of Fame

[Moriarty]

He's been hospitalized before, so he could survive.


However, I was also quietly thinking to myself recently that hanging in until the announcement may have been keeping him going, and a psychological letdown afterwards could do him in.

[The Marshall Plan]

However, I was also quietly thinking to myself recently that hanging in until the announcement may have been keeping him going, and a psychological letdown afterwards could do him in.

I was thinking the same thing. I’ve seen something like this before.

When my father-in-law was dying of cancer he was at home in hospice care and obviously not doing too well and downsliding.

He had the same best friend since high school and he came over to visit. For that day my father-in-law was a brand new man. Sitting up. Talking. Eating. Laughing.

A couple days later he was dead.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Positive news courtesy of Patrick Finley:

Former Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael has responded well to the three antibiotics given him to combat a urinary tract infection, his longtime publicist Betsy Shepherd said in a statement Friday. He is set to undergo a procedure to clear fluid from his lungs, too, and is expected to leave the hospital in the coming days.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

This isn't good:

Former Bears star Steve McMichael diagnosed with MRSA, family asks for prayers

Steve McMichael was diagnosed with MRSA, a staph infection that can be resistant to certain antibiotics, while in a New Lenox hospital, his longtime publicist Betsy Shepherd said in a statement Saturday. His family was asking for prayers for the 66-year-old former Bears defensive lineman, who underwent a blood transfusion Saturday.

McMichael, who was diagnosed with ALS in January 2021, was rushed to the emergency room Thursday with what his wife Misty first feared was pneumonia. He was diagnosed instead with a urinary tract infection. He responded well to antibiotics to treat the UTI, Shepherd said Friday. He had a procedure to clear fluid from his lungs and was expected to leave the hospital in a manner of days. The diagnosis of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, complicates that plan.

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... or-prayers

MRSA was a major issue in UK hospitals a few years ago and led to an overhaul of hygiene regimens including the introduction of hand gels all over the place.

[Grizzled]

Ouch. Greatly complicates his treatments.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Hopeful news:

Former Bears standout Steve McMichael responding well to treatment for MRSA

Steve McMichael is responding well to antibiotics given him to treat MRSA, a staph infection that is resistant to some medications. His improvement has left his wife Misty optimistic that the former Bears star, who has ALS, can leave a New Lenox hospital Tuesday with IV antibiotics.

"He's Mongo," she said in a statement Sunday, "and his DNA is different."

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... -infection

[docc]

Former Bears standout Steve McMichael responding well to treatment for MRSA

..and Hall of Famer..

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Former Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael in race to Canton

Steve McMichael is in a furious race.

He has been at it a long time, and the finish line is close. Yet the tape seems to recede like a mirage on a shimmering horizon.
...

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony — the finish line — is Aug. 3. That’s when the inductees are introduced on stage, wearing their new gold jackets, in front of a crowd of dignitaries, fans and other Hall of Famers. Their busts will be ready for enshrinement, their place in NFL immortality secure.

But the event is almost a half-year from now, a marathon away. It’s anybody’s guess whether McMichael can live that long.

His wife and constant caretaker, Misty, says they’re going to the ceremony, by God.

‘‘Stay alive?’’ she says. ‘‘At least till Canton. He deserves it and always has.’’
...

After seeing an ESPN documentary about McMichael’s travails, Mike Honeycutt, the owner and CEO of JET ICU, an airline medical-ambulance company based in Florida, told Misty he will fly Mongo to Canton free of charge. This is a huge step forward.

They’ll go in a Learjet 60, with two pilots, two nurses, Misty and Mongo’s personal home nurse all there to assist him as he lies flat on a stretcher.

‘‘It’s our privilege to help him,’’ says Mary McCarthy, the chief nurse for JET ICU.

She explains how the company transports people around the world with medical emergencies.

‘‘Heart attacks, strokes, people on bucket lists, you name it,’’ McCarthy says. ‘‘Yesterday we had someone with a barracuda bite. But it takes a hundred people to move a someone like Steve.’’

Those extras are the ground crews, the wheelchair people, the ambulance services, the nurses needed around the clock, on and on — all to help one helpless man on a mission.

Sometimes it’s all too much for Misty. She will talk and be as funny and edgy as Mongo at his finest, but then tears suddenly will appear and she’ll cry.

You wonder whether all this isn’t bittersweet, given that McMichael is, in essence, being honored by the very entity that caused his demise. Won’t it be a kind of grand embarrassment to the NFL to see this wounded man on stage?

‘‘Bittersweet,’’ Misty says. ‘‘That’s the perfect word for it.’’

Make no mistake, ALS will be front and center if Mongo makes it to Canton.

‘‘It’s not a secret about the connection,’’ Misty says. ‘‘That’s why the NFL paid up. I want awareness of ALS.’’

I remember talking with Mongo, the whole guy, back in 2019, before he felt any weakness. We were talking about how tough running back Walter Payton was, how he lived by the warrior code, by Mongo’s code.

‘‘In practice, he was the only one you didn’t hit coming through the line,’’ McMichael said with that impish grin of his. ‘‘And you know what Walter’s attitude was? It would piss him off! ‘Bring it on, mother----ers!’ ’’

That’s retro. That’s old-school. That’s brutal.

That’s what Mongo will take to Canton.

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... -to-canton

[Umbali]

Ouch. Greatly complicates his treatments.

Hard to imagine with those types of complications , making it until Aug.

Praying he does

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Good news:

Bears legend Steve McMichael leaves hospital after 8-day stay

Eight days after he was rushed to a New Lenox emergency room, former Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael went home Friday night.
...

McMichael’s body responded well to medication for MRSA and he was allowed to return to Homer Glen with two separate intravenous antibiotics to fight his infections. He’ll continue to receive around-the-clock nursing care, which he's had for two years.
...

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... -misty-nfl

Even now Mongo is one tough son of a gun.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The Bears are running a 5-part series on Devin Hester on their website. Here's Part 1:

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/road- ... ame-a-bear

[Bearfacts]

In my world no two Bears players are more deserving of this honor than Mongo and Hester.

Mongo was like Poncho to Hampton's Cisco Kid and as a game wrecker maybe even the better of the two. To me he was the ultimate 3 tech DT of his era even if that's not how he defined that position. Mongo and John Randle were nearly unstoppable pass rushers. I was sad to hear of his illness and the damage it's done to him but also glad his indomitable spirit to live has kept him alive to enjoy this honor. No unsung '85 Bears player deserved it more.

Hester was ridiculous and it's only been the HOF quandry about how to honor a guy who primary talent was as a return specialist not a position player that's taken this long to honor him. Not even Gale Sayers was a prolific as a returner as Hester but one thing I noticed while watching him is both he and Sayers had that unique ability to change direction at full speed without breaking stride. Once he turned on his jets if he could find an opening there was no way to stop him or catch him. It was all over.

Pep is also one of my favorite Bears. I only regret that we had him for too short a period of time. Great football player and a truly nice guy as well. Couldn't be happier to see him honored by the HOF too.

[Bearfacts]

The Bears are running a 5-part series on Devin Hester on their website. Here's Part 1:

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/road- ... ame-a-bear

Gonna be a great series. Thanks!

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Bears great Steve McMichael hospitalized

Former Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael, who is set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, was hospitalized Wednesday, his longtime publicist Betsy Shepherd said. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and was expected to be released Wednesday night.

Wife Misty McMichael thanked fans for their prayers.
...

“He was just a ferocious and relentless player," Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren said last week at the NFL's annual meeting. "To play that position for that long at that level is just unmatched."

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... spitalized

He's hanging on in there. I hope he makes it for his big day, but each time he gets one of these infections it just seems so much further away.

[southdakbearfan]

Bears great Steve McMichael hospitalized

Former Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael, who is set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, was hospitalized Wednesday, his longtime publicist Betsy Shepherd said. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and was expected to be released Wednesday night.

Wife Misty McMichael thanked fans for their prayers.
...

“He was just a ferocious and relentless player," Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren said last week at the NFL's annual meeting. "To play that position for that long at that level is just unmatched."

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... spitalized

He's hanging on in there. I hope he makes it for his big day, but each time he gets one of these infections it just seems so much further away.

It’s a terrible disease. Lost a close friend last year, he went from being a runner/golfer to a walker to wheelchair to gone in 11 months.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Sorry for your loss southdakbearfan.

McMichael's been discharged with antibiotics and is back home. I suspect this will be a recurring situation. It's his second UTI in a matter of weeks. It's something that happens a lot to people who have a catheter.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

As with Hester, the Bears are running a 5-part series on Steve McMichael on their website. Here are the links to Parts 1 & 2:

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/road- ... ins-strong

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/road- ... q1nAbo3sZU