Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame

Update —

Steve “Mongo” McMichael is officially part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 class.

A story on McMichael and his fight against ALS will air on ESPN’s Postseason NFL Countdown this Sunday.

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As he battles ALS, Steve “Mongo” McMichael is set to receive one of the greatest honors of his life.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the former WCW wrestler and Four Horseman member will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its 2024 class. The official announcement will be made on Thursday night.

McMichael was a star defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears and was part of their 1985 team that won the Super Bowl and is considered the best defense in NFL history. 

McMichael, who has waited decades for his induction, was one of three Seniors Committee finalists for this year’s class. He needed to receive 80 percent of the vote from the Hall of Fame’s 50-person selection committee.

In 2021, McMichael went public with the news that he’s battling ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The fatal disease currently has no cure.

“He would have died at home if it wasn’t for the nomination,” McMichael’s wife Misty told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2023. “He was dying in front of us. We ripped up the DNR (do not resuscitate orders) because of the nomination. He has to live to see this.”

McMichael worked for WCW as a wrestler and commentator after his football career ended. He was a member of the Four Horsemen and a one-time United States Champion.

McMichael also appeared at WrestleMania XI in 1995 as part of Lawrence Taylor’s match against Bam Bam Bigelow.

In an interview with WGN earlier this month, Ric Flair discussed McMichael’s battle with ALS:

When I see him, I just start crying – to know that he’s so aware of everything up here. I don’t know if a lot of people are aware that you don’t lose anything up here. You just lose the use of your body. I’d do anything in the world to make him smile. To see that smile last for 30 seconds or a minute or whatever is so special because he’s a great human being.

Flair added that he thought McMichael already should have been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

I think it’s mandatory. It’s one of these things where I think he already should have been based on his stats. He’s right there with Warren Sapp – almost tied or equal number wise.

I’ll tell you this, if we all go to Canton and he gets inducted and they bring him up on stage, it’ll be a Jimmy Valvano moment. Like his speech at the ESPYs.

‘Never give up.’