Immediate Danger Passes

Steve McMichael's wife says former Bears defensive tackle will be in ICU "a few more days" after sepsis scare.

Immediate concern over the condition of former Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael was somewhat diminished on Saturday after a scare with sepsis.

Still, the battle goes on for the Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate against ALS.

"Team Mongo" issued a statement on the player Bears fans know affectionately as Mongo or Ming the Merciless.

"Steve will be in the ICU for a few more days on IV antibiotics to clear this infection," McMichael's wife Misty said in the statement. "He also has some fluid in his lungs which he is being treated for as well.

"He is feisty as ever. Our Mongo is back! Please keep the prayers coming."

McMichael, who has been battling the disease since 2021, on Thursday night had been unconscious and was taken to the hospital. He woke up at about 7 a.m. Friday after getting antibiotics for the infections.

#Bears family,

Here’s an update on Steve McMichael. Please keep sending those prayers up. #TeamMongo 🙏🏽🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6GTemCO156

— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) August 5, 2023

The statement by the family said he has been improving ever since.

On Aug. 22 the seniors committee votes on finalists for the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame and McMichael is one of the 12 semifinalists. They'll be trying to come up with one to three names to submit for enshrinement and this requires at least 80% approval on all the ballots.

"I hope he stays alive for the next year because I know he will if he gets inducted," Misty McMichael told the website Patch last week. "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."

McMichael has 92 career sacks and was a key member of a Bears 1980s defensive line that has two members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame already—Richard Dent and Dan Hampton.

Those three, William Perry, Mike Hartenstine and linebackers Mike Singletary, Wilber Marshall and Otis Wilson formed a defensive front that led the NFL in stopping the run each season from 1983-85 and 1987. They were second against the run in 1986.

Defensive tackle is not a position voted into the Hall as often as many other spots. There are 38 total defensive linemen enshrined in Canton and 18 were defensive tackles, but of those tackles Hampton and Reggie White also played defensive end.

On the other hand, there are 67 offensive linemen in the Hall of Fame.

On Saturday, former Jets defensive lineman Joe Klecko was inducted. Klecko made the Pro Bowl at three different defensive line positions and played 12 seasons, three less than McMichael. He had 78 career sacks. Klecko was in five playoff games and never played in the Super Bowl. The Jets made it to the AFC championship game once while he was there, in the strike-shortened 1982 season when only nine games were played.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven