Bear Digest

Tracking Steve McMichael's Bid

Seniors Pro Football Hall of Fame voters will vote for finalists from the list of semifinalists on Tuesday and Steve McMichael is among those on the list for consideration.

Gene Chamberlain

Tracking Steve McMichael's Bid
Tracking Steve McMichael's Bid /
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The big day for Steve McMichael's bid to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame arrives Tuesday.

The senior voters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame will cast ballots to qualify as many as three senior semifinalists from a group of 12 to be finalists. Then a final vote is held and each of the senior finalists must be approved on 80% of the ballots to be enshrined in 2024.  

McMichael, the rowdy and beloved defensive tackle from the 1985 Bears defensive, has been battling ALS since 2021. He is completely paralyzed and has lost the ability to speak. Earlier this month McMichael spent time in the hospital due to sepsis.

Competition for the possible three spots is fierce as the group of seminalists includes former 49ers running back Roger Craig, Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor, Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, Washington lineman Joe Jacoby, and 1978 defensive player of the year Randy Gradishar from the Broncos. Also in this group of  semifinalists are Maxie Baughan, Art Powell,  Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador and Al Wistert.

Anderson, Baughan, Gradishar, Meador and Sharpe were among the semifinalists a year ago when Chuck Howley Joe Klecko and Ken Riley were finalists.

McMichael's fame permeates the football world. His time as a pro wrestler also earned him fame he might not  otherwise have.

If McMichael is named a finalist, the chances are good he'd make it past the final vote. All three of the senior finalists who were enshrined this year received the 80% or more of support on final ballots a year ago.

Does McMichael Deserve It?

The bid by McMichael isn't merely a sympathy vote. Defensive tackle statistics are not necessarily extensive, but he has numbers on par with many of the defensive linemen who have made the Pro Football Hall of Fame from his era and later. 

According to Pro Football Reference the average number of sacks for defensive tackles enshrined in Canton is 92. 

McMichael played 15 seasons, including 13 in Chicago, and had 95 sacks. He had 92 1/2 with the Bears, ranking him second all time with the team behind Richard Dent.

Klecko was just inducted and had 78 career sacks for 12 seasons.  He never made a Super Bowl. Former Tampa Bay  defensive tackle Warren Sapp is in the Hall and had 96 1/2 sacks for 13 seasons. 

Stopping the run was key to what the Bears of the 1980s did on defense and there are few individual stats from that era on this aspect of football. However, McMichael, Dan Hampton and Mike Singletary were the vital cogs in how the Bears ranked first as a team against the run in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988. They were second in 1986.

The Bears have more people in the Pro Football Hall of Fame than any franchise, and this sometimes works against them with voters. There are 32 who either played, coached or held administrative positions and it's often speculated electors get tired of putting Bears in the Hall.

McMichael was not in the Pro Bowl as often as Klecko or Sapp. He made two Pro Bowls and two times was All-Pro.  However, there is little doubt he was overshadowed in voting by the other defensive starters the Bears had who have made Canton: Singletary, Hampton and Dent.

The truth is, defensive linemen—and defensive tackles in particular—have been slighted in voting for the PFHOF over the years. There are only 19 defensive tackles in the PFHOF, although several were both ends and tackles.

The website Profootballreference.com tracks players eligible for enshrinement or already in with a "Hall of Fame Monitor score," combining numerous aspects of a player's career. McMichael's combined score is 60.18. A score of 100 is the average for a player named to the Hall of Fame at their position.

However, the scores are not always indicative of who gets into the Hall, especially since the advent of seniors voting. 

Twelve of the top 15 defensive tackles in terms of score are in the Hall of Fame. McMichael's 60.18 ranks 18th on the chart in overall score.

Klecko and former Chiefs standout Curly Culp, who made the Hall of Fame in 2013, have scores well below McMichael's. Culp's score was 51.95 and Klecko's 46.58.

Hall of Fame Defensive Tackles

Buck Buchanan 1963-75

Curley Cup 1968-81

Art Donovan 1950-61

Joe Greene 1969-81

Dan Hampton 1979-90*

Henry Jordan 1957-69

Cortez Kennedy 1990-2000

Joe Klecko 1977-88*

Bob Lilly 1961-74

Leo Nomellini 1950-63

Merlin Olsen 1962-76

Alan Page 1967-81

John Randle 1990-2003

Warren Sapp 1995-2007 

Ernie Stautner 1950-63

Arnie Weinmeister 1948-53

Randy White 1975-88

Reggie White 1985-98, 2000*

Bill Willis 1956-53

*Played both defensive tackle and defensive end

Source: Profootballhof.com

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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