Chicago Bears great Steve McMichael is expected to be released from a suburban hospital in the coming days after being admitted to the intensive care unit Thursday evening with a urinary tract infection, his family said in a statement.
McMichael, 66, also underwent a procedure to remove fluid from his lungs during his current hospitalization, the family said Friday.
McMichael, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last week, has been in a yearslong battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He has lost the ability to talk or move, and his body has been ravaged by the progressive nervous system disease.
When his family learned last summer that the Hall of Fame’s seniors committee had recommended McMichael for entry, they were thrilled he was still alive to receive such an honor.
“It’s happening,” McMichael’s wife, Misty, told the Tribune in late August. “And you have no idea. This has been a reason for him to keep going, to keep fighting.”
During a 15-season NFL career, McMichael played 13 years with the Bears, including 191 consecutive regular-season games plus 12 in the playoffs. He was a key member of the Bears defense throughout the 1980s and a disruptive force on the defensive line during the 1985 Bears’ run to their Super Bowl XX triumph.
McMichael was part of six NFC Central championship teams with the Bears and had 92 1/2 sacks with the team, second in franchise history behind fellow Hall of Famer Richard Dent.
Last week, a day after McMichael’s Hall of Fame entry was announced at the NFL Honors event during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas, his youngest sister, Kathy, expressed the family’s delight and relief.
“It’s the most amazing feeling in the whole world to know that he’s in and to know he’s being recognized,” Kathy said. “And that he deserves it. … We waited for this for a very long time. And it’s just amazing that he gets to be a part of this. That’s all we wanted was for him to know that he was going to be in the Hall of Fame and live there for eternity.”
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) February 16, 2024
McMichael’s family and friends are hopeful he will live long enough to experience the Aug. 3 Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, whether from his home in Homer Glen or, by some miraculous set of circumstances, in Canton, Ohio, with proper medical oversight.
After this week’s hospitalization, McMichael seems to be fighting and recovering again.