{"id":859073,"date":"2026-04-07T14:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859073\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:26:21","slug":"former-bears-great-steve-mcmichael-diagnosed-with-cte-after-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859073\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Bears great Steve McMichael diagnosed with CTE after death"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 Hall of Famer Steve McMichael, a key member of the dominating defense that helped the 1985 Chicago Bears<\/a> win the Super Bowl, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the Concussion & CTE Foundation said.<\/p>\n

McMichael died last year<\/a> at 67 after a five-year fight with ALS.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many NFL players are developing ALS during life and diagnosed with CTE after death,\u201d his wife, Misty McMichael, said in a statement released by the foundation. \u201cI donated Steve\u2019s brain to inspire new research into the link between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in athletes in contact sports, combat veterans and others exposed to repetitive head trauma. It has been known to cause violent mood swings, impulsive behavior and depression. It can only be diagnosed after death.<\/p>\n

McMichael was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame<\/a> in 2024 after his ALS diagnosis prompted a push for the former defensive end, who finished his Bears career ranked second in franchise history in sacks. He had hoped to travel to Canton<\/a> for enshrinement but his declining health wouldn\u2019t afford him that luxury; instead, he was awarded the honor in Homer Glen, surrounded by his former teammates. <\/p>\n

When he died last year<\/a>, former teammate Dan Hampton told the Sun-Times he wanted to remember he and McMichael \u201cchasing down [quarterbacks] Tommy Kramer and Kenny Stabler and laughing like hyenas.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a 2021 study by the Harvard Medical School and the Boston University CTE Center, NFL players are more than four times more likely to develop ALS than other men. Dr. Ann McKee, director of the Boston University CTE Center, said about 6% of individuals with CTE in the brain bank also have ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is strong evidence linking repetitive brain trauma and ALS,\u201d McKee said.<\/p>\n

A two-time All-Pro and 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, McMichael was known as \u201cMongo\u201d and \u201cMing The Merciless\u201d while playing in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games from 1981-93. McMichael played his final NFL season with Green Bay in 1994, and then went on to a career in pro wrestling.<\/p>\n

In 2021, McMichael revealed he had ALS, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. He followed the research seeking a link between ALS and CTE and pledged his brain to be studied, according to Chris Nowinski, co-founder and CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve McMichael was known for his strength, toughness, and larger-than-life presence, but his final act was to give a piece of himself back to the sports community so that we might have a chance to save ourselves,\u201d Nowinski said. \u201cI appreciate all the former athletes, including many of Steve\u2019s \u201985 Bears teammates, who are raising funds and volunteering to participate in CTE research so we can create a brighter future for athletes everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick Finley contributed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 Hall of Famer Steve McMichael, a key member of the dominating defense that helped the 1985…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-859073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116363892225363539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}