"I was ready for Bourbon Street in the third quarter." ---on Super Bowl XX---

Steve "Mongo" McMichael is one athlete who proved that there is life after pro sports. Following his successful NFL career, he turned to the world of pro wrestling and had a nice run in the business before fading out into the simple life.

Steven Douglas McMichael was born on October 17th, 1957 in Houston, Texas. After moving to Freer, Texas at age 5, he grew up with a passion for sports, particularly football, baseball, and hunting. Following high school he rejected offers to play baseball for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals, as well as a scholarship offer from Alabama coach Bear Bryant, to attend the University of Texas and played for the Longhorns from 1975-79, primarily Defensive Tackle but was also the backup placekicker in 1977. During his college years, he accumulated several honors, including an All-American and All-Southwestern Conference in 1978 and 1979, the Longhorns' team MVP and Hula Bowl MVP in 1979, and was later inducted into both the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of 1980's draft, McMichael played in only 3 games and was released, cited as "the criminal element" in the NFL. The struggling Chicago Bears signed him in 1981 for a second chance, and it proved to be a great investment in the long run. "Mongo" became one of the most recognizable and feared members of the famed "Monsters of the Midway", earning 5 trips the the Pro Bowl, being part of Buddy Ryan's famed 46 defense with the Super Bowl Champion 1985 Bears, playing in 191 games (a team record) consecutively (sometimes hurt; during his career Mongo had 8 knee surgeries), and garnering 92.5 sacks (2nd all-time in Bears history to Richard Dent). Bears coach Mike Ditka even called McMichael "one of the greatest players I ever coached." Following the 1993 season, McMichael signed as a free-agent with division rival Green Bay, only because they offered him more money. Mongo only played the one year (with a torn knee ligament, to boot), and according to several reports was not happy with his time with the Packers; he retired after the 1994-95 season.

Before he announced his retirement, Mongo found a newfound interest: professional wrestling. Steve was no stranger to wrestling, having attended Wrestlemania II in their Chicago location in 1986 (sitting in the front row) to cheer on his teammates Jim Covert and William "The Refrigerator" Perry in the 20-Man Battle Royal. In 1995, Steve was invited to be one of several NFL stars to back up Lawrence Taylor, McMichael appeared at Wrestlemania XI in April 1995. Following that show, McMichael was hired by WWF rival WCW in August 1995 to do color commentary for their Monday night Nitro wrestling show, which he split with his duties on TNT's Sunday Night NFL's color man. It wasn't until April when it appeared McMichael might take his career (and his bank account) in a different direction.

"Nature Boy" Ric Flair began flirting with Mongo's wife Debra before matches, much to Steve's fury. Confronting Flair at Slamboree 1996, Mongo challenged Flair and Arn Anderson to a tag match with him and his partner: NFL great Kevin Greene. The match took place at the Great American Bash on June 16, 1996. McMichael and Greene looked impressive during the fight, but Debra emerged with a Haliburton briefcase full of $50,000 and a Four Horseman shirt, which Mongo shut and smashed Greene's head with, joining Flair, Anderson, and Chris Beniot to re-form the infamous stable. From there, Mongo became a no-nonsense wrestler. His 6'2, 270-pound frame would intimidate some of the toughest wrestlers around, because while McMichael didn't pretend to be a wrestling tactician, he was basically a big strong guy who would generally beat the crap out of people.Mongo marched his way to victory using a football tackle (his primary move) and his Mongo "End Zone" Spike Piledriver (his finisher).

Mongo was often in tag-team matchups with Beniot as his partner. But when Jeff Jarrett came to WCW and Flair started courting Jarrett to join the Horsemen, Mongo was the first to voice his disapproval. Thus began a long feud between the two, despite Jarrett's induction into the stable. Debra, who always accompanied her husband to ringside, was often guilty of misusing the briefcase, usually costing McMichael a lot of his matches. Before this feud heated up any further, Mongo got into feuds with former teammate Reggie White (whom he beat at Slamboree 97 in a "Bear vs Packer" match) and former partner Kevin Greene (who got revenge on Mongo at Great American Bash 97). At Bash at the Beach, Mongo and Jarrett finally had their falling out, when Debra turned on her husband and sided with Double-J, helping him beat Mongo. Steve, however, would have the last laugh in this feud; he beat Jarrett for the WCW U.S. Title at (what turned out to be) the final Clash of the Champions in August 1997.

When Horseman Arn Anderson retired that September, Curt Hennig was asked to become a Horseman and participate in their annual "Wargames". Hennig, though, turned on the Horsemen, handcuffing Beniot and Mongo to the steel cage and bashed Flair's head in the cage door, even after McMichael ordered the match to be stopped (for FLiar's safety). The Horsemen now disbanded, Mongo hoped for revenge on Hennig the next night on Nitro, but as exhausted as he was, Hennig easily beat McMichael for the U.S. Title. Debra, though, was not done. She and Mongo now fought as their relationship fell apart. Mongo faced Debra's new protoge', Alex Wright, at Halloween Havoc, and before Mongo could get the win, out stepped WCW's new "big man", former Atlanta Falcon Bill Goldberg, who laid out Mongo, allowing Wright to get the win. Debra gave Mongo's Super Bowl ring to Goldberg as compensation.

Before a scheduled match at World War III, Mongo laid out Goldberg with a steel pipe (and recovered his ring!)and thus, won by forfeit (this was Goldberg's first actual defeat, although WCW has never officially counted it). Insisting on a match, Alex Wright and Debra returned, and this time Mongo won easily. Debra disappeared from WCW sometime later, and the couple, whose real-life marriage was faltering, later divorced (Debra says that Steve changed a lot when they got into wrestling).

Goldberg wasn't done yet. He, in turn, laid out Mongo with a pipe before a match himself, and Goldberg again beat Mongo twice in the next 3 weeks, including Starrcade 97. Facing newcomer British Bulldog at Superbrawl 99, McMichael broke his arm before the match but wrestled anyway. The match was stopped 5 1/2 minutes into the match when the referee determined McMichael could not wrestle. Mongo took the next 4 months off to heal the broken arm. Returning that summer, Mongo and Beniot pressured Arn Anderson to re-form the Horsemen, which finally became a reality that September, when Flair, Anderson, Beniot, Mongo, and Dean Malenko re-formed the elite clique.

As the "big man" of the Four Horsemen, McMichael broke new ground in Horseman legend while serving in 2 different versions. In January 2000 Mongo was tag-teaming with Flair against Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash when Eric Bischoff threw a bucketfull of bleach in Mongo's face. After that incident, Mongo failed to appear at several WCW cards and house shows, saying he was home dealing with personal problems. During that time, he broke his foot and was eventually released. According to reports, McMichael is glad to be out of wrestling and has no plans to return.

These days, Steve McMichael enjoys his life at his home in Chicago with his wife, Misty. Recently, he was nomitated in 2000 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame but has yet to be elected/inducted, and was named to the Texas Longhorns All-Century Team. He can occasionally be seen around Chicago, making appearances across the nation with the alumni of the 1985 Chicago Bears, or practicing his favorite pastime in the Texas prairies: hunting rattlesnakes. In 2004, his book "Tales From the Chicago Bears Sideline" was released. But if you were to ask any Mongo fan to sum him up in one word, chances are that word would be: CHAMPION.

"Steve McMichael and I...we would not speak to anybody until they had made a tackle or did something pretty good."
---Bears teammate Dan Hampton---

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