Steve 'Mongo' McMichael To Be Released After Week In Hospital

HOMER GLEN, IL — After a week in the hospital receiving treatment for multiple infections, Bears legend Steve "Mongo" McMichael will be released and return home Thursday, his family announced.

McMichael, 66, was hospitalized Feb. 15 with suspected pneumonia but was later diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. His family said his body was responding to the antibiotics while also undergoing a procedure known as thoracentesis to remove fluid from his lungs.

Two days later, McMichael contracted MRSA, a staph infection that's difficult to treat, and underwent a blood transfusion. By Sunday, the football star was on the mend.

"Mongo is responding to the antibiotics and improving," the family said of McMichael, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2021. "Of course he is. His DNA is different. And, he's Mongo!"

RELATED: 'Thank You, Chicago': Steve McMichael Makes Football Hall Of Fame

The former defensive tackle, part of the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Bears team, was hospitalized one week after learning he would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He joins a 2024 Hall of Fame class that includes former Bears Julius Peppers and Devin Hester. The induction ceremony is on Aug. 3.

McMichael competed in the NFL for 15 seasons, including 13 with the Bears from 1981-93. He was a central figure in the Bears' famed "46 defense," which helped the 1985 team to one of the greatest seasons in NFL history and a Super Bowl title. He also spent five years as a professional wrestler in the 1990s and even ran for mayor of Romeoville.