Post by Gene on Dec 12, 2011 10:13:11 GMT -5
MUNSTER | Steve McMichael points to the television as Denver quarterback Tim Tebow throws a pass against the Bears defense.
"People talk a lot about a guy like Tim Tebow," the former defensive tackle said. "If he gets down and prays to God to thank him, who cares? I'm a Christian, too, and I don't care.
"BUT," McMichael adds emphatically, "if I'm playing on the other side of the line and he's praying to invoke God against me, that's not a Christian thing to do. That's not OK."
The 1985 Super Bowl champion is still as vocal as he was when he played 13 seasons with the Bears. After his pregame show on ESPN 1000, he joined fans at The Charley Horse on Sunday to watch the Bears' overtime loss.
He easily fit into the crowd of amped-up football fans, still calling the Chicago team his favorite. A coach himself -- heading the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League -- he doesn't hesitate to take a fan's stance questioning decisions the Bears have made.
"I see the value of doing your due diligence in your scouting department of getting quality reserves," McMichael said. "What they didn't do, (GM Jerry) Angelo and (coach) Lovie Smith, their mistake in the offseason, see Cutler has never stayed healthy. He's their Jim McMahon. When he don't come back healthy in the NFC Championship game, they lose, and you're out of it, can't go to the Super Bowl that year. That's when they've got to start looking for a good quality reserve quarterback. They didn't do it, now look at them."
As a coach, he's also looking for those players just like him.
No, not necessarily those with a will to enter pro wrestling, which McMichael did for four years after football. Not even those with the intimidation factor that made him a two-time Pro Bowler.
"I watch guys like Tim Tebow," McMichael said. "There's no rhyme or reason to why he's successful in the passing game that pro football is. Know why he wins? Because he has a will to win. Those are the guys like me. You better have some of those guys on your team and some of them, not one, but to affect the other guys."
At 54, he is the father of almost-4-year-old Macy, a daughter who is as much of a football fan as her daddy and who has inherited her father's spunk.
"Why I wanted a girl instead of a boy is I thought 'Oh my God, I'm releasing Mongo Part II on the world,' but little did I know, I forgot about the first lesson in the Bible, Eve took the first bite," McMichael said.
Macy knows football, her father says, knows the Bears and knows her daddy's history with the team.
Has becoming a dad changed that will-to-win personality?
"It's made me count my blessings, in the first place," McMichael said. "Some of the charity stuff I do goes to the children's terminal wards in the hospitals. That's the toughest thing anybody ever does in their life. But you go home and you've got a healthy kid, you count your blessings.
"Every parent has those moments with their kid, 'Oh my God, what did I do for this?' Go to a terminal ward; it changes your mind."
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach her at hillary.smith@nwi.com.
www.nwitimes.com/sports/columnists/hillary-smith/hillary-smith-mcmichael-as-happy-in-the-radio-booth-as/article_56631cbe-cdc9-5ec9-a8e8-b22ad15b9e6a.html
"People talk a lot about a guy like Tim Tebow," the former defensive tackle said. "If he gets down and prays to God to thank him, who cares? I'm a Christian, too, and I don't care.
"BUT," McMichael adds emphatically, "if I'm playing on the other side of the line and he's praying to invoke God against me, that's not a Christian thing to do. That's not OK."
The 1985 Super Bowl champion is still as vocal as he was when he played 13 seasons with the Bears. After his pregame show on ESPN 1000, he joined fans at The Charley Horse on Sunday to watch the Bears' overtime loss.
He easily fit into the crowd of amped-up football fans, still calling the Chicago team his favorite. A coach himself -- heading the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League -- he doesn't hesitate to take a fan's stance questioning decisions the Bears have made.
"I see the value of doing your due diligence in your scouting department of getting quality reserves," McMichael said. "What they didn't do, (GM Jerry) Angelo and (coach) Lovie Smith, their mistake in the offseason, see Cutler has never stayed healthy. He's their Jim McMahon. When he don't come back healthy in the NFC Championship game, they lose, and you're out of it, can't go to the Super Bowl that year. That's when they've got to start looking for a good quality reserve quarterback. They didn't do it, now look at them."
As a coach, he's also looking for those players just like him.
No, not necessarily those with a will to enter pro wrestling, which McMichael did for four years after football. Not even those with the intimidation factor that made him a two-time Pro Bowler.
"I watch guys like Tim Tebow," McMichael said. "There's no rhyme or reason to why he's successful in the passing game that pro football is. Know why he wins? Because he has a will to win. Those are the guys like me. You better have some of those guys on your team and some of them, not one, but to affect the other guys."
At 54, he is the father of almost-4-year-old Macy, a daughter who is as much of a football fan as her daddy and who has inherited her father's spunk.
"Why I wanted a girl instead of a boy is I thought 'Oh my God, I'm releasing Mongo Part II on the world,' but little did I know, I forgot about the first lesson in the Bible, Eve took the first bite," McMichael said.
Macy knows football, her father says, knows the Bears and knows her daddy's history with the team.
Has becoming a dad changed that will-to-win personality?
"It's made me count my blessings, in the first place," McMichael said. "Some of the charity stuff I do goes to the children's terminal wards in the hospitals. That's the toughest thing anybody ever does in their life. But you go home and you've got a healthy kid, you count your blessings.
"Every parent has those moments with their kid, 'Oh my God, what did I do for this?' Go to a terminal ward; it changes your mind."
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach her at hillary.smith@nwi.com.
www.nwitimes.com/sports/columnists/hillary-smith/hillary-smith-mcmichael-as-happy-in-the-radio-booth-as/article_56631cbe-cdc9-5ec9-a8e8-b22ad15b9e6a.html