Category Archives: NFL

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF, University of Texas

McMichael, Steve ‘Mongo’ (1957-2025)

CARDS: Action Packed 1990, Skybox 1992, Gameday 1991, University of Texas Upper Deck 2011
ACQUIRED: IP 1993, CGA Youth Golf Tournament. TTM 2012, C/o Home
SENT: 6/24/12 RECEIVED: 7/14/12 (20 Days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Steve McMichael played DL at the University of Texas from 1976-’79.
  • He set the college’s career records for most tackles (369) and sacks (30) and was named the Hula Bowl MVP in 1979.
  • Selected in the third round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
  • Had a quiet rookie season, recording only 5 tackles.
  • Released and signed with the Bears in 1981 and quickly became a mainstay at DT/NT.
  • He’d provide solid work in the trenches as a technically sound run stopper and pass rusher over 13 seasons.
  • McMichael also notched over 10 sacks 3 times in his career along the way.
  • Started a team record 191 consecutive games.
  • Key contributor to the Bears solid efforts to win Super Bowl XX in 1985, ironically against his ex team- the Patriots.
  • McMichael played a final season across the lake in Green Bay before retiring in 1994.
  • Had 3 career safeties.
  • After football, pursued a career in Pro Wrestling, adopting the name “Mongo” and coming in under the WCW banner.
  • Mongo would have a much publicized wrestling career and even took on other former pro football players such as Kevin Greene and Reggie White.
  • Wrestled under different banners and groups through 1999.
  • Returned to the sport briefly again in 2008 as a referee in TNA Wrestling.
  • Since that time, Steve spent time doing pre-game commentary for Bears games.
  • Coached the Chicago Slaughter of the CIFL from 2007-’13.
  • Went 14-0 in 2009 as the Slaughter won the CIFL Championship.
  • Finished with a 58-34 record.
  • Steve’s health began to decline, and in 2021, he announced he was fighting ALS- a CTE complication suspected from his physical career playing football.

ACCOLADES:

  • College Football Hall of Fame
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame
  • WCW Heavyweight Champion 1997

NOTES:

I initially got Steve’s autograph when he was riding around with Earnest Byner during the CGA Youth Golf Tournament in 1993. Steve and Ray Childress were my favorite defensive linemen when I was a kid, so to meet both of them during my younger years was quite a treat to me. I had already gotten back around to Ray, and had been looking for a good excuse to write Steve again, so when the University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 set came out, I thought I had the best justification to do so, and put 3 cards in the mail.

Well, I’m guessing Steve didn’t have his UT Upper Deck All American card or his All Time Alumni card as he kept those. Still the fact that he signed his base set card, was what I really wanted most, so to just get only one back from him was fine by me.

Mike Ditka called McMichael the toughest player he ever coached.  Now let me stress that again… Mike Ditka called him that.

My strange connection to Mongo is that while I was working at a used video game store back in ’97, his ex-wife’s best friend was my boss. I eavesdropped on one too many conversations back then.

Steve appears in both Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl on the NES.

EPITAPH:

4/23/25- Shortly after arriving at hospice in Joliet, IL, Steve passed away at the age of 67 from ALS.

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NFL

Jones, Ed “Too Tall”

Cards: Action Packed 1990, Photo Memorabilia
Acquired: In Person, Lenscrafters appearance 1992.

Back in the heyday of my autograph collecting I’d scour the local Austin paper for football players making appearances. Too Tall and Drew Pearson made one such appearance at a grand opening of a Lenscrafters in Barton Creek Mall back in 1992. Josh and I went there and arrived about 30 minutes early. (It’s too bad that about a 2 hour line had figured this out in front of us.) Ed was cool enough to sign both a card and the photo that the store provided to us (and really it was a duck shoot because all we had to do was wait in line to get it).  The better story was the fact that we hadn’t really been to that mall often enough and got extremely lost for another 2 hours, finally giving up and walking around the perimeter of the indoor mall to leave.

Ed “Too Tall” Jones was the first overall pick of the 1974 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He’d form the foundation of the vaunted Cowboys’ “Doomsday Defense”. At 6″ 9′ Jones’ nickname “Too Tall” was apt even at his defensive end position. Too Tall receives little credit at a sacker, as sacks were not considered an official statistic until 1982.  Jones would be named All Pro from 1981-1983, playing in 3 Superbowls and 15 seasons. He’d retire briefly in 1979 to go into boxing for about a season, but would return in 1980 after posting a 6-1 record. (It was quite a spectacle based on “Too Tall’s” size.) Ed would play for the Cowboys up through 1989, where he’d eventually retire, after Jimmy Johnson‘s first season as coach playing in 223 games. Jones’ impact on the Cowboys was immense, and he is another defensive player who was shortchanged from being in the NFL HoF, probably based on the sheer number of Dallas’ players enshrined, the tracking of sacks as an official statistic, and the overall lack of defensive talent in the hall.

Ed since retiring from football remains active as a guest speaker and firmly embraces his role as a former Cowboys player. “Too Tall” was named into the Van Heusen’s inaugural Pro Football Fan’s Hall of Fame in 2010 and also was named #26 on the Dallas Cowboys all time list.  He plays golf regularly and also has made a few TV appearances, most notably on a Geico commercial spoofing on his own nickname.

Games  223       Tac  N/a         Sac 106        Fum 19
Int 3     Yds 14    Avg 4.3   Td 0

NFL

Montoya, Max

Cards: Proset 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1990, Score Supplemental 1990
Acquired: In Person, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp 1991, 1993, 1994

Max Montoya was drafted in the 7th round by the Cincinnati Bengals out of UCLA in 1979. After claiming the starting job he’d start at right guard for the formidable Bengals offensive line in 152 games over the next 11 seasons and 2 Superbowl appearances. Max would also be named to the ProBowl in 1986, 1988, and 1989 before signing with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1990.

Max’s signing with the Raiders was controversial at the time as GM Mike Brown had stated that Montoya had made a commitment not to look elsewhere. He immediately became the highest paid offensive lineman in the history of the Raider franchise. He went to the ProBowl one more time in 1993 before retiring in 1995. Max’s final statistics include starting 203 games over 16 seasons.
Max was always planning for life after football during his playing days. After briefly coaching football, Montoya became a franchisor of Penn Station East Coast Subs and is involved in real estate. He also owns his own Mexican restaurant in northern Kentucky called Montoya’s.
I got Max’s autograph in 1991, 1993 and 1994 at Dallas Cowboys Training Camp. One of my most comically bad moments in autograph collecting history occurred with Max Montoya. As Max passed down the line in what was commonly known as ‘autograph alley’ I was coaching another kid on how to get autographs. Max gave me his autograph but passed by the other kid who kept holding out his card forthe wrong player  (Dallas wide receiver Alexander Wright). I told the kid, “That’s not Max Montoya,” but Alex heard me, and embarrassingly took offense thinking that I was making a racial comment. Ace Wright obviously didn’t want to sign my card- or Max Montoya’s for that matter either.