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Remembering Steve “Mongo” McMichael: The Heart of the ’85 Bears | Damon Amendolara Tribute
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Jun 29, 2025
In this powerful and poetic tribute, Damon Amendolara delivers a heartfelt remembrance of Steve “Mongo” McMichael, a beloved member of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears. As McMichael passes after a long battle with ALS, D.A. reflects on why Mongo embodied the soul of perhaps the most mythical team in NFL history. 💔 Why McMichael was the perfect symbol of toughness, grit, and heart 🐻 How the ’85 Bears became larger than life—and why they still matter 📜 Deep football history that puts McMichael’s legacy in full, emotional context This is more than just a tribute—this is storytelling that honors a true warrior and a team that captured the spirit of a city and a generation. Rest in peace, Mongo. #SteveMcMichael #85Bears #DamonAmendolara #NFLHistory #ChicagoBears #Mongo #ALS #FootballLegends #WatchDALive --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✅ Subscribe! ✅ https://www.youtube.com/@damonamendo 🙌 “Watch D.A. Live” airs Sunday nights on YouTube 🙌 ✅ Follow D.A. on Social! ✅ ☑️ D.A. on Twitter: / DamonAmendo ☑️
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bears legend 85 Bears legend Steve
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Mcichael has passed away after a battle
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with ALS and I believe he is truly the
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single best encapsulation the single
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best sample or symbol of the 1985 Bears
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that ever lived and I'm here to tell you
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why before I get there if you love
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sports history if you love football
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history like I do subscribe to the
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steve Mcichael was the best
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encapsulation of the 85 Bears
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because of everything he was
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authentically you see the 85 Bears were
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defined by this communal greatness it
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wasn't about one individual they were a
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historically great defense perhaps the
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single greatest defense in NFL history
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perhaps the single most devastating
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defense that ever walked the football
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face of the earth pro- football or
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otherwise because they all fit together
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so perfectly that one helped out another
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and not one single definitive wrecking
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crew member of it was bigger than the
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others there were guys that got into
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Canton with a gold jack at the Pro
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Football Hall of Fame before Steve
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Mcichael did like Mike Singleary like
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Richard Dent but I don't think anybody
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can define the 85 Bears more than Steve
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Mcichael including those guys because
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Mcichael tied up the blockers on the
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interior so that that incredible
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linebacking unit led by Singleary Otis
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Wilson Wilbur Marshall could then go do
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their damage and so he was a fulcrum
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point he was a center point that helped
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everybody else eat as we like to say
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that was the first part the team was so
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important whole was vital to the 85
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Bears being as incredible as they were
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as dominant as they were the second part
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was the Bears loved being the Bears for
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better or worse and for that season for
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better and who loved his life better
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more than Steve Mcichael you know the
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Bears were known for mugging for the
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camera for being a big personality team
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for a bunch of guys that had their
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endorsements and loved the night life
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and liked living things to the hilt guys
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that lived fast and played hard well
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Mcichael was that every single step of
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the way he was a guy that seemed like
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every single day he was maxing out the
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fun of it and in real time appreciating
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just how magical this was if you watch
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film of the 85 Bears specifically things
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that NFL films have put together I don't
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think anybody was having more fun
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enjoying the dominance more than
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did Steve Mcichael and Mcichel's
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personality was larger than life i mean
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look the fridge was a national brand and
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all these guys had like Mike Ditka their
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own endorsements but this was a guy that
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literally transitioned into becoming a
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wrestler so understood the theater
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of it all he understood the personality
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larger than life of it all and what
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speaks to the 85 Bears more than kind of
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in the moment ratcheting up the theater
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maxing out on life maxing out on
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celebrity and being really of that
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moment the mid80s me decade elite
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excellence and also excessiveness as
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well so all of those reasons would be
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why I would say there was no greater
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example and will never be a greater
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symbol of the 85 Bears more than Steve
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Mcichael even though this is a guy that
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only went to two Pro Bowls he was not
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nearly as decorated as the rest of his
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teammates and yet Mcichael was to me a
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singular example of what made the 85
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Bears the 85 Bears now let's talk about
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what makes the 85 Bears the 85 Bears you
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know guys that I've worked with for a
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long time had a running joke still do
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that oh DA's watching another 85 Bears
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documentary that this is what I do in my
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pastime any free moment is gobble up as
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much 85 Bear stuff as possible and look
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I was a kid that grew up in the Hudson
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Valley of New York i was not a Bears fan
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by nature in fact I was only 6 years old
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when the Bears did what they did with
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the Super Bowl Shuffle but as somebody
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who just loves I mean really adores the
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legacy and mythology of football
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specifically the NFL because I grew up
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on NFL
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films there's never been a team and
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there may never be a team that is as
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mythical as the 85 Bears they are so
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mythical that they have multiple widely
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distributed documentaries so that the
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joke works with me it's not like I'm
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just watching one over and over again
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they keep pumping out 85 Bears
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documentaries and look if the Bears had
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won a Super Bowl between then and now
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maybe they wouldn't still be as mythical
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but I still believe that even if the
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Bears had success after that there was
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something about 85 that lives forever
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uniquely and there is a symbolism here
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with Steve Mcichael you see the Bears
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unlike any of the other all-time great
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teams that we talk about in NFL history
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people will talk about perhaps the 78
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Pittsburgh Steelers perhaps they'll pick
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one of the Patriots teams as well you'll
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hear perhaps 91 Washington or 89 San
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Francisco these are teams that are often
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times grouped with the Chicago Bears but
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all of them were part of bigger scale
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dynasties or decades of other Super Bowl
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victories i mean the NerS were part of
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one of the great dynasties ever the
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Steelers the same thing the Patriots at
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two ends of a 20-year dynasty the only
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team that really ever gets compared at
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the top of that summit for the 85 Bears
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is the 72 Dolphins and the 72 Dolphins
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were the first of backto back Super Bowl
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champions for Don Shula's Dolphins and
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the second of three consecutive Super
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Bowl appearances all of the rest of the
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greatest teams of all time all basically
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you could pick the best version of
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multiple Super Bowl
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teams not the 85 Bears the 85 Bears were
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one and done and that's why it is so
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fascinating to study them in that what
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made them so great for one year and then
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never able to climb that mountain ever
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again now they were very good in ' 84
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and I grew up in New York with a dad who
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was a hardcore Giants fan going back to
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the 50s in Yankee Stadium and Frank
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Gford and Sam Huff i grew up in a
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extended family of Giants fans and I
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remember being a kid in '86 when the
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Giants were excellent and also a top 20
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team top 15 NFL team of all time and my
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cousin and I joke about this being
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scared of facing the Bears in ' 86
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because they were larger than life the
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Bears were 14-2 in ' 86 and yet lost in
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the divisional round to Washington the
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Bears could not even get out of the
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divisional round the next season they
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would make the NFC championship game
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again in 88 but that was not the same
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excellence of 85 and they lost at home
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to San Francisco a finesse West Coast
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team that everybody figured well the old
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school smashmouth hard nose Bears
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they'll wipe the floor with them at
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Soldier Field didn't
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happen the mythical part of the 85 Bears
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is they were
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here absolutely annihilated everybody
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they murdered quarterbacks nearly
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literally and then poof disappeared all
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too soon
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and because of that it also makes Steve
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Mcichael as tragically as he passes far
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too early to an absolutely awful hideous
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terrible disease like
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ALS to watch him wither away to nearly
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nothing was so traumatic to watch I'm
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sure for his loved ones and teammates as
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well but that if he was going to be the
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symbol of the 85 bears in some ways he
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was also prone to be here for just a
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flash and then gone too soon
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i'm I'm going to choose to focus on the
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positive because that's what's left here
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is not only the battle against ALS but
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also the appreciation of the memories
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and what he brought to the table and
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what that team brought to the table and
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what that team will always bring to the
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table
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that 85 Bears team lives
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forever
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because they were
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mythological because they were
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absolutely dominant because they didn't
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apologize for their tenacity and for
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their
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violence and because they loved it they
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loved every second of it and it was gone
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as quickly as it had arrived
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nothing says to all of those all of
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those qualities more than Steve
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Mcichael rest in peace a true
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legend of a true legendary
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team hey thanks for watching everybody a
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reminder subscribe to the channel
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clicking this button right here next to
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me for more deep dives like this on the
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history of pro football and everything
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going on in the sport and everywhere in
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sports thanks so much for dropping on by
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i appreciate it very much i'm DA Damon
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Amendelara you can also catch me weekday
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mornings on Mad Dog Sports Radio on
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SiriusXM channel 82 we'll see you next
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time
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