Steve McMichael can go to heaven now. He received is Hall of Fame jacket and uncovered his bust. He lived long enough and suffered long enough in anticipation of this weekend.
The one thing that stood out to me yesterday was all the teammates gathered around McMichael’s deathbed that held canes.
These warriors dominated the gridiron nearly forty years ago and are all now in their sixties and seventies.
McMichael withering away with ALS is sad enough, but the slouched backs and limped walks noticeable during the induction add the exclamation point.
Two players that we didn’t see in Mongo’s celebration were Dave Duerson and Number Thirty-Four.
They are both in heaven waiting for McMichael to be the next member of that ‘85 team to get drafted into eternal glory.
Payton died at the age of forty-six and Duerson was just fifty.
All of our warriors are mere mortals that will eventually play football in heaven. Even Jack Tatum made it to heaven. Actually I can think of one former professional football player that basks in hell, Charles Martin.
They should make a “Field of Dreams” for football.
It can take place in Bensenville, Illinois. After eighty years in business, Victory Auto Wreckers closed its doors to wrecked Chevy’s.
Slowly all the old Fords and Oldsmobiles will be cleared away. Fork lifts and automobile crushers will disappear and get replaced with goalposts and yard markers.
An old junkyard becomes a glorious gridiron. Instead of a whinny Kevin Costner, we have Dwayne Johnson, The Rock as the main character.
The voice of Dick Butkus, “if youze buildt it, dey will come over by dare” haunting the greasy mechanic.
One by one, the tailpipes and transmissions disappear and the turf and touchdowns cover the littered dump. Auto part seekers and tow truck drivers telling The Rock that he is crazy.
Football fans won’t hesitate to plop down five hundred bucks to see Ray Nitschke and Jim Brown grace the gridiron in their former glory.
I know that it was only twenty bucks for the field in Iowa, but that movie is almost forty years old and greed and inflation have pushed admission to appropriate prices.
“Gridiron of Glory,” coming to theaters on Thanksgiving in 2026.
The first Sunday of August is upon us and the heat will bear down. The last sunset after eight o’clock occurs this week.
Anyone want to have a catch?
