College Football and NFL Hall of Famer Steve McMichael died on Wednesday after a four-year battle with ALS. He was 67 years old.

McMichael enjoyed a 15-year NFL career but is known mainly as the defensive line star for the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl team, widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest defenses. He set Chicago's franchsie record with 191 consecutive games played and ranks second with 92.5 sacks. 

"Steve McMichael told everyone he would fight ALS with the same tenacity he showed for 15 seasons in the National Football League. And he did just that," Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. "Everyone who played with or against Steve shares the same opinion: No one battled longer or harder from the snap until the whistle than Steve the player. That legendary will to fight allowed him to experience his enshrinement as a member of the Hall's Class of 2024. And the love his teammates showed him throughout this difficult journey says everything about Steve the man."

McMichael, nicknamed 'Mongo' after the hulking cowboy who knocks out a horse with one punch in the 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles, was just as intimidating on the field as his nicknamesake. After graduating from Freer High School, where he played six varsity sports and hit .450 on the baseball diamond, McMichael found a permanent home with the University of Texas football team from 1976-79. The 1979 Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine cover star wrapped his Longhorn career as the school's all-time leader with 369 tackles and 30 sacks.