The Chicago Bears have had a lot of legendary figures over the course of their franchise history, but few are as iconic as Jim McMahon.
While running back Walter Payton may have been the heart of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Bears and the defense was its sturdy backbone, McMahon was the defiant soul of the Super Bowl Shuffle squad, thumbing his nose at the odds and overachieving like the bad MF leader the team needed.
Never the most physically gifted player on the field, there was no denying that the “Punky QB” was always among the toughest. He was punk rock on a football field and a spark plug of a human being.
That spark is still going strong at 64, 28 years after his NFL career was officially shut down in 1996.
It shouldn’t be going strong, though. As a matter of fact, some might argue that he’s defying the odds by just being around.
In an in-depth piece by The Athletic/The Salt Lake Tribune, the veteran NFL star’s life is equal parts chronicled and celebrated. McMahon, who is also a legendary figure in the history of Brigham Young University football for an equally defiant run of victories (including the legendary “Miracle Bowl” performance versus SMU in 1980), is showcased as the forever ‘comeback kid.’
Jim McMahon With Another Crazy Comeback
And, yeah, even as a six-time grandpa, he continues with the crazy comebacks.
Most recently, a complication from an ankle surgery to correct past football damage resulted in a foot that, as McMahon eloquently puts it, “literally exploded.”
The setback resulted in several emergency surgeries, six skin grafts, and the very real possibility that a growing and hard to manage infection would result in an amputation of his leg.
But, as has been part of his lore, he beat the odds and toughed his way back to a semi-clean bill of health. Although the brace on his ankle and the cane he needs to walk shows the tolls of the damage survived, the heart and soul of Jim McMahon remains intact.
“I’d be a sexy son of a b**** with one of those new prosthetics,” McMahon is quoted telling a friend, regarding his possible amputation. “The women would love me.”
The Tolls of War
All in all, surgeries and medical complications have been part of the 2-time Super Bowl champ’s life, starting from the age of six when he accidentally stabbed himself in the eye with a fork, all the way to this recent batch of bad fortune.
Per Dan Pompei of the The Athletic:
“He has had 25 surgeries: seven right knee, six ankle, five left knee, four right shoulder, two left shoulder and one eye. When he reaches to shake a hand, he winces. If he remembers, he pulls golf clubs from his bag with his left hand.
McMahon doesn’t work out much because he can’t lift his arm sideways. His right shoulder has been a problem since the first game of the 1986 season. After shoulder surgery that year, he says he was supposed to sit out two seasons, but he came back in 10 months. Now McMahon probably needs a replacement.”
Dark Thoughts of Suicide
And that war tally of injuries doesn’t even take into account complication from a lifetime of head injuries from his NFL days. He described the debilitating headaches as so intense that he thought of suicide.
9️⃣🐻⬇️ https://t.co/rOezvy8ckK
— Jim McMahon (@JimMcMahon) January 17, 2024
“If I had a gun, I would have blown my f—— head off,” he told Pompei. “It hurt that bad. I spent weeks at a time thinking, ‘What are you going to do?’ But I didn’t want to do that to my kids, my folks and my family.”
A combination of chiropractic therapy and his beloved marijuana have saved his sanity and provided a quality of life that, at worst, is bearable and, at best, is much better than what would be expected from a man whose body has been put through so many wringers.
The Chicago Bears’ Punky QB Does It Again
After 25 surgeries, Jim McMahon’s still making comebacks.
Marijuana has grown from a painkiller to a budding business.
He’ll drink too many beers, stay out too late and tell stories his grandchildren shouldn’t hear.
It’s how he plays the game of life.https://t.co/rZw1jg7NMi pic.twitter.com/d8C20QZ8rH
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 21, 2024
This latest comeback has even brought some added maturity with it.
“My physical therapy makes me cry every time,” he says. “I even catch myself tearing up while watching TV commercials. I asked my doc, ‘Am I going f—— crazy?’ He told me it’s part of maturing.”
When Pompei followed up, asking if if he had, indeed, matured. McMahon snapped into McMahon mode.
“It’s awfully bold of you to assume I have,” he responded with a grin, before backtracking a bit and actually showcasing some of that new maturity.
“I mean, you’re getting closer to death, so you’re trying to put your life in perspective,” he said. “You’re trying to finish out the last few years and make them good so you don’t have to wait too long in line when you get up there, if that’s the way I’m headed.”
And if his ultimate goal is heaven, it would be foolish to doubt that he’d get there. If history has shown us anything, it’s that very little stands in the way of Jim McMahon toughing his way to success.
2 Comments
If you were in the rocky mountains in the late 70s. You heard his name if you had a heartbeat in the 80s you heard his name. His college records are off the charts. And his final pro ranking was not bad at all. Most of all. He was loved by his teammates. And dammit he could win games. Love ya Jimmy Mac.
No he didn’t throw for 4000 plus yards but with a 45-15 record he was the greatest quarterback the Bears ever had. He knew how to win. The national media doesn’t seem to understand that.