A ceremony from home honored Steve McMichael, who was suffering from ALS.

Steve McMichael, a former Chicago Bears player, was inducted into the Hall of Fame despite being bedridden due to his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”. He was unable to travel to Canton, Ohio, for the ceremony.

McMichael, 66, looking gaunt and pale but wearing his gold Hall of Fame jacket, was surrounded by, among others, his wife Misty, Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter and several teammates from the legendary ’85 Bears, including ex-linebacker and NFL head coach Ron Rivera and fellow Hall of Famers Richard Dent, Mike Singletary and Jimbo Covert.

Misty McMichael carefully turned her husband’s head as she showed his bronze breast to him. “Steve, you’re here with all of your world champion brothers,” remarked Dent, MVP of Super Bowl 20.

“Back in Canton, we have 378 brothers that’s seeking for you. You’re on a team that you can never be cut from, you never can be discharged from. When you die on this team, you will still be respected. Welcome home, Steve, you’re in football heaven.”

McMichael was as big a character as any for the ’85 Bears, a squad rich with characters. A WCW wrester following his football playing days who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois, in 2012, “Mongo” was truly a monster for coordinator Buddy Ryan’s legendary “46 defense.”

A third-round pick of the New England Patriots out of the University of Texas in 1980 who concluded his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1994, McMichael spent his 13 other NFL seasons in Chicago. The two-time All-Pro concluded his career with 95 sacks, among the most ever for an interior linemen, and 847 tackles.

McMichael was introduced Saturday by Jarrett Payton, son of Bears Hall of Famer Walter Payton, whom McMichael dubbed his “pseudo son” in a brief acceptance statement given by his sister Kathy.

“I do not want ALS to be my legacy,” McMichael declared via master of ceremonies Chris Berman. “What I did on the field, that’s my legacy – pushing myself to the limit, yessir … farther than anyone else could.”