football player
Personal Information
Born Michael Singletary, October 9, 1958, in Houston, TX; son of Charles (a minister and laborer) and Rudell Singletary; married in 1984; wife's name Kim; children: Kristen, Jill, Matthew.
Education: Baylor University, B.A., 1983.
Career
Professional football player for Chicago Bears, 1981-92. Drafted by the Bears in second round of 1981 National Football League draft; middle linebacker for the team, 1981-92.
Life's Work
Throughout the 1980s, the name Mike Singletary struck fear into the hearts of ball carriers in the National Football League. Singletary is widely regarded as one of the finest linebackers in the history of football, a certain Hall-of-Famer, and a likely contender for a prestigious professional coaching job now that his playing days have ended. During his 12-year career--all with the Chicago Bears--he helped the team to advance to the playoffs a half dozen times and was a decisive factor in a 1986 Bears Super Bowl victory. Houston Post correspondent Terry Blount described Singletary as "the best middle linebacker in football," a superstar who was "the heart of the Chicago Bears defense."
No one would have predicted that Michael Singletary would become an award-winning professional football player. The youngest of ten children of Rudell and Charles Singletary, he was born in 1958. He spent the better part of the first eight years of his life in bed with chronic infections. Chicago Tribune reporter Phil Hersh wrote: "Sometimes, when [Mike] was a baby, Rudell Singletary would look at him and start crying, as if it were her fault that Mike was sickly. In the middle of the night, when bronchitis or pneumonia made him struggle to breathe, she would rush him to the hospital for a shot. He didn't eat much, and he didn't have the strength to play outdoors more than a few minutes at a time. For the first eight years of his life, until he was no longer plagued by earaches and head colds, Mike's companions were his mother, her Bible and his imagination."
To make matters worse, Singletary's father was a strict Christian minister who opened his own church and preached against such sins as playing sports and wearing shorts. Mike was not allowed to participate in school sports and was barred from many other activities as well. Somehow he absorbed the positive aspects of the Christian faith without retaining a great deal of respect for his strict parent. "My father didn't know about empathy or compassion or compromising," Singletary told the Chicago Tribune. "He took things away and didn't put anything back. There was discipline, but no love." When Singletary was starting junior high school, his father ran away with another woman. Many members of the large family were devastated by the sudden separation and divorce. For his part, Mike used the ensuing confusion to enroll in his school's football program. By the time anyone thought to chastise him for playing sports, he was tearing up the field.
Other tragedies diverted the family's attention at the same time. After Singletary's father left, an older brother, Grady, stepped in as surrogate father to young Mike. Hersh wrote: "At 23, Grady was moving into a faster lane, one where the traffic included alcohol and drugs, but he was still able to preach effectively what he might not be practicing." One night only months after the divorce, Grady Singletary was killed in a six-car accident begun by a drunken driver. Another Singletary brother, Dale, had died some time before that from inhaling fumes from coal stored in his bedroom. A feeling of hopelessness settled upon the family, but Mike Singletary was determined not to be daunted by it. "As the youngest, I had the chance to see the mistakes and the misfortunes," Singletary told the Chicago Tribune. "I feel I was the least talented of all 10, and I don't think I'm the smartest. The others allowed themselves to fall into the trap of 'Woe is me, the world owes me something.' It wasn't just us. There were others suffering."
When Singletary became involved in sports, he made up for the time lost to ill health. His performance on the defensive squad for Worthing High School in Houston won him a scholarship to Baylor University, a Christian college. There, in just a few short seasons, he made himself known all over the country. "Mike Singletary played so hard at Baylor he risked passing out from hyperventilation," noted Hersh. "His ferocious, head-first tackling style broke 16 of his helmets but never hurt him." Singletary averaged more than fifteen tackles per game for Baylor and was named Southwest Conference player of the year in both 1979 and 1980. His play was so stunning that he was named to the All-Southwest Conference Team of the 1970s and 1980s, because his time at Baylor spanned both decades.
"Up until this day, I don't know why the helmets [broke]," Singletary told the Chicago Tribune. "All I knew was I had a gift to hit." That gift was not lost on the professional scouts. Ironically, some scouts had reservations about the young linebacker, because at barely six feet tall he was considered too small for the NFL. Chicago Bears scout Jim Parmer went to Texas to watch Singletary play and concluded that size would not be a factor. Parmer told the Chicago Tribune: "[Mike's] attitude was so different than 99 out of 100 college kids I see. He was dead serious, very businesslike. He looked right at me and said, 'Mr. Parmer, if you draft me, I'm going to be the best linebacker in the National Football League.' That's a big statement."
The Bears decided to take a chance in 1981. They passed Singletary over in the first round--to his dismay--but traded up so that they could pick him in the second. Singletary roared into training camp in the summer of 1981 determined to show himself better than his second-round slot. He quickly became a starter at the middle linebacker position, and by season's end early in 1982 had been given all-rookie honors by such observers as United Press International and Football Digest. By 1983--when he earned his first Pro Bowl selection--Singletary had established himself as one of the finest defensive talents in the NFL. The Chicago critics compared him to Hall-of-Famer Dick Butkus, who played essentially the same position. Nevertheless, as Hersh pointed out, "Butkus played in an era when the ability to stop the run was paramount for middle linebackers; Singletary [played] in an era when speed ... changed the game, forcing a middle linebacker to be as agile as he is hostile."
Coaches--even crusty ones like Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan--loved Singletary. The highly dedicated linebacker was always willing to study hard in order to prepare for each contest. Serious and intent at practice, he drove himself through a punishing off-season workout program so that he would arrive at training camp ready to play. Hersh wrote: "To Singletary, perfection is attainable but only through ceaseless effort. When he wants something, he works at a way to get it. He knew greatness would be denied a linebacker who was removed when passing situations called for a nickel defense, with an extra defensive back. So he lost 20 pounds, thereby gaining speed to cover tight ends and running backs, and he begged former defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan to let him play every down.... He often has memorized the team's weekly game plan before the rest of the players begin reading it.... Knowledge is power, the power to be in control."
It is no coincidence that Singletary had one of his best seasons in 1985-86. He was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and NFC Defensive Player of the Year by United Press International. More importantly, he was the anchor in a blistering defense that helped the Bears to advance to Super Bowl XX and take an almost embarrassing 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots. All told, Singletary participated in six post-season playoff bids, enough to keep the Bears prominent among the NFL's finest teams. As late as 1990 he led the Bears in tackles for the year with 151 and started in every single game. He also won the 1990 NFL Man of the Year award. Philadelphia Daily News correspondent Paul Domowitch called Singletary "the straw that stirs the drink for the Chicago Bears' defense."
At the age of 34, Singletary, an elder statesman in the savage world of professional football, decided that the 1992 season would be his last, retiring while still at the top of his game. The passing of most players from the game goes virtually unnoticed in professional sports; at best a terse press release from team officials that gets buried below the fold in the back pages of the local sports section. But in an emotional pregame ceremony at Chicago's Soldier Field on December 13, 1992--the final Bears home game of the season--the Chicago fans saluted Singletary in a stirring goodbye as the Bears retired the number 50 he wore on his jersey (signifying that out of respect for his accomplishments both on and off the field, no Chicago player will ever again wear that number). After twelve seasons (during which he only missed two games--both in 1986), Singletary's days as the roaring "Samurai" and bone-crushing tackler were over.
Some NFL players work simply for the money and the fame. Loved by fans for his gentlemanly manner as much as for his athletic ability, Singletary always felt he had a higher reason for being at the top of his game. A born-again Christian, he hopes to reach troubled youngsters through his example and with his message of hard work and clean living. According to J. K. Thompson in the Houston Post, Singletary "comes across as an earnest Christian ... driven to excel and influence others to do the same as he strives for righteousness. He takes his American Hero role model status seriously." Singletary himself put it a little more modestly in the Houston Post: "My desire [was] to be the best in football.... I believe God gave each and every one of us talent. I don't want to cheat Him, and I don't want to cheat myself or my family."
Conservative is a word that fits Mike Singletary perfectly. With a management degree from Baylor, he has banked his salary carefully. His drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle have made him a favorite for product endorsements, especially in the Chicago area, and he donates time and money to such causes as hemophilia research, youth projects in Chicago and Houston, and substance abuse treatment programs. "A lot of people think I'm corny," Singletary told the Chicago Tribune. "I want it that way, and I like it that way. You watch me as close as you can, and I'll do my best to teach you something. You follow me anywhere, into any closet, and you won't see something else."
Mike Singletary lives outside of Chicago with his wife Kim--whom he met while they were students at Baylor--and their three children. The couple had a long courtship because Kim Singletary is white, and her parents in particular were concerned about the social implications of their union. "We would go for a walk almost every night," Mrs. Singletary told the Chicago Tribune of her days at Baylor. "Finally, I realized, the more I thought about a husband, that Mike had every quality I wanted and I thought, 'Maybe I'm in love with him.' It was kind of scary. But we stayed together." The family shares their deep Christian faith, and Mrs. Singletary leads many charity drives and fundraisers.
A future in coaching is likely for Mike Singletary, as is induction into the Football Hall of Fame. His devotion to the mechanics of football and the strategy of each contest has not gone unnoticed. Before his retirement, he had already begun attending the Bears defensive coordinator's regular strategy sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays following each game, and he has a special video system at home with which he can analyze football plays in minute detail.
Awards
Earned numerous collegiate and professional awards, including All-American at linebacker for Baylor, 1979 and 1980; named Southwest Conference Player of the Year, 1979 and 1980; named to All-Southwest Conference Team of the 1970s and 1980s; selected to Pro Bowl every year between 1983 and 1990; winner of 1990 NFL Man of the Year award; named to "NFL Team of the 1980s" by Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors.
Works
Writings
- (With Armen Keteyian) Calling the Shots (autobiography), Contemporary Books, 1986.
Further Reading
Books
- Singletary, Mike and Armen Keteyian, Calling the Shots, Contemporary Books, 1986.
- Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1986; November 9, 1986.
- Detroit News, December 14, 1992.
- Houston Post, October 12, 1986; December 17, 1989; December 2, 1990.
- Philadelphia Daily News, July 30, 1991.
- Sports Illustrated, December 24, 1990.
— Mark Kram
