Up to date Sept. 7, 2026, 6:32 p.m. ET
One other member from the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears squad has handed.
Matt Suhey, the fullback and finest pal of Corridor of Famer Walter Payton, whom he so usually led to sunlight, died Sunday, Sept. 6. The Bears confirmed Suhey’s loss of life to USA TODAY Sports activities. Suhey, who spent his total 10-year NFL profession in Chicago, was 68. The trigger and particulars surrounding his loss of life haven’t but been revealed.
“He was my dad’s closest pal,” Jarrett Payton, Walter’s son, posted to Instagram on Sunday. “After we misplaced my dad in 1999, Matt turned the largest father determine I had. When every thing felt unsure, he was there. My dad left him in cost and Matt by no means let that accountability sit frivolously. He protected our household. He taken care of us. He made positive we had been okay, 12 months after 12 months, with out ever making it about himself.
“That’s who he was.
“Their friendship confirmed me what actual friendship appears like. Not the simple variety. The sort that lasts when the lights go off, when the stadium is empty, when life will get heavy. Brian’s Tune instructed the story of Piccolo and Sayers. Someone wants to inform the story of 34 and 26. Two males who trusted one another fully. Two males who turned brothers.I do know my dad was standing there ready for him the second he received to heaven. I can see it. That smile. That hug. That reunion they each deserved.”
Payton, who retired in 1988 because the NFL’s all-time main rusher, was the godfather of Suhey’s son, Scotty.
A beloved teammate typically, Suhey additionally introduced former Bears offensive deal with Jimbo Covert throughout his induction into the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame in 2021.
Payton, Suhey, Corridor of Famer Steve McMichael and former security Dave Duerson are amongst members from the famed ’85 Bears, arguably the best single-season group in NFL historical past and one which crossed over into common tradition, who’ve died in recent times. Chicago made the playoffs in 5 of Suhey’s 10 seasons, a span that has clearly marked the franchise’s most sustained stretch of success through the Tremendous Bowl period, which started in 1966.
Matt Suhey faculty, NFL stats
A second-round select of Penn State in 1980, Suhey performed in 148 video games for the Bears and began 100 previous to his retirement following the 1989 season. He rushed for two,946 yards and 20 touchdowns throughout his profession, roughly what Payton routinely produced in two years.
However Suhey was additionally a really efficient receiver out of the backfield, catching 260 balls for two,113 yards, together with 5 touchdowns and 93 first downs over the course of his profession.
Suhey rushed for 52 yards and the primary landing within the ’85 Bears’ Tremendous Bowl 20 rout of the New England Patriots, nonetheless the one time the century-plus-old group has hoisted a Lombardi Trophy. Infamously, Payton didn’t rating in that 46-10 runaway, an admitted oversight by head coach Mike Ditka.
Suhey blocked for an 1,100-yard rusher in eight of his 10 seasons, Payton accounting for six of these and Neal Anderson the ultimate two. The 2 outlying years had been 1982 and ’87, each of these campaigns curtailed on account of strikes by NFL gamers.
“I felt like my dad and (Suhey) actually received shut as a result of they needed to be on the identical web page,” Jarrett Payton stated in “A Soccer Life,” an NFL Community docuseries.
“Matt watched my dad’s again, kinda like being a bodyguard or protector. He blocked for him, he took a lotta hits, ensuring that my dad would get the glory. Matt kinda sat again within the background, very unselfish.”
And a really vital determine in Bears historical past, on and off the sector.
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