Bears' Super Bowl champion FB Suhey dies at 68 — SkimNews
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- Matt Suhey, the Bears fullback who helped Chicago win the 1985 NFL championship, died Sunday morning at 68, the team confirmed, with no other details provided.
- Suhey played 10 seasons in Chicago after a second-round 1980 draft pick, appearing in 148 regular-season games with 100 starts and finishing with 828 carries for 2,946 yards and 20 touchdowns, plus 260 receptions for 2,113 yards and five TDs.
- Suhey was Chicago's second-leading rusher during their 15-1 1985 regular season with 471 yards, behind Payton's 1,551 and nine touchdowns, then scored the first touchdown in the 46-10 Super Bowl rout of New England on an 11-yard run in the first quarter, finishing with 52 yards on 11 carries and a 24-yard reception.
- Walter Payton served as godfather to Suhey's youngest son, Scott, with Payton's son Jarrett Payton calling Suhey a "bodyguard or protector" who blocked for his father and "sat back in the background, very unselfish."
Why it matters: The 1985 Bears remain one of the most celebrated rosters in NFL history, and Suhey's decade of lead blocking was central to Walter Payton becoming the league's career rushing leader. His death removes a core piece from a championship team whose surviving members are now in their late 60s and 70s, continuing the slow thinning of that era's roster.
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