Singletary, Mike

Mike Singletary, byname of Michael Singletary, also called Samurai Mike, (born October 9, 1958, Houston, Texas, U.S.), American gridiron football player and coach who was the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992. The remarkably durable Singletary played nearly every down and missed only two games in his 12-year career.

Singletary’s father was an assistant minister whose strict adherence to rigid church doctrine prevented his son from playing football until he reached junior high. Although he was told that he was too small for the game, Singletary discovered a talent for delivering hard, decisive hits to ball carriers while playing linebacker for his high-school team. In college at Baylor University, he averaged 15 tackles a game and was consensus All-American and Southwest Conference Player of the Year in both 1979 and 1980. Despite standing only 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 metres) tall, he established a reputation for hitting hard enough to break helmets—both his own and his opponents’—with his ferocious tackles.

Singletary was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft. Despite not starting for the first seven games of the 1981 season, he still managed to earn NFL all-rookie team honours. Singletary secured his hold on the middle linebacker position from 1982 and, beginning in his breakthrough season of 1983, Singletary was the Bears’ first or second leading tackler in each of his last 10 seasons. He played in 10 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1983 through 1992 and was first-team All-Pro in seven of those seasons. He was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1988, the former award coming after a season in which Singletary anchored what is often considered the greatest defensive unit in professional football history, as the 1985 Bears allowed just 12.4 points per game in the regular season and won their three playoff games by a combined score of 91–10 en route to a Super Bowl title.

Following the end of his playing days, Singletary spent time as a motivational speaker before turning to coaching. In 2003 he became the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens, and two years later he accepted the same position with the San Francisco 49ers. When head coach Mike Nolan was fired during the 49ers’ 2008 campaign, Singletary was promoted to interim head coach. He led the team to a 5–4 record during the remainder of the season and was given the permanent head coaching position in 2009. However, the 49ers struggled, and he was fired near the end of the 2010 regular season. In 2011–13 Singletary served as assistant coach and linebackers coach with the Minnesota Vikings, and in 2016 he was on the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Rams.

In 1998 he was awarded his sport’s highest honour when he was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.