Sarley: Why I consider fisherman Spence Petros the toughest man in sports

Who is the toughest athlete that you can think of, past or present?

In football I offer the name of Dick Butkus, legendary Bears linebacker. Baseball had Bo Jackson, who was an iron man who played both pro football and baseball.

Retired baseball player Glenallen Hill looked like the meanest man on Earth and could pound a ball as hard and far as anyone. Basketball star Dennis Rodman was as tough as they come. Sports has a lot of tough guys.

My No. 1 sports tough guy is a fisherman. Whoa, Sarley. You ask if I kid. Many will argue if fishermen are athletes or not, but that is a subject I will table for another day’s discussion.

Hall of Fame angler Spence Petros is as tough as anyone I have ever met. The first time I musky fished with Petros, after 14 hours of casting giant lures without a break I felt like I was going to die. I realized the tremendous shape he was in.

Petros has meant a lot to me over the years, and I thank him for much of what I have accomplished in my career. In early May I was shocked to receive a message from his daughter, Lisa, telling me that Petros was in the hospital.

It seemed that Petros had lost his balance and fallen in his Lake Geneva home. He later told friends, “You get old and are on blood thinners, you should try not to fall twice, especially when your head breaks the fall.”

At least he got his sense of humor back.

I was devastated and worried. After all, Petros is no spring chicken. The man is approaching his 85th birthday. My wife consoled me, “Don’t worry about Spence, he’s too darned tough for anything to happen to.”

She was right. He had three brain surgeries in six days. None were easy, but the last was as deadly as a procedure can be. In recovery he was stricken by two separate urinary tract infections that put him back in intensive care. They finally got Petros straightened out and on the mend and headed for rehab.

He had spent eight-plus weeks in Alexian Brothers hospital in Elk Grove and another five weeks in rehab and another stint in outpatient rehab attempting to regain his physical abilities. If you had the pleasure to talk to Petros during this time, you know that all he wanted to talk about was fishing. He missed it so much.

Petros’ first Facebook post was, “I have not caught a fish since the end of April!” I wondered if he would ever fish again. Not to worry. There is no way that brain surgery was going to keep him off the water.

Now his recovery is far advanced.

“I am about 85% to 90% mentally healed and about 70% to 75% of where I want to be physically,” he said. “That’s pretty darned good.”

In the past Petros has always scheduled hunting and fishing trips close to orthopedic procedures to push him into faster recoveries, and it has always been successful.

So what is up for any future fishing? Maybe catch a few bluegills while sitting in a lawn chair?

He scowled and replied, “I want to catch a 50-inch musky yet this year.”

He’s got a September trip booked to fish in the big water of Green Bay, a spot that holds many giants in its waters. He is going out with guide Kyle Tokarski, and I wouldn’t bet against him getting that trophy.

Care to argue with me that Spence Petros isn’t the toughest athlete around?