Matt Suhey, whose ‘career spanned the Chicago Bears’ greatest decade,’ dies at 68
One of the iconic Bears photos from 1985, shot during a minicamp practice in the spring, captured Walter Payton with one finger on his left hand tugging down the shorts of fullback Matt Suhey, who was lined up in the I-formation.
It’s a classic picture that captured Payton’s playfulness and spoke to how close he was to his fullback Suhey. Payton was the star of the offense and Suhey paved the way for many of his 16,726 yards. With the duo in the backfield, the Bears led the NFL in rushing for four consecutive seasons from 1983-86.
Suhey, 68, died in his sleep Saturday night, according to multiple teammates who were stunned.
“I am shocked,” said Hall of Fame defensive tackle Dan Hampton, who got the news as it spread between teammates Sunday evening.
Hampton recalled visiting with Suhey at the Super Bowl XX team’s 40th anniversary get-together last year. Suhey kidded Hampton about his full head of hair.
Safety Gary Fencik had reached out to the Suheys about putting together dinner plans in the last week and he was similarly stunned.
“I kind of remember Matt as a level-headed guy,” Fencik said. “You could almost interpret how the offense felt by going through Matt. Just a real valuable teammate and one that, gosh, this was a real shock to all of us.”
Born in Bellefonte, Pa., on July 7, 1958, Suhey starred at State College Area High School and was named to the Pennsylvania Football All-Century Team. He played four seasons at Penn State, where his family has a deep legacy, and was drafted by the Bears in the second round in 1980.
Suhey played 10 seasons in the NFL, all for the Bears, rushing for 2,946 yards and 20 touchdowns in 148 games. He was a skilled receiver out of the backfield with 2,113 receiving yards. In seven of his 10 seasons, he didn’t miss a regular-season game.
But he was best known for opening holes for Payton and later Neal Anderson as one of the best blocking backs in the league. Former Tribune Bears reporter and NFL columnist Don Pierson, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s media wing, summed up what Suhey meant to the franchise in a 2004 story that ranked the fullback as the most underrated player in team history.
“It’s more than a coincidence that his career spanned the Bears’ great decade,” Pierson said.
It was Suhey who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl XX, an 11-yard run. He had 52 yards on 11 carries and caught a pass for 24 yards.
“Patriots defensive coordinator Rod Dowhower had said, ‘Hey, wherever Payton goes, we’re putting three helmets on him,'” Hampton said. “Matt had an awful lot of great runs early in that game when it was still in question. All through the year, when it was third-and-4, everybody would be thinking Walter was going to get it and then — pop — there goes Suhey for 8 right up the middle.”
He was a beloved teammate who had a “wry” sense of humor, Hampton said, but was always ready to work.
“Quality of character, there was no one superior to Matt,” Hampton said. “He was truly a gentleman. He wasn’t like a bunch of the rest of us who were cutting up. He was, I don’t want to say more adult, but he was real responsible. He played around with Walter and everyone else but he wasn’t a guy going out to the bar after the game. He was a businessman.”
Said Fencik: “I would say maybe in one way you would interpret Walter’s moods through Matt and that could be a high or a real low.”
Suhey was remarkably close with Payton and remained the closest of friends and advisers to the family after Payton died in 1999. Jarrett Payton called him a father figure since 1999.
“How can anybody compare to him?” Suhey said of Payton in a 1985 Tribune article. ”Some may be faster, but nobody’s stronger or better at all facets of the game. It might be nice to carry the ball more and see my name in the stats. But if Walter scores a touchdown, and I make a good block, that’s the name of the game.
“He’s a very good friend of mine. I enjoy his personality. You never know what to expect. On the field, you’re always second to him. But he never makes you feel that way.”
The training camp photo with Suhey losing his shorts exemplified the brotherhood they formed in the backfield.
“A picture tells 1,000 words and that was indicative of their relationship,” Hampton said. “You can’t top that. I don’t want to sound over the top dramatic, but when you watch the ‘Brian’s Song,’ in an abstract way that (friendship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo) was Walter and Matt. They were different but they were the best of friends.”