Matt Suhey, the former Chicago Bears fullback who helped clear the way for Walter Payton, died Sunday at 68. The Bears announced his death, marking the loss of one of the most durable figures from their 1985 Super Bowl XX championship team.
Suhey was not a flash player. He was a 1980 second-round pick from Penn State who spent his entire 10-year NFL career with the Bears, appearing in 148 games with 100 starts. He rushed for 2,946 yards and 20 touchdowns on 828 carries, caught 260 passes for 2,113 yards and five touchdowns, and was part of teams that won five NFC Central championships, two NFC titles and one Super Bowl.
For readers who remember the Bears through Payton, Suhey is part of that same frame. He served as Payton’s lead blocker during eight seasons as teammates, and the pair helped Chicago lead the NFL in rushing for four straight seasons from 1983-86. On Nov. 10, 1985, both backs produced in the same win, with Payton rushing for 107 yards and Suhey for 102 in a 24-3 victory. Suhey also scored the first touchdown in the Bears’ 46-10 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX on an 11-yard run.
Gary Fencik said Suhey was “just a real responsible guy” who “really enjoyed being a good friend of Walter’s and opening holes for him.” Fencik also said Suhey’s work was “probably understated,” a fair reading of a player whose value rarely showed up in the obvious places. Suhey cared for Payton and later served as executor of Payton’s estate after Payton died in 1999, a role that points to how close the two remained long after the cheers stopped.
That closeness also helps explain why Suhey’s death lands with such weight around the Bears. He was ranked the 70th greatest player in team history in 2019 by Bears Centennial Scrapbook authors Don Pierson and Dan Pompei, and his 2,946 rushing yards still rank 12th on the Bears’ all-time list and third among fullbacks. The numbers say he was important. The people who watched him say the larger truth was even simpler: he made Walter Payton better, and he made the Bears harder to stop.
