Matt Suhey, a fullback who helped Walter Payton and the 1985 Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl, has died. He was 68.
The Bears confirmed Suhey died on Sunday morning. No other details were provided.
Suhey played for Chicago for 10 seasons after he was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1980 draft. He helped clear the way for Payton to become the NFL's career leading rusher, a record Payton held until Emmitt Smith surpassed his total on Oct. 27, 2002.
Suhey and Payton were close friends. Payton served as the godfather for Suhey's youngest son, Scott.
"After we lost my dad in 1999, Matt became the biggest father figure I had," Walter’s son, Jarrett, posted on social media on Monday. "When everything felt uncertain, he was there. My dad left him in charge and Matt never let that responsibility sit lightly. He protected our family. He looked after us. He made sure we were okay, year after year, without ever making it about himself.
“That is who he was.”
Suhey was Chicago's second-leading rusher when the Bears went 15-1 during the 1985 regular season, finishing with 471 yards on the ground. Payton rushed for 1,551 yards and nine touchdowns that year.
The 1985 Bears shut out the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs before routing New England 46-10 in the Super Bowl. Suhey scored the first TD against the Patriots on an 11-yard run in the first quarter. He finished with 52 yards on 11 carries, and he also had a 24-yard reception.
The durable Suhey played in 148 regular-season games during his 10 years with the Bears, starting 100. He had 828 carries for 2,946 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had 260 receptions for 2,113 yards and five TDs.
Suhey, a Pennsylvania native, played his college ball for Penn State, following in the footsteps of his father, Steve, a guard who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Matt Suhey rushed for 2,818 yards and 26 touchdowns on 633 carries for the Nittany Lions. He also caught 39 passes for 328 yards and two TDs.
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FILE - Penn State's running back Matt Suhey (32) runs with the ball during the fourth period of a college football game against Temple at University Park, Penn., Nov. 17, 1979. (AP Photo/Fred Prouser, File)
FILE - Chicago Bears running back Matt Suhey (26), leaps through the air during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, Dec. 12, 1982. (AP Photo/Gary Stewart, File)
FILE - Chicago Bear's Matt Suhey (26) heads for a touchdown during the NFL Super Bowl 20 football game against the New England Patriots in New Orleans, Jan. 26, 1986. (AP Photo, File)
HOUSTON (AP) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer appeared to intentionally drive a vehicle into a man in Houston, breaking his leg, a Texas prosecutor said, warning an investigation by his office could result in criminal charges.
Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, underwent surgery for a broken leg after he was hit by a car Saturday, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights organization that is helping the man's family.
Parra Hernandez remains in ICE custody at a hospital and still needs ankle surgery, his lawyer, Kim Bruno, said during a news conference Wednesday.
The encounter has set off new criticism over immigration enforcement in Houston, where local prosecutors are also investigating a July fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, expressed concern Tuesday over surveillance footage that shows Parra Hernandez and another person jumping out of a white truck and running as a dark SUV pursues them. A vehicle strikes Parra Hernandez, who is seen on the ground seconds later.
“The most obvious criminal charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” Teare told FOX 26 Houston. “Meaning the car was used as a deadly weapon. And it certainly is what appears to have happened, based on the surveillance footage.”
Allegations that officers intentionally struck Parra Hernandez are “reckless” and “false,” ICE said in a statement. Parra Hernandez had been in a vehicle with the target of an enforcement operation, and when officers tried to stop the car, the two men fled on foot, the agency said.
He “ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck,” ICE said.
Espinosa flatly denied this claim during the news conference Wednesday, citing surveillance video.
The footage shows a man running from the white truck as a black SUV approaches him from behind. The video does not show the car hitting the man — that view is blocked by another vehicle — but it shows the SUV inches from the man before stopping. After, the man is on the ground behind the car.
Attorneys and relatives of others who were arrested by ICE during the operation Saturday denied during the news conference that the man ICE named as the target of its operation — Jose Mendoza-Cervantes — was even in the white van, saying they didn’t know anyone of that name.
Espinosa said Parra Hernandez comes from Mexico and has been in the U.S. for 34 years. He declined to share Parra Hernandez’s status, but said he is living in the U.S. without authorization.
He said two ICE officers were in the room when he visited Parra Hernandez at the hospital.
“He already had a surgery for the injury under his knee and now we’re waiting for swelling to go down in his ankle to be able to have a reconstructive surgery on his ankle,” Espinosa said.
He remained in ICE custody Wednesday, Espinosa said.
Teare said ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not cooperated with his office during its investigation.
In July, Teare said DHS also ignored his request for information after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The shooting was one of at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Rodolfo Parra, brother of Miguel Parra-Hernandez, speaks to the media Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, alongside Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, near the scene on Clay Road near Texas 6 in Houston where Parra-Hernandez was struck by ICE agents after running from an SUV pursuing another man. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Harris County Sheriff deputies work the scene after a man was struck by an ICE agent's vehicle during an immigration enforcement in northwest Houston, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. 9Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Sarah Fischer, a local artist who collaborates with Fiel to provide emergency portraiture, holds her artwork of Miguel Parra-Hernandez, during a press conference Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, near the scene on Clay Road near Texas 6 in Houston where Parra-Hernandez was struck by ICE agents after running from an SUV pursuing another man. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People watch as Harris County Sheriff deputies work the scene near two vehicles involved after a man was struck by an ICE agent's vehicle during an immigration enforcement operation in northwest Houston, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. 9Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
