A hard-nosed Chicago Bears fullback who spent eight seasons clearing a path for Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, Matt Suhey also scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl XX. He died on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at 68.
The Bears confirmed Suhey’s death and released no other details. He was found dead at his home in Deerfield, Ill., and a Lake County Coroner’s Office spokesperson said an initial police probe “revealed that there were no suspicious circumstances” surrounding his death.
“Our preliminary investigation indicated that Mr. Suhey had a significant medical history and was being treated by a primary care physician (PCP),” chief deputy coroner Steve Newton said, adding that “our investigation was limited, and the PCP will be completing the death certificate, as it will be natural causes.”
The men who played beside him were blindsided. Former Bears safety Gary Fencik had been trying to set a date for breakfast with him. “It was out of the blue,” Fencik said. He told the Daily Herald: “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.”
The First Touchdown in New Orleans
In the first quarter of Super Bowl XX, played in New Orleans on January 26, 1986, Suhey broke free for an 11-yard scoring run — the opening touchdown in a 46-10 demolition of the New England Patriots. He ran 11 times for 52 yards that afternoon and added a 24-yard catch. That title remains the only Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
Blocking was not all he did that season. Suhey’s 471 rushing yards ranked second on a Chicago team that went 15-1, behind only Payton, who ran for 1,551 yards and nine touchdowns. The Bears shut out the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs, then buried New England, and Suhey carried 23 times across those three postseason games. He had also rushed for 102 yards at Soldier Field on November 10, 1985, in a 24-3 win over the Detroit Lions.
Eight Years as Payton’s Lead Blocker
Chicago took Suhey in the second round of the 1980 NFL Draft out of Penn State, where he had run for 2,818 yards and 26 touchdowns in four years. He had followed his father, Steve Suhey, to the Nittany Lions after starring at State College Area High School; Penn State calls the Higgins-Suhey line, four generations deep, arguably the first family of its football program. He wore no other uniform, playing 10 seasons in Chicago before retiring after the 1989 campaign.
Durability was among his hallmarks, and he rarely missed a Sunday, playing 148 of a possible 152 regular-season games and starting 100. His career line: 828 carries for 2,946 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns, with 260 catches adding 2,113 yards and five scores, which left him at 5,059 yards from scrimmage and 25 total touchdowns. In four of his 10 seasons, he topped 100 carries.
The statistics he cared about most belonged to another man. Payton ran behind Suhey for eight years, piling up 9,800 yards and 51 touchdowns, and that blocking helped carry Payton to the top of the NFL’s career rushing list, a spot he held until Emmitt Smith passed his total on October 27, 2002. Suhey took on the same job for running back Neal Anderson after Payton retired, and Anderson gained more than 1,100 yards behind him in 1988. Chicago reached the playoffs five years running, from 1984 through 1988.
A Friendship That Outlasted the Game
Their relationship ran well past the backfield. Payton was godfather to Suhey’s youngest son, Scott. In Payton’s episode of the NFL series “A Football Life,” the two were described as best friends, and Walter Payton’s son, Jarrett Payton, said in that episode his father got the glory because Suhey took the hits and kept himself out of the spotlight.
Suhey took over caring for Payton in 1999 as his friend was dying of bile duct cancer, keeping the crush of reporters away, and he later served as executor of the estate. A photograph from a spring 1985 minicamp in Lake Forest became one of the enduring images of the two, showing Payton pulling down Suhey’s shorts from behind while the fullback lined up for a play.
From the Backfield to the Trading Floor
Suhey traded at the Chicago Board of Trade during his offseasons and later made that work his full-time career. He also stayed woven into the franchise’s life long after he stopped playing. He served as Jim Covert’s presenter when the Bears offensive lineman was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Centennial Class in August 2021, and on September 3, 2019, Soldier Field drew him back for the ceremony that unveiled statues of Payton and George Halas outside Gate 0.
His death is another blow to a 1985 team that ranks among the most celebrated in NFL history. Steve McMichael, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle on that squad, died in 2025 at 67 after living several years with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Jarrett Payton paid tribute on Monday, September 7, to the man who watched over his family for decades. “After we lost my dad in 1999, Matt became the biggest father figure I had,” he wrote in a social media post. His father, he added, had left Suhey in charge, and Suhey went on to protect the family and check in on them year after year, never once making it about himself. “Brian’s Song told the story of Piccolo and Sayers. Somebody needs to tell the story of 34 and 26,” he wrote.