Looking forward to watching this documentary on one of my favorite athletes to cover. Even in an interview, you could feel Mike Singletary’s intensity. Of course, he had perhaps the most famous set of eyes in football.

Check out the trailer.

The write-up from NFL Network:

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Mike Singletary: A Football Life premieres Thursday, November 12 following Thursday Night Football on NFL Network with a look at the playing and coaching career of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary. Mike Singletary: A Football Life re-airs Friday, November 13 at 9:00 PM ET. The one-hour documentary produced by NFL Films features interviews with Singletary, his family, former teammates and coaches, business partners and more.

Singletary was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft out of Baylor University. While many teams considered the 5’11 Singletary to be too short to play middle linebacker, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career that included 10 Pro Bowls, eight All-Pro selections, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1985 and 1988, and a Super Bowl championship.

Following his retirement in 1992, Singletary was called back to the game in 2003 when he was hired as linebackers coach with the Baltimore Ravens. From there, Singletary went to the San Francisco 49ers where he was named interim head coach in 2008 and head coach in 2009, a position he held until December of 2010.

Emmy-nominated actor Josh Charles narrates.

Mike Singletary: A Football Life includes interviews with the following people and more:

Mike Singletary

Kim Singletary – Wife

Matt Singletary – Son

Brooke Singletary – Daughter

Becky Singletary – Daughter

Jackie Singletary – Daughter

Jill Singletary – Daughter

Kristen Singletary – Daughter

Joe Theismann – Former Redskins quarterback

Vernon Davis – Former 49ers tight end

Grant Teaff – Former Baylor University head coach

Dan Hampton – Bears teammate

Al Harris – Bears teammate

Jeff Fisher – Bears teammate

Mike Ditka – Former Bears head coach

Gary Fencik – Bears teammate

Brian Billick – Former Ravens head coach

Ray Lewis – Former Ravens linebacker

Mike Nolan – Former 49ers head coach

Takeo Spikes – Former 49ers linebacker

 

Provided below are some select quotes from Mike Singletary: A Football Life:

 

– “There was an intensity about Mike Singletary like you saw with no one else…You saw the fire in his eyes, the passion in his eyes.” – Joe Theismann

 

– “Everyone has such a hard idea of him but he’s such a teddy bear.” – Becky Singletary

 

– “Everything that I did – playing as hard as I could play, hitting everything as hard as I could, working out as hard as I could – it was sort of a fear of failure.” – Mike Singletary

 

– “Buddy [Ryan] was the one that created that environment where Mike had to do everything possible and Mike did it.” – Jeff Fisher

 

– “That was his strength and has always been his strength: leadership. He wanted to be the leader, he expected to be the leader. He was the middle linebacker. He was the quarterback of the defense, per se.” – Al Harris

 

– “I think that there have been many teams that had more talent than the Bears’ ’85 team, but I have not seen a team that had the heart.” – Mike Singletary

 

– “He was the true leader of our football team no question about it because of the effort he put in and the attitude. He never quit.” – Mike Ditka

 

– “The expectation was he wanted you to be great and he was going to push your button and call you out until you responded.”– Takeo Spikes

 

– “I want everything you know. Give me everything.” – Ray Lewis