Mike Singletary began his career in the sport of football while in the Evan E. Worthing High School in Houston. Born in Houston Texas, he started his career playing high school football. He went on to Baylor University for additional studies and earned the All America honors for both his junior and senior years there. Within this honorary team he was able to average 15 tackles per game and set a new record with 232 tackles in 1978. He also averaged 34 tackles in a single game up against the University of Houston within the same year. His outstanding performance earned him a spot in All Southwest conference team and made him a two time recipient of the Davey OBrien Memorial Trophy.
In 1981 Mike Singletary became a part of the Chicago Bears as a starter. He was seen in his third game which was being played against Kansas City Chiefs. Being a starter this was his third game and he recorded a magnificent ten tackles. He further went on to play 172 games as part of his career spanning twelve years for the Chicago Bears.
In his impressive career Mike Singletary recorded 1488 tackles. Out of these 885 were completely solo efforts. Within the last eleven seasons of his career he finished as the first or second lead tackler for the Chicago Bears. His personal best performance was in a game which was played against Denver Broncos during 1990. In this game he single handedly amassed ten tackles and ten assists. He’s played in ten of the Pro-Bowl games and has now been regarded the All Pro eight times.
Mike Singletary brought a significant amount of focus and intensity into the field as he entered, intimidating the opponent to a great extent. It was this sign of his that earned him the name of Samurai Mike, provided by his teammates. He was also known as the “Minister for Defense” after he led the Chicago Bears to victory in the 1985 season. His superb performance earned him the title of NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a title that he received again in the 1988 season. In 1995 he was made an integral part of the College Football Hall of fame and in 1998 he was elected to be a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s also regarded as among the top hundred greatest football players, ranking 56th in a poll conducted by The Sporting News.
Mike Singletarys coaching career began in 2003 when he was given the position of the linebackers coach of the Baltimore Ravens. The following year, while in the 2004 season, he joined the San Francisco 49ers as the assistant head coach as well as their linebackers coach. This move ensued following Mike Nolan, who was the top coach of the Baltimore ravens, move to the San Francisco 49ers as the head coach.
In 2008, he was made the interim coach of the team following Mike Nolan being fired. Singletary led the group through their season and could finish 5-4. He was finally offered the position of the teams head coach following a 49ers victory above the Washington Redskins, having a four year $10 million contract in December 2008.