April 25, 2018 by Philip Lewenstein

Story of Former Sports Photographer Friend Illuminates Big Picture of Life

Last fall, viewing professional football games, I watched a commercial for Modelo Especial featuring Tony Gonzalez, one of the greatest receivers in the history of the National Football League. In the ad, Gonzalez, now a national TV analyst, celebrates 40 years of family dinners with his mother, who worked two jobs to raise and support the family.

Seeing the commercial reminded me of one of my most talented friends from more than 40 years ago: photographer Mickey Pfleger at the San Bernardino Sun Telegram.

I met Mickey in the early 1970s when I worked as the night sports editor for the Sun Telegram, then a Gannett newspaper, and he became a good friend. I endeared myself to Mickey one spring day when I enlarged his picture of a high-school high jumper going over the bar. I ran the picture over several columns, allowing the photo to visually dominate the page—a rare graphic presentation in those days.

Our friendship grew after his picture was published. Mickey, one year younger than I, was from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and we enjoyed bantering about the Viking-Packer rivalry. Mickey was distinctive, with long hair flowing down his back and his exuberant approach to shooting sports pictures.

A year and a half later, I left San Bernardino for St. Paul and, unfortunately, did not keep in touch with Mickey. A few years later, Mickey became a freelance sports photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I was not surprised to see his tagline on many pictures in Sports Illustrated, including its cover. Mickey’s picture of Hall-Of-Fame receiver Jerry Rice jumping into the arms of lineman Steve Wallace became a U.S. postal stamp honoring the 49ers.

Now, thanks to the internet, one can check on people one has not seen for many years. A few years ago, I sadly found an obituary of Mickey, who died December 17, 2010, at age 61. However, he would have died much earlier had it not been for a collision on November 12, 2000, with the 6-foot-5 inch, 240-pound Gonzalez at Candlestick Park in San Francisco while Mickey was photographing the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Early in the third quarter, Gonzalez took a late hit out of bounds, ran into Mickey, and knocked him unconscious. An ambulance took Mickey to a local hospital for tests. A brain scan revealed not just a concussion but a significant cancerous tumor.

Despite the tumor, Mickey referred to himself as the “luckiest person in the world” since he would not have known about the cancer except for the collision. As a result, he lived ten more years.

“I was supposed to be knocked out by Tony Gonzalez at the football game,” Mickey wrote in 2001 for a sports photography resource website (SportsShooters.com). “I was supposed to go into a seizure while I was unconscious so that Dr. James Klint of the 49ers would tell the paramedics to tell the emergency room doctors to do a CT brain scan on me. I was supposed to be taken to San Francisco General Hospital and land in the hands of Dr. Martin Holland, an incredibly talented neurosurgeon.

“I was never supposed to get hurt from the ‘hit’ by Tony Gonzalez.”

Mickey could not find any bruises on his body the day after being hit and didn’t have a headache even though he suffered a concussion and seizure and was unconscious for two minutes.

In December 2013, before his final game at Candlestick Park, Gonzalez, then with the Atlanta Falcons, remembered the collision in November 2000.

“The strangest thing that ever happened to me in football happened at Candlestick,” Gonzalez told the Associated Press. “I hear after the game he’ll be OK. I was happy about that. But three or four days later, they said: ‘Hey, you know what happened to that guy? They did a brain scan and found a tumor in his brain and they would have never found this tumor if you didn’t hit him.’ It was a miracle it turned out this way.”

Gonzalez met Mickey a couple of times after the collision, and they would give hugs each time they saw each other.

“It’s just strange how the universe works and makes things happen like that,” Gonzalez said. “I believe in a higher power. Some people out there don’t. But I definitely think something was at work there—a late hit and then running into this guy and being able to find that tumor in him. That’s something that stands out as the strangest thing that ever happened to me in football.”

While Mickey was in the emergency room, Mickey’s son took a call from Denise White, sister of Tony Gonzalez. She said that Tony had been calling her from the stadium and the Chiefs’ plane asking her to check on Mickey’s condition. She said that Tony was shook after the incident and concerned. Denise said that Tony stayed with Mickey after he went down, called for help, and didn’t want to return to the game until he knew Mickey was OK. But the officials pulled Tony away and told him he had to go back to the game.

Mickey reported that when he arrived home the following day, there was a large pot of flowers from Gonzalez with a note apologizing for the hit and wishing him a speedy recovery. Two days later, a football arrived from Gonzalez with another note of concern written on the ball.

In the days after returning home from the hospital, Mickey did several TV and newspaper interviews, which he found helpful for him to accept the brain tumor and begin to deal with it.

“I was beginning to experience very positive gifts in my outlook on life,” Mickey said. “After accepting the fact that I had a brain tumor and that I did not know how long I would live, I was able to really appreciate life and live in the present moment. I was determined to live each day to the fullest. It was also very easy to see the things in my life which were a drain on my energy or which was a waste of time.

“I also wanted to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends. I knew it would be very difficult to say that I was too busy to do something. I did not want put off doing anything that was important or enjoyable.”

During the weeks after the collision, Mickey consulted with Dr. Holland and other experts to learn about brain tumors. A biopsy done by Holland on February 23 confirmed a low-grade (slow growing) tumor that had likely been there for a long time. Holland and other specialists recommended surgical removal followed by radiation and/or chemotherapy as needed.

“My decision to remove the tumor by surgery was an easy decision to make,” Mickey said. “I felt that if I wasn’t supposed to know that I had a brain tumor, then I would not have ever found out that I had one. And then I would have gone on with my life and either, never had any problems, or someday, I would start having symptoms or experience a seizure or other serious problem. But I did find out that I had a brain tumor, and I really believe things happen for a reason.”

Surgery was scheduled for May 4 at San Francisco General Hospital. Mickey invited his best friend, photographer Hal Stoelzie, whom I also knew, to take photographs during the surgery. Also, Mickey agreed to have NBC Dateline present.

Mickey recalled waking up and seeing Dr. Holland with a big grin. Holland reported that he was able to remove more than 90 percent of the tumor and only a small piece remained. The doctor could not remove the piece because it was located in the primary cortex area and if that area of the brain were disturbed, Mickey would have permanent paralysis for the body part which that part of the brain controls.

Mickey’s greatest concern was coming out of surgery with some sort of deficit in ability to think or reason. But with physical therapy, he soon regained his functions.

One night, about five nights after surgery, while lying in his hospital bed, Mickey said he had an incredible feeling.

“I knew that that time, my mind was working fine and that everything was very clear,” he said. “I was also getting many creative ideas. I don’t remember a time in my life where my thoughts were so clear and precise. I was also given some really exciting visions into the future that I will be very excited to see if they come true. I really believe that they will.”

Mickey expressed gratitude for the support he received from the 49ers, Tony Gonzalez and his sister, his neurosurgeon and medical support team, and many people he didn’t know who were praying for him and wishing him well.

“I thank God that I am alive and I am looking forward to the future,” Mickey wrote. “I feel great! I feel like a new person and I feel that I am just beginning life for the first time. I have to say that I am the luckiest person in the world!

“And I will be looking forward to continuing to take photographs since that is what I am—a photographer/sports shooter!”

Despite Mickey’s positive outlook, complications from his surgery included seizures that left him unable to drive. He required live-in care during his last few years. But thanks to his collision with Tony Gonzalez, Mickey lived ten more years and continued to be revered by the sports photography elite of the Bay Area.

The beer commercial caused me to seek and review information about the collision and to reflect on my friend’s life. I regret that I did not keep in touch with Mickey. But I will always remember his talent, enthusiasm, and positive outlook that continued throughout his life even under the most difficult conditions. Both Mickey Pfleger, the photographer, and Tony Gonzalez, the football player, are exemplary role models in the game of life.