By DAN WIEDERER
Chicago Tribune

During his final weeks, as a stream of family members, friends and former sports media colleagues came to his bedside at Lake Forest Hospital, John "Moon" Mullin remained full of resilience, positivity and gratitude. One after another, each visitor left inspired by Mullin's strength and impressed with his grace.

From the day he was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2019, Mullin set his mind on fighting his battle with a positive attitude, squeezing the most from whatever time he had left. He was engaged in that quest until the end.

"He remained unfailingly positive," said Dan Pompei, a former Chicago Tribune sports writer and currently a writer for The Athletic. "From the very start, his head was in the right place in terms of his priorities and his approach to a life-threatening illness. He recognized this as a period of growth for him. ... And he somehow found his way to a better place."

Mullin, a longtime Chicago sports reporter, died Sunday at age 74, according to Pompei.

A graduate of Notre Dame High School in Niles and the University of Dayton, Mullin was a well-known and respected figure in the Chicago sports media landscape for decades, with his most prominent contributions coming on the Bears beat. He covered the team from the final stretch of the Mike Ditka era into the early stages of Matt Nagy's tenure as coach.

Mullin began his sports reporting career at the Daily Herald in the early 1990s, later spent more than 11 years at the Tribune and eventually became the Bears insider for Comcast Sports Net Chicago in 2009. (CSN Chicago later became NBC Sports Chicago.)

Former Tribune sports writer Melissa Isaacson, a longtime friend of Mullin's, was among the horde of visitors who streamed through Lake Forest Hospital in recent weeks.

"I've seen the many stages this illness has taken on Moon," Isaacson said. "But without a doubt, the one constant has been the amazing, indomitable spirit he has shown. It was impressive to experience that up close. And it was not a surprise to me that he would take this opportunity to make the best of things and to view it as an experience he was going through as a journalist almost.

"This was his opportunity to explore all these different feelings and all these relationships and all these little moments of his journey."

Mullin was an avid cyclist, loved good wine and enjoyed taking trips with his family. He was also big into music, at one time a guitarist and backup vocalist in a band called Jobreen.

Mullin was told at the outset of his battle with cancer that he would be lucky to survive a year. Instead, he lived for three-plus years.

Fred Mitchell, who competed against Mullin on the Bears beat before the two later became teammates at the Tribune, appreciated Mullin's friendship and collegial approach.

"As competitive as we all were to break stories and beat the other guy with a scoop, Moon always had that friendly nature and always contributed to that lighthearted atmosphere in the press box and at the old Halas Hall," Mitchell said. "We kidded each other a lot. We had a lot of fun.

"To be able to balance that competitive spirit with that light energy and all the back-and-forth teasing was fantastic. There's a lot of pressure on that beat to be on top of every story. But Moon always had a way of keeping it in the right perspective."

Isaacson moved from the Bulls beat to the Bears beat in 1996 and admitted she initially was intimidated by Mullin's presence, football knowledge and extensive network of sources.

"For self-preservation reasons," Isaacson said, "I wanted him so badly to be hired by the Tribune."

In 1997, she got that wish, and the two quickly became unified teammates, building a friendship that lasted for more than a quarter century. Isaacson quickly grew to admire how Mullin naturally built strong relationships with players, coaches and front office executives.

As a former offensive lineman himself, Mullin gravitated to players in that position group and accepted the ribbing his colleagues and competitors gave him for doing so.

"It was truly a joy and an education every day with him," Isaacson said. "He had incredible people skills that made him a better reporter. And I think I picked some of those up simply through osmosis."

Current WSCR-AM 670 host and former Tribune sports writer David Haugh was 34 years old when he came to Chicago to become the Tribune's new Bears beat writer in 2003. That meant replacing Mullin, who had been shifted to cover Northern Illinois and other college sports. Haugh recalled the pressure he felt joining such a high-profile NFL beat in an intensely competitive market.

Ironically, Haugh said, it was Mullin who became one of his most influential supporters and life rafts.

"Moon Mullin was the best mentor I had," Haugh said. "The guy whose job went to me was the guy whose advice I sought. And Moon was the guy who graciously took me under his wing and said: 'OK. This is when you go to Halas Hall. These are the people you need to talk to. This is the phone number for the general manager. Oh, let me introduce you to the owner.'

"He had no obligation to do any of that. But he became my lifeline for the first year on the beat. And without him, I might have had a nervous breakdown."

Those who shared beat territory with Mullin always noted the easygoing demeanor he brought to his work, his "gentle spirit," as Pompei called it.

"He was just being himself," Pompei said. "He wasn't one of these guys who was in the locker room trying to maneuver as a real smooth operator. He just talked to people naturally and earned their trust because of who he was. He wasn't pumping guys for information. He just had a way that broke down barriers and earned trust."