title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The Nature Conservancy "Mount Hamilton Project" has acquired or put under conservation easement of land towards its goal for habitat conservation within a area encompassing much of eastern Santa Clara County as well as portions of southern Alameda County, western Merced and Stanislaus Counties, and northern San Benito County. Acquisitions to date include the Rancho Cañada de Pala, straddling the Alameda Creek and Coyote Creek watersheds for California tiger salamander habitat; a conservation easement on the 3,259-acre Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, which abuts the north side of Joseph D. Grant County Park; a conservation easement on the 28,359-acre San Felipe Ranch, connecting Joseph D. Grant County Park with Henry W. Coe State Park; the 2,899-acre South Valley Ranch which protects a tule elk herd in the San Antonio Valley, and other properties.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: As of 1980, Santa Clara County had the highest number of Superfund Sites of any county in the United States, accounting for 25 polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. , Santa Clara County has 23 active Superfund Sites, still more than any other county in the United States. The vast majority of these Superfund sites were caused by firms associated with the high tech sector in Silicon Valley.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: "Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race."


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Census demographics data released in 2019 show Asian Americans have had the plurality of Santa Clara's population since 2014.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: As of 2013, Santa Clara County has the highest median household income of any county in California at $84,741.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The 2010 United States census reported that Santa Clara County had a population of 1,781,642. The racial makeup of Santa Clara County was 836,616 (47.0%) White, 46,428 (2.6%) African American, 12,960 (0.7%) Native American, 7,060 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 570,524 (32.0%) Asian, 220,806 (12.4%) from other races, and 87,248 (4.9%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 479,210 persons (26.9% of the population).


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: As of the census of 2000, 1,682,585 people, 565,863 households, and 395,538 families were residing in the county. The population density was 503/km (1,304/mi). The 579,329 housing units had an average density of 173/km (449/sq mi). The ethnic makeup of the county was 53.8% White, 2.8% African American, 0.7% Native American, 25.6% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 12.1% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. About 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Of the 565,863 households, 34.9% had children under 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were not families. About 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.92, and the average family size was 3.41.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: In the county, the age distribution was 24.7% under 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females,there were 102.80 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 101.90 males.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The median income for a household in the county was $74,335, and for a family was $81,717. Males had a median income of $56,240 versus $40,574 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,795. About 4.9% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County is among the most religiously diverse counties in the US. A 2020 census by the Public Religion Research Institute (unconnected to the official US census) calculates a religious diversity score of 0.876 for Santa Clara County, where 1 represents complete diversity (each religious group of equal size) and 0 a total lack of diversity. Only four counties in the US have higher diversity scores than Santa Clara County.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county is one among three counties in California (with Napa and Madera) to establish a separate department, the Santa Clara County Department of Corrections, to deal with corrections pursuant to California Government Code §23013.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county also pays the $340,000 salary and benefits of the California state Department of Social Services director, which is reimbursed by the state, skirting the $165,000 state law cap for the position.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: In the United States House of Representatives, Santa Clara County is split among 4 congressional districts:


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Voters in the county also elect a number of other officials to county-wide positions, including the Santa Clara County District Attorney, the Santa Clara County Sheriff, and a large number of criminal and civil judges that serve in courts throughout the county.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Historically, Santa Clara County was a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. From 1872 through 1984, the only Democrats to carry Santa Clara County were Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey. However, 1988 would begin to mark a significant shift in the county's political leanings, starting with Michael Dukakis' narrow win and culminating in Bill Clinton's substantial 20-point victory in 1992. Since then, the Democratic presidential candidate has won Santa Clara County by large margins, and also remains solidly blue in congressional elections, as all politicians representing the county at the state and federal level are known to be Democrats . The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Ronald Reagan in 1984. While Republicans remained competitive at the state and local level throughout the 1990s, there are currently no elected Republicans representing the county above the local level.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Santa Clara County has 895,965 registered voters. Of those, 405,470 (45.3%) are registered Democrats, 151,213 (16.9%) are registered Republicans, and 308,769 (35.4%) have declined to state a political party.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: As of November 2012, all of the cities, towns, and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County have more registered Democrats than Republicans. In the 2008 US Presidential Election, Democratic nominee Barack Obama carried every city and town in the county, as well as the unincorporated areas.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Following the passage of Proposition 8, Santa Clara County joined San Francisco and Los Angeles in a lawsuit, becoming, along with San Francisco and Los Angeles, the first governmental entities in the world to sue for same-sex marriage.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The following table includes the number of incidents reported in 2009 and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense. Law Enforcement in Santa Clara County is handled by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and local police departments.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county's economy is heavily services-based. Technology, both hardware and software, dominates the service sector by value, but like any other county, Santa Clara has its share of retail and office support workers.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara metropolitan region, comprising Santa Clara County and San Benito County, was ranked as the highest performing metropolitan area in the US in 2012, ahead of Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina, according to the Milken Institute. The GDP of the metro area reached $176.7 billion in 2011, or $94,587 per capita, roughly on par with Qatar in both total GDP and per capita (nominal). GDP grew a strong 7.7% in 2011, and in contrast with most of California, GDP and per capita GDP (nominal) is well above 2007 (financial crisis) levels. Despite relative wealth vis a vis other regions nationally, a large underclass exists whose income is roughly equivalent to that elsewhere in the country, despite extreme land prices. The surge in metro GDP is highly correlated with home prices, which for average single-family homes passed $1 million ($1,017,528) in August 2013. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median value of homes in Santa Clara County was $1,253,400, an increase of 11.9% from the prior year, and ranking fourth in the US for highest median home value.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County Library is a public library system serving the communities and cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, and all unincorporated areas of the county. Other cities run their own library systems.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county's main airport is Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC). It is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry and as of 2019 has five international routes (two to Canada, one to England, one to Japan, seven to Mexico, and one to China) but the airport's busiest routes are all to cities in the western United States. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is also often used for commercial services by residents of Santa Clara County.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), a former U.S. Naval Air Station, is used by the Air National Guard, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Google, and by the San Jose Police and Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department as an air operations base. There are also smaller general aviation airports in Palo Alto (PAO), San Jose (Reid-Hillview) (RHV), and San Martin(E16)


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County is served by Caltrain commuter rail from Gilroy through San Jose and Silicon Valley north to San Francisco Airport and San Francisco. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority operates the VTA light rail system, which primarily serves San Jose, with one line continuing as far north as Mountain View. Santa Clara and San Jose are also served by the Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail line which provides services to Stockton, and Amtrak which provides service to Sacramento and Oakland. The Amtrak Coast Starlight train between Seattle and Los Angeles also stops in San Jose. BART currently services Milpitas and North San Jose, with plans to extend to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County has consolidated its transportation services into the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which operates a bus system.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is establishing a bicycle network throughout the county. Santa Clara County Bicycle network is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Bikeway Network.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county has an extensive freeway system and a separate expressway system (though it's not as extensive as those in Southern California). Expressways in California are distinct from freeways; although access to adjoining properties is eliminated, at-grade intersections are allowed. However, unlike expressways virtually everywhere else in California, the Santa Clara County expressways were built, signed, and maintained as county roads; they are not maintained by Caltrans, although they are patrolled by the California Highway Patrol.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: There is also a large street network dominated by four- and six-lane arterials. Some of the newer boulevards (primarily in the West Valley) are divided with landscaped medians.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: The county has no commercial seaports, although small boats can access San Francisco Bay from several points. Like many other Bay Area counties, it is dependent upon the Port of Oakland for transport of ocean cargo.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County Department of Correction is administered by the county's sheriff's office and supervises the following facilities:


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County has an extensive park system, much of it founded in the major park expansion of the late 1970s. Parks within the county include:


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: Santa Clara County also contains Ulistac Natural Area, a volunteer maintained natural open space. Foreign and invasive species are removed when possible as native plants are introduced. Migratory birds and butterflies often use this area.


title: Santa Clara County, California

text: To promote friendship and understanding and to build bridges with countries of origin for various ethnic populations in the county, the County of Santa Clara has created a Sister County Commission to coordinate the program. As of 3028, there are three sister counties:


title: Della Reese

text: Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You Know?". In the late 1960s she hosted her own talk show, "Della", which ran for 197 episodes. From 1975 she also starred in films, playing opposite Redd Foxx in "Harlem Nights" (1989), Martin Lawrence in "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (1996) and Elliott Gould in "Expecting Mary" (2010). Reese achieved continued success in the religious television drama "Touched by an Angel" (1994–2003), in which she played the leading role of Tess.


title: Della Reese

text: Della Reese was born Delloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, in the historic Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan, to Richard Thaddeus Early, an African-American steelworker, and Nellie (Mitchelle), a Native American cook of the Cherokee tribe. Her mother had had several children before Reese's birth, none of whom lived with her; hence, Reese grew up as an only child. At six years old, Reese began singing in church; from this experience she became an avid gospel singer. On weekends in the 1940s, she and her mother would go to the movies independently to watch the likes of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Lena Horne portray glamorous lives on screen. Afterward, Reese would act out scenes from the films. In 1944, she began her career directing the young people's choir, after she had nurtured acting plus her obvious musical talent. She was often chosen, on radio, as a regular singer. At the age of 13, she was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson's gospel group. Reese entered Detroit's Cass Technical High School (where she attended the same year as Edna Rae Gillooly, later known as Ellen Burstyn). She also continued with her touring with Jackson. With higher grades, she became in 1947 the first in her family to graduate from high school, aged 15.


title: Della Reese

text: After this she formed her own gospel group, the Meditation Singers. However, due in part to her father's serious illness and the death of her mother, Reese had to interrupt her schooling at Wayne State University to help support her family. Faithful to the memory of her mother, Delloreese moved out of her father's house when she disapproved of him taking up with a new girlfriend. She then took on odd jobs, such as truck driver, dental receptionist, and elevator operator, after 1949. Performing in clubs, Early soon decided to shorten her name from "Delloreese Early" to "Della Reese".


title: Della Reese

text: Reese was discovered by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and her big break came when she won a contest, which gave her a week to sing at Detroit's well-known Flame Show Bar. Reese remained there for eight weeks. Although her roots were in gospel music, she now was being exposed to and influenced by such jazz artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. In 1953, she signed a recording contract with Jubilee Records, for which she recorded six albums. Later that year, she also joined the Hawkins Orchestra. Her first recordings for Jubilee were songs such as "In the Still of the Night" (originally published in 1937), "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" and "Time After Time" (1947). The songs were later included on the album "And That Reminds Me" (1959).


title: Della Reese

text: In 1957, Reese released a single called "And That Reminds Me". After years of performing, she gained chart success with this song. It became a Top Twenty pop hit and a million-seller record. That year, Reese was voted by "Billboard", "Cashbox" and various other magazines, as "The Most Promising Singer". In 1959, Reese moved to RCA Records and released her first RCA single, called "Don't You Know?", which was adapted from Giacomo Puccini's music for "La bohème", specifically the aria "Quando m'en vo'" (Musetta's Waltz). It became her biggest hit to date, reaching the number 2 spot on the pop charts and topping the R&B charts (then called the "Hot R&B Sides") that year. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Eventually, the song came to be widely considered the signature song of her early career. She then released a successful follow-up single called "Not One Minute More" (number 16). She remained on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart with "And Now" (number 69). In 1960 she released "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)" (number 56), which was drawn from her Grammy-nominated album "Della" – a big band outing arranged by Neal Hefti who incorporated some arrangement ideas conceived by Reese.


title: Della Reese

text: In November 1960, Reese appeared in advertisements in "Ebony" magazine for the newly launched AMI Continental jukebox. Reese recorded regularly throughout the 1960s, releasing singles and several albums. Two of the most significant were "The Classic Della" (1962) and "Waltz with Me, Della" (1963), which broadened her fan base internationally. She recorded several jazz-focused albums, including "Della Reese Live" (1966), "On Strings of Blue" (1967) and "One of a Kind" (1978). "Live" hit number 21 on the R&B charts. She also performed in Las Vegas for nine years, and toured across the country. She signed with Avco Embassy Records and released the soul-pop album "Black is Beautiful" in 1970, charting at number 44 on the R&B chart.


title: Della Reese

text: In 1986, Reese formed the gospel group Brilliance with fellow singers O.C. Smith, Mary Clayton, Vermettya Royster, and Eric Strom. They released an album that earned Reese a Grammy nomination in the gospel category for the song "You Gave Me Love" (1987). She later earned another nomination for the album "Live! My Soul Feels Better Right Now" (1998).


title: Della Reese

text: Motown singer Martha Reeves cites Reese as a major influence, and says she named her group the Vandellas after Van Dyke Street in Detroit and Della Reese. In 2017, Reese was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame.


title: Della Reese

text: In 1969, Reese began a transition into acting work, which would eventually lead to her highest profile. Her first attempt at television stardom was a talk show series, "Della", which was cancelled after 197 episodes (June 9, 1969 – March 13, 1970). In 1970, Reese became the first black woman to guest host "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". She appeared in several TV movies and miniseries, was a regular on "Chico and the Man" and played the mother of B. A. Baracus in "The A-Team" episode "Lease with an Option to Die". In 1991, she starred opposite her old friend Redd Foxx in his final sitcom, "The Royal Family", but his death halted production of the series for several months. Reese also did voice-over for the late 1980s Hanna-Barbera animated series "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" on ABC. In 1989, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx in the film "Harlem Nights", in which she performed a fight scene with Eddie Murphy. Reese appeared as a panelist on several episodes of the television game show "Match Game", and Latrice Royale impersonated Reese on season 4 of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" in the "Snatch Game of Love", a "Match Game" and "The Dating Game" parody.


title: Della Reese

text: Reese had a wide variety of guest-starring roles, beginning with an episode of "The Mod Squad". This led to other roles in such series as: "", "Getting Together", "Police Woman", "Petrocelli", "Joe Forrester", "Police Story", "The Rookies," "McCloud", "Sanford and Son" (with Redd Foxx), "Vega$", and "Insight". She featured in two episodes of "The Love Boat", three episodes of "Crazy Like a Fox", four episodes of "Charlie & Co." (opposite Flip Wilson), "227" (with best friend Marla Gibbs), "MacGyver", "Night Court", "Dream On", "Designing Women", "Picket Fences", Disney Channel's "That's So Raven", and "The Young and the Restless". She also had a recurring role in "It Takes Two" opposite Richard Crenna and Patty Duke.


title: Della Reese

text: After coping with the death of one of her best friends, Redd Foxx, in 1991, she was reluctant to play the older female lead in inspirational television drama "Touched by an Angel," but went ahead and auditioned for the role of Tess. She wanted to have a one-shot agreement between CBS and producer Martha Williamson, but the network ordered more episodes. Reese was widely seen as a key component of the show's success. Already starring on "Touched by an Angel" was the lesser-known Irish actress Roma Downey, who played the role of case worker Tess's angel/employee, Monica. In numerous interviews, there was an on- and off-screen chemistry between both Reese and Downey. The character of Tess was the angelic supervisor who sent the other angels out on missions to help people redeem their lives and show them God's love, while at the same time, she was sassy and had a no-nonsense attitude. The show often featured a climactic monologue delivered by the angel Monica in which she reveals herself as an angel to a human with the words: "I am an angel sent by God to tell you that He loves you." The character of Tess was portrayed by Reese as down-to-earth, experienced and direct. Reese also sang the show's theme song, "Walk with You", and was featured prominently on the soundtrack album produced in conjunction with the show.


title: Della Reese

text: During its first season in 1994, many critics were skeptical about the show, it being the second overtly religious prime-time fantasy series, after "Highway to Heaven". The show had a rocky start, low ratings and was cancelled 11 episodes into the first season. However, with the help of a massive letter-writing campaign, the show was resuscitated the following season and became a huge ratings winner for the next seven seasons. At the beginning of the fourth season in 1997, Reese threatened to leave the show because she was making less than her co-stars; CBS ended up raising her salary. In 2000, her health problems became obvious when she collapsed on the set and was hospitalized. "Touched by an Angel" was cancelled in 2003, but it continued re-running heavily in syndication and on Ion Television (formerly PAX-TV), The Hallmark Channel, Up, and later MeTV. Downey said of her on- and off-screen relationship with Reese:


title: Della Reese

text: Reese was the godmother of Roma Downey's daughter Reilly Marie. Reese officiated at the marriage ceremony of Downey and Mark Burnett in the absence of Downey's late mother.


title: Della Reese

text: Reese's mother, Nellie Mitchelle Early, died in 1949 of an intracerebral hemorrhage. Reese's father, Richard Early, died ten years later. Reese had an adoptive daughter from a family member unable to care for her, named Delorese Daniels Owens, born in 1961. Owens died on March 14, 2002. She died from complications stemming from pituitary disease. Sharing her frustration with the lack of awareness and knowledge of pituitary disorders, Reese said:


title: Della Reese

text: In 1952, Reese married factory worker Vermont Adolphus Bon Taliaferro, nineteen years her senior. She adopted the stage name Pat Ferro for a week, before introducing the stage name she used for the rest of her life—though sources differ as to whether this name change was after the failure of the marriage, or simply a show-business decision. A second marriage ceremony, on December 28, 1959, to accountant Leroy Basil Gray, who had two children by a previous marriage, was kept secret for some time. This marriage either ended in divorce or was annulled on the basis that Gray's previous divorce was invalid. In 1961, Reese was briefly married to bandleader Mercer Ellington (who was then her manager), before their union was annulled later that year due to Ellington's Mexican divorce from his wife Evelyn Walker being ruled invalid. In 1983, Reese married Franklin Thomas Lett, Jr., a concert producer and writer.


title: Della Reese

text: In the 1980s, Reese was ordained a minister through the Christian New Thought branch known as Unity after serving as the senior minister and founder of her own church, Understanding Principles for Better Living. The "Up Church" is under Universal Foundation for Better Living, a denomination of Christian New Thought founded by Rev. Johnnie Colemon, a close friend of Rev. Reese-Lett. In her ministerial work, she was known as the Rev. Dr. Della Reese Lett.


title: Della Reese

text: In 1979, during taping for a guest spot on "The Tonight Show", Reese suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm, but made a full recovery after two surgeries by neurosurgeon Charles Drake at University Hospital in London, Ontario. In 2016, shortly after her 85th birthday, Reese was said to be in poor health, and had undergone multiple surgeries. She stated that she had neglected her health for years, which had contributed to her developing type 2 diabetes. After her last appearance in "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", she retired from acting. While Reese sometimes used a wheelchair, she avoided using one often, out of concern it would make her condition worse.


title: Della Reese

text: Reese died at her home in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles on November 19, 2017, at the age of 86.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction (originally known as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Quarantine) is an online multiplayer tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. A spin-off of "Rainbow Six Siege" (2015), "Extraction" is a cooperative multiplayer game in which players must work together to combat and defeat a type of parasite-like aliens called the Archæans. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S on January 20, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: "Rainbow Six Extraction" is a cooperative multiplayer game that can support up to three players. In "Extraction", the operators must infiltrate an alien-infested location and complete objectives, such as collecting samples, extracting materials from computers, and gathering intel. Each play session, known as an "incursion", is made up of three interconnected sub-maps, and players will be assigned any one of the twelve objectives randomly in each sub-map. The location of the objectives and the placement of enemies are procedurally generated. Once the player secured their objective, they can choose to extract themselves, or explore the next sub-map. A new area can be more difficult than the previous, but players receive more rewards by completing them successfully. Extracting early ensures the safety of operators. If an operator is taken down by an enemy, they will become missing in action, and players cannot play as them until they have rescued them in an extraction mission. Characters which are severely injured in the previous mission will also remain hurt and will only recover slowly.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: Many operators from "Siege" return in "Extraction", as they have formed the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team (REACT) in order to contain the alien threat. Before the commencement of any mission, players can choose their operator from a pool of 18. Each operator has their own unique weapons and gadgets. For instance, Pulse has a heartbeat sensor that allows him to spot enemies through walls, while Alibi can deploy a holographic decoy to distract enemies. Team composition is essential for success, as the players in the same session must select three different characters. Like "Siege", players can send out recon drones to scout the area, reinforce doors and windows to seal entrances, and shoot through walls. Players must work together and coordinate with each other in order to succeed. The game has a ping system which allows players to reveal the locations of hostile threats and resources to other players.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: The aliens featured in the game are called the "Archæans". In addition to the standard enemies, there are also special variants, such as the spikers that can shoot sharp projectiles from their body, and rooters that can slow the player down significantly. Areas are covered with a calcified lime called "sprawl". Players are significantly slowed down while they stand on Sprawl, while enemies will become much stronger. Sprawl can be repelled by shooting at it. Unlike most other cooperative multiplayer games, "Extraction" has a slower pace. Players' health does not regenerate, and health pick-ups, supplies and ammo are scarce. Stealth is encouraged. If the player is detected by an opponent after making too much noise, it will shriek and attract more enemies.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: "Rainbow Six Extraction" was developed by Ubisoft Montreal as a spin-off of 2015s "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege". According to Jason Schreier, "Extraction" originated from a project named "Pioneer" which was first teased in "Watch Dogs 2" (2016). "Pioneer" was originally envisioned as a sci-fi exploration game, until it was repurposed in 2019 with "Siege"s engine AnvilNext. The game is based on a time-limited game mode in "Siege" named Outbreak in 2018, in which players must combat hostile aliens in New Mexico. Despite that, Ubisoft reiterated that the game is a mainline title in the series, as "Extraction" was intended as an experience for players who are not interested in playing player-versus-player multiplayer video game. By having "Siege" characters playable in "Extraction", the team believed they can attract players from "Siege" to play the game, and enable "Extraction" to become a good entry point for new players.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: One of the early challenges during the game's development is combining elements of a horde mode shooter into "Rainbow Six". While most other games focus extensively on using firearms to gun down enemies, "Extraction" instead focuses on the objectives and surviving the encounters with the aliens, as the team believed that the characters in the game, which are members of a SWAT team, should not be "entrenched and shoot and mow down hundreds of enemies" and instead should surprise the enemies by ambushing them. Teammates would become missing in action, as the team believed that this feature can induce a sense of tension, since players always need to decide whether they would continue venturing further into the containment zone at the risk of losing an operator temporarily.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: The game was revealed during E3 2019 as "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Quarantine" and was set to be released in 2020 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was delayed in October 2019 alongside two other Ubisoft titles to fiscal year 2020-2021 in order to give the team more time. It was then delayed again to fiscal year 2021-2022 due to development challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also during the pandemic, Ubisoft reportedly dropped the "Quarantine" name due to its association with the pandemic, using the internal codename "Parasite" until they announced the new title as "Extraction" in June 2021. In July, it was delayed once more to January 2022. An email invitation for a Technical Test went out to “selected” participants on November 2, 2021, with the test itself taking place from November 5–7. The game was released on January 20, 2022 for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Luna, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S with cross-platform play supported. Ubisoft also lowered the launch price of "Extraction", and introduced free co-op passes for players. Ubisoft also revealed on January 5, 2022 that "Extraction" would launch day one on Xbox Game Pass for Console, Cloud, and PC users.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: "Rainbow Six Extraction" received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game attracted three million players within its first week of release.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: "The Washington Post" praised the title's extraction mechanic, saying that it "lends the game a layer of drama and, at times, humor. Back-seat sessions in which one player is tasked with rescuing his downed teammates... become nail-biter spectacles". "PC Gamer" liked the vulnerability of characters, writing that "This fragility builds tension as we step deeper into enemy territory trying not to alert an Archaean long enough for it to scream", but criticized the higher difficulties as being unbalanced. While disliking the repetitiveness of the game modes, "IGN" appreciated the visual design. "GameSpot" lauded the shooting mechanics, tactical depth generated by interconnected zones, and progression track, while criticizing the unremarkable story, operator disparity, and specific studies. "Push Square" called some of the art direction "spectacular", going on to similarly praise the health system, stealth, and setting while citing the unimpressive AI, enemy design, level progression, story, and lack of engaging gameplay as major drawbacks.


title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

text: The game's lack of innovation was commonly criticised. "PCGamesN" felt that the game misused "Siege"s mechanics and operators, "All of those ingredients are present in Extraction, but they’ve been mixed in such a way that they fail to impart any flavour." He further compared "Extraction" to the limited-time game mode Outbreak in "Siege". "GamesRadar+" appreciated the alien races, multiplayer, and iteration upon "Siege's" ideas while panning it for lacking identity and being repetitive. "Game Informer" praised the weapon handling, enemy variety, and polish, but called the title "incredibly safe and markedly less gripping than its predecessor." "EGM" concluded that "Siege's" mechanics were successfully adapted for cooperative play but called the game "more boring than it has any right to be...more of an obligation than an escape."


title: Roma Downey

text: Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series "The Bible" for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Monica the angel in the CBS television series "Touched by an Angel". She has performed on stage with the Abbey Theatre, The National Theatre of Ireland, and has appeared both on and off Broadway. She played the leading role of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Emmy award-winning miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie" for NBC.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey starred in and was executive producer for a number of television movies for the CBS network, including "Borrowed Hearts" and "Second Honeymoon". She is an ambassador for Operation Smile, serving on missions to Honduras, Vietnam, and Jordan. On 11 August 2016 she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2021, Downey received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the International Christian Film & Music Festival. In 2021, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the International Christian Film & Music Festival and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Arts, Drama and to the Community in Northern Ireland.


title: Roma Downey

text: As President of Lightworkers Media, the faith and family division of MGM, Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, produced the Emmy-nominated miniseries "The Bible" for History channel, which was watched by over 100 million people in the United States. Downey and Burnett also executive-produced the feature films "Ben-Hur" starring Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell and Morgan Freeman, "Son of God" (2014), "Little Boy", "Woodlawn", "Resurrection", "Messiah" and "Country Ever After" which aired in 2021. "Variety" recognized Downey and Burnett as "Trailblazers" and listed Downey as one of "Variety's" "100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood". "The Hollywood Reporter" included the couple in their "Most Influential People of 2013" and Downey as one of the "100 Women in Entertainment Power" in 2014. She was honored on "Variety's" "Women of Impact in 2014". Downey and Burnett also produced "The Dovekeepers" based on the best selling book by Alice Hoffman for CBS and "A.D. The Bible Continues" for NBC, "Women of the Bible" for Lifetime, "Answered Prayers" for TLC. Downey is the executive producer of the documentary "Faithkeepers" about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, "Bump Along the Way", and of the short film "Rough" which won the IFTA for best short film in 2021.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey was born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, in the Bogside district. Roma is named after her two grandmothers, Ro from Rose and Ma from Mary, joined to make Roma. She attended Thornhill College, a Catholic girls school. Her mother, Maureen O'Reilly Downey, a housewife with an interest in the performing arts, died from a heart attack at age 48 when Downey was 10 years old. Her father, Patrick Downey, was a mortgage broker. Her father died when Downey was 20. Originally, she planned to be a painter and earned a Bachelor of Arts at Brighton College of Art. Roma studied BA (Hons) Expressive Arts at Brighton Polytechnic. Based at the Falmer campus, she combined Art and Drama for her degree. She then went on to study acting in London at The Drama Studio.


title: Roma Downey

text: She joined the Abbey Players, based at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and toured the United States in a production of "The Playboy of the Western World". Downey moved to New York City after an agent, whom she met during the tour of "The Playboy of the Western World", suggested she had potential for success there. She took a job as a coat checker at an Upper West Side restaurant before getting cast in Broadway shows.


title: Roma Downey

text: The production led to a nomination during the Broadway run for the Helen Hayes Best Actress Award in 1991. She also starred on Broadway in "The Circle" with Sir Rex Harrison and also at the Roundabout Theater and The Public Theater in New York City.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey played the role of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the American television miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie" (1991) which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 1992.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey's role as Jacqueline Kennedy led to her most famous role, as the angel Monica, on the CBS series "Touched by an Angel", opposite singer-actress, Della Reese, and John Dye which ran from 1994 to 2003.


title: Roma Downey

text: She received one nomination and one win at the TV Guide awards for favorite actress and also received two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. Downey has said the character Monica interested her because it was a strong female role, which were "few and far between" and for its spiritual aspects: Downey has also spoken of her deep and lasting love for and friendship with Della Reese. The two remained close until Reese's death on 19 November 2017. She commented that Reese was "such an influence on my life. She was my mother. I was a girl without a mother and for certain God brought her into my life. She was one of the lasting gifts of "Touched by an Angel"."


title: Roma Downey

text: On 24 May 2011, Downey and husband Mark Burnett announced they were producing a 10-hour docudrama for the History channel, "The Bible", based on stories from the Bible scheduled to air in 2013. They began planning it in 2009 and lined up their own financing. The full production cost was US$22 million. Downey and Burnett wanted to stay as true to the content in the Bible as possible so they put together a wide variety of pastors and academics to review the script and filming. For example, they worked with Pastors Joel Osteen and Rick Warren and academics such as Craig A. Evans and Mark Goodacre.


title: Roma Downey

text: "The Bible" has been watched by over 100 million viewers in the United States alone The series has been the number one downloaded series in iTunes and ranked on Amazon's best sellers in movies and television. A theatrical release was released on 28 February 2014 in the United States, under the title "Son of God". "The Bible" was nominated for the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. Downey played the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus. "The Bible" was filmed in 2012 in Morocco.


title: Roma Downey

text: In July 2013, it was announced that Downey and Burnett would produce "A.D.", the sequel to "The Bible". In December 2013, NBC ordered "A.D.". The series covered the spread of Christianity after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey also produced and starred in television movies including "Borrowed Hearts" and "Second Honeymoon". During the run of "Touched by an Angel", she recorded the spoken-word album "Healing Angel." and wrote the children's book "Love Is A Family". She also coauthored a book with her husband "A Story of God and All of Us". She hosted "It's a Miracle" (TV series), on the Pax Network and appeared on stage in "A Picasso" at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles. She portrayed Annie Sullivan in the TV movie "Monday After the Miracle" (1998). She has hosted "Saturday Night Live", was one of "People Magazine"'s most beautiful people. She is a spokesperson for the volunteer group "Operation Smile". In 2009, she starred in the movie "Come Dance at My Wedding" alongside John Schneider. On 16 July 2011, she appeared with actress Marion Ross in the made-for-TV movie "Keeping up with the Randalls", broadcast on the Hallmark Channel.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey is the executive producer of the animated video series, "Little Angels", which was released on DVD with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on 14 February 2012.


title: Roma Downey

text: In December 2013, CBS announced a new miniseries with Downey and Burnett, "The Dovekeepers" based on the New York Times Bestseller by Alice Hoffman. The miniseries aired in 2015. In September 2014, MGM acquired a 55% interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media. The two companies consolidated into a new film and television company, United Artists Media Group. Burnett became UA's CEO and Downey became president of LightWorkers Media.


title: Roma Downey

text: In December 2015, MGM acquired the remaining 45% of Hearst's, Burnett's and Downey's interests in United Artists Media Group (UAMG), which was absorbed under the MGM Television Group umbrella. Downey remains President of LightWorkers Media, which became the Faith & Family division of MGM.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey executive produced a re-telling of "Ben-Hur", starring Jack Huston, which was released in August 2016.


title: Roma Downey

text: On Nov. 16, 2016, it was announced Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett were starting the religious-themed TV network Light TV airing on Fox stations and affiliates. It was reported on Dec. 5, 2020, that Light TV would stop broadcasting and be replaced by TheGrio.TV.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey is the author of several books, including "Unexpected Blessings" and "Box of Butterflies" which became a NY Times best seller.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey is married to television producer Mark Burnett. She has two step-sons, James Burnett and Cameron Burnett, and a daughter, Reilly Marie Downey Anspaugh (born 3 June 1996) from her previous marriage to director David Anspaugh. She was also previously married to actor Leland Orser. Reilly is named after her grandmother, Maureen O'Reilly Downey. On Thanksgiving Day 2006, Burnett proposed to Downey during a family vacation in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. They wed on 28 April 2007 in their Malibu home. Her "Touched by an Angel" co-star, Della Reese, officiated at the wedding.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey is a "Smile Ambassador" for the non-profit organization Operation Smile which provides surgeries for children around the world who were born with severe cleft lip and palate. She has traveled on several international missions with the group to Vietnam, Honduras, and Jordan.


title: Roma Downey

text: She supported the unsuccessful candidacy of Martin McGuinness for President of Ireland in 2011. Downey received the Sally Award by the Salvation Army for her contribution to entertainment and helping those in need on 1 October 2015.


title: Roma Downey

text: On 18 April 2009, Downey and Burnett delivered the keynote address and accepted honorary doctorate degrees at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management commencement ceremony.


title: Roma Downey

text: In Feb 2016 Downey and Burnett gave the keynote address at the National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington DC by President Obama


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey also has a Doctor of Fine Art (DFA) honorary degree from the University of Ulster for her outstanding contribution to acting and philanthropy, and she and Burnett received honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from Nyack College in 2014.


title: Roma Downey

text: In 2010, Downey graduated from the University of Santa Monica with a master's degree in Spiritual Psychology.


title: Roma Downey

text: Downey was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to the arts, drama and the community in Northern Ireland.


title: Roma Downey

text: In 1999, Downey signed with RCA Victor Records and recorded a CD called "Healing Angel", released on 14 September 1999.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) is an extinct sirenian described by Georg Wilhelm Steller in 1741. At that time, it was found only around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia; its range extended across the North Pacific during the Pleistocene epoch, and likely contracted to such an extreme degree due to the glacial cycle. It is possible indigenous populations interacted with the animal before Europeans. Steller first encountered it on Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition when the crew became shipwrecked on Bering Island. Much of what is known about its behavior comes from Steller's observations on the island, documented in his posthumous publication "On the Beasts of the Sea". Within 27 years of its discovery by Europeans, the slow-moving and easily-caught mammal was hunted into extinction for its meat, fat, and hide.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Some 18th-century adults would have reached weights of and lengths up to . It was a member of the family Dugongidae, of which the long dugong ("Dugong dugon") is the sole living member. It had a thicker layer of blubber than other members of the order, an adaptation to the cold waters of its environment. Its tail was forked, like that of whales or dugongs. Lacking true teeth, it had an array of white bristles on its upper lip and two keratinous plates within its mouth for chewing. It fed mainly on kelp, and communicated with sighs and snorting sounds. Steller believed it was a monogamous and social animal living in small family groups and raising its young, similar to modern sirenians.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cows are reported to have grown to long as adults, much larger than extant sirenians. In 1987, a rather complete skeleton was found on Bering Island measuring . In 2017, another such skeleton was found on Bering Island measuring , and in life probably about . Georg Steller's writings contain two contradictory estimates of weight: . The true value is estimated to fall between these figures, at about . This size made the sea cow one of the largest mammals of the Holocene epoch, along with whales, and was likely an adaptation to reduce its surface-area to volume ratio and conserve heat.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Unlike other sirenians, Steller's sea cow was positively buoyant, meaning that it was unable to submerge completely. It had a very thick outer skin, , to prevent injury from sharp rocks and ice and possibly to prevent unsubmerged skin from drying out. The sea cow's blubber was thick, another adaptation to the frigid climate of the Bering Sea. Its skin was brownish-black, with white patches on some individuals. It was smooth along its back and rough on its sides, with crater-like depressions most likely caused by parasites. This rough texture led to the animal being nicknamed the "bark animal". Hair on its body was sparse, but the insides of the sea cow's flippers were covered in bristles. The fore limbs were roughly long, and the tail fluke was forked.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The sea cow's head was small and short in comparison to its huge body. The animal's upper lip was large and broad, extending so far beyond the lower jaw that the mouth appeared to be located underneath the skull. Unlike other sirenians, Steller's sea cow was toothless and instead had a dense array of interlacing white bristles on its upper lip. The bristles were about in length and were used to tear seaweed stalks and hold food. The sea cow also had two keratinous plates, called ceratodontes, located on its palate and mandible, used for chewing. According to Steller, these plates (or "masticatory pads") were held together by interdental papillae, a part of the gums, and had many small holes containing nerves and arteries.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: As with all sirenians, the sea cow's snout pointed downwards, which allowed it to better grasp kelp. The sea cow's nostrils were roughly long and wide. In addition to those within its mouth, the sea cow also had stiff bristles long protruding from its muzzle. Steller's sea cow had small eyes located halfway between its nostrils and ears with black irises, livid eyeballs, and canthi which were not externally visible. The animal had no eyelashes, but like other diving creatures such as sea otters, Steller's sea cow had a nictitating membrane, which covered its eyes to prevent injury while feeding. The tongue was small and remained in the back of the mouth, unable to reach the masticatory (chewing) pads.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The sea cow's spine is believed to have had seven cervical (neck), 17 thoracic, three lumbar, and 34 caudal (tail) vertebrae. Its ribs were large, with five of 17 pairs making contact with the sternum; it had no clavicles. As in all sirenians, the scapula of Steller's sea cow was fan-shaped, being larger on the posterior side and narrower towards the neck. The anterior border of the scapula was nearly straight, whereas those of modern sirenians are curved. Like other sirenians, the bones of Steller's sea cow were pachyosteosclerotic, meaning they were both bulky (pachyostotic) and dense (osteosclerotic). In all collected skeletons of the sea cow, the manus is missing; since "Dusisiren"—the sister taxon of "Hydrodamalis"—had reduced phalanges (finger bones), Steller's sea cow possibly did not have a manus at all.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The sea cow's heart was in weight; its stomach measured long and wide. The full length of its intestinal tract was about , equaling more than 20 times the animal's length. The sea cow had no gallbladder, but did have a wide common bile duct. Its anus was in width, with its feces resembling those of horses. The male's penis was long. Genetic evidence indicates convergent evolution with other marine mammals of genes related to metabolic and immune function, including leptin associated with energy homeostasis and reproductive regulation.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Whether Steller's sea cow had any natural predators is unknown. It may have been hunted by killer whales and sharks, though its buoyancy may have made it difficult for killer whales to drown, and the rocky kelp forests in which the sea cow lived may have deterred sharks. According to Steller, the adults guarded the young from predators.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller described an ectoparasite on the sea cows that was similar to the whale louse ("Cyamus ovalis"), but the parasite remains unidentified due to the host's extinction and loss of all original specimens collected by Steller. It was first formally described as "Sirenocyamus rhytinae" in 1846 by Johann Friedrich von Brandt, although it has since been placed into the genus "Cyamus" as "Cyamus rhytinae". It was the only species of cyamid amphipod to be reported inhabiting a sirenian. Steller also identified an endoparasite in the sea cows, which was likely an ascarid nematode.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Like other sirenians, Steller's sea cow was an obligate herbivore and spent most of the day feeding, only lifting its head every 4–5 minutes for breathing. Kelp was its main food source, making it an algivore. The sea cow likely fed on several species of kelp, which have been identified as "Agarum" spp., "Alaria praelonga", "Halosaccion glandiforme", "Laminaria saccharina", "Nereocyctis luetkeana", and "Thalassiophyllum clathrus". Steller's sea cow only fed directly on the soft parts of the kelp, which caused the tougher stem and holdfast to wash up on the shore in heaps. The sea cow may have also fed on seagrass, but the plant was not common enough to support a viable population and could not have been the sea cow's primary food source. Further, the available seagrasses in the sea cow's range ("Phyllospadix" spp. and "Zostera marina") may have grown too deep underwater or been too tough for the animal to consume. Since the sea cow floated, it likely fed on canopy kelp, as it is believed to have only had access to food no deeper than below the tide. Kelp releases a chemical deterrent to protect it from grazing, but canopy kelp releases a lower concentration of the chemical, allowing the sea cow to graze safely. Steller noted that the sea cow grew thin during the frigid winters, indicating a period of fasting due to low kelp growth. Fossils of Pleistocene Aleutian Island sea cow populations were larger than those from the Commander Islands, indicating that the growth of Commander Island sea cows may have been stunted due to a less favorable habitat and less food than the warmer Aleutian Islands.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller described the sea cow as being highly social (gregarious). It lived in small family groups and helped injured members, and was also apparently monogamous. Steller's sea cow may have exhibited parental care, and the young were kept at the front of the herd for protection against predators. Steller reported that as a female was being captured, a group of other sea cows attacked the hunting boat by ramming and rocking it, and after the hunt, her mate followed the boat to shore, even after the captured animal had died. Mating season occurred in early spring and gestation took a little over a year, with calves likely delivered in autumn, as Steller observed a greater number of calves in autumn than at any other time of the year. Since female sea cows had only one set of mammary glands, they likely had one calf at a time.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The sea cow used its fore limbs for swimming, feeding, walking in shallow water, defending itself, and holding on to its partner during copulation. According to Steller, the fore limbs were also used to anchor the sea cow down to prevent it from being swept away by the strong nearshore waves. While grazing, the sea cow progressed slowly by moving its tail (fluke) from side to side; more rapid movement was achieved by strong vertical beating of the tail. They often slept on their backs after feeding. According to Steller, the sea cow was nearly mute and made only heavy breathing sounds, raspy snorting similar to a horse, and sighs.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Despite their large size, as with many other marine megafauna in the region, Steller's sea cows may have been prey for the local transient orcas ("Orcinus orca"); it is likely that they experienced predation, as Steller observed that foraging sea cows with calves would always keep their calves between themselves and the shore, and orcas would have been the most likely candidate for causing this behavior. In addition, early indigenous peoples of the North Pacific may have depended on the sea cow for food, and it is possible that this dependency may have extirpated the sea cow from portions of the North Pacific aside from the Commander Islands. Steller's sea cows may have also had a mutualistic (or possibly even parasitic) relationship with local seabird species; Steller often observed birds perching on the exposed backs of the sea cows, feeding on the parasitic "Cyamus rhytinae"; this unique relationship that disappeared with the sea cows may have been a food source for many birds, and is similar to the recorded interactions between oxpeckers ("Buphagus") and extant African megafauna.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cow was a member of the genus "Hydrodamalis", a group of large sirenians, whose sister taxon was "Dusisiren". Like those of Steller's sea cow, the ancestors of "Dusisiren" lived in tropical mangroves before adapting to the cold climates of the North Pacific. "Hydrodamalis" and "Dusisiren" are classified together in the subfamily Hydrodamalinae, which diverged from other sirenians around 4 to 8 mya. Steller's sea cow is a member of the family Dugongidae, the sole surviving member of which, and thus Steller's sea cow's closest living relative, is the dugong ("Dugong dugon").


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cow was a direct descendant of the Cuesta sea cow ("H. cuestae"), an extinct tropical sea cow that lived off the coast of western North America, particularly California. The Cuesta sea cow is thought to have become extinct due to the onset of the Quaternary glaciation and the subsequent cooling of the oceans. Many populations died out, but the lineage of Steller's sea cow was able to adapt to the colder temperatures. The Takikawa sea cow ("H. spissa") of Japan is thought of by some researchers to be a taxonomic synonym of the Cuesta sea cow, but based on a comparison of endocasts, the Takikawa and Steller's sea cows are more derived than the Cuesta sea cow. This has led some to believe that the Takikawa sea cow is its own species. The evolution of the genus "Hydrodamalis" was characterized by increased size, and a loss of teeth and phalanges, as a response to the onset of the Quaternary glaciation.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cow was discovered in 1741 by Georg Wilhelm Steller, and was named after him. Steller researched the wildlife of Bering Island while he was shipwrecked there for about a year; the animals on the island included relict populations of sea cows, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and northern fur seals. As the crew hunted the animals to survive, Steller described them in detail. Steller's account was included in his posthumous publication "De bestiis marinis", or "The Beasts of the Sea", which was published in 1751 by the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. Zoologist Eberhard von Zimmermann formally described Steller's sea cow in 1780 as "Manati gigas". Biologist Anders Jahan Retzius in 1794 put the sea cow in the new genus "Hydrodamalis", with the specific name of "stelleri", in honor of Steller. In 1811, naturalist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger reclassified Steller's sea cow into the genus "Rytina", which many writers at the time adopted. The name "Hydrodamalis gigas", the correct "combinatio nova" if a separate genus is recognised, was first used in 1895 by Theodore Sherman Palmer.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: For decades after its discovery, no skeletal remains of a Steller's sea cow were known. This may have been due to rising and falling sea levels over the course of the Quaternary period, which could have left many sea cow bones hidden. The first bones of a Steller's sea cow were unearthed in about 1840, over 70 years after it was presumed to have become extinct. The first partial sea cow skull was discovered in 1844 by Ilya Voznesensky while on the Commander Islands, and the first skeleton was discovered in 1855 on northern Bering Island. These specimens were sent to Saint Petersburg in 1857, and another nearly complete skeleton arrived in Moscow around 1860. Until recently, all the full skeletons were found during the 19th century, being the most productive period in terms of unearthed skeletal remains, from 1878 to 1883. During this time, 12 of the 22 skeletons having known dates of collection were discovered. Some authors did not believe possible the recovery of further significant skeletal material from the Commander Islands after this period, but a skeleton was found in 1983, and two zoologists collected about 90 bones in 1991. Only two to four skeletons of the sea cow exhibited in various museums of the world originate from a single individual. It is known that Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Benedykt Dybowski, and Leonhard Hess Stejneger unearthed many skeletal remains from different individuals in the late 1800s, from which composite skeletons were assembled. As of 2006, 27 nearly complete skeletons and 62 complete skulls have been found, but most of them are assemblages of bones from two to 16 different individuals.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The Pallas Picture is the only known drawing of Steller's sea cow believed to be from a complete specimen. It was published by Peter Simon Pallas in his 1840 work "Icones ad Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica". Pallas did not specify a source; Stejneger suggested it may have been one of the original illustrations produced by Friedrich Plenisner, a member of Vitus Bering's crew as a painter and surveyor who drew a figure of a female sea cow on Steller's request. Most of Plenisner's depictions were lost during transit from Siberia to Saint Petersburg.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Another drawing of Steller's sea cow similar to the Pallas Picture appeared on a 1744 map drawn by Sven Waxell and Sofron Chitrow. The picture may have also been based upon a specimen, and was published in 1893 by Pekarski. The map depicted Vitus Bering's route during the Great Northern Expedition, and featured illustrations of Steller's sea cow and Steller's sea lion in the upper-left corner. The drawing contains some inaccurate features such as the inclusion of eyelids and fingers, leading to doubt that it was drawn from a specimen.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Johann Friedrich von Brandt, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences, had the "Ideal Image" drawn in 1846 based upon the Pallas Picture, and then the "Ideal Picture" in 1868 based upon collected skeletons. Two other possible drawings of Steller's sea cow were found in 1891 in Waxell's manuscript diary. There was a map depicting a sea cow, as well as a Steller sea lion and a northern fur seal. The sea cow was depicted with large eyes, a large head, claw-like hands, exaggerated folds on the body, and a tail fluke in perspective lying horizontally rather than vertically. The drawing may have been a distorted depiction of a juvenile, as the figure bears a resemblance to a manatee calf. Another similar image was found by Alexander von Middendorff in 1867 in the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and is probably a copy of the Tsarskoye Selo Picture.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The range of Steller's sea cow at the time of its discovery was apparently restricted to the shallow seas around the Commander Islands, which include Bering and Copper Islands. The Commander Islands remained uninhabited until 1825, when the Russian-American Company relocated Aleuts from Attu Island and Atka Island there.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The first fossils discovered outside the Commander Islands were found in interglacial Pleistocene deposits in Amchitka, and further fossils dating to the late Pleistocene were found in Monterey Bay, California, and Honshu, Japan. This suggests that the sea cow had a far more extensive range in prehistoric times. It cannot be excluded that these fossils belong to other "Hydrodamalis" species. The southernmost find is a Middle Pleistocene rib bone from the Bōsō Peninsula of Japan. The remains of three individuals were found preserved in the South Bight Formation of Amchitka; as late Pleistocene interglacial deposits are rare in the Aleutians, the discovery suggests that sea cows were abundant in that era. According to Steller, the sea cow often resided in the shallow, sandy shorelines and in the mouths of freshwater rivers. Genetic evidence suggests Steller's sea cow, as well as the modern dugong, suffered a population bottleneck (a significant reduction in population) bottoming roughly 400,000 years ago.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Bone fragments and accounts by native Aleut people suggest that sea cows also historically inhabited the Near Islands, potentially with viable populations that were in contact with humans in the western Aleutian Islands prior to Steller's discovery in 1741. A sea cow rib discovered in 1998 on Kiska Island was dated to around 1,000 years old, and is now in the possession of the Burke Museum in Seattle. The dating may be skewed due to the marine reservoir effect which causes radiocarbon-dated marine specimens to appear several hundred years older than they are. Marine reservoir effect is caused by the large reserves of C in the ocean, and it is more likely that the animal died between 1710 and 1785. A 2004 study reported that sea cow bones discovered on Adak Island were around 1,700 years old, and sea cow bones discovered on Buldir Island were found to be around 1,600 years old. It is possible the bones were from cetaceans and were misclassified. Rib bones of a Steller's sea cow have also been found on St. Lawrence Island, and the specimen is thought to have lived between 800 and 920 CE.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Genetic evidence suggests the Steller's sea cows around the Commander Islands were the last of a much more ubiquitous population dispersed across the North Pacific coastal zones. They had the same genetic diversity as the last and rather inbred population of woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island. During glacial periods and reduction in sea levels and temperatures, suitable habitat substantially regressed, fragmenting the population. By the time sea levels stabilized around 5,000 years ago, the population had already plummeted. Together, these indicate that even without human influence, the Steller's sea cow would have still been a dead clade walking, with the vast majority of the population having already gone extinct from natural climatic and sea level shifts, with the tiny remaining population at major risk from a genetic extinction vortex.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The presence of Steller's sea cows in the Aleutian Islands may have caused the Aleut people to migrate westward to hunt them. This possibly led to the sea cow's extirpation in that area, assuming it had not already happened yet, but the archaeological evidence is inconclusive. One factor potentially leading to extinction of Steller's sea cow, specifically off the coast of St. Lawrence Island, was the Siberian Yupik people who have inhabited St. Lawrence island for 2,000 years. They may have hunted the sea cows into extinction, as the natives have a dietary culture heavily dependent upon marine mammals. The onset of the Medieval Warm Period, which reduced the availability of kelp, may have also been the cause for their local extinction in that area. It has also been argued that the decline of Steller's sea cow may have been an indirect effect of the harvesting of sea otters by the area's aboriginal people. With the otter population reduced, the sea urchin population would have increased, in turn reducing the stock of kelp, its principal food. In historic times, though, aboriginal hunting had depleted sea otter populations only in localized areas, and as the sea cow would have been easy prey for aboriginal hunters, accessible populations may have been exterminated with or without simultaneous otter hunting. In any event, the range of the sea cow was limited to coastal areas off uninhabited islands by the time Bering arrived, and the animal was already endangered.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: When Europeans discovered them, there may have been only 2,000 individuals left. This small population was quickly wiped out by fur traders, seal hunters, and others who followed Vitus Bering's route past its habitat to Alaska. It was also hunted to collect its valuable subcutaneous fat. The animal was hunted and used by Ivan Krassilnikov in 1754 and Ivan Korovin 1762, but Dimitri Bragin, in 1772, and others later, did not see it. Brandt thus concluded that by 1768, twenty-seven years after it had been discovered by Europeans, the species was extinct. In 1887, Stejneger estimated that there had been fewer than 1,500 individuals remaining at the time of Steller's discovery, and argued there was already an immediate danger of the sea cow's extinction.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The first attempt to hunt the animal by Steller and the other crew members was unsuccessful due to its strength and thick hide. They had attempted to impale it and haul it to shore using a large hook and heavy cable, but the crew could not pierce its skin. In a second attempt a month later, a harpooner speared an animal, and men on shore hauled it in while others repeatedly stabbed it with bayonets. It was dragged into shallow waters, and the crew waited until the tide receded and it was beached to butcher it. After this, they were hunted with relative ease, the challenge being in hauling the animal back to shore. This bounty inspired maritime fur traders to detour to the Commander Islands and restock their food supplies during North Pacific expeditions.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: While not a keystone species, Steller's sea cows likely influenced the community composition of the kelp forests they inhabited, and also boosted their productivity and resilience to environmental stressors by allowing more light into kelp forests and more kelp to grow, and enhancing the recruitment and dispersal of kelp through their feeding behavior. In the modern day, the flow of nutrients from kelp forests to adjacent ecosystems is regulated by the seasons, with seasonal storms and currents being the primary factor. The Steller's sea cow may have allowed this flow to continue year-round, thus allowing for more productivity in adjacent habitats. The disturbance caused by the Steller's sea cow may have facilitated the dispersal of kelp, most notably "Nereocystis" species, to other habitats, allowing recruitment and colonization of new areas, and facilitating genetic exchange. Their presence may have also allowed sea otters and large marine invertebrates to coexist, indicating a commonly-documented decline in marine invertebrate populations driven by sea otters (an example being in populations of the black leather chiton) may be due to lost ecosystem functions associated with the Steller's sea cow. This indicates that due to the sea cow's extinction, the ecosystem dynamics and resilience of North Pacific kelp forests may have already been compromised well before more well-known modern stressors like overharvesting and climate change.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Sea cow sightings have been reported after Brandt's official 1768 date of extinction. Lucien Turner, an American ethnologist and naturalist, said the natives of Attu Island reported that the sea cows survived into the 1800s, and were sometimes hunted.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: In 1963, the official journal of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR published an article announcing a possible sighting. The previous year, the whaling ship "Buran" had reported a group of large marine mammals grazing on seaweed in shallow water off Kamchatka, in the Gulf of Anadyr. The crew reported seeing six of these animals ranging from , with trunks and split lips. There have also been alleged sightings by local fishermen in the northern Kuril Islands, and around the Kamchatka and Chukchi peninsulas.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cow was described as being "tasty" by Steller; the meat was said to have a taste similar to corned beef, though it was tougher, redder, and needed to be cooked longer. The meat was abundant on the animal, and slow to spoil, perhaps due to the high amount of salt in the animal's diet effectively curing it. The fat could be used for cooking and as an odorless lamp oil. The crew of the St. Peter drank the fat in cups and Steller described it as having a taste like almond oil. The thick, sweet milk of female sea cows could be drunk or made into butter, and the thick, leathery hide could be used to make clothing, such as shoes and belts, and large skin boats sometimes called baidarkas or umiaks.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Towards the end of the 19th century, bones and fossils from the extinct animal were valuable and often sold to museums at high prices. Most were collected during this time, limiting trade after 1900. Some are still sold commercially, as the highly dense cortical bone is well-suited for making items such as knife handles and decorative carvings. Because the sea cow is extinct, native artisan products made in Alaska from this "mermaid ivory" are legal to sell in the United States and do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which restrict the trade of marine mammal products. Although the distribution is legal, the sale of unfossilized bones is generally prohibited and trade in products made of the bones is regulated because some of the material is unlikely to be authentic and probably comes from arctic cetaceans.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: The ethnographer Elizabeth Porfirevna Orlova, from the Russian Museum of Ethnography, was working on the Commander Island Aleuts from August to September 1961. Her research includes notes about a game of accuracy, called "kakan" ("stones") played with the bones of the Steller's sea cow. Kakan was usually played at home between adults during bad weather, at least during Orlova's fieldwork.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: In the story "The White Seal" from "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling, which takes place in the Bering Sea, Kotick the rare white seal consults Sea Cow during his journey to find a new home.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: "Tales of a Sea Cow" is a 2012 docufiction film by Icelandic-French artist Etienne de France about a fictional 2006 discovery of Steller's sea cows off the coast of Greenland. The film has been exhibited in art museums and universities in Europe.


title: Steller's sea cow

text: Steller's sea cows appear in two books of poetry: "Nach der Natur" (1995) by Winfried Georg Sebald, and "Species Evanescens" (2009) by Russian poet Andrei Bronnikov. Bronnikov's book depicts the events of the Great Northern Expedition through the eyes of Steller; Sebald's book looks at the conflict between man and nature, including the extinction of Steller's sea cow.


title: Jim McMahon

text: James Robert McMahon Jr. (born August 21, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the BYU Cougars, winning the Davey O'Brien Award and Sammy Baugh Trophy as a senior. He was selected by the Bears fifth overall in the 1982 NFL Draft.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon achieved his greatest professional success with the 1985 Bears team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XX over the New England Patriots. He also received Pro Bowl honors during the season. However, upon suffering a shoulder injury the following season, McMahon struggled with injuries throughout the rest of his career. After his seven years in Chicago, McMahon became a member of the San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers. He spent his final seasons in a backup role, including on the Packers team that won Super Bowl XXXI, also over the Patriots. McMahon was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He moved with his family to San Jose, California, when he was three. Growing up, McMahon played all sports in his neighborhood, encouraged by his parents. "We told him to believe he was the best," his mother said. "If he didn't, nobody else would." He played high school football his freshman and sophomore years at Andrew Hill High School, then moved with his family in the summer of 1975 to Roy, Utah. He played his junior and senior years at Roy High School and graduated in 1977.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon enrolled at Brigham Young University (BYU) and played college football for the Cougars. He was their punter during his freshman season. He also played baseball, but he played enough at quarterback to throw his first-ever collegiate touchdown pass against UTEP. He continued as the Cougars' punter as the 1978 season began, but when Marc Wilson was injured in the third game of the season (against Colorado State), McMahon became the starting quarterback. McMahon led BYU to victory against Colorado State, accounting for 112 passing yards, 80 rushing yards, and two touchdowns. He was named Chevrolet Player of the Game and Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Player of the Week for his performance. McMahon and Wilson shared quarterback duties for the rest of the season; McMahon played well enough to earn All-WAC honors and Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America. The best game of his sophomore year was against Wyoming: he passed for 317 yards and rushed for 49 more yards, earning another WAC Player of the Week award.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon suffered a knee injury towards the end of the 1978 season and BYU coaches chose to redshirt him in 1979. McMahon watched from the sidelines as Wilson set nine NCAA records, tied two others, and became the first BYU player to earn consensus first-team All-American honors; he finished third in Heisman Trophy balloting.


title: Jim McMahon

text: With Wilson graduated and in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, McMahon beat out Royce Bybee to claim the starting quarterback position in 1980. BYU lost the opener 25–21 against New Mexico, but then won eleven straight to claim the WAC championship. McMahon set 32 NCAA records, including single-season records for yards of total offense (4,627), passing yards (4,571), touchdown passes (47), and passing efficiency (176.9). His best game was against Utah State; he completed 21 of 33 passes for 485 yards and six touchdowns, and added two rushing touchdowns. That performance earned him "Sports Illustrated"'s National Player of the Week award. McMahon's season statistics might have been even better, but he spent significant time on the sidelines because the Cougars won many games by wide margins. Although he started all 12 regular-season games, he only finished three of them.


title: Jim McMahon

text: BYU led the nation in passing offense, total offense, and scoring offense during the regular season. McMahon earned numerous awards for his individual accomplishments, being named WAC Player of the Year, unanimous First-team All-WAC, Utah Sportsman of the Year, and "Deseret News" Athlete of the Year. He was named to four All-America teams and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In the Holiday Bowl, the Cougars faced an SMU team led by star running backs Craig James and Eric Dickerson, and the Mustangs built a 45–25 lead over BYU with just four minutes left in the game. As Cougar fans headed for the exits, McMahon screamed that the game was not over yet. He promptly guided BYU's offense to three quick touchdowns, including a 41-yard Hail Mary pass to Clay Brown to win the game as time expired. It is regarded as one of the greatest comebacks in college football history; BYU fans refer to it as the "Miracle Bowl".


title: Jim McMahon

text: In McMahon's senior season in 1981, despite missing two games due to injuries, he passed for 3,555 yards and 30 touchdowns in the regular season, again leading BYU to a WAC championship. For his efforts, he was named WAC Player of the Year and unanimous First-team All-WAC. On a national level, he was named First-team All-American by five different organizations and finished third in Heisman Trophy balloting. He received the Davey O'Brien Trophy and the Sammy Baugh Award, and he shared the Pigskin Club NCAA Offensive Player of the Year award with USC's Marcus Allen. He earned "Sports Illustrated"'s Player of the Week award after his performance against Colorado State, in which he tied a school record with seven touchdown passes.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In his last game as a Cougar, McMahon passed for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in BYU's victory over Washington State in the 1981 Holiday Bowl. His career totals were 9,536 passing yards and 84 touchdown passes (not including bowl games). McMahon left college with 70 NCAA records and tied for one other. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In September 2010, McMahon announced he would complete his coursework at BYU, which would qualify him for induction into the Brigham Young University Athletics Hall of Fame. On October 2, 2014, after completing his degree in communications, McMahon was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2014 class. BYU honored McMahon by retiring his No. 9 jersey during a halftime ceremony at the BYU vs. Utah State football game on Friday, October 3, 2014.


title: Jim McMahon

text: The Chicago Bears selected McMahon in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft. McMahon, thrilled to be free from what he considered a restrictive culture at BYU, strolled into his first public function with the Bears holding a cold beer in his hand. Head coach Mike Ditka was not impressed, nor was Bears owner and founder George Halas. McMahon was to find the atmosphere in Chicago almost as challenging as that at Brigham Young, and he would lock horns with Ditka routinely during his seven years with the Bears.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon won the Bears' starting quarterback job as a rookie in 1982, and was named to several All-Rookie teams when he nearly led the team to the playoffs, despite the NFL only playing two games before a players' strike that cancelled nearly half the season. McMahon quickly displayed a natural ability to read defenses and an athletic versatility that surprised many.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon, a rollout passer, explained that coaching in his youth had taught him to square his shoulders to the direction he wanted to throw the football, and he was thus able to execute passes with tight spirals and a high degree of accuracy when running to either his left or his right. The Bears finished the strike-shortened season at 3–6, and McMahon was named NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, losing the league-wide honor to Marcus Allen.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In 1983, McMahon continued to improve as a passer and as a field general. He made a habit of changing the play both in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, a practice which frustrated Ditka but usually led to success. His knowledge of the game and an instinctive, intuitive grasp of in-game situations were significant. He became a frequent scorer in goal-line situations, after the dying Halas instructed Ditka to make the quarterback sneak a bigger part of the Bears' offense. He also began to catch touchdown passes on option plays, and was the emergency punter. Chicago finished the season at 8–8, missing the division title and a playoff berth by one victory.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In 1984, the Bears broke through, reaching the conference title game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers. McMahon started the season strongly, though nursing minor injuries like those that would plague him throughout his career. In a violent game against the Los Angeles Raiders at Soldier Field, McMahon sustained a season-ending injury when he was brutally tackled by two Los Angeles defenders. He suffered bruised ribs and a lacerated kidney on the play, but limped to the huddle and breathlessly called the next play, despite difficulty breathing and increasing pain. The players could barely hear him in the huddle, and when McMahon attempted an audible at the line of scrimmage the Bears receivers were unable to hear his call. McMahon was on the verge of collapsing on the field, clutching his flank and rasping in his attempts to convey his situation. The offensive linemen helped McMahon stand and leave the field. McMahon went to the locker room, and reported urine that "looked like grape juice."


title: Jim McMahon

text: In 1985, the Bears had a tremendous season, later voted by "Sports Illustrated" magazine as the greatest of all time, winning their first 12 games and finishing at 15–1. McMahon became a media darling, not only for his outstanding play on the field, but also for his personality. He appeared in a rap record made by the team, "The Super Bowl Shuffle," in which he proclaimed ""I'm the punky QB known as McMahon."" In an early-season Thursday night game at Minnesota, McMahon was slated to back up Steve Fuller, as McMahon had missed practice time earlier in the week due to a neck injury that required an overnight hospital stay. Midway into the third quarter, the Vikings held a 17–9 lead. McMahon lobbied to get into the game until well into the third quarter. Once finally on the field, his first play was an opportunistic 70-yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault. After an interception by Wilber Marshall on the Vikings ensuing possession, McMahon's very next offensive play was a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dennis McKinnon, making him 2–2 for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He followed up with another successful offensive drive, including a crucial third and short sneak to set up another 43-yard touchdown pass to McKinnon. The Bears led 30–17 and went on to win the game 33–24.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon played solidly, throwing for career-highs of 15 touchdowns and 2,392 yards in 13 games and running well (5.4 yards per carry, three rushing touchdowns).


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon was notorious for head-first baseball-style slides when running the football, despite being coached to slide feet-first to protect his body. In the playoffs, McMahon heeded this coaching advice and was speared by a defender's helmet squarely in his buttocks, causing a painful deep bruise for which McMahon sought acupuncture treatment. This led to a point of controversy before the Super Bowl in New Orleans, when McMahon "mooned" journalists who were inquiring as to the status of the injury. Thursday morning before the big-game, McMahon made more headlines when a local television station reported that he had called women of New Orleans "sluts," an accusation he denied and which the announcer later admitted was made up. McMahon claimed in an interview, that he received death threats and wore a different jersey number during practice.


title: Jim McMahon

text: He ended the season with a strong performance in Super Bowl XX, which the Bears won 46–10 over the New England Patriots. In that game, McMahon became the first quarterback in the history of the Super Bowl to rush for two touchdowns. McMahon earned a spot in his only Pro Bowl.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In week 12 of the 1986 NFL regular season, McMahon was playing against the Green Bay Packers, while dealing with an existing rotator cuff injury to his right shoulder. After throwing a third down interception and at least two seconds after his pass was thrown, Green Bay nose tackle Charles Martin grabbed McMahon from behind and body-slammed him to the turf, exacerbating his existing rotator cuff injury. McMahon briefly returned to the game, but it soon became apparent that he couldn't throw effectively, and he left the game in the third quarter, never to play again in 1986. Martin was immediately ejected from the game and later suspended for two additional games – the first multi-game suspension for an on-field incident in modern NFL history. Without McMahon, and despite finishing tied for the league's best record at 14–2, the Bears were unable to defend their Super Bowl championship and lost in the Divisional Playoff round to the Washington Redskins.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon battled injuries for the rest of his career, although at one point between the 1984 and 1987 seasons, he won 22 consecutive regular-season (25 including playoffs and the Super Bowl) starts, the longest "regular season winning streak" by an NFL quarterback at the time, now held by Peyton Manning, who won 23 in 2008 to 2009 (but lost a wildcard playoff game to the Chargers during his "winning streak").


title: Jim McMahon

text: In 1987, McMahon came right back from a head injury and brought the Chicago back in the first game following the NFL players strike to defeat the Buccaneers, 27–26. The Bears went on to an 11–4 record, with many expecting McMahon to start and lead the Bears back to the Super Bowl. However, 1987 ended exactly the same way 1986 had, with the Bears eliminated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Redskins.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon returned for the 1988 season with a much more serious attitude. His main offensive weapon in Walter Payton had retired and McMahon publicly expressed his desire to win a Super Bowl again. The Bears looked strong all season and went 12–4, again winning the NFC Central, and finishing with the NFC's top seed, ensuring they would host the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field if they advanced that far. McMahon was unable to get the Bears back to the Super Bowl, as they were routed by the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship which saw McMahon benched in favor of Mike Tomczak in the fourth quarter.


title: Jim McMahon

text: During the offseason, McMahon and Bears president Michael McCaskey had a major falling out with each other. He also fell out of favor with head coach Mike Ditka, and after spending his first seven seasons in the league with Chicago, McMahon was traded to the San Diego Chargers.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon started 11 games for the 6–10 Chargers team in 1989. He went 4–7 in the games he started, though the team lost four of those games by a combined 11 points. He had only 4 games over 200 yards, but had 389 yards against the Houston Oilers in a Week 2 loss.


title: Jim McMahon

text: However, McMahon again found himself in trouble when he fell out of favor with his coach, Dan Henning, his teammates, and the team's front office staff. He was benched for the final four games in favor of Billy Joe Tolliver and finished the year with 2,132 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. McMahon was released after the season.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, who were coached by former Bears assistant Buddy Ryan, for the 1990 season. For the first time in his career he served as a full-time backup, as Randall Cunningham was entrenched as the starter. After Cunningham tore his ACL in the opening game of the following season, new coach Rich Kotite named McMahon his starter. He helped the Eagles to a 10–6 record and earned the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. McMahon stayed with the Eagles for one additional season in the backup role.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon's last chance to be a full-time starter came with the Minnesota Vikings in 1993. Supplanting Sean Salisbury as the team's starter, McMahon led the Vikings to eight wins in twelve starts and returned to the postseason as a starter for the first time since 1988. However, the Vikings lost to the New York Giants.


title: Jim McMahon

text: After the season, McMahon joined the Arizona Cardinals, now coached by Ryan, for the 1994 season, where he made his final career start in Week 3, against the Cleveland Browns. He finished the season as the team's third quarterback behind Steve Beuerlein and Jay Schroeder and left the team at its conclusion. McMahon made the Cleveland Browns in the 1995 preseason but did not play a down with them, McMahon later in the season joined the Green Bay Packers. He retired following the 1996 season, which finished with a Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in New Orleans, eleven years to the day of the Bears' Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in the same venue.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon caused some controversy when he showed up to the Packers' reception at the White House wearing his Bears jersey, due to the rivalry between the two teams. McMahon later explained that he did so because he was unable to visit the White House when he led the Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX; two days after the Bears won the game, the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-51-L were killed in the explosion of their craft, Shuttle "Challenger", and the Bears' scheduled visit was cancelled. McMahon and his surviving teammates and coaches were eventually received in 2011 by President Barack Obama, himself a Bears fan.


title: Jim McMahon

text: Since retiring from football in 1997, he has worked as a restaurant owner and motivational speaker. He was apprehended in Florida for drunk driving in 2003. Upon being pulled over, McMahon allegedly got out of his car and said to the police, "I'm too drunk; you got me."


title: Jim McMahon

text: On April 9, 2012, it was reported that McMahon was targeted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for $104 million in bad loans made by the now closed, Chicago-based Broadway Bank, of which he was a member of the board. The FDIC wanted to recover $104 million in loans made by the bank before it was shut down, according to the newspaper. In addition to McMahon, six other former Broadway Bank board members and two former bank executives had been targeted. McMahon only approved one loan out of the 17 bad loans for a $28 million Miami beach condo project. The FDIC said the bank lost $19.5 million on the loan. McMahon said in a statement that the FDIC's claims were without merit and he expected to be vindicated. "I am proud to have served as an outside, independent director for a brief part of the bank's history," he wrote, according to the "Sun-Times". In 2016, the FDIC settled its lawsuit against the bank with a $5 million settlement.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In a November 6, 2010, interview, McMahon admitted to having memory problems due to injuries suffered on the football field. McMahon was quoted as saying, 'There are a lot of times when I walk into a room and forget why I walked in there.' McMahon, along with six other retired professional football players, filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL in August 2011, citing the league's negligence and misconduct in its handling of concussion-related injuries; the suit followed lawsuits filed shortly before by 75 other NFL retirees making similar claims as well as asserting that the NFL knew about the dangers concussions posed to NFL athletes as far back as the 1920s and actively withheld the information from the affected and the general public until the summer of 2010. The August suit that McMahon joined seeks to expand the scope of the suit to potentially all NFL players who suffered game-related concussions or head injuries.


title: Jim McMahon

text: On September 27, 2012, it was reported that at age 53, McMahon had been diagnosed as being in the early stages of dementia. McMahon's condition has since improved after receiving chiropractic treatment, citing less frequent headaches and improved short-term memory. His better health was documented in 2017 by longtime "San Francisco Chronicle" columnist Scott Ostler. In the years following his initial neck realignment, McMahon earned a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and participated in a celebrity golf tournament. McMahon expressed skepticism toward the effectiveness of NFL-sanctioned treatments for head and neck injuries, believing them to prioritize corporate interests over player well-being.


title: Jim McMahon

text: McMahon uses cannabis to treat the chronic pain and arthritis that he suffers from as a result of his football career. He calls cannabis a "godsend" that allowed him to eliminate his painkiller habit which he says included 100 Percocet pills a month. McMahon has been active in speaking about his experience using cannabis, serving as spokesperson for the Cannabis Sports Policy Project and a member of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition along with several other former NFL players. McMahon appeared in a TV ad supporting cannabis legalization in the state of Arizona.


title: Jim McMahon

text: In November 2016, McMahon was among the signatories of an open letter addressed to the NFL, urging a change in the league's policy towards cannabis. The letter was penned by Doctors for Cannabis Regulation and signed by several other NFL players. McMahon is also a member of the Doctors for Cannabis Regulation NFL steering committee.


title: Jim McMahon

text: During Super Bowl XLIV, McMahon joined other members of the 1985 Chicago Bears in resurrecting the Super Bowl Shuffle in a Boost Mobile commercial.