{"id":922622,"date":"2026-10-10T04:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T04:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/922622\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T04:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T04:08:09","slug":"radio-host-breaks-down-announcing-the-death-of-iconic-nfl-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/922622\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio host breaks down announcing the death of iconic NFL coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was fitting that Jarrett Payton delivered the news.<\/p>\n

The son of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton shared that his dad\u2019s iconic coach, Mike Ditka, died on Friday at the age of 86, live on air on his \u201cHaugh & Payton\u201d show on 104.3 The Score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got a phone call that Mike Ditka passed away,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hitting me because I was not expecting this phone call. We don\u2019t have the press release, it should be on the way, but it saddens me to give this information to the city of Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Payton struggled to hold it together, visibly and audibly, The New York Post <\/a>reports. <\/p>\n

Watch an average 6 games per week and every game of the NFL Postseason, LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody knows how much coach means to me and to my family and to the city, to the Chicago Bears,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been nothing but an amazing person for my entire family but also somebody that always made sure that I was OK, that our family was ok and always kept up with us. Any time that I needed him, he was always there. <\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2026 this is a lot for me, for everything that\u2019s happened from Matt [Suhey], to this\u2026<\/p>\n

At that point, his co-host, David Haugh, stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry for your loss, Jarrett,\u201d he said, offering his co-host a reprieve as he reiterated the devastating news.<\/p>\n

Walter Payton played six seasons, from 1982-87, under Ditka during his Hall of Fame career, winning the franchise\u2019s only Super Bowl together in 1986 adding four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro selections to his already sterling resume. <\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

Ditka was a source of comfort and guidance to the Payton family when Walter died of liver disease in 1999.<\/p>\n

The news of Ditka\u2019s passing comes a month after the death of Suhey, Walter Payton\u2019s best friend and lead blocker, who died in his sleep over Labor Day weekend at the age of 68.<\/p>\n

Jarrett Payton was also tasked with sharing the official Ditka family statement on the late NFL tight end and coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,\u201d the family said. \u201cWhile the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears\u2019 Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 This story originally appeared on The New York Post <\/a>and has been republished<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was fitting that Jarrett Payton delivered the news. The son of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":922623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[490250,379323,490234,490252,393879,490238,490216,214751,490244,490226,490248,275043,376730,377545,386042,490257,488639,377249,30897,476132,389464,490253,383759,64,63,5127,3181,490243,490241,490256,794,377206,490217,490246,32893,490240,39598,1868,75487,16487,490220,490230,438533,376864,490223,490232,25663,490221,490254,490222,38311,50847,490237,34404,490242,135806,1727,490247,236591,3261,489984,490228,378592,593,490219,387508,490249,455417,234036,409241,85,490233,490227,46206,377572,146596,490224,222590,376740,490239,184867,379840,379036,490245,139122,376754,490251,490231,425241,490218,490236,416975,410513,214758,54798,431939,490255,382773,490235,490229,287040,305656,14850,35022,490225],"class_list":["post-922622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-s-best-friend-and","tag-s-death","tag-s-iconic-coach","tag-s-only-super-bowl","tag-s-passing","tag-104-3","tag-1982-87","tag-214751","tag-1999-the-news","tag-6-games","tag-68-jarrett-payton","tag-275043","tag-a-lot","tag-a-month","tag-a-phone-call","tag-a-radio-host","tag-a-reprieve","tag-a-source","tag-air","tag-an-amazing-person","tag-an-average","tag-an-nfl-icon","tag-any-time","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chicago","tag-coach","tag-comfort-and-guidance","tag-david-haugh","tag-ditka","tag-espn","tag-every-game","tag-fame-career","tag-fame-football-player","tag-father","tag-four-pro-bowls","tag-friday","tag-friend","tag-grandfather","tag-hall","tag-his-haugh-payton-show","tag-his-already-sterling-resume","tag-his-co-host","tag-his-dad","tag-his-hall","tag-his-sleep","tag-host","tag-iconic-nfl-coach","tag-jarrett","tag-jarrett-payton","tag-kayo-sports","tag-labor-day","tag-lead-blocker","tag-leader","tag-legendary-bears","tag-legendary-coach","tag-liver-disease","tag-matt-suhey","tag-measure","tag-mike","tag-mike-ditka","tag-my-entire-family","tag-my-family","tag-nfl","tag-our-beloved-husband","tag-our-family","tag-payton","tag-profound-sadness","tag-radio-host","tag-six-seasons","tag-sports","tag-suhey","tag-super-bowl-xx-championship-team","tag-tears","tag-that-point","tag-the-age","tag-the-chicago-bears","tag-the-city","tag-the-death","tag-the-devastating-news-walter-payton","tag-the-family","tag-the-franchise","tag-the-heart","tag-the-late-nfl-tight-end","tag-the-new-york-post","tag-the-news","tag-the-nfl-postseason","tag-the-official-ditka-family-statement","tag-the-passing","tag-the-payton-family","tag-the-press-release","tag-the-score","tag-the-son","tag-the-way","tag-the-world","tag-this-information","tag-this-phone-call","tag-this-story","tag-thisat","tag-two-all-pro-selections","tag-walter","tag-walter-payton","tag-week","tag-weekend","tag-your-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/922623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}