Bears wrote in a tribute<\/a> on social media. \u201cMike Ditka embodied the spirit of Chicago and will be deeply missed.\u201d<\/p>\nDitka was the first person enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, who had won Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Tom Flores, inducted in 2021, is the only other person to accomplish the feat.<\/p>\n
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Ditka \u201cepitomized football over so many years\u201d during his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought intensity, authenticity and an unmistakable personality to everything he did,\u201d Goodell said in a statement. \u201cAs a Hall of Fame player, Super Bowl-winning coach with his beloved and iconic Bears, and as a broadcaster, Mike served as an ambassador for the game and inspired generations of fans. Through his work with the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, Mike was a champion for taking care of those who helped build our game. We extend our deepest condolences to Diana and the Ditka family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ditka got his \u201cIron Mike\u201d nickname during his western Pennsylvania upbringing<\/p>\n
He was born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the son of a welder who changed the family name from Dyczko. He grew up in nearby Aliquippa \u2014 which also later produced fellow Pro Football Hall of Famers Ty Law and Darrelle Revis \u2014 close to the coal-mining and steel-manufacturing plants that dotted the western part of the state, a big, talented, three-sport athlete and All-American at Pitt whose bruising style made his first nickname, \u201cIron Mike,\u201d a good fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our players see Mike Ditka\u2019s name, I want them to understand how he competed,\u201d current Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement. \u201cHe gave everything he had and expected the same from the guys beside him. That\u2019s Pitt. He showed us that tough people find a way through tough times and taught us to fight for the names on the front and back of our jerseys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selected fifth overall by flinty Chicago owner George Halas in the 1961 draft, Ditka went on to Rookie of the Year honors, multiple Pro Bowl trips and the 1963 NFL Championship. He and Baltimore\u2019s John Mackey changed the tight end position and offensive schemes forever. He was a battering ram of a blocker, but Ditka was just as likely to catch a short pass and pinball through an entire secondary or outrace a lone safety on a deep touchdown throw.<\/p>\n
He left Chicago in 1966, playing briefly for Philadelphia and Dallas. <\/p>\n
Soon after his playing days, Ditka became \u201cDa Coach\u201d of the Bears<\/p>\n
Ditka moved to the sideline in 1973 as an assistant to the revered Tom Landry and stayed with the Cowboys for eight years, including winning the Super Bowl during the 1977 season, before returning to a hero\u2019s welcome in Chicago as head coach in 1982.<\/p>\n
Ditka\u2019s return to the Bears lasted 10 tumultuous years, including five straight NFC Central titles, the Super Bowl win, a DUI conviction, a heart attack, a long-running feud with defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan and, finally, a new nickname \u2014 \u201cDa Coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, the seeds of what was to come were planted in Ditka\u2019s first meeting with the team. He laid out his vision, saying Chicago would be in the Super Bowl in three years \u2014 and many of the players in the room would not be around for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first heard him when he walked in the room, to me Coach Ditka had the opportunity to be the greatest coach of all time because he had the fire,\u201d Singletary said at the Bears\u2019 100th anniversary celebration in June 2019. \u201cI don\u2019t know how George Halas coached. But I can imagine that the fire and intensity and passion that Coach Ditka exuded that first day set the tone for exactly what he said: \u2018Three years from now, we\u2019re going to be in the Super Bowl.\u2019 And that was 1982. In \u201985, we were there and it was because of that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bears were a colorful bunch, with Ditka leading the way<\/p>\n
The public beefs with Ryan mirrored the behind-the-scenes battles that Ditka waged trying to contain a team bristling with outsized personalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more than a team,\u201d Ditka once said. \u201cIt was a team of characters that had character that played for a crazy man, who let him be crazy and had fun doing it and don\u2019t apologize for it ever. I wouldn\u2019t want to be one of these suits walking around on the sideline today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no desire to be that. I was what I was and they were what they were and, damn, it was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until two dozen players recorded \u201cThe Super Bowl Shuffle\u201d \u2014 an audacious rap-styled video released three months ahead of the 1986 title game \u2014 that the rest of the football world wondered whether Ditka was losing his grip.<\/p>\n
His players never did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call him \u2018Sybil\u2019 after that girl in the movie,\u201d quarterback Jim McMahon once explained. \u201cYou know, the one that had all those personalities. Mike will be calm one minute, then throw a clipboard the next. People don\u2019t understand that, but we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bears demolished the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl, but Ditka often said he regretted having McMahon and defensive tackle William \u201cThe Refrigerator\u201d Perry run for touchdowns instead of Walter Payton, Chicago\u2019s loyal and long-suffering running back.<\/p>\n
Ryan departed for a head coaching job in Philadelphia soon after. While the Bears continued to be a contender for most of the next five years, a 5-11 season prompted Ditka\u2019s departure in 1992.<\/p>\n
Ditka\u2019s last coaching tenure in New Orleans was highlighted by a stunning trade<\/p>\n
After a five-year absence, he returned to coaching with the New Orleans Saints, but failed to revive the franchise. His tenure with the team might be best remembered for the trade before the 1999 NFL draft when he dealt a package of eight draft picks \u2014 including each one the Saints had that year and two of its first three selections in 2000 \u2014 to Washington to move up from 12th overall to No. 5 so New Orleans could select running back Ricky Williams.<\/p>\n
After a miserable 1999 season ended with a 3-13 record \u2014 Ditka\u2019s worst as either a player or coach \u2014 he left the sidelines for good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe proudly honor his chapters as a head coach in New Orleans,\u201d the Saints said in a statement. \u201cWhile his time leading our franchise on the field was brief in longevity, his presence left an indelible mark on our organization. Mike approached his tenure with the Saints with the same bold authenticity and relentless drive that defined his entire career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ditka\u2019s post-football career featured TV appearances and advocating for former players<\/p>\n
Ditka\u2019s face and demeanor were so familiar by then that a second act became an easy segue. He began building a stable of restaurants and appeared as himself in TV sitcoms from \u201cCheers\u201d to \u201cThird Rock from the Sun,\u201d as well as shows such as \u201cL.A. Law.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stayed close to the game as an NFL analyst and game-day show personality \u2014 first at NBC after his Bears tenure, and then at CBS and ESPN after his time with the Saints.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike Ditka was larger than life, an iconic football figure whose presence commanded attention the moment he walked into a room,\u201d ESPN VP and executive producer Seth Markman said in a statement. \u201cHe was fearless and candid on the air, bringing the same authenticity and conviction that defined his football career.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those of us who worked with him at ESPN, we were able to experience another side of Mike: a kind, generous and genuinely caring colleague who treated everyone with warmth and respect, whether he knew you or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ditka\u2019s high-profile status also made him an effective advocate to secure improved health and retirement benefits for former players.<\/p>\n
His name also circulated for years in Illinois political circles. Though he never ran for office, Ditka described himself as a staunch conservative and was mentioned several times as a possible Republican candidate, including a congressional race against then state Senator Obama for the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike Ditka,\u201d ESPN NFL host Chris Berman said in a statement, \u201cwas a national treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
This story has been corrected to show Barack Obama was a state senator, not state representative.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Litke is a retired AP Sports Columnist.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. and AP Sports Writers Jay Cohen and Joe Reedy contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
\n See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/a>\n <\/p>\nJim Litke, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He was arguably the NFL\u2019s most recognizable \u2014 and imitated \u2014 personality during his time as Chicago\u2019s coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":927005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-927004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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