Nobody embodied Chicago Bears football more than Mike Ditka, who became the face of the franchise as both a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and a Super Bowl-winning coach.
Ditka, who coached the 1985 Bears to the franchise’s only Super Bowl championship, has died at age 86.
The Bears, in a statement, said, “Mike’s impact on the Chicago Bears organization, over decades as a player, coach, and proud icon and ambassador for our organization, is immeasurable. His integral role in bringing world championships to our city and our franchise, both as a player and as our coach, established prominence and excellence at a world-class level, but also created a lifetime of cherished memories in the hearts and minds of Bears fans that will last for generations.”
A look back at the life of the Hall of Famer and Super Bowl-winning coach.
Da Coach
Mike Ditka had a face that even resembled the bear on the team logo, a face once described as “a clenched fist” that became familiar to millions — first as a player starting in 1961, then as Bears coach from 1982-92 and finally as a ubiquitous celebrity promoter and television commentator.
Ditka, who coached the 1985 Bears to the franchise’s only Super Bowl championship, has died at age 86.
He played collegiately at Pittsburgh near his hometown of Aliquippa, Pa., and played for only six seasons in Chicago before Bears owner-coach George Halas traded the outspoken star to the Philadelphia Eagles. Ditka later played and coached as an assistant for the Dallas Cowboys, and he ended his NFL head coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in 1999.
But he became the quintessential Chicagoan, opening a restaurant and keeping his home in the city long after traveling for analyst duties on ESPN. Read more here.
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Da legacy
Michael Jordan may be the greatest cultural sports icon across the globe, but Mike Ditka remained the sporting icon of Chicago, the largest personality from a team that was full of swashbuckling, sometimes rogue characters. In a very big way, that’s perhaps one reason it all worked — because Ditka showed how to walk the walk.
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“There’s been a lot of big-time names and big-time celebrities, but nobody has surpassed Mike’s status,” Hall of Fame defensive lineman Dan Hampton said. “Jordan was a great player for the Bulls, but Ditka was kind of like the city’s pope in a way where everybody deferred to him that he was the great leader.” Read more here.
Da fans
“Mike Ditka, for us working-class people, he was always about the hard work, elevating yourself, doing the s−−− you got to do,” he said.
Ditka, the coach who led the Chicago Bears to their only Super Bowl victory, died at 86 years old, according to a statement released by his family.
Before his death, fans reminisced on Ditka’s career while tailgating outside recent Bears home games. Read more here.
Da timeline
Mike Ditka, known as “Da Coach,” led the 1985 Chicago Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX. He also was a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end, a popular pitchman and broadcaster, Arena Football League team owner, potential Republican candidate and idol of “Saturday Night Live” Super Fans and Grabowskis alike.
Here’s a look back at Ditka’s extraordinary life, from his humble beginnings in Pennsylvania to his dominant football career in Chicago. Read more here.
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Da pitchman
Mike Ditka has been the spokesperson for products ranging from antifreeze to Vienna beef sausages in his almost 40 years as a paid pitchman.
Here’s a look back at some of those print and television advertisements. Read more here.