Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka

Ditka in the press booth during a National Football League pre-season game between the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears.
No. 82/89/98[1][2]
Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1939-10-18) October 18, 1939 (age 74)
Place of birth: Carnegie, Pennsylvania
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
College: Pittsburgh
NFL Draft: 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Debuted in 1961 for the Chicago Bears
Last played in 1972 for the Dallas Cowboys
Career history
As player:
Chicago Bears (1961–1966) Philadelphia Eagles (1967–1968) Dallas Cowboys (1969–1972)
As coach:
Dallas Cowboys (Asst. Coach) (1973–1981) Chicago Bears (1982–1992) New Orleans Saints (1997–1999)
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (1960) 5× Pro Bowl selection (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) 5× All-Pro (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) 3× Super Bowl champion (VI, XII, XX) NFL Championship (1963) UPI NFL Rookie of Year (1961) 2× AP NFL Coach of Year (1985, 1988) 2× UPI NFL Coach of Year (1985, 1988) Sporting News NFL Coach of Year (1988) Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of Year (1988) First tight end inducted into the Hall of Fame NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team College Football Hall of Fame inductee (1986) Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (1988) Chicago Bears #89 Retired
Career NFL statistics
Receptions 427 Receiving yards 5,812 Touchdowns 43
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko on October 18, 1939) is a former American football player, coach, and television commentator. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win an NFL title as a player, an assistant coach, and a head coach. Ditka is also the only individual in modern NFL history to win a championship with the same team as a player and a head coach.^[3] Ditka was the only person to participate in both of the last two Chicago Bears' championships, as a player in 1963 and as head coach in 1985.

Early life and college career

Ditka was born as Michael Dyczko in the Pittsburgh-area town of Carnegie, Pennsylvania on October 18, 1939. The oldest child of Mike Sr. and Charlotte, he grew up in nearby Aliquippa, Pennsylvania^[4] with siblings Ashton, David, and Mary Ann. Mike Sr., a welder, was one of three brothers of a Ukrainian^[5] family in the coal mining and steel manufacturing area in Western Pennsylvania. The surname "Dyczko" was difficult to pronounce in his hometown, so the family name was changed to "Ditka."^[5] Ditka attended St. Titus School.

A three-sport star at Aliquippa High School, Ditka hoped to escape his hometown's manufacturing jobs by attending college with a football scholarship. Planning to become a dentist,^[4] he was recruited by Notre Dame, Penn State, and University of Pittsburgh. Ditka played for the University of Pittsburgh from 1958 until 1960, where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was a three sport athlete at Pitt, also playing baseball and basketball.^[6] He started all three seasons and is widely considered one of the best tight ends in college football history. In addition to playing tight end, he also served as the team's punter. He led the team in receiving in all three of his seasons with them and was a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in his senior year. In 1986, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

He has four children with his first wife Marge. He and Marge divorced in 1973, and he married his second wife Diana in 1977.

Playing career

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears drafted Ditka fifth overall in the 1961 NFL Draft, while the Houston Oilers drafted him eighth overall in the first round in the 1961 AFL Draft. He signed with the Bears and his presence was immediately felt. In his first season, Ditka had 58 receptions, introducing a new dimension to a tight end position that had previously been dedicated to blocking. He also scored 12 receiving touchdowns, which was the most by a Bears rookie.^[7] His success earned him Rookie of the Year honors. He continued to play for the Bears for the next five years, earning a Pro Bowl trip each season. He played on the 1963 NFL championship team. Many of the players from that team, including Ditka, were drafted by assistant coach George Allen, a future Hall of Famer, who was then in charge of the Bears drafts. During the season, against the Los Angeles Rams, Ditka tied Harlon Hill's franchise record for the most receiving touchdowns in a game with four.^[7] Ditka ranks first among tight ends and fourth in Bears history with 4,503 yards, fifth in both receptions (316) and touchdown catches (34).^[3]

The Bears retired Ditka's number 89 jersey on December 9, 2013 during halftime of the Bears game against the Dallas Cowboys.^[3] The number will be the final number retired by the Bears.^[8]

Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys

Ditka was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1967, where he spent two seasons, before being shipped off to the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. He spent four seasons with the Cowboys, highlighted by a touchdown reception in the Cowboys' 24–3 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. He is the only Head Coach in the history of the Super Bowl to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl as a player.

Hall of Fame enshrinement

In 1988,^[9] his fearsome blocking and 427 career receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns earned him the honor of being the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.^[3] Ditka also scored two touchdowns on offensive fumble recoveries, tying seven other players for the most in NFL history. In 1999, he was ranked number 90 on The Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Coaching career

Retiring after the 1972 season, Ditka was immediately hired as an assistant coach by Cowboys' head coach Tom Landry. Ditka spent nine seasons as an assistant coach with the Cowboys. During his tenure, the Cowboys made the playoffs eight times, won six division titles and three NFC Championships, including the one preceding their Super Bowl victory in 1977.

While working with the Cowboys, Ditka sent a letter to George Halas, his former head coach who was still owner of the Chicago Bears. In the letter Ditka said that he would like to come back to Chicago and be the head coach of the Bears "when he was ready".^[10] Meanwhile, the Cowboys continued to win games although they did not win another Super Bowl while Ditka was there. His last game with the Cowboys was the 1981 NFC Championship Game, where the team fell to the San Francisco 49ers.

Chicago Bears

After firing previous coach Neill Armstrong following the 1981 season, Halas decided to take Ditka up on his offer from several years earlier and hired him to become the team's head coach for 1982 campaign. Although the Bears had made the playoffs under Armstrong and his predecessor Jack Pardee, those were the only two winning seasons since Halas' retirement as coach and he was looking for a coach who would bring the Bears back to prominence. Shortly after his hiring, as recounted by Mike Singletary in 2006, Ditka called a team meeting. In the meeting he warned that the team would experience some turnover, but if they were all willing to work hard for him and stand with him, Ditka promised a trip to the Super Bowl within three seasons.^[10]

By his third season, Ditka led the Bears to the NFC Championship Game, where the Bears were shut out by the eventual Super Bowl-winning 49ers in San Francisco. The following year, Ditka's coaching career hit its pinnacle on January 26, 1986, with a 46–10 trouncing of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ditka has stated that one of his biggest regrets in life was not letting Walter Payton score a touchdown in the Super Bowl, instead opting for Jim McMahon to run it in twice and rookie defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry to run it in once.

Football commentators widely regard the 1985 Bears defense as one of the best ever. It was masterminded by defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, with little oversight from Ditka; in fact, Ditka and Ryan had a largely adversarial relationship dating back to Ditka's hire. In fact, the relationship was so contentious, the two came to blows at halftime of what would be the Bears' only loss of the 1985 season against the Miami Dolphins. In an unusual gesture, following the Bears Super Bowl victory, the players carried both Ryan and Ditka off the field. In addition, the 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the undefeated 1972 Dolphins for the unofficial title of the "Greatest NFL Team of All-Time".^[11] The NFL Network series America's Game rated the 1985 Bears as the second-best Super Bowl champions ever.

Buddy Ryan left in 1986 to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. When asked if he was happy Ryan was gone, Ditka replied he was not happy, but "elated". In 1986, 1987, and 1988, the Bears won the Central Division title and earned three home playoff games. The first of those years saw the Bears finish the regular season with a 14-2 record to tie the New York Giants for the best in the entire league. However, the Bears were upset by the Washington Redskins in their first playoff game. The next year, the Bears finished second in the NFC with an 11-4 record, but were again upended by the Redskins en route to that team's second Super Bowl victory of the decade. The Bears finished 12-4 in 1988 and got homefield advantage, and defeated Ryan's Eagles in the Fog Bowl in their first game. However, the team was defeated by the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game and this would be the last time the team would advance that far until they won the 2006 NFC Championship Game.

Ditka suffered a heart attack during the 1988 season and was expected to miss much of the season, but was on the sidelines as an "advisor" the next week and back in full charge the week after.

The Bears started 4–0 in 1989, but a series of last-second losses eventually led to a complete meltdown at the end of the season as the Bears finished 6–10. The Bears rallied to win a weak Central Division in 1990 and make the playoffs as a wild card in 1991, but were eliminated convincingly in the early rounds. After dropping to 5–11 in the 1992 season, the Bears fired Ditka. His 106 wins are the second-most in Bears history,^[7] behind only Halas.

He was awarded NFL Coach of the Year honors in 1985 and 1988^[3] by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Pro Football Weekly.

On December 9, 2013, Ditka's Bears jersey number, 89, was retired in a halftime ceremony during a Monday Night Football game in Chicago as the Bears hosted the Dallas Cowboys, for whom Ditka also played and worked as an assistant coach under the late Tom Landry. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, and go Bears!" Ditka told the crowd. ^[12]

New Orleans Saints

In 1997, he returned to coach the New Orleans Saints. His three seasons there were nowhere near as successful as his tenure in Chicago; indeed, Ditka later referred to his tenure with the Saints as the "three worst years" of his life.

Ditka was roundly criticized for the trading of all of the team's 1999 draft picks (plus their first round draft pick in 2000) to the Washington Redskins to move up in the draft and select Texas RB Ricky Williams (Washington would later use the picks to select future Pro Bowlers Champ Bailey, Jon Jansen, and LaVar Arrington). The trade was further mocked because of a magazine cover in which Ditka posed with Williams, who was wearing a wedding dress.^[13]

The drafting of Williams did not help the Saints' situation at all. In fact, the team regressed to a 3-13 mark in 1999. After a week-13 loss to the Atlanta Falcons to drop the Saints to 2-10, Ditka took the blame for the team's poor offensive performance thus far in the season and said he was "probably the wrong guy for this job" and the Saints would probably be better off hiring someone else. Ditka claimed he "didn't have it anymore", was thinking about leaving, and "God puts people in places for reasons, and he probably put me here to be humbled. I deserve it." He claimed he had "failed" the team, and he perhaps had changed too much as a coach. The Saints only won one more time the remainder of the year and Ditka, along with general manager Bill Kuharich, lost his job at the end of the year. Despite the high expectations upon his hiring, Ditka's overall record with the Saints was 15–33. (By contrast his replacement, Jim Haslett, took the Saints to a 10-6 record and a division title the next year with essentially the same team.)

Over a total of 14 seasons as a head coach, Ditka amassed a regular-season record of 121–95 and a postseason record of 6–6.

Incidents

In 1983, Ditka broke his hand after punching a locker in an angry halftime tirade.^[14] In 1985, he was arrested on Interstate 294 near O'Hare International Airport and convicted of DWI after returning from a game with San Francisco.^[15] In 1986, Ditka formed a gesture with his hand and told a heckler, "See that? That's your IQ, buddy. Zero."^[16] On another occasion in 1987, he threw a piece of chewing gum at a San Francisco 49ers fan who had heckled and thrown a drink at him during a Monday night matchup.^[17] In the midst of a very successful 1988 season, Ditka suffered a heart attack, but bounced back quickly.

While Ditka was with the Saints, an incident which has made the rounds on sports highlight shows featuring angry coach tirades took place during his last year. An angry Ditka, with his team sitting at 2-7, conducted an impromptu press briefing from a chair in front of the wall of the Saints' practice facility kept dismissing reporters' questions with short and curt answers and a sarcastic "next" when he wanted to change the subject. When asked why he was in such a bad mood, Ditka snapped at the reporter, "what do you care? If you were 2-7 you'd be in a bad mood, too." He then cut the press conference short and stormed off.

On November 16, 2012, Ditka suffered a minor stroke at a suburban country club in Chicago. Later in the day, Ditka reported he was feeling "good right now and it's not a big deal."^[18]

Head coaching record

Broadcasting career

After his dismissal from the Bears in 1992, Ditka took a broadcasting job with NBC, working as an analyst on NFL Live and as a color commentator for many other NBC broadcasts. From the 2000 to the 2001 season he was a studio analyst on The NFL Today on CBS Sports. He is currently a commentator on ESPN's NFL Live, ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, and CBS Radio-Westwood One's Monday Night Football pregame show. On his radio show, Coach Ditka is called "America's Coach" by well known sidekick Jim Gray. Beginning in 2006, Ditka appeared on a Seattle radio program, "Groz with Gas" on 950 KJR-AM Seattle, on Thursday afternoons with Dave Grosby and Mike Gastineau. Ditka regularly appears on Chicago radio station ESPN 1000 (WMVP-AM), often broadcasting on Thursday mornings from one of his eponymous restaurants along with ESPN 1000 mid-morning hosts Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle, a former Bears player under Ditka.

Ditka served as color commentator for ESPN's September 10, 2007, broadcast of Monday Night Football, alongside Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.^[19] He replicated this role on the second game of the doubleheader in 2008, as well.

Other ventures

In 1991, Ditka cooperated with Accolade to produce the computer game Mike Ditka's Ultimate Football. In 1995, Ditka starred as a football coach in a full-motion video game called Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka, released for the Sega Saturn, PC, and 3DO.

Ditka appeared in several ads for Montgomery Ward in the early 1990s, promoting their electronics and appliances department, known as Electric Avenue.

Ditka performed "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 1998, the first season after the death of Harry Caray, who had previously led the song. Chicago Now blogger Marcus Leshock derided the performance, dubbing Ditka "the worst 7th-inning singer in history."^[20]

Ditka was inducted to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Ditka has also done guest spots and cameos on shows from L.A. Law to Saturday Night Live, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. In 2005, Ditka portrayed himself in the comedy Kicking & Screaming as a little league soccer coach, alongside Will Ferrell.

In January 2007, Ditka used the Super Bowl return of the Chicago Bears as a platform to promote efforts by many early NFL players trying to raise support for former NFL players in need of money and medical assistance; he is a key member in the Gridiron Greats. Angry at the wealthy NFL for ignoring the players who helped to create the league, Ditka and other former players have since been attempting to raise funds, in the words of Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, "for guys who made this league and built it on their backs, their knees, their legs and now they're all broken down and they can't even get a decent pension."^[21] Ultimately, however, in December 2007, Ditka folded his "Hall of Fame Assistance Trust Fund" charity amidst revelations that, "in 2005, the group gave out more money to pay celebrities to play golf than the group in its entire three years of operation gave out to injured players", according to Laurie Styron of the American Institute of Philanthropy.^[22] During Super Bowl XLIV, Ditka (who was not in the original group) joined other members of the 1985 Chicago Bears in resurrecting the "Super Bowl Shuffle" in a Boost Mobile commercial.^[23]

In the spring of 2007, Ditka worked alongside X Management and Geneva Hospitality to form Mike Ditka Resorts, currently consisting of two resorts in the Orlando, Florida, area. Ditka owns a chain of restaurants, "Ditka's," which has two locations in Illinois, one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a new one in Phoenix, Arizona. Ditka discovered singer John Vincent, who has been performing at his Chicago restaurant since 2001. Vincent performs in 20 different voices and sings the National Anthem regularly for the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Ditka and Vincent also own a record label together. ^[24]

Ditka was a co-owner the Chicago Rush, an Arena Football League team. In August 2011, media reports noted that Ditka would be a financial investor for the new Elite Football League of India, a proposed American football league that will be India's first.^[25][26]

In 2012, Ditka partnered with Terlato Wines to produce his own collection of wines, produced in California.^[27] The partnership stemmed from a 20-year friendship between Ditka and Bill Terlato and their shared love of sports and food and wine. The first Mike Ditka Wines were released in fall 2012, including eight labels highlighting his career: "The Player" (2011 Pinot Grigio and 2010 Merlot), "The Coach" (2011 Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon), " The Hall of Famer" (2011 Chardonnay and 2011 Pinot Noir), and "The Restaurateur" pair which includes "The Icon" (2010 Cabernet Sauvignon) and "The Champion" (2010 Red Blend)."^[28] The same year, Ditka and Camacho Cigars partnered and produced a line of cigars called “The Mike Ditka Kickoff Series”.^[29] These cigars are named to highlight the milestones of Coach Ditka’s football career: “The Player”, The Coach”, and “The Hall of Famer”. All of these cigars are produced in Honduras.^[30]

In 2013, Ditka and Vienna Beef partnered to create Ditka Sausages, which will be eight inches long and one-third pound in weight. The two types are "Hot Beef Polish Sausage" and "Chicken Sausage with Mozzarella and Sun-Dried Tomatoes".^[31]

Also in 2013, Dikta and former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon are featured in a new series of commercials for the online discount retailer Overstock.com.^[32]

Politics

In July 2004, Ditka, a self-described "ultra-ultra-ultra conservative",^[33] was reportedly considering running against Democrat Barack Obama for an open seat in the U.S. Senate for Illinois in the 2004 Senate election. The seat was being vacated by Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican, and Republican nominee Jack Ryan withdrew from the race amid controversy at the end of June, leaving the Republicans in a bind. Local and national political leaders, from Illinois Republican Party Chair Judy Baar Topinka to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. George Allen, whose father by the same name was an assistant coach with the Bears in the 1960s when Ditka played, met with Ditka in an effort to persuade him to fill the spot on the ticket.

On July 14, however, Ditka announced he would not seek the nomination, citing personal and business considerations (his wife was against the run and he operates a chain of restaurants).^[34] Barack Obama went on to defeat former ambassador Alan Keyes in a landslide in the November 2004 election. In October 2008, Ditka introduced vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

In stark contrast to the above-stated positions, Ditka appeared in an ad during the 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election for incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn. In the ad, Ditka states that, "[D]oing the right thing for the people who put you in office is more important than what you can do for yourself in office . . . and I think he'll do that. I think he understands that . . . and I think he's good people." Quinn, at the time, was locked into a tight race against State Senator Bill Brady, a conservative Republican from Bloomington. Quinn would go on to narrowly defeat Brady.

In October 2011, Ditka and the 1985 team went to the White House after they didn't attend in 1986 due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. He presented President Obama with a Chicago Bears jersey with the number 85 on it with "Obama" on the back of it.^[35]

Personal life

In November 2012, Ditka was hospitalized with what was called a "very minor stroke". Because of this, Ditka did not work at the Monday Night Football studio for Week 11.^[18]

Ditka is a practicing Roman Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus