Legendary coach, Hall of Fame TE Mike Ditka dies at 86
Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end who became the head coach of the Super Bowl-champion 1985 Bears and remained a towering, unmistakable figure in Chicago and across the NFL for decades, has died at 86, his family announced Friday morn…
Posted
Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end who became the head coach of the Super Bowl-champion 1985 Bears and remained a towering, unmistakable figure in Chicago and across the NFL for decades, has died at 86, his family announced Friday morning.
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter): NFL legend Mike Ditka, who revolutionized the tight end position before becoming the head coach of the world champion 1985 Bears and a towering figure in the city of Chicago, has passed away, his family announced. He was 86.
Ditka was the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the only person to win a Super Bowl as a player (1963, with the Bears), an assistant coach (1971, Dallas) and a head coach (the 1985 Bears' 46-10 romp over New England). He played 12 seasons in Chicago and Philadelphia and later spent more than a decade coaching the Bears (1982-92) and the New Orleans Saints (1997-99), earning NFL Coach of the Year twice — once for the 18-1 '85 team and again in 1991.
His off-field persona was as outsized as his sideline one — an elemental, plain-spoken force who went 0-for-30 in the 1981 NFL Draft by famously trading every pick for running back Ricky Williams (a deal so audacious ESPN The Magazine lampooned it with a bride-and-groom cover), then narrated decades of broadcasts, commercials and local legend. The reaction across the league was immediate, including from detroit within the franchise he shaped.
Bears fans will remember the '85 club — Ditka's 'Monsters of the Midway,' 15-1 in the regular season behind a ferocious defense and Jim McMahon's swagger — as one of the greatest teams in football history. On a personal note, one of Ditka's players offered the simplest tribute: many would agree he was the most generous person they ever met.