One can’t tell the story of the NFL without Mike Ditka.
The Ditka family announced on Friday afternoon that the Hall of Fame head coach and tight end passed away at 86. With that said, just because the Chicago Bears’ legend is no longer physically present in the football world, doesn’t mean his legacy won’t be felt for eternity.
As both a player and coach, Ditka was one of a kind and impacted the sport both on and off the field.
Ditka’s Historic Tight End Play
Mike Ditka (#89) helped the Bears win the 1963 NFL Championship. (Photo by James Drake/Getty Images)
Before becoming a legend with the Bears vest on his chest, Ditka was a menace at tight end.
Originally selected by the Houston Oilers with the No. 8 pick in the 1961 AFL Draft, Ditka, an All-American who finished sixth in the 1960 Heisman Trophy voting with the Pittsburgh Panthers, opted against playing in the upstart AFL. One month later, he was selected by the Bears with the No. 5 pick in the 1961 NFL Draft and packed his bags for the Windy City.
Sure, Ditka could drive a defender into the parking lot as a blocker, but “Iron Mike” made history as a pass-catcher.
In Ditka’s 1961 rookie campaign, he became the first tight end in NFL history to log 1,000 receiving yards in a single season, reeling in 56 receptions for 1,076 yards (19.2 yards per reception) and 12 touchdowns. Ditka would be a Pro Bowler in each of his first five seasons in the sport and an All-Pro in 1963 and 1964. Over his first four seasons (1961-64), Ditka averaged 62.0 receptions for 917.8 yards and 7.5 touchdowns per year.
Ditka was part of Chicago’s 1963 NFL Championship team, which marked the Bears’ first NFL championship since 1946.
Following six years with the Bears (1961-66), Ditka spent two years with the Philadelphia Eagles (1967-68) and finished his career with the Dallas Cowboys from 1969-72. On the Dallas front, Ditka helped the Cowboys win their first-ever Super Bowl and championship altogether in 1971, reeling in a 7-yard touchdown from Roger Staubach in the fourth quarter of the team’s Super Bowl VI triumph over the Miami Dolphins.
Ditka’s 80s Bears
The Bears made the playoffs seven times under Mike Ditka, highlighted by winning Super Bowl XX. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Ditka parlayed his four seasons with the Cowboys into nine seasons as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry in Dallas from 1973-81.
Meanwhile, up north, after posting losing records in three of the previous four seasons, the Bears fired head coach Neill Armstrong in 1982. Seeing an opportunity to both become a head coach and bring his first NFL love back to prominence, Ditka interviewed for the Bears’ head-coaching vacancy and ultimately got the job — and would later embark on an indelible journey.
The strike-shortened 1982 season, which saw Chicago go 3-6, and a .500 campaign (8-8) in 1983 put Ditka on thin ice. But the Bears found themselves in Year 3 of the Ditka era. As part of a 10-6 season that saw Chicago win its division for the first time since its 1963 NFL Championship season, the Bears reached the NFC Championship Game. After being shut out by Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers, who went on to win the Super Bowl, in the NFC title game, Ditka’s Bears would put together one of the most dominant seasons in NFL history.
In what was a 15-1 regular season — with the mere blemish being a Week 13 loss to Dan Marino and the Dolphins on Monday Night Football — Chicago recorded 70 sacks in 1985, which came after tallying 72 sacks the year prior. The Bears’ defense pitched two shutouts in the regular season and held opponents to no more than 10 points in 11 of 16 games.
Then, Chicago proceeded to shut out BOTH the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams in the NFC playoffs before laying waste to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, 46-10.
Who did that defense include? For starters, it had four Hall of Famers: defensive end Richard Dent, linebacker Mike Singletary and defensive linemen Steve McMichael and Dan Hampton. Chicago’s defense also had Pro Bowl linebackers Otis Wilson and Wilber Marshall and “The Fridge,” defensive lineman William Perry, who, of course, would occasionally get the call on the run — or in the air — on offense. All the while, the Bears had Leslie Frazier, Gary Fencik, Dave Duerson, Mike Richardson and Ken Taylor, who combined for 23 interceptions in their secondary.
The ’80s Bears, specifically the 1985 Bears, have an argument for being the best defense ever assembled.
As for the other side of the ball, Chicago leaned on one of the best running backs in NFL history in Walter Payton, with Hall of Fame left tackle Jimbo Covert and perennial Pro Bowlers Jay Hilgenberg and Mark Bortz leading the way up front. Meanwhile, Ditka had the ever-confident Jim McMahon under center.
While the Bears never returned to the Super Bowl after the 1985 season under Ditka, they won 14 games in 1986 despite the departure of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and made the playoffs and won double-digit games in seven of Ditka’s 12 seasons at the helm (1982-92).
Ditka’s Cultural Impact
Mike Ditka won a championship with the Bears as both a player and coach. (Photo by John Biever /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X40838 )
Everybody knows or has seen somebody who wears a Harley-Davidson-looking leather jacket. But for Bears fans, that was just their beloved head coach.
Dark jacket. Dark glasses. A boisterous face. Never satisfied. That was the vibe Ditka portrayed on the Bears’ sideline. And if he wasn’t in leather, he was rocking the signature Bears vest that countless fans are seen wearing at Soldier Field and across the country.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the team’s Super Bowl triumph and consistent playoff presence, Chicago’s players and coaches became prominent public figures. Yeah, Ditka wasn’t in “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” but he did inspire one of the most memorable skits in “Saturday Night Live” history, that being “Bill Swerski’s Super Fans,” which is based on multiple Chicago “super fans” revering the Bears’ head coach at the pub “Ditka’s.”
Ditka also starred in the 2005 movie “Kicking & Screaming,” with him serving as a coach for Will Ferrell’s character’s son’s soccer team.
Ditka’s NFL Standing
Mike Ditka was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. (Photo by Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images)
Ditka is tied with George Halas for first in Bears’ history with six playoff victories and is second in franchise history with 106 regular-season wins. In all, Ditka, who was also the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 1997-99, is 34th among head coaches in NFL history with 121 regular-season wins and is tied with Dennis Green for 32nd with 12 career playoff game appearances.
Meanwhile, as a player, Ditka is fourth in Bears’ history with 34 receiving touchdowns, fifth with 4,503 receiving yards and sixth with 316 receptions.
Some people are great players. Others are great coaches.
Mike Ditka was both.