Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears Hall of Famer and Super Bowl-winning coach, dies at 86

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.

Read more Pictures: Gulf Coast prepares for Hurricane Isaias’ landfall

It was 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, according to Jarrett Payton, who released a statement from the family Friday.

Ditka 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.

The last coach Halas hired, Ditka was the Bears’ most successful other than Halas, bringing the city the NFL title in January 1986 for the first time since he played for Halas’ last championship team in 1963. It’s fair to surmise that without Ditka’s combative, passionate playing and coaching style, the Bears would be without a championship since 1946.

Ditka thrived on contradictions he often created. After criticizing Bears quarterbacks when he played — a pattern that persisted as a coach — and commenting that Halas “threw around nickels like they were manhole covers,” it was Ditka’s heartfelt letter that persuaded Halas to take a chance and hire the Cowboys special teams and tight ends coach to restore the Bears to glory.

Former quarterback Jim McMahon nicknamed Ditka “Sybil” after the 1970s book and movie character with a split personality. But Ditka’s ability to turn the Bears into beloved “Grabowskis” became a more enduring legacy.

In his first NFL game in 1961, after the Bears drafted him with the No. 5 pick, Ditka got into a fistfight with teammate Ted Karras when he accused his older colleague of not trying hard enough. Ditka went on to have a stellar first season, totaling 56 receptions for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns — all NFL records for rookie tight ends at the time — and earned the first of five straight Pro Bowl selections.

His 12 touchdowns still stand as the most for a rookie tight end, and his yardage record lasted until 2024 — 63 years. Last season, Colston Loveland broke Ditka’s team record for receptions by a rookie tight end with 58.

Despite playing during an era of 14-game seasons, Ditka still ranks among the all-time Bears leaders in receptions (316, sixth), receiving yards (4,503, fifth) and receiving touchdowns (34, fourth). He was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection (1963, 1964) and was named to the second team twice (1962, 1965).

Ranking the 100 best Bears players ever: No. 11, Mike Ditka

Traded to the Eagles after the 1966 season for quarterback Jack Concannon, Ditka said he was resurrected by Cowboys coach Tom Landry in 1969 after slipping into a downward spiral of drinking and self-pity in Philadelphia. After playing in Super Bowls V and VI in the 1970 and 1971 seasons and catching a touchdown pass, Ditka played one more year before retiring. His final NFL stat line: 427 receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns in 158 games over 12 seasons.

Ditka then became a volatile, clipboard-tossing assistant and counterpoint to the stoic Landry for nine years on the Cowboys sideline. When Halas replaced Neill Armstrong as Bears coach with the inexperienced, unpredictable Ditka, the 86-year-old patriarch was asked at a news conference whether he was senile.

“Nuts to you. There’s no goddamn senility in this carcass,” Halas responded.

In his first meeting with the team as coach in 1982, Ditka told players they would soon win a Super Bowl.

Iron Mike

Michael Keller Ditka was born Oct. 18, 1939, in Carnegie, Pa., of Ukrainian descent. The family name was Dyzcko until changed by Mike’s father, Mike, who worked for the railroad that serviced a steel mill. In college, Ditka thought he wanted to be a dentist but soon became more adept at knocking out teeth and spent his life shaking off tacklers and controversy.

His jaw-dropping run against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 24, 1963, two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, enabled the Bears to tie the Steelers 17-17 and stay ahead of the Green Bay Packers on their way to the championship. It is a play that remains a staple of all-time NFL highlights.

As the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Ditka was presented by former teammate Ed O’Bradovich in an emotional 1988 ceremony. One of Ditka’s four children, Mark, was once married to O’Bradovich’s daughter Amy, but after a split and after O’Bradovich’s son Ed Jr. was released by Ditka following a 1992 tryout with the Bears, the two men had a falling out.

Between the time the Bears fired him in January 1993 and the Saints hired him in 1997, Ditka was paid to plug a casino in Mississippi. After coaching, he took frequent trips to Las Vegas. As a member of Bob-O-Link Golf Club in Highland Park, Ditka liked to play cards as much as he liked to play golf. But his penchant for gambling never got him in public trouble with a league that once supposedly was careful to disassociate itself from gamblers.

Despite his gruff exterior, Ditka was a soft touch for charity functions and spent many years in support of such institutions as Misericordia. He spoke at fundraisers, and surprised observers could catch him privately visiting with residents he knew by name.

Ditka’s ability to motivate players with stirring pregame speeches was perhaps his greatest coaching asset. He never strayed far from a primitive philosophy of football drilled into him by an assistant coach at Pitt, Ernie Hefferle, who simply preached that the secret to the game was to beat up the man across from you on every play.

Ditka’s personal challenge to rookie defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry the night before his encounter with All-Pro New England Patriots guard John Hannah in Super Bowl XX remains a classic example. Hannah had been labeled the best guard ever by Sports Illustrated.

Ditka recalled: “I challenged William right to his face in front of the whole team. I said, ‘I don’t know what your feelings about life are, but if I was you tomorrow, on the first play I’d knock his headgear off. I’d make a point to knock it off three more times before the game was over.’ I said to him, ‘I’d let him know who was boss, who the big, fat kid on the block was.’ I said to him, ‘You can do what you want to do, Bill, but I’d go out to whip his ass.’”

Although Ditka deserved and received credit for driving the Bears to their dominant 1985 season, he also received and deserved blame for that talented team’s failure to win more than one title.

When injuries and his distrust depleted quarterback options in 1986, his decision to bring in Doug Flutie backfired. When the 1987 players strike led to “replacement teams,” Ditka labeled the nonunion players “the real Bears” and alienated the veterans who would return after only three replacement games.

Still, Ditka’s Bears teams made the playoffs in seven of his 11 seasons, including a run of five consecutive NFC Central titles from 1984-88 (and six overall) and three appearances in the conference championship game (’84, ’85 and ’88). Seven members of the Super Bowl champions — Ditka plus six players — are in the Hall of Fame.

Ditka had great confidence in inexperienced players. Following his own pattern as NFL Rookie of the Year, Ditka never used youth as an excuse. He broke his hand on a locker because he was mad at rookie tackle Jimbo Covert in only his second game. He second-guessed himself for waiting two games into McMahon’s career to start him at quarterback. He played Perry on offense first because he was upset that defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan didn’t trust rookies.

He goaded a young Richard Dent by regularly calling him “Robert.” He pushed cornerback Donnell Woolford into the lineup, then announced after a poor outing, “Evidently, Woolford can’t cover anyone,” impervious to any discouraging effect such public criticism might have on a young player.

Ditka’s impetuousness earned him the nickname “Old Ready Fire Aim” from former general manager Jim Finks, who never would have hired him but nevertheless conducted the fruitful 1982 and 1983 drafts that got the Bears over the top.

Read more Hurricane Isaias tracking map: Here’s the latest forecast and warning areas

Ditka’s uneven handling of quarterbacks stretched beyond his love-hate relationship with McMahon and contributed to the team’s instability at the most important position. During a Monday night game in 1984, Ditka so humiliated backup Rusty Lisch on the sideline that Lisch refused to reenter the game until Ditka begged him.

His relationship with Ryan was contentious from the start. When Halas hired Ditka, it was under the condition that he retain Ryan, who had been in Chicago the previous three years.

Ryan subsequently showed little deference to Ditka, ignoring his suggestions, telling his defensive players Ditka didn’t know defense and referring to him as “that guy.” After the Super Bowl XX victory, Bears players carried both Ditka and Ryan off the field on their shoulders.

When Ryan left the Bears after the Super Bowl to become head coach of the Eagles, Ditka said, “I’m not happy he’s gone — I’m elated.” The two carried on a feud for years before finally burying the hatchet in 2010 at a 25th anniversary celebration of the Super Bowl.

Ditka also was hasty to side with management when players such as Wilber Marshall and Willie Gault became difficult to sign and left during an era when it was simpler for teams to retain free agents. Neither was adequately replaced.

After a lopsided 31-3 playoff loss to the New York Giants in 1990 and a 17-13 playoff loss at Soldier Field to the Cowboys in 1991, Ditka seemed resigned to his fate in 1992 and lost eight of his final nine games, leaving the McCaskeys little choice but to fire a coach who had banked no brownie points as a gentlemanly representative of the organization.

Gone were outstanding players Walter Payton, Dan Hampton, Gary Fencik, Covert, Jay Hilgenberg, Dave Duerson, Matt Suhey, Otis Wilson, Dennis McKinnon, McMahon, Marshall and Gault. It was Mike Singletary’s final season as well. Ditka seemed neither inclined nor patient enough to rebuild.

In his three losing seasons with the Saints, Ditka continued his impulsive sideline demeanor and never developed the kind of rapport with New Orleans that he enjoyed in Chicago. He agreed to trade his entire 1999 draft for the chance to select running back Ricky Williams.

Ditka finished with a 121-95 coaching record over 14 NFL seasons. His Bears teams went 106-62 (.631) in 11 regular seasons and 6-6 in the playoffs, including the Super Bowl XX victory. His wins and winning percentage rank second in team history to Halas.

Da Coach

Ditka broke his hand smashing a locker in frustration at halftime during his second season. He threatened to fire players during games. He yelled and gestured inappropriately at a fan during an outdoor postgame news conference. He feuded with Packers coach Forrest Gregg, a former teammate in Dallas, and nearly came to blows with him during the last preseason game the two ancient rivals ever played.

Ditka threw bubblegum at a fan in San Francisco and challenged fans during radio shows. After a victory in San Francisco and a celebration on the plane, he was arrested for drunk driving on his way home. He had to be separated from Ryan at halftime of the team’s only loss during the 1985 season. When he was fired after a 5-11 record in 1992 — only his third losing season in 11 — Ditka cried.

Da story behind Da Bears — and how the sausage-eating, Mike Ditka-obsessed, Chicago-aggrandizing Super Fans are still part of Chicago sports today

Mimicked in “Saturday Night Live” skits, he became renowned as “Da Coach” of “Da Bears,” an unbeatable combination capable of conquering even the great armies of world history.

With Ditka around, the NFL never was accused of being the “No Fun League.” Led by Ditka, the 1985 Bears kicked in the door of commercial endorsement and promotion by NFL personalities, raising the ire as well as secret admiration of Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who fined players for uniform code violations yet told Ditka he was a Bears fan.

Many players on that team continue to profit from that season, but nobody exploited opportunities more than Ditka. In grocery stores, his visage stared out from shelves stocked with Ditka mustard and barbecue sauce and wine. His website offered steaks and cigars.

Ditka became so recognizable that he played himself in a 2005 movie about kids soccer, “Kicking and Screaming,” starring Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall. Ditka used to marvel at offers too lucrative to dismiss and promoted everything from hearing aids to cologne to antifreeze to politicians.

A staunch conservative, he was approached to run for the U.S. Senate in 2004 against an upstart Barack Obama, an offer he refused, prompting alternate sighs of lament and relief among the electorate.

Health scares

Ditka suffered a mild stroke in 2012 and a heart attack during the 1988 season and underwent four hip replacement surgeries. He had served as a spokesman for the NFL in a commercial venture with pharmaceutical companies called “Tackling Men’s Health.”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person for the job, but I don’t care,” Ditka explained with typical flair.

Mike Ditka the pitchman: More than 50 commercials featuring the former Chicago Bears coach

Appearing in magazine ads and television spots, Ditka pushed the product Levitra for erectile dysfunction and also warned men to watch for symptoms of diabetes and hypertension. He said he ignored signs that might have prevented his heart attack, which kept him away from coaching for only 11 days and one game. In 2003, Ditka fell in his Chicago apartment and broke a leg, leading to a fourth hip replacement surgery and leaving him with a more pronounced limp.

Known for playing through injuries, Ditka acknowledged in a 2015 episode of HBO’s “Between The Lines” that pain pills once were pervasive on the 1985 Bears and throughout the league and that if he had an 8-year-old son, he wouldn’t allow him to play football because of the health risk. That revelation came despite his admission that he owed his life to football.

Sympathetic to colleagues suffering debilitating conditions in later years, Ditka chastised NFL owners for not bolstering the pensions of retired players who built the game, and his Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund helped raise awareness for the healthcare problems of players from his era.

Ditka’s coaching career ended when the Saints fired him after the 1999 season when he was 60. He was disappointed he never was given another chance elsewhere but confessed that no job could substitute for the one he had in Chicago. Before ESPN hired him, he worked as a commentator on preseason Bears telecasts and became a regular on talk radio, rarely reluctant to critique his former team.

Ditka wound up working longer in the media than he did as a player or coach, even though he told interviewer Jeannie Morris in 1989: “I have no desire to talk to the media again, ever. Nobody.”

Ditka’s last public appearance at a Bears event was during the franchise’s 100-year anniversary celebration in June 2019. “I’m glad I lived this long and made it here to be a part of this,” Ditka said during the opening ceremony at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

Ditka is survived by his wife of 49 years, Diana; his first wife, Margery Dougherty; and their four children: Mark, Matt, Mike and Megan.

Read more FHSAA gets heavy-handed over brawls; Deltona, Matanzas, Carol City all banned from playoffs

Chicago Tribune reporter Chris Boghossian contributed.

Don Pierson is a former Chicago Tribune reporter and columnist.