Bears Legend Mike Ditka, Architect of Chicago's Only Super Bowl Title, Dies at 86
The Hall of Fame tight end and fiery head coach who delivered the 1985 Bears their 46-10 Super Bowl rout, then became one of football's most recognizable broadcasters, has died. No cause of death was announced.
Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end and head coach who delivered the Chicago Bears their only Super Bowl championship, died Friday at age 86, his family announced. No cause of death was given.
The family's statement described him as a husband, father, grandfather and friend. The Chicago Bears called his impact on the organization "immeasurable," and current head coach Ben Johnson joined NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in issuing public tributes Friday, according to ESPN's obituary.
From Hall of Fame Tight End to Super Bowl Coach
Ditka broke into the NFL in 1961 with the Bears, where his combination of size, speed and physicality helped redefine the tight end position. He later played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, winning a championship ring with Dallas before returning to the sideline as an assistant there in the 1970s. In 1988, he became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He took over as Bears head coach in 1982, and three seasons later led a swaggering, trash-talking Chicago defense and the "Super Bowl Shuffle" squad to a 46-10 demolition of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX — still the only Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. He remained Bears head coach through 1992, compiling six playoff appearances, before later taking over the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999.
"HIS IMPACT ON THIS ORGANIZATION IS IMMEASURABLE."
Ditka's sideline persona — red-faced, cigar-chomping, unapologetically blunt — made him as much a Chicago civic institution as a football figure. After his coaching career ended, he became a fixture of NFL pregame and studio shows for decades, prized for commentary that was as combustible off the field as his teams had been physical on it. He also lent his name and image to a chain of Chicago-area steakhouses that became a pilgrimage stop for generations of Bears fans, according to CBS News Chicago.
Tributes poured in from around the league Friday as players, executives and former teammates recalled a coach who built his identity, and the Bears', around toughness. Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of Friday night.