Remembering Mike Ditka, ‘Da Bears’ coach who commanded respect from his fans and rivals alike originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Few, if any, coaches had more aura than Mike Ditka.
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Ditka, who led the Chicago Bears to a victory in Super Bowl 20, passed away on Friday. He was 86 years old. Ditka won a Super Bowl as a player as a tight end with the Dallas Cowboys. He was a Pro Football Hall of Famer, an ESPN analyst and proud Pitt alum who was named to Sporting News’ All-1960s All-America team last summer.
Yet he’ll forever be remembered as the coach of “Da Bears.” The Saturday Night Live skit, “Bill Swerski’s Super Fans,” helped catapult Ditka to cult icon status. Ditka was the definition of a coach who came to “chew bubble gum and kick a—” in the 1980s.
Intimidating. Hilarious. Ditka was somehow both.
Ditka died two days before the latest chapter of the rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers in Week 5 — a rivalry that intensified with coach Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur last season. Yet a lesson might be taught at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
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Ditka earned respect in that rivalry and beyond.
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Ditka the player was fantastic. The flat-topped tight end had 1,076 receiving yards and 12 TDs with Chicago as a rookie in 1961. He caught a seven-yard TD pass during the Cowboys’ 24-3 victory against the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. He was known for toughness, and that translated once he took the head coaching job with Chicago in 1982.
The 1980s Chicago teams were a cultural phenomenon. Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who brought the “46” defense to Chicago, revived the “Monsters of the Midway.” Ditka led the Bears to a 15-1 record with a rock-and-roll roster that featured Jim McMahon and four first-team All-Pro selections in Walter Payton, Jimbo Covert, Mike Singletary and Steve McMichael. It was a legendary team crafted in Ditka’s combative image. Chicago called its shot with “The Super Bowl Shuffle” and routed New England 46-10 in Super Bowl 20, and Ditka’s place in Bears lore was cemented.
Dick Raphael-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
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How many fan-bases still dress up like their coach 40 years later? The mustache. The sunglasses. The sweater. The scowl. Ditka had all of it. Actor Bill Murray patrolled the sidelines. The Super Fans became a SNL staple.
Why did they love him so much? Ditka was always up for a fight. Ditka once challenged “Neal from North Lake” to a fight on the air. “You tell me what time and when, and I will whip your ass. You got that big boy?”
Chicago fans loved him for it — forever.
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Ditka had a 15-5 record as a coach against the Green Bay Packers during a one-sided and inflammatory portion of the rivalry. The back-and-forth with Packers coach Forrest Gregg was heated, especially after an incident on Nov. 23, 1986, when Green Bay defensive end Charles Martin slammed McMahon to the turf.
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Ditka had another sideline tirade during a game when instant replay ruled that Packers quarterback Don Majkowski threw a TD pass to Sterling Sharpe for a 14-13 victory.
“We’re not going to have any instant replay in practice, that’s for sure,” Ditka said in his weekly show afterward.
Ditka went down as one of the colorful characters in the rivalry – and Johnson – who led Chicago to two victories against Green Bay last season – has channeled that Ditka energy in the present day. Remember, the Bears beat the Packers 14-13 on a blocked field in the days after Payton’s death at Lambeau Field on Nov. 7, 1999.
What will be in store Sunday? Expect both sides to show respect, and a tribute at Lambeau Field should be expected. The rivalry between Johnson and LaFleur would not be possible without personalities like Ditka, who matched the aura of coaches such as George Halas and Vince Lombardi. Ditka has that level of reverence when it comes to this game.
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MORE: The sports world morns the passing of the iconic Mike Ditka
Ditka later coached the Saints from 1997-99 before taking on a role with ESPN. The stint in New Orleans wasn’t successful, and Ditka traded the entire 1999 NFL Draft class to get Ricky Williams. But that unconventional move was part of the aura. Ditka didn’t care what other people thought, and he was an excellent NFL analyst with that no-filter style.
But he’ll always be remembered as the coach of “Da Bears.” Remember the skit where the Super Fans started asking questions about Ditka against a series of opponents, ranging from the New York Giants to a hurricane? Ditka always won.
And in Chicago, he always will.
