Mike Ditka, the NFL Hall of Famer who coached the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title, has died at the age of 86, his family announced.
"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka," a family statement said. "While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family."
The statement added, "Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever."
"Iron Mike" Ditka held the rare distinction of having won a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and as a head coach. First, as a player with the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI; then as an assistant coach for Dallas in Super Bowl XII; and later as head coach of the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.
Ditka also played for the Bears when they won the 1963 NFL Championship Game, four years before the first Super Bowl was held following the merger of the competing American and National Football Leagues. Only former Los Angeles Raiders coach Tom Flores has matched the feat, winning a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach, and two as a head coach.
The zenith of Ditka's NFL career came in the 1985 season when he coached the Chicago Bears to a 15-1 regular season record, culminating with their 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. That Bears team, featuring a roster as colorful as it was talented -- including quarterback Jim McMahon, running back Walter Payton and defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry-- is generally considered to be one of the greatest in NFL history.
Born Michael Keller Dyczko on Oct. 18, 1939, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, the future football great's family changed their Ukrainian surname to Ditka to assimilate in their hometown. He played football for the University of Pittsburgh from 1958 to 1960 and was selected by the Chicago Bears fifth overall in the 1961 NFL draft as a tight end.
Ditka immediately distinguished himself as a standout player, earning Rookie of the Year honors as he became the first NFL tight end to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season when he caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns. In the process, Ditka demonstrated the scoring potential of a position that had until that point been essentially focused on blocking, ushering in an era of pass-catchers at a position now dominated by receivers like three-time Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce.
Ditka was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 not as a coach but as a player -- the first tight end to ever be elected for the honor, capping 12 years as a player during which he posted 427 receptions for a total 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns.
"In life, many men have talent, but talent in itself is no accomplishment," Ditka said during his Hall of Fame speech. "Excellence in football and excellence in life is bred when men recognize their opportunities and then pursue them with a passion, and I think that sums up what the players of the National Football League and NFL Hall of Fame stand for. They recognize an opportunity and they went after it."
After six seasons in Chicago as a player, Ditka was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1967. After two unproductive seasons there, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys where he played the final four years of his career in Dallas, mostly as a backup. It was in Dallas that Ditka won his only Super Bowl as a player, following the 1971 season.
After retiring as a player at age 33, Ditka took a job on Cowboys coach Tom Landry's coaching staff. He remained there for nine seasons and was an assistant coach on the team's Super Bowl XXII 27-10 win over the Denver Broncos in January 1978.
Though he was from Pennsylvania and wrapped up his playing career in Dallas, Ditka became synonymous with the hard-nosed Midwesterners of Chicago. He returned to the Bears to fill the head coach vacancy when Neill Armstrong was fired in January 1982 following the Bears' 6-10 season finish. Two seasons later, Ditka led the 10-6 Bears to the NFC championship game, where they lost to San Francisco.
In 1985, Ditka coached what many consider to be the greatest team in NFL history. The Bears finished the season 15-1 and dominated the New England Patriots 46-10 to win Super Bowl XX on Jan. 26, 1986.
Ditka was named the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year following the 1985 season, while the team's defense, coached by coordinator Buddy Ryan, is often regarded as the best ever. Ditka and Ryan had an often adversarial relationship, with the two nearly coming to blows during halftime of the team's only 1985 season loss, to the Miami Dolphins. But Ditka's hard-nosed, no-nonsense demeanor only further endeared him to Chicago fans. Indeed, Ditka became so famous, he was later parodied in a recurring sketch on "Saturday Night Live" in the early '90s.
Ditka continued to coach the Chicago Bears for another eight years after their Super Bowl win, notching winning seasons through 1988. Ditka suffered a heart attack during that season but didn't miss a game and earned his second Associated Press Coach of the Year honor. However, things began going south for Ditka and the Bears in 1989, and after several seasons of uneven play, despite winning records in 1990 and 1991, Ditka was fired in January 1993. Ditka walked away with a record of 106 wins as the Bears coach, the second-most in the franchise's history.
After three years working as a TV analyst, Ditka returned to the NFL in 1997, coaching the New Orleans Saints for three seasons – an unsuccessful run that saw both the team and its increasingly mercurial, disheartened coach struggling to eke out wins. Following a 3-13 finish to the 1999 season, Ditka was fired and his coaching career ended with a career record of 121 wins and 95 losses, and a 6-6 postseason record, including the Super Bowl XX win.
Ditka found no shortage of work following his NFL retirement. He remained a popular presence on TV, serving again as an NFL analyst. He also appeared as himself on TV shows and commercials and was involved in a variety of other ventures, including resorts, winemaking, video games, food and more.
Ditka parodied his belligerent reputation on the big screen in 2005, playing himself in the Will Ferrell soccer comedy "Kicking and Screaming."
In addition to his 1988 heart attack, Ditka suffered a minor stroke in 2012 and another heart attack in 2016, at age 79, both from which he recovered.
Ditka was married twice and is survived by his wife and four children from his first marriage.
