Mike Ditka is being remembered by his family as more than just a Hall of Fame football player and legendary coach.
Known widely for his career with the Chicago Bears, and for being the leader of the team’s 1985 Super Bowl championship team, Ditka’s family revealed the iconic figure known affectionately as “Da Coach” has died at the age of 86.
In a statement released Friday morning, Ditka’s family said the world may have known him for football, but to them, he was “a husband, father, grandfather” and more.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” the statement read. “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. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”
Ditka’s legacy has been cemented in Bears history long before his passing.
Ditka spent the first six seasons of his NFL playing career with the Bears and was hired by the team as a head coach in 1982, establishing himself as one of the greatest sporting legends the city of Chicago has ever known.
He also coached 12 playoff games for the Bears, more than any other coach in the team’s history, and he posted a 6-6 record in those games.
His most famous season with the team came in 1985, when the Bears went 15-1 and then steamrolled through the playoffs, thrashing the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX for their first and only Super Bowl championship in team history.
That season’s Bears team will forever be known as one of the greatest ever put together in the history of the sport, topping the league in rushing yards and touchdowns while also putting together one of the best defensive seasons ever with legends like Mike Singletary, Richard Dent and Dan Hampton terrorizing opposing offenses.
Ditka did have a health scare during the 1988 football season when he suffered a mild heart attack, but he only missed one game as the full-time head coach and returned to the sidelines a short time later, further cementing his reputation as Chicago tough.
“I know one thing: I’m a Bear,” he said. “Whether people don’t like it or they like it, I’m a Bear.”
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