Mike Ditka, the first tight end ever enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and famous coach of Da Bears, died Friday at 86, his family announced.
Ditka was the beginning of a slow change to the tight end position. When the Chicago Bears took Ditka fifth overall in 1961, tight end was largely a blocking job. He changed that for the Bears immediately. As a rookie he caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns, making him the first tight end to top 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He went to five Pro Bowls in six years in Chicago and won the 1963 NFL title. He finished his career with 427 catches, the most ever by a tight end until Kellen Winslow passed him in 1980. He also won Super Bowl VI with the Cowboys.
The Hall of Fame came calling in 1988, and Ditka became the first player at his position inducted. He had previously been a finalist in 1981, but didn’t make the finalist list again until his election in 1988.
In May 2013, the Bears announced they would retire Ditka’s #89, and chairman George McCaskey added that it would be the last number the team would retire. Having already retired more numbers than any other team, he said there was “no more appropriate one than 89,” to be the final one. The ceremony came at halftime of a Monday night game against the Cowboys on December 9, 2013, and Ditka became the 14th Bear so honored, joining Nagurski, Grange, Halas, Payton, Butkus and Sayers. Nearly 13 years later, his is still the most recent number the franchise has retired.
Ditka remains the only person in the modern era to win a championship with the same team as both a player (1963) and a head coach (1985), when he led the Bears to a 15-1 season and a 46-10 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
Where does he rank among the best #89s? We haven’t done 89 yet in our By the Numbers series, but that might be an afternoon project for us now. Sneak preview: Gino Marchetti & Ditka are probably at the top of our list, ahead of Steve Smith Sr., with Dave Robinson, Mark Bavaro, Frank Wycheck and Wes Chandler fighting for the next few spots.
Sad news-one the greatest TEs in NFL history (often forgotten or underrated when people debate top TE of all time these days) plus long history as HC especially with the 1985 Bears.
And as Cowboys fan I have recently been lamenting the loss of so many 1960s/early Cowboys players..and that like Ditka, the remaining PFHOFers are now all in the 80s..with very uncertain futures-Howley (90),BLilly (87), LAlworth (86), Mel Renfro (84),Staubach (84).. now as to date only about 1/2 of the starters on the SBVI team as still with us
Mike Ditka was one of the first great TE’s. The first TE HOFer. I would put him in the top echelon with all of them.
He was a great character for the NFL as well. :) The way he dealt with Ricky Williams wearing a dress for a photo shoot was priceless with Ditka wearing a dreadlock wig. LOL He certainly had loosened up by the time he was Head Coach of New Orleans. He seemed like he really enjoyed life in his old age. RIP Mike Ditka.