Hater Hall of Fame: Hurricane Ditka Edition

Mike Dyczko aka “Iron” Mike Ditka,  Born October 18, 1939

Mike Dyczko was born in Carnegie, PA to Mike Sr. and Charlotte Dyczko, and was the oldest of four children born to the couple – he has two younger brothers and a sister.  His father was of Ukrainian descent and knew his surname would be a “tongue twister” for Pennsylvania natives, so the family name was changed to Ditka.  Mike grew up in the nearby town of Alquippa, PA and ended up attending the area high school that held the same name.  He was a three sport athlete at the school, but was mainly known for being a standout on the football field as a tight end.  After high school, he was recruited by numerous colleges to play football, but eventually narrowed his choices down to Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Penn State.  Ditka ultimately decided to stay close to home, and accepted a scholarship to become a Pitt Panther.  He played tight end – and even punted – for Pitt from 1958-1960, and also became a member of the school’s the Sigma Chi fraternity.  He led the team in receiving all three years that he was there, and was a first team All-American selection after his senior year.

In the 1961 NFL Draft, Ditka was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Chicago Bears; but he was also drafted in the first round of the AFL Draft as the eighth selection of the Houston Oilers .  He ended up signing with the Bears and made an immediate impact on the team, mostly because he was one the first true receiving tight ends in the NFL – a position which had traditionally been reserved purely for blocking.  In his rookie year, the young star caught 56 passes for an unheard of 1,076 yards and 12 TD’s, which also earned him the NFL Rookie of the Year honor.  Ditka would play his next five seasons with the Monsters of the Midway, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons.  In 1967, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and spent two seasons with the team before being traded once again, this time to the Dallas Cowboys.  He spent four more seasons with “America’s (most hated) Team”, and would help the Cowboys capture a title in his only Super Bowl appearance as a player.  Ditka decided to retire after the 1972 season, and was immediately as a Cowboys’ assistant under legendary head coach Tom Landry.  He spent nine seasons there as an assistant coach, and during that span the team made the playoffs eight times, won six division titles, three NFC Championships, and took home the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.

In 1982, Chicago Bears founder George Halas personally contacted his former player about taking over as the team’s head coaching position.  Ditka accepted the job, and it didn’t take long for “Iron Mike”  to mold the team into a group of guys that played with his toughness and mentality.  But he was not just an intimidating man, he was also one hell of  a coach – which became clear when he took the Bears from the depths of the NFL to a Super Bowl victory in only four seasons.  Plus, the 1985 team that he took to the championship is still considered by many to be the greatest football team ever assembled in the NFL.  While Ditka was there, he and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan often didn’t see eye to eye; some would even say that they pretty much hated each other’s guts.  This became clear after Ryan left to take over as head coach of Philadelphia in 1966.  When asked if he was happy that Buddy Ryan was gone, Ditka replied, “No, I am not happy.  I am elated.”  Even after the best defensive coordinator in the business flew to the Eagles, Mike Ditka’s Bears would go on to win their division over the next three seasons; however they would also fall short of their ultimate goal each time, and ended up losing home playoff games in each of those three seasons.  Ditka continued to coach even after suffering a heart attack during the 1988 season, but the team steadily declined until he was fired after the 1992 season ended.  He would return to coach the Saints in 1997, but would later describe that time as the “worst three years of his life.” (If you need proof, this picture pretty much sums his time in New Orleans)

Since he retired from coaching, Ditka has become one of the best football color commentators on television – you can see him on ESPN’s NFL Live & Sunday NFL Countdown.  He also appeared in a movie with Will Ferrell, owns two restaurants in IL and PA that bear his name (I’ve eaten at the one in Chicago, and it was awesome), and spends a lot of time with fund raising and doing other charitable works.  But enough with the humanitarianism, let’s take a look at some clips that fortified Ditka’s place in the Hater Hall of Fame:

The quality of this video is terrible, but the interview features Ditka at his best: 

One of the only good things to come out of the 1980′s:

This really has nothing to do with Ditka being a hater, but I think of it every time I hear his name: