Mike Ditka, the legendary Chicago Bears tight end and coach, has died, his family announced on Friday, October 9. He was 86.
A cause of death has not been revealed.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” his family said in a statement shared by ESPN. “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 concluded, “Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”
A College and Pro Football Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl rings as a player and coach, Ditka became a household name outside of the sports world thanks to the Bill Swerski’s Superfans sketches on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s.
But while “Da Coach” was known around the country, he was revered in Chicago, where he spent six seasons as a player and 11 as a coach.
As word of Ditka’s death has begun to spread, his fellow Chicago sports dignitaries have begun sharing their reactions.
“It’s hitting me because I was not expecting this phone call,” Jarrett Payton, son of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton, told “Haugh and Payton” listeners on 104.3 The Score in Chicago after learning the news on the air. “We don’t have the press release. It should be on the way. But it saddens me to give this information to the city of Chicago.”
Jarrett, 45, continued, “Everybody knows how much coach means to me and to my family, and to the city, to the Chicago Bears. He has been nothing but an amazing person for my entire family, but also somebody who always made sure I was OK, that our family was OK, [he] always kept up with us. Any time that I needed him, he was always there. This is a lot for me.”
His cohost, former Bears columnist David Haugh, added that Ditka was, “a guy who represented the city as well as anybody ever has, epitomized what being a Chicago Bear was all about.”
Veteran NFL reporter Jay Glazer also remembered Ditka, reflecting on their days as colleagues.
“RIP to the legend, Da Coach, Mike Ditka,” he wrote via X. “Got to work with and become very close to him while we are at The NFL Today on CBS together in 2000 and 2001. I learned soooo much from him, about generosity, about life. This man was such a great friend to be around and knock around NYC together pretty much every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Without a doubt the absolute time of my life! Soooo many hilarious stories. Like I said, learned SO much about life from him and I’m forever grateful! Love ya Coach.”
