Mike Ditka passed away yesterday at the age of 86 yesterday. A tougher guy would be hard to find in the history of the NFL. He of course played in the era of no-holds-barred smashmouth football. Those 60s Bears were mean as hell and they did win the Championship in 1963, but they couldn’t ever seem to find a QB worth a plug nickel. But they had Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus leading the way, and the craziest TE in the league. Dude was LB sized at 6’3″ and 228 lb, and did his part to modernize the TE position as being more than a blocker and a swing-pass guy. He was the original George Kittle, catching 75 passes for 897 in 1964 (14 game season) and 58 catches for 904 in 1963. Unheard of numbers at the time for a TE. And he was the first TE inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Then he coached the Bears in his brash image and won them a championship back in 1985. Sure, the defense was led by Buddy Ryan but the team was led by Ditka and his intense ways. The 49ers of the 80s and 90s had a lot of clashes with Ditka and the Bears, up to and including the 28-3 shellacking of those Bears at home in frigid weather in the 1988 NFCCG. We were the ‘soft’ team that couldn’t stand the weather. Then the next year the infamous gum-throwing incident. Fun times!

Even after his football and coaching careers and his announcing and TV commercials he fought tooth and nail for the rights of retired players. Even if his Hall of Fame Trust Fund foundation ended up being shut down due to mismanagement.

Definitely one of the greats that the NFL built its popularity on, Ditka is, was, and will always be a true giant in the game.

RIP Iron Mike