Oct 9 (Reuters) – Mike Ditka, a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end best known as the slick-haired and mustachioed head coach who led the NFL’s Chicago Bears to their only Super Bowl triumph in 1986, has died. He was 86.
Ditka’s death was announced in a statement by his family. No cause of death was given.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend,” Ditka’s family said in a statement.
“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.”
Revered in Chicago and famous nationwide as “Da Coach,” Ditka was a blunt, straight-talking legend with a devoted following, a restaurant bearing his name and a range of his own cigars.
Ditka revolutionized the tight end position and was a five-time Pro Bowl selection while playing with the Bears from 1961-66 before moving on to the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Dallas Cowboys, where he featured in the team’s Super Bowl triumph in January 1972.
Selected fifth overall by the Bears in the 1961 NFL Draft, Ditka introduced a new dimension to the tight end position that once was viewed primarily as an assignment for a tough, talented blocker. While Ditka was a superior blocker, he also became one of the first tight ends to catch a large number of passes.
He won Rookie of the Year after becoming the first tight end in NFL history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
At the time of his retirement after the 1972 season, Ditka ranked second among all tight ends in receptions, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Following his playing career, during which he also won the 1963 NFL championship prior to the start of the Super Bowl era, Ditka became a member of Tom Landry’s coaching staff in Dallas where he won a Super Bowl.
He eventually returned to Chicago as head coach and turned the Bears into one of the league’s most dominant champions.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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