Mike Ditka
Iron Mike: Hall of Fame tight end, Super Bowl champion as player, assistant coach, and head coach.
Michael Keller Ditka ( DIT-kə; born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former professional football player, coach, and commentator. During his playing career, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year in 1961, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a six-time All-Pro tight end with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL); he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. Ditka was the first tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving in his rookie season. He was an NFL champion with the 1963 Bears and is a three-time Super Bowl champion, playing on the Cowboys' Super Bowl VI team, winning as an assistant coach for the Cowboys in Super Bowl XII, and coaching the Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX. He has been named to the NFL's 75th- and 100th-Anniversary All-Time Teams.
- Role
- NFL Hall of Fame Player and Coach
- Affiliation
- Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears (Coach)
- Status
- Retired / Hall of Famer
- Panthers Connection
- None (Never played or coached for Carolina)
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Ditka and Tom Flores are the only people to win a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach, and a head coach. Ditka, Flores, Gary Kubiak, and Doug Pederson are also the only people in modern NFL history to win a championship as head coach of a team for which they played previously. Ditka is the only person to participate in both of the last two Chicago Bears' league championships, as a player in 1963 and head coach in 1985. In 2020, Ditka became the owner of the X League, a women's tackle football league that was originally the Lingerie Football League. He is known by the nickname 'Iron Mike', which he has said comes from his being born and raised in a steel town in Pennsylvania.
In Their Own Story
The source material contains no story about Mike Ditka and the Carolina Panthers, as he never played for, coached, or was otherwise associated with the franchise.
Reader's Guide
As a head coach for the Bears from 1982 to 1992, he was twice both the AP and UPI NFL Coach of Year (1985 and 1988). He also was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999.
Did You Know?
- Ditka was the first tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving in his rookie season.
- He is one of only two people to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
- He played on the 1963 NFL championship team and coached the Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX.
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