2017 NFL Draft: All-time top five Chicago Bears first round draft picks
Mike Ditka, 1961, #5 overall
The Chicago Bears have had some of the best players in NFL in a number of positions. Another one of those is at tight end. Mike Ditka revolutionized the position. Instead of being just an extra blocker, he was athletic and had great hands. He became another receiver, the first of the modern tight ends.
More from Da Windy City
- 3 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks shootout loss to Nashville
- Chicago Cubs in the middle of chaos that is Shohei Ohtani’s free agency
- The Chicago Cubs are on a roller coaster of emotions chasing Shohei Ohtani
- Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates
- Chicago White Sox News: Erick Fedde signs two-year deal
Ditka was a winner as a professional. He was a member of the 1963 NFL Championship Chicago Bears. Also, he won three Super Bowls, one as a Dallas Cowboys player, another as a Cowboys assistant coach, and the third as Bears head coach. He and Tom Flores are the only ones to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
Ditka is such a Bear that he looks like one now. He looks like a big grizzly, roaring every time he opens his mouth.
One of the amazing things about Ditka is how he and McMahon butted heads. Both seem like two peas in a pod. They don’t care about what you think; they will say what comes to their mind. He and McMahon had some incredible battles, and those battles just added to the legends of both.
After leaving the Bears as a player due to a contract dispute with Papa Bear George Halas, Ditka experienced success at Dallas. He then made up with Halas and did what he said was what he was born to do — coach the Chicago Bears.
As a coach, Ditka’s legendary status grew even more. He became larger than life and he became one of the biggest pitchmen in sports. He lent his name to just about everything you could think of and relished being Da Coach. Even when he did something petty, he ended up doing something memorable.
He put in William “The Refrigerator” Perry, a defensive lineman, as a fullback. He did so to get revenge on San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh. What ended up happening was a phenomenon. Perry continued to run the ball and score touchdowns. He even caught a touchdown pass as well. That continued in the Super Bowl where he scored a touchdown (even though it came at a cost of a touchdown for the legendary running back Walter Payton).
Ditka lives for his beloved Chicago Bears. As a studio analyst for ESPN, he ALWAYS picked the Bears. It didn’t matter that the Bears only had three wins late in the season, he was picking them to win. You couldn’t say anything bad about the Bears. He always bleeds blue and orange.