Iron Mike Is Gone: Mike Ditka, a Welder's Son Who Coached Like He Worked, Dies at 86

Football lost one of its loudest, toughest voices on Friday. Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end who coached the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title, died at 86, his family announced. The Associated Press, ESPN, and the Bears all carried the news. "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," his family said.

Mill town roots

AP reports Ditka was born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the son of a welder, and grew up in Aliquippa near the coal mines and steel plants of western Pennsylvania. That is where "Iron Mike" came from. He went fifth overall in the 1961 draft, won Rookie of the Year and the 1963 NFL title, and in 1988 became the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Da Coach

He learned under Tom Landry in Dallas, then came home to Chicago as head coach in 1982. Hall of Famer Mike Singletary remembered Ditka telling the team in that first meeting they would be in the Super Bowl in three years. In the 1985 season they were, and they beat New England 46-10.

A Southern chapter

Down here, folks remember Ditka on the Saints sideline in New Orleans, where he coached from 1997 through 1999. It was a short, rough run, but the Saints said Friday that he "approached his tenure with the Saints with the same bold authenticity and relentless drive that defined his entire career."

He looked after the men who built the game

Here is the part working people should hold onto. After coaching, AP says Ditka became a forceful advocate for better medical and retirement benefits for former players. Commissioner Roger Goodell said that through the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, "Mike was a champion for taking care of those who helped build our game."

On the porch with the producer

We caught one of our MuddySouth Music producers out on the studio porch Friday evening, still holding a coffee cup from a long day that had covered everything from taxes to turbo. When the Ditka news came up, he tipped his cap and handed us a riddle instead of a eulogy. If Hell burns as hot as preachers say, he asked, does that mean Heaven runs cold? He laughed and said he is not the man to settle it, and he has never claimed to know it all. What he does know is that good people, coaches and welders and soldiers alike, have lived and died to keep this country rolling, free, and under God, and that holds steady whether today's news breaks your heart or makes your day. Then the red light came back on. Busy day in the studio.

Your spot on the roster

Ditka built his teams on people who showed up. That is how MuddySouth Music works too. We have big outreach and more face time with the fans on the playbook this year, and the folks on our contact list hear the call before anybody else. Sign up today, it takes less time than a two-minute drill, and pass this along to the Bears or Saints fan in your life. Rest easy, Coach. I will see y'all next time.

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