Mike Ditka, No-Nonsense Chicago Bears Legend and TV Analyst, Dies at 86

Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end, Super Bowl-winning coach of the Chicago Bears and TV analyst whose gruff “Iron Mike” style was parodied on Saturday Night Live , has died, his family announced. He was 86.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” they 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.” Related Stories Lifestyle Serena Williams Says Her New Barbie Doll Proves a Girl Can 'Become Anything She Chooses' General News Michael Kearns, Actor, Activist and 'Jerker' Director, Dies at 76

Ditka had a minor stroke in 2012 and suffered heart attacks in 1988 and 2018. “The thing about me,” he told Rick Telander in April 2019, “is that people didn’t think I had a heart. Now they found out I got one.”

Emerging from Carnegie, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing community five miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Ditka coached the Bears from 1982-92, guiding the 1985 team to a Super Bowl rout of the New England Patriots 22 years after winning an NFL championship with Chicago as a standout player.

The cigar-smoking Ditka said his “Iron Mike” nickname derived from his upbringing in a steel town, but his brusque manner and short temper contributed to his tough image. He became a larger-than-life character, whether he was sticking a wad of gum on a photographer’s camera lens or berating a referee behind his trademark sunglasses.

His persona was so large that he inspired a recurring sketch on SNL in the early ’90s known as “Bill Swerski’s Superfans.”

Created by Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk, the skit had several Chicago sports fans (played by Smigel, George Wendt, Joe Mantegna, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, et al) sitting around a table at Ditka’s sports bar, drinking, smoking and gorging themselves on assorted meats while extolling the greatness of “Da Bears” and the Windy City’s other teams.

The faithful wore dark sunglasses and thick mustaches as a homage to their hero, a member of the College and Pro Football halls of fame.

Ditka himself appeared twice on SNL and on other shows including Cheers (he was seen on the bar’s TV in the final episode in 1993), L.A Law , 3rd Rock From the Sun , Entourage , Becker and According to Jim .

And in the 2005 film Kicking & Screaming , he’s asked by Will Ferrell ‘s character to help coach a kids soccer team. “I eat quitters for breakfast and I spit out their bones,” he tells the youngsters .

In a 2015 interview, an amazed Ferrell recalled that during filming, Ditka’s hip “popped out” after recent replacement surgery, but he was able to make it through his scenes with just a couple of Advil.

He was born Michael Dyczko in Carnegie on Oct. 18, 1939, the son of a welder. The family’s Ukrainian surname was changed to Ditka.

He was recruited by 40 schools coming out of Aliquippa High and chose the University of Pittsburgh to stay close to home and pursue a career in dentistry.