WASHINGTON — America lost one of its toughest legends on Friday, and President Donald J. Trump paid tribute the moment he heard. Told of Mike Ditka’s passing while speaking to reporters on the South Lawn before departing for Syracuse, the President said: “He was a great guy. He was with me all the way. He was tough. That’s a sad one. You’re just telling me that now for the first time… Wow. He was great.”
The President spoke from the heart about a man who stood by him. “He was great. He was a big supporter of mine,” he said. “He was a winner. He was a tough cookie.” Standing a few steps behind the President was another Iron Mike, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who traveled with him to Syracuse that evening. Ditka’s family announced Friday morning that the Bears and NFL icon had died at 86. “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,” the family said.
Ditka was the embodiment of American grit. Born October 18, 1939, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Aliquippa, he was the fifth overall pick of the 1961 draft, NFL Rookie of the Year, a five-time Pro Bowler and a 1963 NFL champion with the Bears. He later won Super Bowl VI with the Dallas Cowboys, and in 1988 he became the first tight end ever enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
As head coach, “Da Coach” made Chicago proud again. Hired by George Halas in 1982, he went 112-68, was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1988, and led the legendary 1985 Bears to a 15-1 record and a 46-10 rout of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. He remains the only man in the modern era to win a league title with the same team as both a player and a head coach. His motto for his players was ACE: attitude, character and enthusiasm.
Tough, loyal and never afraid to say what he thought, Mike Ditka was the kind of American the President admires most, and the kind who stood with him all the way. The Patriot Oasis joins President Trump in honoring a true champion. Watch the Official White House video.
