Mike Ditka, Super Bowl-Winning Coach and Hall of Fame Tight End, Dies at 86

Mike Ditka, the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and coach of the Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears, died Friday at age 86.

Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end who coached the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl XX title, died Friday at the age of 86, according to a family announcement. Ditka achieved national prominence leading the 1985 Bears to a 15-1 regular-season record and a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in the championship game. During his 11-season tenure in Chicago, he reached the playoffs seven times and the NFC Championship Game on three occasions.

As a player, Ditka was the fifth overall pick in the 1961 NFL draft and earned Rookie of the Year honors after becoming the first tight end to record over 1,000 receiving yards. He won an NFL championship with the Bears in 1963 and a Super Bowl VI title with the Dallas Cowboys. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him in 1988, making him the first player at his position to receive the honor. The Bears retired his No. 89 jersey in 2013.

Following his time in Chicago, Ditka coached the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999, finishing with a 15-33 record. His tenure there included a 1999 trade where the Saints sent eight draft picks, including two first-rounders, to Washington to select running back Ricky Williams fifth overall. Before becoming a head coach, Ditka served nine seasons as an assistant under Tom Landry in Dallas. A native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, Ditka was a three-sport athlete at Pitt and a unanimous All-America selection in 1960.