Mike Ditka
| Mike Ditka | |
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Positions: tight end , head coach |
Jersey numbers: 89, 98 |
| born October 18, 1939 in Carnegie , Pennsylvania | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1961 - 1972 | |
| NFL Draft : 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5 | |
| College : Pittsburgh | |
| Teams | |
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as a player
as a trainer
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| Career statistics | |
| Pass catches | 427 |
| the resulting gain in space | 5,812 yards |
| Touchdowns | 43 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Michael Keller "Mike" Ditka junior (* 18th October 1939 in Carnegie , Pennsylvania as Michael "Mike" Dyczko ) Nickname : Iron Mike , is a former American American football player and trainer. He was a player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and was involved in winning their last two championships with the Chicago Bears . As a player he won the NFL Championship Game and as Head Coach the Super Bowl ( XX ). As a player, he also won the Super Bowl ( Super Bowl VI ) with the Dallas Cowboys . Today Ditka is a businessman and sports presenter.
origin
Ditka's ancestors came from what is now Poland, Ireland, Germany and the Ukraine. He grew up as the oldest of four children in the steel and coal region of northern Pennsylvania. The original family name Dyczko was changed by the family because it was difficult to pronounce. His father Mike served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II . His mother Charlotte therefore had to raise the first two children alone. Ditka attended high school in his home region . He played basketball and baseball alongside American football and was elected to the regional national team because of his achievements.
Player career
college
Ditka studied from 1958 to 1960 at the University of Pittsburgh . In all three years of study he got playing time in all games of his team and was able to book the most pass catches for his team. In addition to tight end , he also played as a defensive end , linebacker and punter . Although the Pittsburgh Panthers won more games than they lost during Ditka's studies each season , they did not make it into a bowl game . In 1960 Ditka became the captain of his team and was also voted All American that year . Ditka has been a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity since his studies .
NFL
Ditka was selected in the 1961 NFL Draft in fifth place in the first round by the Chicago Bears . In his rookie season , he caught 56 passes for a space gain of 1,076 yards and twelve touchdowns . In 1963, the Bears moved into the NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants under their head coach George Halas . They could win the game with 14:10, Ditka get three pass catches for a space gain of 38 yards. 1963 was also his statistically best playing year. He caught 75 passes for a gain of 897 yards and scored five touchdowns. The number of his pass catches at Ditka decreased continuously from 1964. In 1967 he was given to the Philadelphia Eagles , but could not connect to his successes he had achieved with the Bears, partly due to an injury.
In 1969 the Eagles gave Ditka to the Dallas Cowboys trained by Tom Landry . Ditka was mainly used as a substitute for the Cowboys. His performance remained mediocre. In 1970 he only caught eight passes in the season. With the use of Roger Staubach as quarterback for the Cowboys, however, Ditka's working time increased again significantly from 1971 onwards. The Cowboys made it into Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins that year . Ditka's team won 24-3. Ditka caught a touchdown pass from Staubach. After the 1972 season Ditka ended his playing career.
Coaching career
Assistant in Dallas
The general manager of the Cowboys, Tex Schramm , immediately engaged Ditka in 1973 as Tom Landry's assistant coach . Landry was known as a pedantic analyst who introduced numerous innovations and improvements to the sport of football. In addition, he made a name for himself as a trainer for young up-and-coming coaches. Ditka should benefit from this. He spent nine years in Dallas, eight times the Cowboys made it into the play-offs . The Cowboys moved into the Super Bowl three times, and they won Super Bowl XII in 1977 against the Denver Broncos with 27:10.
Chicago Bears
In 1982 George Halas signed Ditka as head coach of the Bears. The Bears were one of the worst teams in the league at the time and it also took Ditka a season to improve the team's performance. 1985 Ditka celebrated the most successful year with his team. They won 15 of their 16 games in the regular season . His quarterback Jim McMahon had an excellent year and was elected to the Pro Bowl . Walter Payton scored 1551 yards as running back and the defense was one of the best defenses in the league. In the play-offs, the New York Giants were first beaten 21-0 and then the Los Angeles Rams 24-0 in the NFC Championship Game . In the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were largely without a chance in the Bears' 46:10 victory.
The following years were also successful for Ditka. In 1986, 14 of 16 games were won. In the play-offs, however, they had to admit defeat to the Washington Redskins with 27:13 early on . The following year, 1987, the Washington, DC team were again unbeatable in the play-offs after a season of eleven wins. In the 1988 season, the San Francisco 49ers were an insurmountable opponent in the play-offs. The team with head coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana could defeat the Bears 28: 3. 1989 the Bears then had a weaker year and did not move into the play-offs. In the following two years, Ditka's team again achieved a positive season record, winning 11 of 16 games. Against the New York Giants, however, they were eliminated in the play-offs in 1990 with 31: 3. In 1991 they had to admit defeat to the cowboys with 17:13. In 1992 Ditka ended his coaching career in Chicago after a record of five wins in 16 games.
New Orleans Saints
Ditka coached the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999 . However, he could not make a season positive. The move into the play-offs he was no longer successful. In the 1999 NFL Draft , he traded all rights to their six players that year, and rights to the first and third rounds in the 2000 NFL Draft, to the Washington Redskins to select Ricky Williams as fifth player.
According to the NFL
From 1992 until his engagement with the New Orleans Saints, Ditka worked as a television presenter for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and hosted sports broadcasts for the NFL. After he left the Saints, he worked again for various radio stations, currently he is employed as a presenter for NFL games at ESPN . In 2005 Ditka had a supporting role in the comedy Football Fever - Penalty for Daddy . He played himself as the coach and archenemy of Robert Duvall's character. In the film, he helps Will Ferrell's character train a youth soccer team, with Ferrell taking more and more traits from Ditka.
Honors
Ditka has been voted five Pro Bowl , six All Pro and two NFL Coach of the Year awards. He is a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame , the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 1988 and the College Football Hall of Fame since 1986 . The Sporting News magazine named him one of the Top 100 Football Players of All Time. Besides Tom Flores, Ditka is the only person who has won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and coach.
Incidents around Ditka
The impulsive Ditka made headlines not only as a player and coach. In 1983, during a half-time briefing, he got so furious that he demolished a locker and broke his wrist. In 1985 he was stopped drunk behind the wheel of his car by the police. In 1987, he threw a piece of chewing gum at a 49ers fan who had previously pelted him with a mug and annoyed him. In 1988 he suffered a heart attack mid-season .
Off the field
Ditka has four children with his first wife and is married for the second time. He is co-owner of the Chicago Rush, an Arena Football League football team . He appeared in television shows and repeatedly in cinema and television films, including the sitcom Jim Always Again , and tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold as a politician. Ditka raises money for former, impoverished NFL players to ensure medical care. He is an avid golfer and owner of a restaurant chain. As a businessman, he is involved in several companies.
Web links
- Mike Ditka at the Chicago Bears
- Ditka at college
- Mike Ditka's website
- Mike Ditka's chain of restaurants
- Coaching statistics from Mike Ditka
- Player stats from Mike Ditka
- Mike Ditka at ESPN
- Ditka in the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame
- Mike Ditka in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Homepage Sigma Chi Fraternity
- ↑ Statistics Super Bowl VI
- ↑ Statistics Super Bowl XII
- ↑ Annual Statistics of the Chicago Bears
- ↑ 1985 annual statistics of the Bears
- ↑ Statistics Super Bowl XX
- ↑ 1986 annual statistics of the Bears
- ↑ 1988 annual statistics of the Bears
- ↑ 1990 annual statistics of the Bears
- ↑ 1991 annual statistics of the Bears
- ↑ Annual Statistics of the New Orleans Saints
- ↑ Mike Beacom: ProFootballWeekly.com - Rewind: Remembering the Ricky Williams trade. (No longer available online.) In: profootballweekly.com. October 20, 2010, archived from the original on March 19, 2014 ; accessed on November 30, 2013 (English): “Seems obscene, doesn't it? Eight picks (including two each in the first and third round) for the No. 5 pick. "
- ↑ Ditka at number 90 on the list ( memento of the original from January 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Homepage Chicago Rush
- ↑ Mike Ditka Weinhandel ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Mike Ditka Resort
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ditka, Mike |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ditka, Michael Keller Jr. (full name); Dyczko, Michael (maiden name); Iron Mike (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player and coach, presenter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Carnegie , Pennsylvania , United States |