By Darin Hayes October 18, 1939 – Carnegie, Pennsylvania – Michael Keller Dyczko was born. A story on Chicagobears.com in December of 2007 relays that the Ukrainian surname “Dyczko” was difficult to pronounce in his hometown, so the family name was changed to “Ditka”.
Mike Ditka was a 3 sports star at local Aliquippa High School. The University of Pittsburgh was the college of choice by Dtka after Notre Dame and Penn State also recruited the youngster. He may have been the best pure tight end the college game had ever seen at that point, revolutionizing the position not only with traditional blocking but also by catching passes quite frequently. Mike was also the punter for the Panthers for his three seasons there. In the 1961 NFL Draft, Mike Ditka was the first pick by the Chicago Bears.
He became the star of the 1963 Chicago NFL Championship team. Per the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s bio on Iron Mike, he was the Rookie of the Year in 1961 and received All-NFL honors in four different seasons. Ditka set a career record for tight end receptions when he retired with 427 catches and finished with 5812 yards receiving and 43 touchdowns. Mike played in 5 straight Pro-Bowls to start his career and did not miss a minute of his 84 games played with the Bears. In 1967, Chicago traded Ditka to the Eagles. He suffered an injury while with Philadelphia that hampered his playing time there.
The 1969 season found him playing in Dallas, where he spent four seasons, and he scored the final TD in the Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl VI victory. The College Football Hall of Fame selected him in 1986 to enter their museum, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Mike Ditka in 1988. Ditka was a successful coach, leading the Chicago Bears to victory in 1985 with a win in Super Bowl XX. He later coached in New Orleans with the Saints.
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