Predicting the emotions he might feel in Soldier Field Friday night is not what Mike Ditka does best, but he knows one thing:
“It’ll be very strange. Are you kidding me? Coming out of the other tunnel?”
It’s not as though he needs this dress rehearsal for Oct. 5, when his Saints come to play the Bears for real. So will this be fake emotion? It’s confusing as well as strange.
“I know he’s downplaying it, but how do you do that?” asked Saints offensive coordinator Danny Abramowicz, only one year removed from the Bears sideline. “Just like me. How do you do that? I’d much rather be playing the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
The game doesn’t count, but there can be no pretending about where Mike Ditka is. From the east sideline instead of the west, Ditka knows he will be staring at the unmistakable skyline of a city that once belonged to him.
“The greatest sight in football,” Ditka said. “The greatest stadium around, probably the most recognizable stadium in NFL history.”
No wonder he didn’t get along with Bears President Mike McCaskey.
And what about the fans? How will they react?
“I think it’ll be like a home game for us,” said Saints General Manager Bill Kuharich.
Ditka doubts it.
“I’m smart enough to know when there’s people who like you, there’s probably twice as many who don’t like you,” he said. “You should have heard the fans behind the bench in Oakland last week. My mother would have felt bad the things they were calling me.”
Surely he doesn’t expect that in Soldier Field.
“I got it in Chicago when I coached. Why wouldn’t I get it when I’m on the other side of the field?” he said.
And speaking of the field, Ditka sounded like a spokesman for Mayor Daley.
“I think the city wants to put some money in it,” Ditka said. “Fix it up. Make it right for the fans and the Bears and play, because it’s not a problem for the coaches and players.”
Abramowicz, defensive coordinator Zaven Yaralian, offensive line coach Dick Stanfel, tight ends coach Dan Neal, and center Jerry Fontenot are all ex-Bears coaches or players.
“I don’t know what to expect. I’ve got an idea,” Abramowicz said. “Crazy. Friday night game.”
“If we get caught up in this, it’s a mistake. Our focus is the Rams,” Neal said, thinking of next week’s opening day opponent.
“Another day of work,” Fontenot said.
Ditka said nothing to his players at the start of the week.
“He won’t say anything, but I think as a team we’re aware of it,” quarterback Heath Shuler said. “We have so much respect for him we would like to go out and perform not only for our team but, hey, he’s the one who brought most of us here. You want to win for him.”
Rookie defensive end Jared Tomich of Nebraska used to come to Soldier Field when he was in high school in St. John, Ind.
“You hear talk in the locker room, `Hey, we’re going back to coach’s first team,’ ” Tomich said. “Of course for me, preseason nothing. This is it for me. And I’m sure it’s emotional for him.”
Ditka claims he hasn’t given it much thought. He’s not game-planning for the Bears. His kids have asked for tickets and he thinks they would be better off watching on TV. He was scheduled for two charity events Thursday night upon arrival.
“I think it will be much worse in the regular season because there will be a lot on the line,” Ditka said. “I think the crowd will be `wait and see’ and whatever they see they’ll make a decision. But I think it’s a Bear crowd. I don’t think it’s a Saints crowd.”
If there’s pressure, there is no question in Ditka’s mind it’s on the Bears.
“We’re nobody,” he said. “We’re just a team nobody expects anything out of. People expect things out of the Bears, Minnesota, Detroit.”
One other thing Ditka thinks: This will be tougher on Bears coach Dave Wannstedt than it will be on him.
“That would be hard,” Ditka said. “They have injuries too. That hurts. (Curtis) Conway is their best receiver by far, so I imagine they’ll come out and try to smash the ball at us a little bit. That’s fine, because that’s probably what we’ll try to do. Smash the ball at them.”
