Chicago remains spellbound by Mike Ditka not because he’s mythic but, quite the contrary, because he’s not (“Why We Still Like Mike,” Oct. 3). In today’s world that makes him equal parts refreshing and rare.
Though his public exploits naturally receive much attention, there’s another side of Mike Ditka that he’d just as soon you didn’t know: his charitable side. Specifically, he has worked tirelessly–yet quietly–for years on behalf of Misericordia, a home for handicapped and retarded children here in Chicago. Though few public figures would devote the time, energy and money he does, fewer still would do it without fanfare. Case in point: Just recently Mike paid to send 50-some Misericordia residents to Disney World, something he does below the radar screen. Moreover, proving he’s not just a figurehead, when he lived in Chicago he would routinely drop by Misericordia to spend time with the residents, again without mention or cameras.
Make no mistake, Da Coach, like the rest of us, is certainly flawed. Unlike many of us, however–and celebrities especially–he doesn’t pretend to be otherwise, hence his universal and enduring appeal.
— Bill Choslovsky, Chicago
I was disappointed in your Ditka article because it barely noted what to my mind distinguishes him most from the usual sports hero: He’s articulate and witty. If there’s anything more mind-numbingly cliche-ridden than a pre- or post-game interview with a coach, I can’t think of it, but if you listen to Ditka, sooner or later he ad-libs something that punctures the mock solemnity of the whole process and breaks everybody up. And isn’t this typically Chicago too?
— Kristine Garrigan, Evanston
It was stated that Mike Ditka has a lot of good qualities, such as being hard-working and loyal and that he is unafraid of being himself, but you also stated that his detractors call him simply a “bully.” That word sums up my own personal opinion of him.
Your article mostly presented him in a favorable way, but I never liked his tactics and his behavior toward many of his players. I wanted the Bears to lose because I knew that he would never be fired if they continued to win. If he were in almost any other type of business, he would have been fired due to his bullying tactics and maybe he would even be forced to do time shaking the bars.
True, he coached the Bears to that Super Bowl win, but with the talent that the Bears had, almost any coach could have done the same. The fact remains that in spite of the great talent that the Bears had, he could win only one title.
Mr. Ditka has some good qualities and has achieved much in his lifetime, but his personality always turned me off and still does to this day. Over the summer he was invited to Wrigley Field to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch and he was just plain horrible. He did it his way, which was the wrong way.
— Edward Stein, Chicago
Ditka has accomplished many things in his life, but according to Rick Kogan’s article the one accomplishment Ditka has that I don’t believe any sports figure has is that he had three rookie years.
According to the story, there is ’63 being a price on his menu and the year he joined the Bears; Jeannie Morris knowing him when he signed as a first-round draft choice joining the 1961 Bears; and a caption stating his 1962 signing with the Bears.
— Bob D’Amato, Chicago
Editor’s note: 1961 was Ditka’s rookie year with the Bears. The team won the NFL championship in 1963.
If Kogan and other Chicagoans love Mike Ditka so much, perhaps you could get official extradition papers and get him back home from New Orleans.
— Rev. G. Avery Lee, New Orleans
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