RIP
As a teen, seeing this bigger than life personality on TV every week was fun. The press conferences, the gum, the middle finger, the heart attack, the perm, and the Super Bowl. He was entertaining, to say the least.
And he had a sense of humor about himself as well. Football seemed serious to him, I think, but outside of that he didn’t take himself too seriously.
4 hours in and nothing? (Kind of amusing.) Thanks for 1985, Mike.
I heard about this earlier today. Growing up in the 80s, he was definitely one of those characters I’d hear about all the time who was larger than life. Sort of like a John Madden kind of guy. Not too many NFL coaches leave such a mark on popular culture like him.
He definitely cast a massive shadow over the NFL in the 80s. I’m hoping SNL brings back the Superfans tomorrow.
Three words: Pope Leo cameo.
Even 34 years after he last coached the Bears, Ditka remained an icon here in the Chicago area. Even moreso than any of his players, he was the prime symbol of the '85 Bears. His passing has been the #1 news story on every local channel here, all day.
It seems only proper to note that he was originally a star tight end for the team, back in the 1960s. He was among the first to actually play the position like a modern player, able to catch passes as well as block. And he was known to bowl defenders over once he had the ball.
(He later won a Super Bowl playing for the Cowboys)
And Joe Mantegna as Bill Swerski, who was only in the first instance of the sketch. In subsequent sketches Bill was replaced by his brother Bob (George Wendt) because, if I remember right, Bill kept having heart attacks. Although Bill did make a cameo in a later sketch.
And, as a Packer fan, thank you Mike for 1986-1992. Keeping what should have been a dynasty with multiple SB wins to just one was a small blessing.
Reported for threadshitting and trolling in a memorial thread. Just the sort of classless bullshit you’d expect from fucking Packer scum.
[Moderating]
@Thing.Fish , reporting a post is fine. But there’s no purpose to be served in announcing to everyone that you’re reporting. And it’s definitely not appropriate to call other posters “fucking scum” outside of the BBQ Pit. This is an official Warning for personal attacks.
I apologize for hurting your feelings @Thing.Fish, and any other Bears fans and Ditka’s family. I should’ve let Bears fan mourn in peace.
As a (mostly former) Bears fan, Ditka was a shit person and a bad coach; '85 was 70% roster, 35% Buddy Ryan, and -5% Ditka. His legacy is mostly due to SNL stereotyping his look in the superfans sketch.
If all the McCaskeys die in a plane crash it’ll be a tragedy, but it won’t mean I’ll pretend their stewardship of the franchise wasn’t an utter disaster.