00:00We also received a bit of sad news earlier today as the legendary coach Mike Ditka of
00:09the Chicago Bears, the only Chicago Bears NFL Super Bowl championship team has passed
00:15away at the age of 86.
00:17We learned that earlier.
00:19I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this was a guy that was also a first
00:25ballot Hall of Famer tight end that really changed the position as a player.
00:32So while we all most of us remember him as the coach of the Bears and the, you know, the
00:38old shuffle there that they did, the Super Bowl shuffle.
00:42I mean, that team with McMahon and everything else, greatest defense ever, Buddy Ryan and
00:47him.
00:47But I think what goes missed a lot of times is just how great a tight end.
00:54In fact, the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
00:59So just an all around, he was all about football.
01:03That's who he was.
01:04Passed away at the age of 86 earlier today.
01:08So a few things here on Ditka.
01:11I'm glad you brought it up.
01:12First of all, I think Ditka will always be remembered as the coach of the 1985 Chicago
01:18Bears, which is largely agreed upon as one of the better, if not best teams of all time.
01:23Fair to say, Joe.
01:24One of the best teams of all time in the history of the National Football League.
01:27Kind of strange that the only one won.
01:30But, you know, the Super Bowl shuffle also created a life of its own on Saturday Night
01:35Live with Chris Farley and George Wendt doing those skits for years and years after with
01:41Ditka.
01:43Ditka famously then retired, came back and then coached the New Orleans Saints and had that
01:49fun time, very short period of time where he traded the world for Ricky Williams and
01:55was chided at the time and got fired at the time for trading for Ricky Williams.
02:00And then Ricky Williams goes on to be the very best running back in the NFL with the Miami
02:04Dolphins.
02:04Now we know he retired early and all that stuff, but Ricky Williams, the best running back in
02:08the NFL, Ditka was right at the time.
02:11They just couldn't get that going.
02:12So when the Super Bowl was here in South Florida, and I feel like it was 2008, I don't remember
02:20what it was, but it was the Bears playing Indianapolis.
02:22I remember that.
02:23I went to a Super Bowl event.
02:25I was very fortunate that Mike Ditka was there and I had an opportunity to meet him.
02:30It was for like Chicago Boosters or whatever.
02:32They had it at a golf course somewhere.
02:35It was at night.
02:36I don't remember the exact circumstances, but someone told me that if I went, I would
02:41get to meet Richard Dent and Mike Ditka.
02:43I'm like, you know what?
02:44That sounds like fun.
02:45And this is pre-Craig Nish's kids groan and all that.
02:48It's like, I could just go do, you know, Joe, I could do whatever I wanted at that time.
02:51I didn't have to think about what the schedule was.
02:53And he's exactly what you just said he was.
02:56All he wants to do is laugh, smoke cigars, talk football, great storyteller of the past,
03:03was really good for a long time on television, too.
03:06Let's not forget.
03:07I know there was a point toward the end where maybe he wasn't as good, but he was on TV
03:12doing the doing pregame.
03:14I think was it CBS or Fox?
03:16I don't remember for maybe 10 years and he was really good at it, too.
03:19So you said all the right things about it.
03:22I just want to say that anyone like me, who's 53, growing up in the 80s, will always remember
03:31several teams in the NFL for winning a lot during that time.
03:34And the Bears, to me, in that period, were right at the top.
03:38And if they weren't the very best team of all time, and there's debate about that, they're
03:43absolutely, unequivocally, top three most popular Super Bowl teams of all time.
03:49Popular Super Bowl teams of all time, to me, Joe.
03:52I absolutely don't think that's even up for debate.
03:56You can debate and say, well, their offense was okay.
03:58It was Peyton, Jim McMahon, Willie Galt.
04:01But their defense, obviously, was the best ever, some people think, even better than the
04:052000 Ravens.
04:06So I don't know.
04:08I just wanted to say my condolences, too, certainly to the NFL and Ditka family.
04:13And certainly, I think the Bears will have heavy hearts.
04:16And I would not want to bet against the Bears.
04:19On Sunday, either.
04:21I would not want to bet.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Yeah, they'll have a dedication at all.
04:25Although, I think for the first time in forever, the Bears are actually a favorite at Lambeau
04:29coming up this week.
04:30Wow.
04:31But listen, he was, without a doubt, he represented in 82 is when he took over the job to become
04:39the Bears head coach.
04:41And then, I think it was three years after that, 18-1 record, 46-10 win over poor, what
04:49was it, Andre Tippett?
04:50And who else was on that Patriots team?
04:53They got, oh, they got absolutely destroyed.
04:57Tony Eason?
04:58I was awful on so many different levels there.
05:01Oh, it was awful.
05:02But, but, but, the Bears did lose one game.
05:05Do you remember the game?
05:06And I remember the game like it was yesterday.
05:09I was at the game.
05:11I was at the game.
05:12Were you at the game?
05:13I was at the game.
05:14It was the only team that mattered more for them to win it.
05:18That's right.
05:19It's the only, that, that meant a little something to the Miami Dolphins, who had the only undefeated
05:24season, uh, and, uh, and ran the table, of course, and won the Super Bowl.
05:29That was Marino just lit.
05:32He's the only quarterback to this day that even Ditka and Buddy Ryan were saying, didn't
05:37matter what we did.
05:38He, even all the players have said Marino was just.
05:41It was a great game, too.
05:42It was close.
05:43One guy we had no answer for the entire year.
