Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. (born October 18, 1939 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania), also known as "Iron Mike", is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for 3 years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach. Ditka was the only individual to participate in the last two Chicago Bears...
more
Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. (born October 18, 1939 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania), also known as "Iron Mike", is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for 3 years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach. Ditka was the only individual to participate in the last two Chicago Bears' championships, as a player in 1963 and as head coach in 1985.
Mike's childhood name was Mike Dyczko. His father was one of three brothers of a Ukrainian family in the coal mining and steel manufacturing area in Western Pennsylvania. The name Dyczko was too much of a tongue-twister in Carnegie, PA., where Mike was born on October 18, 1939, so the family name was changed to Ditka. He was born in the Pittsburgh-area town of Carnegie, Pennsylvania and grew up in nearby Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. In elementary school, he was enrolled at St. Titus...
less