Captain of the Pittsburgh football team and an All-American end in 1960, Ditka was a first-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1961, when he caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns to win the NFL's rookie of the year award.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Ditka was not only an outstanding blocker, but one of the best pass-catching tight ends in history. His 75 receptions in 1964 was a record for a tight end at the time. He started 84 consecutive games in his six seasons with the Bears and was named an All-Pro from 1961 through 1964.

 A foot injury slowed him in 1965 and 1966 and he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. In his first season there, he suffered a partially torn knee ligament that further limited his effectiveness.

After two seasons in Philadelphia, Ditka was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. He finished his playing career with Dallas in 1972. Used mostly as a backup by the Cowboys, he showed something of his old form in 1971, catching 30 passes during the regular season and scoring a touchdown in the team's 24-3 Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins.

Ditka returned to the Bears as head coach in 1982. He was consensus coach of the year in 1985, when the Bears won 15 of 16 regular season games and beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl.

Known for feuding with press, players, and even his assistants, the short-fused Ditka become increasingly irascible as the team's fortune's declined after that peak. He resigned after the Bears won only 5 games and lost 11 in 1992.

Ditka worked as a broadcaster for several years and was lured back into coaching by the New Orleans Saints in 1997. He made headlines and drew headshakes when he traded all of the Saints' 1999 draft choices to the Washington Redskins for the fifth overall pick in the draft, which he used on Texas running back Ricky Williams.

Williams led the team in rushing as a rookie, but the Saints went only 3-13 after having been 6-10 in each of Ditka's first two seasons. Ditka resigned after that season with an overall coaching record of 127-101-0.