Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears Hall of Fame player and coach, dies at 86

Mike Ditka, a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and the head coach who led the Chicago Bears to their only Super Bowl championship, died on Friday, October 9, 2026, at age 86, according to the Ditka family and multiple news outlets.

Jarrett Payton, son of Bears great Walter Payton, announced the death on Chicago radio station 104.3 The Score, sharing a statement from the Ditka family, Yahoo Sports reported. The Chicago Sun-Times reported he died at about 9 a.m. Friday, surrounded by family and friends. No cause of death was disclosed in any of the reports.

A Hall of Fame playing career

Born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, Ditka was a first-team All-American at the University of Pittsburgh before the Bears selected him fifth overall in the 1961 NFL Draft, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He was named NFL Rookie of the Year that season after catching 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he made the Pro Bowl in each of his first five seasons.

Playing for the Bears from 1961 to 1966, Ditka helped redefine the tight end position and was part of Chicago's 1963 NFL championship team. In 1964 he set a single-season receptions record for a tight end that stood for 16 years, the Sun-Times reported. He later played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, winning Super Bowl VI with Dallas after the 1971 season. Over his full career he finished with 427 receptions, according to Fox 32 Chicago. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, the first tight end enshrined, per Yahoo Sports.

Coaching the Bears to Super Bowl XX

Ditka was hired as Bears head coach in 1982 after writing to team founder George Halas to express his wish to return to Chicago, the Sun-Times reported. He went on to compile a 106-62 record over 11 seasons, according to Yahoo Sports, making the playoffs seven times.

The high point came after the 1985 season, when his Bears went 15-1 and beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, a team widely remembered for its defense and for featuring Hall of Famer Walter Payton. Ditka was named NFL Coach of the Year in both 1985 and 1988, per Yahoo Sports. He was fired by the Bears in January 1993 and later coached the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999, according to Yahoo Sports and the Sun-Times.

Fox 32 Chicago reported that Ditka won Super Bowl titles in three different roles over his career: as a player with the Cowboys after the 1971 season, as a Dallas assistant coach after the 1977 season, and as the Bears' head coach after the 1985 season.

Life after coaching

After leaving coaching, Ditka remained a prominent Chicago figure, opening the restaurant Ditka's and co-owning the Chicago Rush arena football franchise, according to the Sun-Times. He also appeared in the 2005 film "Kicking and Screaming." Former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy, reacting to the news as reported by Fox 32 Chicago, praised Ditka's athleticism and his treatment of players and staff through both wins and losses.