Ditka Dies

Mike Ditka died Friday at 86. The gruff former Chicago Bears coach led the team to its only Super Bowl title. His family announced the death but gave no cause, NBC News and the BBC reported.

Ditka's Bears finished the 1985 season 15-1. Then they beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, according to NBC News. He is the only head coach to bring Chicago a championship in the Super Bowl era.

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka," the family said in a statement. "While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family."

He was born Michael Dyczko on Oct. 18, 1939, in the steel town of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. The son of a welder, he used football as his way out. Chicago made him the fifth overall pick in the 1961 draft, the BBC reported. Over 12 seasons, he caught 427 passes for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns before he retired in 1972, also per the BBC.

Three times, Ditka won championships in three different roles, a feat matched by only one other person in NFL history, ABC News reported. He won as a player with the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, as a Cowboys assistant coach in Super Bowl XII, and as the Bears' head coach in Super Bowl XX. Only former Raiders coach Tom Flores has done the same.

Chicago called Ditka's impact on the franchise "immeasurable" in a statement carried by NBC News and CBS News. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Ditka "epitomized football over so many years" and brought "intensity, authenticity, and an unmistakable personality to everything he did," CBS News and ABC News reported. Goodell also credited Ditka's work with the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, a nonprofit for retired players, according to ABC News.

"Da Coach," Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on social media, was an icon across the entire football world, not just Chicago, CBS News reported. Even the Green Bay Packers, a longtime rival, said on social media that Ditka's contributions "will always be respected and remembered."

Ditka was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, the first tight end so honored. Its flag will fly at half staff, CBS News reported. No funeral arrangements had been announced as of Friday.

Jarrett Payton, son of Hall of Famer Walter Payton, posted his own tribute. "Da Coach. Hall of Famer. The heartbeat of the '85 Bears and a Super Bowl champion," he wrote, according to the BBC.