I'll never get the Ditka love. The man had 6 HOFers, including a top RB of all time all to win 1 championship.
FIrst of all, he was a personality. He played that up and Chicago ate it up.
Chicago was once seen as a hard working town of people from humble roots. Much of Chicago views Ditka as being sort of a Daddy figure who embodied those qualities of hard work and being a regular guy. Chicago goes for those kind of Daddy-figures. Many of Chicago’s Mayors have also fit that bill. The Daddy-looking guy (years ago, anyway) who wasn’t afraid to throw his weight around and get things done - one way or another.
Ditka had a Team of the Ages in 1985. Maybe the best of all time. A terrific group of talents and attitudes. And all of them fully embraced that, too. And Chi-Town just ate it up.
Now that forty years have gone by with the Bears having little to show for it – people long for that old-style Ditka snarl and swagger and a team that wins and punishes the opposition.
And you have to remember that Ditka played on the 1963 Bears Championship team as well. Won it as a player and as a coach in his time. In Chicago, that makes you up at deity-level.
And also... he’s known as Iron Mike due to his being raised in a Steel Town. Chicago and Northwest Indiana were once HUGE steel-making areas with many thousands of steel workers. That didn’t hurt Ditka’s image either.
Chicago has changed. The Bears have changed. But the losing for almost forty years has endured. And Bear fans keep on hoping.
