Thread: Ditka's Greatest Moments per Complex Magazine

Link to site: http://bit.ly/a5YXzh

We throw around the word "badass" around these parts quite a bit, but perhaps no man embodies the term more than Mike Ditka. Iron Mike made it into the Hall of Fame by redefining the TE position as a player, but it's his tenure as a cantankerous coach that really cemented his status as a football icon. Over 11 memorable years coaching the Chicago Bears (and three not-so-memorable ones with the Saints), Ditka embodied the spirit of old-school, tough-guy football: ornery, aggressive, and always intimidating. He's mellowed with age, but the mustached man is no less entertaining these days as an ESPN pundit and sometime actor. On his 71st birthday, we salute the living legend with this collection of Mike Ditka's Most Badass Moments...believe us, they weren't hard to find.




Underwear Interview
Date: October 9, 1988
Moment: A pissed-off Ditka begrudgingly sits for a post-game TV interview...in his underwear.
Complex says: This is Iron Mike at his bad-tempered best. The funniest thing about this clip may be the fact that it came after a 24-7 win that gave the Bears a 5-1 record. Imagine this guy after a loss...or just keep clicking. You'll see.




Press Conference Greatest Hits
Date: 1980s
Moment: A collection of Ditka's best sound bites during his years with the Bears. In 11 seasons, Ditka led the Bears to seven playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl victory at the end of the famed ’86 season.
Complex says: It's nearly a nine-minute clip, but well-worth watching if you want a lesson in how an NFL coach should handle the media. You'll get glimpses of Ditka being pissed-off, funny, focused, and menacing—but always in firm control of his audience. Coors could make a million more of those lame ads off Iron Mike alone.




Dreadlocked Ditka
Date: April 18, 1999
Moment: After leaving the Bears at the end of the ’92 season, Ditka took a five-year coaching hiatus before taking the Saints job in 1997. Two years later, he traded eight draft picks for Ricky Williams.
Complex says: What was more laughable? The trade for Stay-High Ricky or Mike's dreadlocked wig? For some reason, Ditka in dreads gives off more of a cheerful-Rasta vibe than a villainous one.




Talk to the Trainer
Date: November 15, 1999
Moment: With the losses mounting in what would be his final year as an NFL coach, Ditka snaps at reporters after a practice.
Complex says: As we said before: angry, but in control. NEXT!




Defeated
Date: December 5, 1999
Moment: Ditka sounds utterly demoralized after his Saints get crushed in Atlanta, leaving them 2-10.
Complex says: This was probably the nadir of Ditka's coaching career—never before had Iron Mike seemed so vulnerable and hopeless. Sidebar: New Orleans featured two Billy Joes (Tolliver and Hobert) at QB in the ’99 season. Both sucked. Hard.




Roasted
Date: 2001
Moment: At his own roast, Ditka accidentally upends a table and then gets pushed off the dais by Paul Hornung.
Complex says: This entire sequence is a little bizarre. We hope that Ditka bitch-slapped Hornung, though, because that was kind of a dick move.




Nut Check
Date: September 10, 2007
Moment: Monday Night Football cameras catch Ditka adjusting his junk in the booth.
Complex says: You could say that Iron Mike took this broadcasting gig by the balls.




Snoop and Ditka
Date: 2009
Moment: ESPN enlists Snoop Dogg to team up with Ditka for this Sunday NFL Countdown ad.
Complex says: With his bowler hat, gold chain, and stogie, Ditka doesn't look out of place alongside Snoop. Real Gs recognize real Gs, you dig?




Shuffle Redux
Date: February 7, 2010
Moment: For its Super Bowl XLIV commercial, Boost Mobile remakes the O.G. "Super Bowl Shuffle" with members from the ’86 Bears
Complex says: "That's fresh!" Word up, Mike. Happy birthday!