By admin 
News that Mike Ditka was back in Chicago and paying attention to the Bears from his Streeterville condo was almost as heartening as stories of Pope Leo XIV keeping up with the White Sox from the Vatican.
They’re a couple of Chicago legends who did the unthinkable. One of them won a Super Bowl with the Bears, a feat which has never been repeated in 40 years. The other became the global leader of the Catholic Church, one of our biggest American religions after NFL football and sports gambling.
The pope and Ditka no doubt share a mutual interest in the Bears’ quest for the Super Bowl, which is off to a rousing start after an opening week win over the Carolina Panthers.
Pope sightings have become the norm, with everyone making a trek to Rome to give him Chicago sports memorabilia. Ditka sightings have been rare, but Dan Pompei’s summer visit to Ditka’s domicile for an article in The Athletic was a reminder that Da Coach is still Da Coach.
The article portrayed an elderly Ditka enjoying his “coda” in Chicago after having moved back from Naples, Fla.
“Chicago is my home,” Ditka tells Pompei, explaining his return.
Ditka has been out of the public eye for a while, and whenever that occurs, there are obvious concerns about that person’s health. Especially if he’s had a heart attack, two strokes, multiple hip replacement surgeries and other ailments, not to mention breaking his hand punching a locker in his second season as coach.
Asked what he should tell people about him, Ditka replies to Pompei: “Tell them I’m good.”
A small group of friends, including former Bear Hall of Famer Dan Hampton, share old stories about the Bears and Ditka’s days as a coach. Ditka’s thoughts were brief. Pompei reports he “isn’t as talkative as he used to be,” adding “his eyes say what his words once did.”
Since the visit was conducted before the Bears’ opener, there was no reaction to the 59-point offensive performance by Caleb Williams and Co., or coach Ben Johnson going for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 21 in the second quarter.
Pompei did report that Ditka “likes Ben Johnson’s style,” which makes him like most everyone else in Chicago.
There was no mention of Hammond, or the idea of the Bears moving to a new stadium in Indiana, a possibility that might upset the coach if I’m guessing right. The mere idea of Ditka in a domed stadium in Hammond brought to mind the Minnesota “RollerDome” episode of 1987, where he insisted domes were “not meant for football” and “unfortunately, people waste a lot of money building them.”
Now Chairman George McCaskey is on a dome-or-bust mission. Would Johnson wear rollerblades in the new Bears’ dome?
Pompei’s visit with the old coach isn’t so much an interview as a tribute to Ditka, and to what he means to Chicago. It was eloquently done by Pompei, an old colleague from the Chicago Tribune, and I believe it’s the first we’ve heard anything from Ditka himself in a few years.
Ditka’s last public appearance at a Bears event was in June 2019 during the franchise’s 100th anniversary celebration. He lived in Florida until apparently returning recently without fanfare.
Ditka deserves his privacy, and fortunately it sounds like his family is making sure he gets it. But hopefully the Bears can honor Ditka in some fashion soon, whether he’s at Soldier Field or not. People deserve their flowers while they’re still able to enjoy them.
The home opener Sunday against the Vikings at Soldier Field would be as good a time as any, with Bears fans already whipped into a frenzy following the offensive fireworks last Sunday during the win in Charlotte, N.C.
Hopefully Ditka was watching and remembering what it’s like when the entire town is in your corner and the season starts on an ultra-high note.
Johnson, meanwhile, should bottle this feeling, since it’s rare air in Chicago. The Bears completely wiped the contending Cubs and White Sox off most sports radio talk shows Monday, and made Johnson’s Trump-ian decision to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory a mere footnote in the big win.
Right now, Johnson can do no wrong, even when he’s dead wrong. How long that lasts probably depends on the Bears’ defense, which was less than stellar in the opener.
It seems obvious that after only one full season, Johnson is the most respected Bears coach since Ditka, albeit without much competition. The seven head coaches between Ditka and Johnson combined for four playoff wins, including three by Lovie Smith alone. It’s been a minute since a head coach inspired Chicago.
So Johnson still has that new-car smell, and when you win like he did Sunday, you don’t have to bother explaining your bad decisions.
“Yeah, I felt pretty good about it,” he said about the call in his postgame news conference.
Case closed. Alleged masterminds don’t apologize for their mistakes.
At least Johnson didn’t join his index finger with his thumb, Ditka-style, and say: “See that, that’s your IQ, buddy – zero.”
The guess here is we’ll probably see Johnson try something crazy again this season in another high-risk situation, doubling down on his audacity. Saying he wanted to break the all-time scoring record before the season even began was a hint of how smart Johnson thinks he is, and his belief in the offense.
We’ve never had a shortage in Chicago of managers, coaches, executives and owners who think they’re the smartest guy in the room, but maybe Johnson is the real deal. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Ditka’s ego was also well nourished when he was in his coaching prime here. Whatever works.
I don’t recall the word “genius” attached to Ditka’s name – his default setting was his toughness, as the “Iron Mike” nickname denotes. Johnson’s persona is tied to a computer-like, offensive brain and an ability to motivate men with a T-shirt-ready slogan: “Good. Better. Best.”
Johnson might not reach the status of a Chicago icon like Ditka.
But he looks determined to try.
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