He may have come from Pennsylvania.  He may have scored a touchdown for Dallas when the Cowboys beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.  However, Mike Ditka will always be remembered as the head coach of the greatest sports team ever to suit up....the 1985 Chicago Bears.

That '85 team was just unstoppable (except the one loss to Miami that year).  I can still recall the roster of that team better that today's line-up!  Payton, McMahon, McMichael, Dent, Wilson, Suhey, Wilson, Fencik, Hampton and of course, The Fridge.  That's only a partial list of the great players on that team.

Fast forward to January 2011.  I was asked to host a reunion of some of those players by my friend Mark Bjelland.  Steve 'Mongo' McMichael, Otis Wilson, Mike Richardson, Kevin Butler, Maury Buford and......Da Coach, 'Iron' Mike Ditka were the guests of honor.  The honor I felt was no small thing.  That team featured the only true hero I had, other than my father.  That man was Walter Payton.  I still get goosebumps thinking about him, and his effect on my early life can not be overstated.  And though we lost 'Sweetness' in 1999, I knew I would be talking with some of his good friends and teammates.  Listening to these guys share their 'Walter' stories was a real privelige.  If you were there, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Tonight, Mike Ditka's jersey number 89 will be retired at Soldier Field.  The man embodies all of the qualities that every man wishes for themselves....toughness, humor, charm, success, and a mustache that makes Ron Burgundy look like a 12 year old with peach fuzz on his lip.

So as I'm watching Iron Mike honored by the Bears, I'll be thinking of that January day in 1986 as I suffered with a bout of Mono....watching the Bears trounce the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.  I will also think back on one of the greatest thrills of my life in January of 2011, when I got to hang with some of the '85 Bears and Coach Ditka.  I only wish my two heroes could have been there with me, Walter Payton and my father, who passed away just the month before.  Now excuse me, I have something in my eye....

Brizz and Ditka
Brizz with 'Iron' Mike Ditka
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