Mike Ditka's Final Years Were Much SADDER Than You Knew

Mike Ditka died on October 9, 2026, at 86, nine days before his 87th birthday. Chicago knew him as Iron Mike, the Bears legend who came back to the sideline just 11 days after a heart attack in 1988. Almost nobody knew what his final years were really like: the stroke, the second heart attack, the pacemaker and stents, the hip and knee replacements, the birthday party he never showed up for, the hospice rumor, and what his wife Diana finally admitted when they came home to Chicago. This is the true story of Mike Ditka's health battles, his last years in Naples, Florida and Chicago, and his death. Follow Da Coach from his 1988 heart attack at Halas Hall to his fight for disabled former NFL players, the death of Dave Duerson, his 2012 stroke, the HBO Real Sports interview about the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 2018 heart attack on a Naples golf course, the closing of Ditka's restaurant, his move back to Chicago in 2024, and the tributes that poured in after his death, from the Bears, the Packers, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 🔔 Subscribe for the real stories behind the legends, every week. 💬 Where were you when the Bears won Super Bowl XX? Tell us in the comments. #MikeDitka #ChicagoBears #DaCoach