By John Turney 
Mike Ditka was not the first "tight end" in NFL history, but he was the first great one. The prior Willard Deveall played the same position as Ditka did in his rookie year of 1961. So if you read reports today of Iron Mike, who passed away today, being the first one, don't believe them.
In the past you could find well-meaning but slightly inaccurate lines like these:
- Chicago Tribune, April 20, 2006 ("Bears' last true tight end: Ditka"): "Ditka practically invented the position."
- GQ / Rich Cohen, October 2013 (the Monsters of the Midway material): "Mike Ditka was the first modern tight end."
- Bleacher Report, January 21, 2012: "The modern day NFL tight end was truly born in the 1961 draft" when the Bears took him.
- Tyler Dunne, The Dispatch, October 15, 2022, framed as him "the birth of the modern NFL tight end."
He was not those things, not even on the Bears, to the degree those authors seam to mean (there was some equivocation), but he was first in many ways. He claims to be the first tight end to flex out. He certainly did line up outside in his rookie year, especially versus the Rams, as a slot, but ends did that before, too.
What is known is he was the first tight end of the tight end era to gain 1,000 yards receiving in a season. All ends were pretty much tight in the early 1950s, in the T-formation. It would be a question of degrees. Pete Pihos, Tom Fears, Elroy Hirsch, Bob Boyd and others even before them were "tight," and some had ends or halfbacks/flankers outside them. Football changes are not like an on-and-off light switch; changes in schemes or personnel are more like a dimmer switch, going from off gradually to on.
But what is for sure is that Ditka was the first tight end to be voted to the Hall of Fame. He was the first tight end to be All-Pro because the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) created a slot for the tight end position, as did the Detroit News.
What Ditka was, and this is enough, was the first tight end who forced the rest of the league to treat the position as a receiving job.
In 14 games as a rookie, he caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns. The 12 receiving TDs was tied by Jerry Smith in 1967 and then again by Todd Christensen in 1983 (in sixteen games) and in 1999 by Wesley Walls, also in a 16-game season.
Finally, in 2004 future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates bested it by recording 13 TD receptions that year.
The 1,076 yards stood as the rookie mark until 2024, and his 76.9 yards receiving per game is still number one among rookies and 15th among all tight ends in a single season. His 56 receptions stood as rookie record until 1988 by Keith Jackson, again, in a 16-game schedule.
In 1964 he caught 75 passes, a tight-end record that stood until Kellen Winslow's 89 in 1980. He retired after 1972 with 427 receptions, then the most by a tight end, 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Clearly, he was ahead of his time, first or not. And in that sense, he did help "change the game," a phrase often thrown out there, but not always deserved. Ditka's level of success did seem to cause a shift to teams throwing more to their "Y" end.
He won a title as a player with the 1963 Bears, caught the last touchdown of Super Bowl VI when he grabbed his second right, coached on the Cowboys' Super Bowl XII staff, and coached the 1985 Bears to Super Bowl XX. He was the first Hall of Fame player to win a Super Bowl ring as a head coach.
He was a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
But those are the numbers. What was more remarkable is how he played the game. He was truly fearless, and truly tough. Said NFL writer John McClain, "In the ultimate tight end, if you wanted a blocker and a pass catcher who would strike some fear in the defense, there's never been anybody like Mike Ditka."
Fellow Hall-of-Famer and teammate Gale Sayers told NFL Films: "He blocked like a madman. I liked that in him, because I knew that I could depend on Mike."
Players he coached respected him. One, Mike Singletary, to the Los Angeles Times in 1985: "I believe Mike Ditka represents us, in more ways than one. We know he's not coaching the Chicago Bears because he needed a job. The Bears mean something to Mike Ditka. The team is part of him."
Roger Staubach: "We really needed that kind of leadership that Ditka brought. No one wanted to mess with 'Iron Mike.'" And, at the 1971 players' meeting after the Bears loss: "Mike was instrumental in getting us to be a Dallas team that wasn't going to back down to anybody."
Ditka, on how he played, "I always thought that if you hit the guy more often than he hit you and you hit him harder than he hits you, then eventually you're going to win the fight. I played the game for a long time, and nobody played the game harder than I did."
That sums it up.
Today his family said in a statement, "It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka, while the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. "Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever."
His beloved team, the Chicago Bears, released this statement: "Mike's impact on the Chicago Bears organization, over decades as a player, coach, and proud icon and ambassador for our organization, is immeasurable. His integral role in bringing world championships to our city and our franchise, both as a player and as our coach, established prominence and excellence at a world-class level, but also created a lifetime of cherished memories in the hearts and minds of Bears fans that will last for generations ... "
The Bears retired his uniform number 13 years ago, stating it would be the last number ever to be retired by the club
."'Iron Mike' brought an unrivaled level of toughness to an era already defined by physicality,but he also was much more gifted as a pass catcher than many realized and became the ideal player for Coach George Halas to reimagine the tight end position. Mike brought competitiveness and a hard-nosed play style as he developed into both a fantastic blocker and someone who could punish would-be tacklers on his receptions."He brought that same philosophy to his coaching, leading the famous 1985 team that paired with one of the most vaunted and dominant defenses in NFL history with a top-ranked offense. Mike's captivating personality and leadership qualities will be preserved and celebrated forever in Canton."--Hall of Fame president and CEO Jim Porter
In his NFL career, he played for the Bears, Eagles and Cowboys and was a head coach for the Bears and Saints. He was an advocate for the retired players who he felt were getting shortchanged by the NFL and NFLPA. That caused tension between him and NFL Commissioner and NFLPA president Gene Upshaw.
He didn't care. He had tiffs with everyone: fellow players, fellow coaches, players he coached. Players he didn't coach,
That was his way. Speak your mind, back it up with action. It had been that way since he was an All-American at Pitt, and even before.
Mike Ditka was an icon. And will be missed.
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