Valuetainment - Episode 231： Mike Ditka Opens Up

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach

00:00:09.240 the sky, turn the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the

00:00:16.240 underdog.

00:00:17.280 I'm Patrick Bedevi, host of AITM, and today we're sitting down with the coach of the Bears,

00:00:22.420 Mike Ditka.

00:00:23.440 Today, I'm sitting with a person here that won Super Bowl as a player, Super Bowl as

00:00:29.680 an assistant coach, Super Bowl as a coach, and the only one to have scored as a player

00:00:35.640 in the Super Bowl.

00:00:36.240 I know Tom Flores also did it on those three categories, but you're the only one that scored

00:00:39.240 a touchdown in the Super Bowl, and that's none other than Mike Ditka.

00:00:42.260 So Mike, Coach Ditka, thank you so much for making the time for coming with us.

00:00:46.400 So there you go.

00:00:47.060 That's your resume on what you've done.

00:00:48.700 I am fascinated by your competitive spirit.

00:00:51.160 And when I read about you and I hear the stories with your father, Pittsburgh, all

00:00:55.460 this other stuff, I kind of want to go back and ask you the simple question of who was

00:00:58.960 Mike Ditka?

00:01:00.060 Before Coach Ditka, who was Mike Ditka in high school?

00:01:02.640 12 years old, or I guess 8th grade, what is that?

00:01:05.860 And I played on a, I went to a Catholic grade school, so I played, we had a little football

00:01:09.900 team and I played there, and then of course the next year I went to 9th grade at the big

00:01:14.540 high school, and I went out for football.

00:01:16.960 I got killed.

00:01:18.800 I don't know, I'm not here anymore because I got killed.

00:01:21.160 You know, and I like football, but I was a pretty good baseball player, so the next

00:01:25.060 year I went out again as a sophomore, and I got killed more, because I only weighed 130

00:01:30.860 pounds.

00:01:31.840 So you were not good at this?

00:01:33.400 No, I was small.

00:01:34.500 And then between my sophomore, junior year and high school, I grew to about 5'11", and

00:01:39.460 I went up to 165, 70 pounds.

00:01:42.540 And I started on the state championship football team, and not because I was a great player,

00:01:48.440 because I had a great coach who believed in me and took me aside and taught me how to do

00:01:52.680 the things I had to do to become a good team player.

00:01:54.960 And I played offense and defense, and that's the way it was.

00:01:58.100 I mean, I was, I played both ways.

00:01:59.820 In college, most of what I did was on defense, not offense.

00:02:02.780 Most of what you did in college was on defense.

00:02:04.560 I think my senior year, I think I caught like 15 passes, but I played defensive end and linebacker.

00:02:12.820 That's where I got all of the variety.

00:02:14.920 And when I went into Pro Bowl, anybody that drafted me outside of the Bears, I probably

00:02:18.920 would have been a linebacker.

00:02:19.980 I don't believe you.

00:02:20.740 Really, and George Ellis, when he drafted me, I went in and talked to him, and he said,

00:02:26.080 and I assume I was playing defense.

00:02:28.020 I really did.

00:02:29.120 And he said, we're going to create the position of tight end, and you're going to play tight

00:02:33.760 end.

00:02:34.020 I said, coach, my senior year in college, I got 12, 16 passes.

00:02:39.380 Some, you know, crazy.

00:02:41.360 He said, well, it'll work out.

00:02:42.540 We're going to be okay.

00:02:43.200 And it was.

00:02:44.380 I had two good coaches, and Coach Allison, a couple other guys.

00:02:47.900 They were old school, but they taught me the basics.

00:02:50.680 You know, football is basics.

00:02:52.740 You know, it's tackling, it's blocking, it's execution.

00:02:56.540 And they taught me the thing called blocking.

00:02:59.300 And I was pretty good at it.

00:03:00.800 So, you know, once in a while, I'd hold somebody.

00:03:03.000 Yeah, once in a while.

00:03:04.860 So, I know you said your first year, when he came out, the year before, you said 12 or

00:03:08.600 15 catches.

00:03:09.280 But your first year in the NFL, you had 58 with 12 touchdowns.

00:03:12.020 Yeah.

00:03:12.380 That was crazy.

00:03:13.800 Yeah, it was unheard of.

00:03:14.740 Was tight end a common, you know, philosophy position back then for coaches, or not really?

00:03:19.620 No, it really was created right around that time.

00:03:23.460 There were a couple in the league.

00:03:25.520 John Mackey came in the year after me.

00:03:28.380 Ron Kramer was up in Green Bay.

00:03:30.080 There were a couple guys, a couple guys out in San Francisco.

00:03:32.540 I had a quarterback named Bill Wade, God rest his soul.

00:03:36.100 He just liked to throw the football to me, because I caught it.

00:03:39.540 And after I caught it, I would have fun running with it.

00:03:42.000 So, he made me.

00:03:44.360 I didn't make me.

00:03:44.920 I mean, after we won the championship in 63, in 64, we lost two guys in a car accident

00:03:51.680 down in training camp, two great football players.

00:03:54.840 And so, Johnny Morse and I had, you know, were the leading receivers on the team.

00:04:00.860 In 1964, after the 63 season, between us, he caught 98 balls and I caught like 70.

00:04:10.200 In that time, it was unheard of.

00:04:12.180 But we weren't a good team.

00:04:13.520 We were not a good team.

00:04:14.540 Now, the year after that, we became a good team, because we got a guy named Gale Sayers.

00:04:19.240 He's kind of a good running team.

00:04:20.860 Yeah, him and Butchis.

00:04:21.680 We got him and Butchis the next year, and we became a real good football team.

00:04:24.760 And we didn't win it that year.

00:04:25.920 Baltimore beat us out by one game.

00:04:27.480 But we were really a good team in 65.

00:04:29.760 So, going back, where did your work ethic come from?

00:04:32.220 Your work ethic, your discipline, your mindset.

00:04:34.300 I think from my parents.

00:04:35.020 Parents?

00:04:35.260 You know, we were never giving anything or expecting anything, you know.

00:04:38.420 Far back to the back, I can remember I had to have a paper route.

00:04:40.640 When I came home, whatever I made on the paper route, I gave to my parents.

00:04:43.560 They gave me an allowance.

00:04:45.040 I never had, you know, that's the way it was.

00:04:47.160 Even when I was in high school, I had a job working for the borough or for the swimming pool or life garden.

00:04:53.040 I gave the check to my parents.

00:04:54.340 They gave me an allowance.

00:04:55.160 That's the way it was.

00:04:56.340 I mean, that's the way I was raised.

00:04:58.200 And this is Pittsburgh.

00:04:58.820 Yeah, Aliquippa, Steel Mill Town, right outside of Pittsburgh.

00:05:02.260 In the heyday, J&L Steel employed 35,000 people.

00:05:06.400 But now, it might employ 3,500, maybe.

00:05:09.800 But the work ethic was fantastic.

00:05:11.880 Get up, go to work, take your lunch bucket.

00:05:14.040 And that was the way we lived.

00:05:15.820 That's the way all the adults lived.

00:05:17.580 Did you watch your dad?

00:05:18.960 Did you watch your family work hard?

00:05:20.460 Or was it a conversation?

00:05:21.800 Was it, like, was your dad coming home every night?

00:05:24.700 Was he a five-day-a-week guy?

00:05:25.940 My dad had a routine.

00:05:28.200 He went to work.

00:05:29.540 He left the house probably right before 7.

00:05:32.260 He probably got home about 5.

00:05:35.400 But the reason he got home at 5, he could have got home at 4.

00:05:38.000 But they all stopped at the tavern, see, that have their 4 or 5 beers.

00:05:42.660 And then he'd come home.

00:05:43.900 Dinner had to be ready.

00:05:44.800 He had dinner.

00:05:45.880 And, you know, he'd get cleaned up.

00:05:48.140 Probably go back to the tavern.

00:05:49.620 That's all they did.

00:05:51.380 But I can guarantee you one thing.

00:05:52.840 He was self-taught.

00:05:53.720 He could work any crossword puzzle you put in front of him, he would work.

00:05:57.220 Now, that's pretty darn good for a guy that had an 8th grade education.

00:06:00.940 He was good.

00:06:01.940 My dad's the same.

00:06:02.700 8th grade education.

00:06:03.960 Competitive spirit.

00:06:04.720 Is that in your blood?

00:06:05.740 Or was the family saying, hey, Mike, how fast are you going to run?

00:06:09.880 Who's better than you?

00:06:10.900 Was there that conversation?

00:06:12.260 Or was it just you, your DNA?

00:06:13.840 I learned a long time ago, if you like to lose, you'll lose.

00:06:17.100 I didn't like to lose with anything.

00:06:18.460 Probably that was wrong as a kid, growing up in Little League Baseball and that, but

00:06:23.300 I didn't like to lose with anything.

00:06:24.920 I wanted to win.

00:06:25.680 What's wrong with that?

00:06:26.380 Why do you say maybe it was wrong?

00:06:28.100 I think any time you compete, you compete with the idea that you're trying to win.

00:06:31.700 Now, you may not.

00:06:32.920 And then if you don't win, you've got to be a good sport about it.

00:06:34.980 But when I was growing up, I think the winning thing became, we became obsessed with it.

00:06:39.500 I mean, really.

00:06:40.420 And I was fortunate, too.

00:06:41.580 You know, I played on a good high school football team that won the state championship, and it

00:06:46.000 wasn't, it was because of the coach, you know, and the players we had.

00:06:49.060 But it was fun growing up there.

00:06:51.260 I mean, you know, nobody had any more than you or less than you.

00:06:55.200 We were all about the same.

00:06:56.580 I mean, all our parents worked in the mill, or my dad worked on the railroads that serviced

00:07:01.340 the mill, but that's all we had.

00:07:03.180 I mean, nobody had any more than anybody else, but it was okay.

00:07:06.820 We did good.

00:07:07.500 Do you think a part of competition is within the individual, or do you think that's created?

00:07:12.620 I think you have to have the genes for it.

00:07:14.280 There's no question about it.

00:07:15.200 I really do.

00:07:16.400 You're right.

00:07:16.940 Everybody can come from the same parents, and one person will be super competitive,

00:07:23.800 the other one will say, they'll go with the flow.

00:07:25.880 I guess that was one of the super competitive ones.

00:07:28.100 And I wanted that.

00:07:28.920 I wanted to try harder.

00:07:30.120 I mean, and I had to when I was young because I was a smaller guy, and I wasn't.

00:07:33.680 But then as I got bigger, you know, things got better for me.

00:07:36.240 But I can still think back to, you know, 9, 10 years old playing baseball and how competitive

00:07:43.500 I was at it, how much I loved it.

00:07:45.080 When I first started playing baseball, Little League was played in my, that's how long ago

00:07:49.280 it was played.

00:07:50.000 It just started.

00:07:51.360 It just started, so I played Little League baseball.

00:07:53.360 And you were super competitive at that time.

00:07:54.940 Yeah.

00:07:55.500 So coming up to the next level, you're playing in high school.

00:07:58.020 You're at 130 pounds, and you go 5'11", 165 pounds.

00:08:01.060 So now you got some size.

00:08:02.080 You're playing the three sports.

00:08:03.040 Were there other kids you played with where you said, that guy's way more talented than

00:08:06.940 me, faster than me, stronger than me, but there's no way in the world that guy can outwork

00:08:11.720 me or outcompete me.

00:08:13.420 Were there guys like that at every phase that you went through?

00:08:15.880 About 20 or 30 of them every phase.

00:08:18.540 Yeah.

00:08:18.800 And I think you make a good point.

00:08:21.480 The attitude the individual has to work at it.

00:08:24.560 I mean, you know, you can't get better by doing nothing.

00:08:27.720 You know, if you want to be a better hitter, you better learn to hit.

00:08:29.900 You know, if you want to be a better hitter field, same with football.

00:08:33.600 You know, you've got to strengthen the body.

00:08:35.320 I don't care how you do it, whether you lift weights or you do it through conditioning.

00:08:38.840 But, you know, your body can only take so much.

00:08:41.680 I mean, football today, the players are bigger, they're faster, and they're stronger than when

00:08:46.400 I played the game.

00:08:47.760 So when you have a collision in football now, it's much greater than what we had.

00:08:52.300 And ours are pretty good, but it's much greater.

00:08:55.280 So, you know, you get two, you know, in the law of physics, you've got two bodies moving

00:08:59.960 at a high rate of speed, something's going to give.

00:09:01.640 How do you fix that?

00:09:02.880 I don't think you can.

00:09:04.220 I think people are bigger, faster, stronger, like I said, and the game is, the risk of injury

00:09:09.240 is much greater probably even today than it was 30 years ago.

00:09:14.160 Because the guys are just, I mean, they're better athletes, but by being that, you're moving

00:09:18.900 at a higher rate of speed, and the collisions are like greater.

00:09:21.260 So what do you do?

00:09:22.480 I mean, you know the whole CT, you had a quarterback, McMahon, that he went through, you know, his

00:09:27.320 own issues, and you've seen it all the time with Seau and all these other stories.

00:09:31.040 Because to me, this is how I look at it.

00:09:32.720 So you have boxing, you had Tyson, Evander, you know, Riddick Ball, these guys have come

00:09:36.820 along, and then it was kind of trying to protect the players and all these things, protect

00:09:40.520 the fighters.

00:09:41.520 And then Dana White comes out and says, hey, how about UFC, MMA?

00:09:45.140 There is no protection.

00:09:45.840 I mean, there is some protection.

00:09:46.940 Like, you can't need a guy on the ground and drop your knee on his face.

00:09:49.800 You do that, you're going to get a loss.

00:09:51.260 But they're going all out.

00:09:52.600 I know.

00:09:52.940 Do you think the NFL is making a mistake by bringing it back and trying to make it safer

00:09:57.200 for the quarterbacks?

00:09:57.960 You see what happened with Green Bay.

00:09:59.300 You know, the guy gets three sacks, he gets each game, he gets a flag for each one of them,

00:10:02.740 and each of them look pretty good.

00:10:04.160 Well, I think the intent is right.

00:10:05.900 I mean, you're always trying to protect the player from injury.

00:10:08.620 But how do you do it?

00:10:10.060 What do you do?

00:10:10.560 Do you tell a player who's rushing?

00:10:12.540 Here's his whole key.

00:10:13.760 He's on defense.

00:10:14.700 His job is to go get the quarterback.

00:10:16.940 So all of a sudden, when you go to get the quarterback, you're moving at a high rate

00:10:20.880 of speed.

00:10:21.180 How do you change that?

00:10:22.360 That's what I'm saying.

00:10:22.840 Now, I understand about driving the guy on the ground.

00:10:25.040 But it's a natural thing.

00:10:26.140 Once you wrap a guy up, you take him to the ground.

00:10:28.620 I mean, I watched the penalty on the kid from Green Bay, and I disagree with it totally.

00:10:33.300 Because I don't think he was out to hurt anybody.

00:10:35.280 He was taking the guy to the ground.

00:10:37.180 Naturally, when you take a guy to the ground, his body is usually underneath yours.

00:10:41.020 You fall on top of him.

00:10:42.460 I don't know how you can change.

00:10:44.120 I think you've got to be careful that you don't legislate football out of football.

00:10:47.680 I mean, it's a contact sport.

00:10:50.240 I mean, it's more than a contact sport.

00:10:51.940 It's a collision sport.

00:10:53.140 It is what it is.

00:10:54.300 I mean, I didn't make the rules.

00:10:56.200 I played the game for a long time.

00:10:57.620 It wouldn't change it for anything.

00:10:59.120 But you've got to be careful that, you know, he said, well, does it make it a better game?

00:11:02.700 Does it make it any safer?

00:11:03.860 I don't know if it does.

00:11:05.220 If NFL went this phase and said, look, our concern is making everything safe.

00:11:08.660 So why don't we go from contact to flag?

00:11:11.060 Do you think they would lose viewership?

00:11:13.120 They would lose viewership.

00:11:14.220 If they went purely from contact to flag, they would lose viewership.

00:11:18.540 Would you watch it?

00:11:19.440 I would never watch it.

00:11:20.620 So that's the point.

00:11:21.860 So the question becomes for you.

00:11:23.780 Do you think there's an outside chance that another league that allows more physicality

00:11:29.980 can come and compete against the NFL and get viewers, kind of like what UFC did to boxing?

00:11:34.820 I don't know if that's possible right now.

00:11:37.380 The NFL is, the game is good.

00:11:40.140 I mean, I understand what the league's trying to do.

00:11:42.280 They're trying to, you know, but the risk of injury when you play the sport, I'm sorry,

00:11:46.460 it's there.

00:11:46.920 It's like boxing.

00:11:48.040 If you don't think you're going to get whacked when you're a boxer, then you're dreaming.

00:11:52.600 It's just part of the game.

00:11:54.540 But I can understand what they're trying to do and keeping it as safe as possible.

00:11:58.560 But you can't legislate football out of football because it's no longer football.

00:12:02.720 Then you play tag.

00:12:03.920 Even Aaron Rodgers said, you know, I don't think I like the direction it's going.

00:12:08.020 He's a quarterback.

00:12:08.880 I know.

00:12:09.300 And he disagreed with the call.

00:12:10.480 He's a quarterback in saying, hey, the guy tackles Sam.

00:12:13.500 He says, this isn't a bad hit.

00:12:14.580 Why are you flagging him?

00:12:15.340 He's trying to protect the linebacker.

00:12:16.740 Exactly.

00:12:16.900 I thought it was pretty interesting what he was doing.

00:12:18.420 Well, I tell you what, Aaron Rodgers is first class.

00:12:21.940 I mean, he's the best.

00:12:23.140 So, you know, I would listen to him if I was the league.

00:12:27.060 I hope they do.

00:12:27.860 I hope they do because viewership goes and then the business goes.

00:12:31.340 You know, when the interesting part, because you're a coach, you, you know, as a fan, we

00:12:38.140 watch you on sidelines.

00:12:39.860 You're not teaching hesitation.

00:12:41.940 So I'm just thinking, I'm a linebacker.

00:12:43.800 I'm going to you.

00:12:44.760 And that thought, I'm hesitating.

00:12:46.200 You don't want me to hesitate.

00:12:47.400 That's correct.

00:12:48.180 That's where you react.

00:12:49.400 Instantaneous react.

00:12:50.460 But this is making me hesitate.

00:12:51.840 Yeah, exactly.

00:12:52.480 And I think it will make people hesitate.

00:12:54.680 But I mean, in theory, it will.

00:12:58.380 But once you're on the field, I don't know how you can hesitate.

00:13:01.320 You have to fire the gun.

00:13:02.820 And that's just what they do.

00:13:04.220 Yeah, sometimes too much regulation, just like it hurts business, too much regulation hurts

00:13:08.300 sports as well.

00:13:08.960 And I don't know the answer to the question.

00:13:11.140 I'm asking it because I'm curious to know what you think about it.

00:13:13.160 I agree in preventing injuries.

00:13:16.680 If you can prevent them, fine.

00:13:18.100 But there's no guarantee you can.

00:13:20.580 The game is just, it's a physical game.

00:13:23.780 These are big bodies colliding at a high rate of speed.

00:13:26.600 And usually, something's got to give.

00:13:28.320 Yeah, I agree.

00:13:29.600 So, coaching career, Coach, I mean, you dealt with a lot of different personalities.

00:13:33.740 You dealt with, you know, the owner, Hallis, who, you know, gave you $18,000.

00:13:39.460 And next year, he wanted to give you a raise to $14,000, you know, and you're like, what

00:13:43.500 are you talking about?

00:13:44.120 It wasn't quite that way, but it was close.

00:13:46.140 You know, but I don't, I wouldn't change any of that.

00:13:48.800 I mean, at the time, I never understood it.

00:13:51.020 But it was a learning process.

00:13:53.200 You know, you tell somebody, my first year contract was $12,000.

00:13:57.960 But in those days, this was 1961.

00:14:01.940 So, I got, and I got, and I got a bonus, a signing bonus of $6,000.

00:14:06.400 Now, $12,000 and $6,000 is $18,000.

00:14:08.020 Now, I can't, I can figure that out.

00:14:09.480 I'm not a genius.

00:14:10.720 So, after the year, I made Rookie of the Year and All-Pro.

00:14:13.300 And so, I went in to have a contract.

00:14:15.020 And we, everything was face-to-face with Mr. Hallis.

00:14:17.400 And I said, you know, he said, you know, kid, you had a pretty good year and this and that.

00:14:22.040 And then he pulls out this shit, but, you know, you missed curfew and I had to fine you

00:14:25.100 for this and that.

00:14:25.960 And he's right, I did.

00:14:27.300 But, and he fined me for it.

00:14:29.120 But he says, but I'm still going to give you a raise.

00:14:32.040 He said, I'm going to pay you $14,000.

00:14:34.300 I said, Coach, there's something the matter with that.

00:14:35.940 He said, what do you mean?

00:14:36.780 I said, I made $12,000 and then $6,000, that's $18,000.

00:14:40.340 I said, now you want to pay me $14,000, you're cutting my salary.

00:14:43.440 I said, I wouldn't sign for a penny less than $18,000.

00:14:46.040 As soon as I said that, he opened the drawer, pulled out a contract for $18,000 and I signed

00:14:50.560 it.

00:14:51.520 And, you know, you say, I wasn't going to, I wasn't going to get ahead of him.

00:14:55.580 I mean, I thought I was smart.

00:14:56.780 I thought, well, I showed him.

00:14:58.000 Yeah, I really showed him.

00:14:58.880 I'm making the same thing I made last year.

00:15:00.860 But so what?

00:15:01.440 It was worth it.

00:15:02.380 I wouldn't change it for anything.

00:15:03.340 And the question I wanted to ask you is personality-wise, because you got a strong personality, right?

00:15:08.480 Like, you know what you want.

00:15:09.420 You're confident.

00:15:10.080 You're coming through.

00:15:10.620 I thought I did.

00:15:11.260 Well, yeah.

00:15:11.840 I mean, you obviously made it to the top level in multiple different positions.

00:15:15.700 But for yourself, what did you learn?

00:15:18.320 Like, I'm a CEO.

00:15:19.480 I run a financial firm.

00:15:20.400 I have a lot of different people I deal with personality-wise.

00:15:22.540 Entrepreneurs watching this.

00:15:23.600 They run businesses, sales, customers, partners, vendors, all these other things.

00:15:27.720 Throughout the process of coming up, what did you learn on how to deal with different personalities?

00:15:32.460 Did you finally come up with a clear philosophy that worked for you when it comes into working

00:15:36.180 with other personalities?

00:15:36.700 Whatever you set, whatever the rules, the philosophy you set for your organization or

00:15:41.280 your company or your team, it has to apply to everybody.

00:15:44.380 It can't be different.

00:15:45.200 It can't be one thing for Walter Payton and the next thing for this guy and the next thing

00:15:48.980 for that guy.

00:15:49.740 Got it.

00:15:49.960 It has to be uniform.

00:15:51.200 Everybody has to abide by the rules.

00:15:52.980 You have to have the same goals.

00:15:54.780 And then, you know, what we try to create, and I learned this through Coach Landry in Dallas,

00:15:58.280 you try to create goals, and then you try to create methods to reach those goals, reasonable

00:16:04.400 or outstanding or whatever.

00:16:05.880 But if you say, okay, we want to win the NFC East or West or Central or whatever it is,

00:16:10.720 what do you got to do?

00:16:11.980 Well, you know what you got to do?

00:16:13.040 You got to come away with at least four wins against Green Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit.

00:16:17.920 You come out of there four and two, now you got a better chance.

00:16:21.080 If you don't, you probably got no chance at all.

00:16:24.020 I mean, and that doesn't guarantee you're going to get it, I'm saying.

00:16:26.300 But you got to control what you can control, and that's your division.

00:16:29.720 That doesn't mean you're going to win the NFL because the teams outside your division

00:16:33.440 are just as good, but it starts inside your division.

00:16:36.240 And that's what we try to do.

00:16:37.240 We broke it down that way.

00:16:38.780 The Bears, we play Green Bay in Detroit, Minnesota.

00:16:41.680 We got to come out of there four and two at least.

00:16:44.240 We were fortunate to know that we had good years when we came out five and one.

00:16:47.540 We had bad years when we came out two and four.

00:16:49.780 But who were tougher personalities?

00:16:51.560 I mean, you played.

00:16:53.200 I mean, you go through histories.

00:16:55.160 Sayers, okay.

00:16:56.300 Gail, okay, so you got Peyton.

00:16:59.260 You got Perry.

00:17:00.400 You got, you know, owner Hallis, Landry, Buddy Ryan.

00:17:03.640 Who was, like, who was more difficult and more driven than you that you were?

00:17:07.640 You're like, I'm the most driven guy I know.

00:17:09.280 Was there anybody, like, this guy wants to win more than I do?

00:17:12.140 Nobody.

00:17:12.740 Nobody was wanting to achieve or be better.

00:17:16.220 Nobody you ever met in the game.

00:17:17.940 Nobody more than you.

00:17:18.740 More than I know than Walter Payton.

00:17:20.860 Nobody had the drive and the initiative and the desire to be the best that Walter had.

00:17:26.300 Wow.

00:17:26.600 He was.

00:17:27.060 And he was.

00:17:27.660 And he was.

00:17:28.140 He really was the best.

00:17:29.280 But people don't know.

00:17:30.380 You don't get to be the best by, you know, saying, well, he was gifted with a good body and he wasn't the fastest guy.

00:17:38.040 He wasn't the strongest guy.

00:17:39.260 But pound per pound he probably was.

00:17:41.320 But he worked hard at everything.

00:17:44.720 You know, he made himself who he was.

00:17:47.220 He made a total commitment to being the best.

00:17:50.000 And he, I still think he was the best that I've ever seen.

00:17:54.060 So was he the guy in the locker room that made everybody calm?

00:17:56.960 Did he bring them up?

00:17:57.840 Was he poised?

00:17:58.880 He wasn't a big speaker.

00:18:00.660 He wasn't a big speaker.

00:18:01.480 We had a lot of guys on our defense.

00:18:04.080 Sure.

00:18:04.480 Hampton and Singletary and those guys who were a little more vocal and they did speak up and they got our team up.

00:18:10.740 But Walter was a great example of doing by example.

00:18:15.300 And that's what he did.

00:18:16.120 He did it by example.

00:18:17.260 And it was a good example.

00:18:19.760 And you know where it started?

00:18:21.220 It started on the practice field.

00:18:23.220 If you're the first one out there and the last one off, that's what he was.

00:18:26.200 And he worked as hard as anybody else.

00:18:27.680 Now you say, why does he have to do that?

00:18:29.760 I mean, he's Walter Payton.

00:18:31.100 But he did.

00:18:32.120 I don't know why he did.

00:18:33.240 He did.

00:18:33.660 And you find the great ones that are like that.

00:18:35.960 They might be in the baton cage a little longer than the other guy.

00:18:38.720 You read stories about him.

00:18:39.920 That's unbelievable.

00:18:40.700 Some of the stories about him, you're like, he was doing this?

00:18:42.580 Yeah, he was doing this nonstop.

00:18:43.540 And his legs and all the stories people tell him.

00:18:46.060 And really pound for pound, I mean, his strength was amazing.

00:18:49.260 It really was.

00:18:49.880 His strength?

00:18:50.640 Strength.

00:18:51.240 And he worked at it.

00:18:52.800 But most of what he did really was he ran the hills.

00:18:55.800 That's what I hear.

00:18:56.500 He had some hills out there and he ran them.

00:18:58.740 And you try to do that up and down.

00:19:00.940 Now you talk about getting your knees and your ankles and everything else in shape.

00:19:05.280 You really do.

00:19:06.640 I couldn't come down the stairs right now.

00:19:09.760 But I'm just saying, in the old days, we did all that stuff.

00:19:12.540 So Payton would be at the top of a guy that wanted him more than you.

00:19:15.080 In my opinion.

00:19:16.400 In your opinion.

00:19:16.880 So you work with, again, different personalities.

00:19:19.140 Halas, Landry.

00:19:20.640 And Landry, when you talk about Landry, you get emotional.

00:19:23.140 I'm curious to know what it was with Landry when you worked with him that he was different.

00:19:26.520 Because he brought you in at a time.

00:19:27.780 He made the phone call.

00:19:28.600 He says, honestly, I was done.

00:19:29.620 Yeah, you were done.

00:19:30.460 I was finished.

00:19:30.880 And he gave you a shot.

00:19:31.900 And it kind of worked out.

00:19:32.960 So how was it working with Landry?

00:19:34.980 What was his approach of leadership with you?

00:19:37.120 He was the most organized guy I've ever been around.

00:19:40.240 So he was a system guy.

00:19:40.900 He was totally organized.

00:19:42.540 And he had, you know, we have to do this, this, this.

00:19:46.120 And really, and he broke it down.

00:19:47.880 And he made us believe that.

00:19:49.140 And if we did those things, good things came.

00:19:51.680 I mean, we went through a lot of great players in Dallas.

00:19:56.520 They drafted good.

00:19:57.320 And they did a lot of good things.

00:19:59.120 But, you know, we had a lot of players that were good players that didn't end up there

00:20:02.800 because he changed it.

00:20:04.180 He brought people in that were going to be team players.

00:20:07.080 He wanted the team.

00:20:08.200 He didn't care about the, you know, you're going to have some stars.

00:20:10.860 I mean, Roger Straubach was a star.

00:20:12.860 But he was a team star.

00:20:14.860 And, you know, and the same thing with the other guys we had playing at that time.

00:20:18.280 I mean, we had good running backs.

00:20:19.660 We had, I mean, nobody would know who that, you know.

00:20:22.220 We had two tight ends, myself and another guy.

00:20:26.580 But, you know, it was just a good, good team.

00:20:29.420 And the defense was the best part of it.

00:20:31.500 You know, we had Bob Lillies and Leroy Jordans and those guys.

00:20:34.960 And they were the best part of what the Cowboys had.

00:20:37.640 But no matter when you play a team sport like football,

00:20:40.680 you've got to, one side's got to complement the other.

00:20:43.480 And if you have a great defense and a great offense

00:20:45.840 and your special teams stink, you won't win anything.

00:20:49.320 So, you know, it's everything.

00:20:50.860 You've got to make everybody get involved.

00:20:52.860 Well, the guy says, well, all I do is I cover kicks and punts.

00:20:55.560 Well, you better cover them as good as anybody in the world.

00:20:58.320 And then that's what you tell them.

00:20:59.960 And, you know, I've seen a lot of great players start out by being guys that cover on kickoffs

00:21:04.320 and punts and stuff like that.

00:21:06.000 They went on to become great linebackers in the league.

00:21:08.000 Was Landry a guy, his strength?

00:21:11.000 Was it a one-on-one strength?

00:21:12.420 Was he a locker room strength?

00:21:14.540 Was he a group strength?

00:21:16.420 Like, what was Landry?

00:21:17.220 Was he a psychology guy?

00:21:18.720 He was totally organized in everything that he did.

00:21:21.100 You know, he was more organized than anything I've ever been around.

00:21:24.680 We had meetings.

00:21:25.820 We had long meetings.

00:21:26.780 But there was a purpose to everything we did.

00:21:28.760 And he made it understandable.

00:21:30.640 You know, you can't get better by saying you're going to get better.

00:21:33.480 You're going to get better if you work on this and this.

00:21:36.220 You know, I can't tell you how much time he spent.

00:21:40.900 Well, we call it an angle block.

00:21:42.240 An angle block for a tight end.

00:21:43.800 You're split this far from your tackle.

00:21:45.640 You're blocking down on the defensive end.

00:21:47.440 Now, those guys are usually pretty good players.

00:21:49.880 But you learn to do that.

00:21:51.860 I can't tell you how much time we took with that.

00:21:53.760 With the tackle, maybe pull around and get the linebacker.

00:21:56.600 You've got to angle block the end.

00:21:58.100 You do it enough, you believe it.

00:21:59.240 You can do it against anybody.

00:22:00.580 I mean, I'm about the greatest players in the league.

00:22:03.620 And, yeah, Willie Davis, whoever.

00:22:06.240 They were great, but you have to do it.

00:22:07.820 That's your job.

00:22:08.640 He's my man.

00:22:09.220 I've got to block him.

00:22:10.040 I don't care who it is.

00:22:11.300 What was Halas' strength?

00:22:12.360 Like, what was he good at?

00:22:14.000 Was he purely a business guy?

00:22:15.360 Or did he, was there something you picked up from him?

00:22:18.440 You've got to understand where Coach, when he was one of the original,

00:22:23.760 four or five guys that started the National Football League.

00:22:26.800 So, you know, it was hard for him to see the change.

00:22:30.100 You know, he had Red Grange.

00:22:31.520 I mean, I think he paid Red Grange probably the biggest salary in football

00:22:36.380 probably ever heard of until, I don't know what year it would be.

00:22:39.280 But, you know, you're talking about a game that was, it was just a game.

00:22:45.860 I mean, and then it became, it's a multi, multi-million dollar business now.

00:22:50.280 It's a big, big business.

00:22:52.520 So, he, I don't know that he would enjoy seeing the game the way it is today.

00:22:57.560 Maybe he would enjoy this talent, but I don't know if he ever thought it would ever get this big.

00:23:02.380 And I'm telling you now, he.

00:23:03.540 Really?

00:23:03.960 Yeah, him and Rooney and, you know, there were about five of them,

00:23:07.160 and I can't name them all now anymore.

00:23:09.200 Guy up in Green Bay.

00:23:10.300 I mean, they all started this whole thing.

00:23:12.500 And I think they had a great idea.

00:23:14.780 But their vision could have never been to what it's been.

00:23:17.720 Wow.

00:23:17.980 The National Football League guys, they time out.

00:23:20.720 It's big.

00:23:21.740 Wow.

00:23:22.180 And it's big and it's good and it's, you know, it provides tremendous opportunities for all people.

00:23:29.040 Race, color, religion, doesn't matter, you know.

00:23:31.300 You got an opportunity.

00:23:33.040 So, he was more the visionary.

00:23:34.100 He was a true believer in what he's doing.

00:23:35.500 Oh, absolutely.

00:23:36.020 Was he a diehard fan of the game as well?

00:23:37.880 Did he have the love of the game or not really?

00:23:39.440 He loved the game.

00:23:40.080 He loved the game as well.

00:23:41.060 His whole life.

00:23:41.520 That's what I'm saying.

00:23:42.180 Football was his whole life.

00:23:43.140 The Bears were his whole life.

00:23:44.720 Got it.

00:23:44.920 I mean, that's all he cared about.

00:23:47.680 I mean, sure, he had, he became a successful man in business too,

00:23:51.760 but he really cared about football and Bears.

00:23:53.480 That's good to hear.

00:23:54.340 That's good to hear.

00:23:55.200 Buddy Ryan, how was, what was Buddy Ryan's strength?

00:23:57.280 Buddy Ryan was a great coach.

00:23:59.560 His strength was he did it his way.

00:24:01.260 He figured out a long time ago if he could bring more people than you could block,

00:24:08.300 you were going to have a problem.

00:24:09.340 If he could bring more people than you block.

00:24:11.940 So, he's purely blitz all the time.

00:24:14.860 Exactly.

00:24:15.560 He blitzed a lot.

00:24:16.400 Now, he played a defense called the 54 defense.

00:24:19.200 People don't know what it is.

00:24:20.400 You couldn't play it today because what would happen if you played today?

00:24:23.120 They'd spread you out and they'd really screw you up.

00:24:25.280 But everybody thought when you played Buddy's defense, the key thing was to protect,

00:24:31.620 which it was.

00:24:32.480 You had to protect the quarterback, so they would bunch everybody up.

00:24:36.040 That's what he wanted.

00:24:37.280 So, the only way you could do it was to spread them out.

00:24:39.480 Now, you would know who was going to.

00:24:40.860 So, now you'd end up with a linebacker coming to slot receiver.

00:24:44.180 Now, you got the advantage.

00:24:45.580 But the ball's got to come out quick.

00:24:47.420 There's no question about it.

00:24:48.500 So, Buddy's really changed.

00:24:49.780 I think it really changed the way offenses were played because people didn't no longer

00:24:54.860 bunch them up.

00:24:55.820 We found that out.

00:24:56.640 We went down.

00:24:57.200 We played Miami.

00:24:58.520 And Coach Shula.

00:24:59.200 And the first thing they did, they went to a three-receiver set on us.

00:25:02.420 And I think it was Nat Moore was in the slot.

00:25:04.760 And we got a linebacker covering.

00:25:06.640 Hello.

00:25:07.480 That doesn't work.

00:25:08.840 So, they beat us that night.

00:25:10.760 The evolution of the game, things changed.

00:25:13.360 Buddy's defense was fantastic.

00:25:15.820 If you thought you had to keep everybody in and block it, you couldn't.

00:25:19.480 You had to spread it out.

00:25:21.120 Now, you're going to get mismatches in the coverage.

00:25:25.140 And that's the only way you could beat it.

00:25:28.420 Was that the conflict that you guys were at?

00:25:30.220 Was that maybe?

00:25:31.260 We had no conflict.

00:25:32.360 That was all overdrawn.

00:25:33.700 I mean, when Buddy wanted to go, he thought he should have been the head coach of the Bears

00:25:38.000 when I was hired.

00:25:39.420 That's no problem.

00:25:40.180 Let me ask you this.

00:25:40.720 Do you think you and him could have coexisted for many years?

00:25:42.860 I could have coexisted, yeah.

00:25:44.280 I could have.

00:25:44.880 I think he could have, too, yeah.

00:25:46.640 But I think it was time.

00:25:47.940 He wanted to be a head coach.

00:25:49.720 And I think he wanted to do things his way.

00:25:52.620 And, you know, he had an opportunity in Philadelphia.

00:25:54.840 You know, it's interesting.

00:25:55.620 Last year, I took 80 of our executives to New York.

00:26:00.640 And we rented out the entire Ohika Castle.

00:26:02.540 It's a nice place.

00:26:03.400 We rented out the entire place, the 32 bedrooms.

00:26:05.760 And I had all our guys sit there in a room.

00:26:08.680 And we watched the 85 Bears together.

00:26:11.220 And we talked about it for three hours.

00:26:12.900 Because there's so much to learn from that season.

00:26:15.780 There is so many different elements on leadership, on unifying, on overcoming personalities,

00:26:21.220 on overcoming challenges, on understanding the bigger picture,

00:26:24.400 on realizing somebody needs to rise up in the locker room, be a flag carrier.

00:26:27.620 Well, you know, people don't understand the football team.

00:26:30.880 As great as our defense was, our offense controlled the ball.

00:26:35.340 Time of possession.

00:26:36.280 We led the league in time of possession.

00:26:37.820 We led the league in first downs.

00:26:39.420 Now, you say, well, that doesn't.

00:26:41.280 And we led the league in scoring, too.

00:26:42.980 But that was a lot of that was because of where the defense got us the football.

00:26:46.100 There's no question about that.

00:26:47.520 But you've got to complement one with the other.

00:26:49.400 And the same with special teams.

00:26:50.800 If you have a great defense and offense and your special teams stink, you're going to get in trouble.

00:26:54.640 You may not lose all the games, but you're going to lose the majority of them coming to the special teams.

00:26:58.860 So, you know, we wouldn't have won without Buddy.

00:27:01.400 There's no question about that.

00:27:02.800 Our defense was the reason we won.

00:27:04.860 But our offense did a pretty good job.

00:27:06.800 Did you watch the documentary?

00:27:08.060 Or, like, do you sit there and ever watch it again?

00:27:09.500 Or no, you don't watch it yourself?

00:27:11.080 No, I didn't watch it.

00:27:12.800 You know.

00:27:14.080 You really, you haven't watched it?

00:27:15.980 I don't think I've ever seen it.

00:27:17.100 But that's the past.

00:27:18.380 You know, we have a hard time dealing with the day-to-day things we deal with every day.

00:27:22.260 But that's the past.

00:27:23.420 And, boy, it was wonderful.

00:27:25.120 Man, I'm so grateful for it.

00:27:26.680 I mean, I couldn't be more grateful to the league and the Bears and the whole thing.

00:27:32.060 But that's my past now.

00:27:33.860 I'm no longer a part of that.

00:27:35.220 I mean, and I enjoy watching the NFL and the Bears.

00:27:39.140 And I still pull forever.

00:27:40.700 But, you know, it's not the same.

00:27:42.380 You know, I guess I'll grow it.

00:27:45.820 Well, I tell you, as a fan, you know, and I'm not even a Bears fan.

00:27:48.880 But as a fan, kind of seeing, I'm not.

00:27:51.360 I'm an L.A. guy.

00:27:53.180 So, as a fan, watching you guys coming up.

00:27:56.560 They don't have football in L.A.

00:27:57.140 They have something.

00:27:58.500 They gave up a good player to you guys.

00:28:00.340 You stole them from us, right?

00:28:02.240 Who?

00:28:02.660 Who else?

00:28:04.900 Defense on Chicago Bears.

00:28:06.400 You know who he is.

00:28:07.280 Khalil.

00:28:07.880 Oh, Mac?

00:28:08.580 Mac, yeah.

00:28:09.300 Of course he's a heck of a football player.

00:28:11.040 He's a great football player.

00:28:11.760 Well, you think Gruden did a right job giving it up?

00:28:13.480 Or you think he had a choice?

00:28:14.260 Here, here, here, here.

00:28:15.640 But what is the reason?

00:28:17.340 I mean, one man can't make a football team, but he can make the players around him a hell

00:28:21.620 of a lot better.

00:28:22.220 He's a special one.

00:28:23.120 I know.

00:28:24.020 That's a once in a lifetime.

00:28:25.200 I agree.

00:28:25.540 I agree with you.

00:28:26.680 But, you know, if you're going to play against, and I agreed.

00:28:30.620 You know, when the Bears got him, I said, boy, that's a lot to give up.

00:28:33.560 I watched him play.

00:28:35.380 He makes everybody better.

00:28:37.580 That's what I'm saying.

00:28:38.640 You don't find too many people to do that.

00:28:40.200 So why would you give him up?

00:28:41.400 Do you know anything we don't know?

00:28:42.860 Like, is there anything you know that we don't know?

00:28:44.480 Is it everything that we've read ourselves?

00:28:45.760 Because that's, that's, that's a guy that you can keep in 10 years.

00:28:49.040 The only thing I could think is money, and the money, it's not the coach's money anyway.

00:28:53.680 It's the only money, so why worry about it?

00:28:55.440 We lost a guy that could potentially end up being loved and adored by Chicago.

00:28:59.980 Who he is?

00:29:00.440 This guy's, if he stays here five, six, seven years, he has a healthy career, this guy

00:29:05.140 can have a very nice status in this city with his career.

00:29:08.220 If I was him, I would want to be in this city for my whole career and make it my home

00:29:12.820 and do all the right things, and I think he will.

00:29:15.180 So 85, when you were, you know, when you guys did what you did and you were crushing it,

00:29:18.400 you're the face of Chicago, would you go watch Chicago Bulls games?

00:29:21.200 Were you following also what Jordan was doing?

00:29:22.820 Were you kind of seeing his stuff or not really?

00:29:24.600 It was just more, you were?

00:29:26.160 Yeah, I, when I, when I started out in Chicago and I came here in 61, I knew crap about this

00:29:31.880 and that, but I had a friend who was a great hockey fan, so I became a very big Chicago

00:29:37.360 Blackhawks fan, and a hockey fan, period, and he used to have, his seats were right behind

00:29:42.520 the Hawks net.

00:29:43.420 Now, people say, well, that's not a good seat.

00:29:45.500 Well, when you sat there, you know, the players come up and they hit the glass with the, with

00:29:49.420 the stick, all of them, you know, Makita Hall, all the guys, they were just, they were all

00:29:53.380 good friends.

00:29:54.300 We'd go, you know, and after, nobody, nobody, and I'm not saying this out of school, in

00:29:58.840 those days, nobody drank beer like hockey players, because they'd be hydrated so much

00:30:03.560 on the ice.

00:30:04.700 So we'd go out, we'd have a few beers afterward, and it was just fun.

00:30:09.360 And I really enjoyed being around those guys, because, you know, it wasn't the most heralded

00:30:15.360 sport at that time.

00:30:16.280 But those guys, it's so hard to do what they do on the ice.

00:30:19.920 You know, they're on skates, first of all, and then to put out the effort they put out,

00:30:25.760 and the conditions you may have to be in to do it, unbelievable.

00:30:28.480 So 87th season starts.

00:30:30.540 I think this is the season of strike.

00:30:31.900 You come out, you beat the Giants, I think, 34-10, some number like that.

00:30:35.080 And then you go against Tampa Bay, you beat them 21-10.

00:30:37.900 You're 2-0, and then boom, strike takes place, right?

00:30:40.640 And then there's all this controversy, you know, I like the new players, forget the names,

00:30:45.080 it's the same guys.

00:30:46.020 These guys fight, I like these guys.

00:30:48.080 You're not a union guy, okay, so.

00:30:50.100 I screw up.

00:30:50.960 Yeah, no, but that's not the question I'm asking.

00:30:52.700 But the part I'm trying to say, so that's what happened then, right?

00:30:55.740 Today, similar things are happening today in the NFL.

00:30:58.640 These guys may be going through that again, right, with the game.

00:31:02.500 They may go through it on collective bargain agreement.

00:31:04.860 What advice do you have, you know, for today?

00:31:07.100 If NFL is watching right now saying, hey, the players are watching right,

00:31:09.340 the coaches, owners, GMs, all these guys,

00:31:11.500 what can you see them not doing that the mistakes that was made during that time

00:31:15.020 for them to prevent happening?

00:31:16.260 Well, I think the game, it means so much to so many people.

00:31:19.940 I mean, so many people get so much out of the game.

00:31:22.820 Including the fans.

00:31:24.020 I mean, you think about the vendors.

00:31:25.520 I mean, what a game on Sunday generates to a community.

00:31:30.240 It would be, to me, it would be silly to strike over.

00:31:33.940 But I don't know what reason it would be.

00:31:36.400 I don't think it would be the money.

00:31:37.900 I don't know what it could be.

00:31:38.980 I mean, they make a lot of money.

00:31:41.220 I mean, I don't know.

00:31:42.180 Everybody can't make the most.

00:31:44.340 But, you know, everybody does pretty good in football.

00:31:46.620 They make a lot of money.

00:31:48.600 It's a great game.

00:31:49.600 I mean, they've got the adoration of the fans.

00:31:52.440 I mean, TV.

00:31:53.740 I mean, it's, you know, there's so much good about it.

00:31:57.000 I just, to me, if I was a player today, and I'm saying this,

00:32:01.300 I don't know because I probably would not do it,

00:32:04.320 but I would play the game as hard as I could, enjoy it,

00:32:07.600 and I look forward to when the hell I got out of it.

00:32:10.080 And I hope I got out one piece.

00:32:11.640 What was the reason for the strike in 87?

00:32:13.200 Like, what caused it?

00:32:14.880 I didn't think it was money, wasn't it?

00:32:17.480 They wanted the bigger cut of the thing.

00:32:19.980 I think it came down to that.

00:32:21.520 I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.

00:32:22.960 Whose side can I be on?

00:32:23.900 I'm on the player's side.

00:32:25.900 But, you know, come on.

00:32:28.940 You know, I told you what I made playing football,

00:32:32.700 so a lot of that I don't understand.

00:32:35.200 I mean, if you weren't playing football,

00:32:37.480 you could not even approach this type of salary.

00:32:40.480 I don't know, you know.

00:32:41.760 When you look at both sides of it,

00:32:43.040 I probably could have done a better job of defending the players than I did.

00:32:46.880 But, you know, hey, I said when we had, what did we have?

00:32:52.960 It was makeshift players.

00:32:54.500 And I said, I'll coach whoever we have, and we'll play, and we'll see what happens.

00:32:57.540 And they played hard for you.

00:32:58.540 Well, here's what happened, too.

00:32:59.700 And we won a couple games that really made us get in the playoffs that year

00:33:03.840 because of what the, whatever they called those players, did.

00:33:07.660 They did a good job.

00:33:09.680 And a couple of them stuck with us, too.

00:33:11.720 They played special teams, stuck with us.

00:33:13.900 So, I mean, you know, there's no right and wrong in this, guys.

00:33:17.680 You know, if we could, we had a perfect way to do it,

00:33:19.900 sure, I'd do it different or think different.

00:33:21.880 I don't know.

00:33:22.760 I really don't.

00:33:23.320 And at that time, you know, I felt like,

00:33:27.540 how the hell can you not want to, you know, play football?

00:33:30.560 You know, and, I mean, I understood maybe there can't be that big a discrepancy in salaries.

00:33:36.800 Those guys are all making good money.

00:33:38.500 And that's the only thing that bothered me.

00:33:40.460 Would you say 85 was the best moment for you when you guys won it as a head coach

00:33:43.920 or more as a player?

00:33:46.360 63 or 85, both of them you're winning.

00:33:48.560 Which one was, was it different?

00:33:49.720 Was it, was one better than the other?

00:33:51.480 I think, you know, as a player, it's kind of an individual thing.

00:33:55.020 But when you do it as a coach, it's an organizational thing.

00:33:58.060 And I think that's what I was so proud of, most of all, the organization and everybody.

00:34:02.600 I mean, to see the pride that was, you know, when you went in there

00:34:06.260 and I listened to the receptionist, the halo, this is a, you know,

00:34:09.740 the Chicago Bears world champ, you know.

00:34:12.520 There's so much pride involved with that.

00:34:14.640 And, you know, I thought we brought a lot of pride to Chicago,

00:34:18.320 and I'm proud of that, you know.

00:34:19.540 The same thing the Cubs do, you know, the Sox.

00:34:21.960 I mean, the Cubs, you know, the Cubs, I mean, my goodness, it's still,

00:34:26.040 you know, it's still, it's crazy right now.

00:34:28.960 I mean, I'm biting my nails for Joe, but it'll be good.

00:34:32.840 It'll be good.

00:34:33.560 I hope so.

00:34:34.300 It'll be good.

00:34:34.780 It'll be interesting if the Bears make a run.

00:34:37.220 You know, right now, I think you're what, you're 2-1?

00:34:39.280 Yeah.

00:34:39.680 And they're having some good talks about what's going on there.

00:34:42.560 But, you know, going back to the football side right now,

00:34:45.580 obviously you're hearing about what's going on with Kaepernick.

00:34:49.160 And so when the Kaepernick situation took place,

00:34:52.100 before I talk about the Nike thing to see what you think about that,

00:34:54.560 the question I want to ask you from is this.

00:34:56.560 Kaepernick kneels.

00:34:57.560 I'm not going to ask you whether you agree or not,

00:34:59.100 because you've already said publicly what do you think about that.

00:35:01.380 Say you're his coach and you're the owner, okay?

00:35:04.720 He kneels.

00:35:05.600 First time he does that.

00:35:07.840 What are you doing that night?

00:35:09.320 What are you doing that Monday?

00:35:10.860 Are you speaking to the owner?

00:35:12.120 What should have the coaches and the team done from the 49ers standpoint?

00:35:15.960 Well, I would ask, I would speak to him, first of all.

00:35:18.640 Coach, player.

00:35:19.840 To the player.

00:35:20.600 Okay.

00:35:22.040 And I say, why?

00:35:24.860 Why?

00:35:25.300 This is the only country in the world that the sport has played.

00:35:29.100 I mean, are you mad at the country?

00:35:31.540 Are you mad at the flag?

00:35:32.720 Who the hell are you mad at?

00:35:33.860 Just tell me who you're mad at.

00:35:36.200 Are there inequities?

00:35:36.680 So he tells you, Kyle.

00:35:37.400 Are there inequities?

00:35:38.400 Yeah.

00:35:39.100 Sure, there might be inequities, but not very many.

00:35:41.720 So, what is he mad at who, the police?

00:35:44.660 I mean, I don't know what you're talking about.

00:35:46.900 We're a country of law and order.

00:35:48.260 We always should be and always will be, I hope.

00:35:50.380 I'm not saying that what he did is right, wrong.

00:35:52.960 I think there's a better way to express yourself.

00:35:55.780 I think you let down your organization and let down your teammates.

00:35:59.440 That's what I think.

00:36:00.640 So, you know.

00:36:01.040 I think a lot is being put on him because he's a 23-year-old guy, okay, so he sees social

00:36:07.540 media to take advantage of it.

00:36:08.840 So, you're saying if you were the coach, you'd have a one-on-one.

00:36:11.960 What do you think the owners, how much involvement in a situation like this should an owner take

00:36:16.320 or should they at all?

00:36:17.720 So, as an owner, would the owner typically, because I don't know what it is.

00:36:20.160 You've been a coach before.

00:36:21.020 You talk to the owner.

00:36:21.820 Do you say, hey, Halas, hey, you know, this is what we're doing.

00:36:25.400 Does he say?

00:36:26.080 Halas wouldn't have taken it at all.

00:36:27.320 From him?

00:36:27.960 No.

00:36:28.400 But I know it's a different legal planet today.

00:36:30.140 He's been out of Dodge.

00:36:30.800 You know, today's all about corporate social responsibility.

00:36:33.260 I understand.

00:36:33.860 You're asking me about Halas.

00:36:35.120 The guy would be out of Dodge.

00:36:36.360 Oh, seriously?

00:36:36.960 Seriously.

00:36:37.480 Seriously?

00:36:37.800 Out of Dodge, yes.

00:36:38.420 Would you say that would be the case with most owners during the 80s?

00:36:42.040 I think that would be true.

00:36:43.440 Interesting.

00:36:43.720 I really do.

00:36:44.080 I really do.

00:36:44.940 I don't know that I can say that.

00:36:47.060 He's going to speak for everybody.

00:36:47.960 With Coach Halas, I've said that.

00:36:49.240 He would be out of Dodge.

00:36:50.180 He would be on.

00:36:51.560 And then that's just him.

00:36:53.040 It didn't make him right or wrong.

00:36:54.400 It just, that's the way he, you know, listen.

00:36:57.500 There's got to be a, you know, there's got to be a loyal to, if you have a job and somebody

00:37:02.580 hires you to do that job, there's got to be a certain amount of loyalty to those people

00:37:06.040 who hire you and the league.

00:37:08.880 I mean, if, I mean, what's his loyalty then?

00:37:12.340 Where's it to?

00:37:13.980 I mean, he said it wasn't to the country.

00:37:16.600 So what the hell was it to?

00:37:18.600 I don't know.

00:37:19.520 So, you know, I don't have an answer for it.

00:37:22.060 But I don't agree with it.

00:37:24.280 All I'm, all I'm trying to figure out is here's how I'm processing it.

00:37:27.240 I'm processing it, saying, okay, say he did what he did.

00:37:29.940 But the people in leadership positions, why didn't they take the lead?

00:37:33.480 Okay.

00:37:34.120 So say you have a one-on-one conversation with him.

00:37:36.260 Public opinion.

00:37:37.060 They're afraid of it.

00:37:38.160 That's a problem.

00:37:39.220 Exactly.

00:37:39.860 That's a problem, though.

00:37:40.660 I mean, that's their problem.

00:37:42.180 Okay, so go to the other one, Godel.

00:37:44.420 Could Roger, Roger Godel have done it in a different way?

00:37:46.680 Should he have handled it in a different way?

00:37:47.880 What is the involvement of a guy like him?

00:37:49.520 He gets paid $200 million over five years.

00:37:52.060 Private jet, he gets all this other stuff, right?

00:37:53.900 He's getting paid to do that.

00:37:55.500 What is his role?

00:37:56.700 Could he have prevented this thing to become what it is today?

00:38:00.660 Well, I don't know.

00:38:01.620 What would he have done?

00:38:03.020 I mean, you're talking in the Kaepernick case?

00:38:05.540 I'm talking about what if Roger calls Kaepernick and says, bring him in, and they sit down

00:38:11.100 and say, what's your frustration?

00:38:12.120 What are you doing about it?

00:38:12.780 And then, hey, if this is what it is as a corporate social responsibility, why don't

00:38:16.540 we make a statement that we're all aligned on the same page?

00:38:18.720 That's the part I see with Roger, because he thought for himself, at least my processing

00:38:22.320 from the outside, you know what?

00:38:23.940 I think this is going to be done.

00:38:24.940 We're going to get over it in six months.

00:38:26.060 No one's even going to think about it.

00:38:27.140 But that's not what happened.

00:38:28.160 So it got bigger and bigger and bigger.

00:38:29.420 So could Roger have gotten involved earlier and had a conversation with the management

00:38:34.200 team and the ownership team and himself to see what he's frustrated about, and then talk

00:38:38.140 to the other guys, Troy Vincent, maybe we can figure something out, and that wasn't done?

00:38:41.700 Yeah.

00:38:42.180 You know, in retrospect, say, yeah, I probably could have, but I don't know that.

00:38:46.080 I really, you know, it's hard to me to be sympathetic for not appreciating the opportunities

00:38:54.400 you have as a professional athlete.

00:38:56.200 I just think it's special.

00:38:58.360 I mean, you're gifted, first of all, by having the size and the body and the mind to be able

00:39:03.420 to do that stuff.

00:39:04.980 And then, I don't know.

00:39:07.020 But somebody has to tell me, what are you protesting?

00:39:09.160 I don't know.

00:39:09.660 I still haven't heard that.

00:39:10.860 Nobody told me what he's protesting.

00:39:12.540 What?

00:39:14.120 I don't know.

00:39:19.340 Just tell me what you're protesting.

00:39:20.800 Then I have a better chance of understanding the flag.

00:39:26.760 The only country that supports playing in is here.

00:39:30.160 I mean, you know, is it perfect?

00:39:33.400 No, but it beats the hell out of about 99.9% of the other ones that aren't, you know.

00:39:38.440 So, I don't have an answer for it.

00:39:40.780 I'm just saying, I think there's a better way to do it than what he did.

00:39:44.900 I don't know.

00:39:46.260 Yeah, the only reason I ask is because I don't think it's going to stop.

00:39:49.280 I think this is, I think Kaepernick's going to be the beginning of many of these other

00:39:53.660 issues that's going to happen as well because of social media.

00:39:56.460 You know, the game is a different game today than back then.

00:39:59.120 Back then, Michael Jordan, they asked him, they said, so, you know, who are your customers,

00:40:02.900 Republicans or Democrats?

00:40:04.040 He says, both of them.

00:40:04.820 I'm not going to take a position politically because I'm going to have both.

00:40:07.780 But today, LeBron takes a position because of social media.

00:40:10.660 Yeah, it's almost as if the social media is pressuring players to take positions today

00:40:16.240 while back then it wasn't as critical because you guys would just play, come down, you would

00:40:20.840 do your press conference, you're gone, you go home to your family.

00:40:22.880 You wouldn't be tweeting all night and people wondering what you're thinking about.

00:40:25.560 Your thoughts would stay with you.

00:40:27.640 Yeah, you're right.

00:40:28.500 I mean, that, you know, you make a good point there, you know, when you, I don't have an answer

00:40:34.560 for it.

00:40:34.920 I really don't.

00:40:35.580 But it's, I guess the point I'm trying to make is,

00:40:40.660 football would have been exciting when Twitter was around if you were playing.

00:40:44.100 Because you would be on Twitter saying stuff.

00:40:47.020 No, I wouldn't.

00:40:47.720 I don't know how to do that.

00:40:48.700 But I'm saying, let's just say Twitter was around and you got a 28-year-old Mike Ditka,

00:40:53.240 you know, what would you be saying?

00:40:54.960 I can't believe Halas, you know, what would an emotional person like you, so maybe somebody

00:40:59.940 from their generation may be saying, well, how do you know how he's going to handle it?

00:41:03.660 He didn't know how Twitter was.

00:41:05.280 You know, like even husband and wife fights nowadays, right?

00:41:08.100 Before you got into a fight with your wife, you're leaving work.

00:41:10.660 You know what?

00:41:11.340 You're working late again.

00:41:12.160 I can't believe this, this, this, this, this, this.

00:41:14.180 Click.

00:41:14.960 You got a 40-minute drive home.

00:41:16.620 Today, click, the entire drive is text, text, text, text, text, text.

00:41:20.480 So everything I want to tell you, I've already told you on text.

00:41:22.940 Rather, before, by the time I come home, I'm over it.

00:41:25.340 I've had a drink, I'm calm.

00:41:26.500 Maybe it's going to change it.

00:41:27.280 I don't know how much of an effect social media is having in what we're facing today.

00:41:31.020 Well, can I tell you something?

00:41:32.640 I'd love to hear.

00:41:33.360 It has no effect in my life, because I don't pay attention to one bit of it.

00:41:37.160 I'm not on social media.

00:41:38.500 Zero.

00:41:39.280 Well, I mean, what do you mean, texting?

00:41:41.580 No, no, not texting.

00:41:42.760 Twitter, Facebook.

00:41:43.760 No, I'm not on that.

00:41:45.260 No interest.

00:41:46.400 No.

00:41:46.660 What do you think about the guy that we call the Commander-in-Chief of America, who is

00:41:51.220 a master Twitter guy, you know, and he communicates the way he does it.

00:41:55.480 That's his prongative.

00:41:56.240 I'm not.

00:41:58.160 I would choose to communicate with anybody, person to person.

00:42:03.620 You want to know my opinion, ask me, and I'll tell you.

00:42:06.040 Yeah.

00:42:06.440 But I don't know.

00:42:06.900 I want to put it out there for the world to see.

00:42:08.680 Because, you know, I don't think, first of all, I don't think my opinion is that important.

00:42:12.800 You know, but I have one.

00:42:13.740 I mean, you know, opinion is like noses.

00:42:15.360 We all have one, you know.

00:42:16.280 But some of them run more than others, that's all.

00:42:18.420 I saw your wife saying in an interview, she said, you know, Mike says yes to everybody.

00:42:23.720 You know, yes, let's sit down and talk.

00:42:26.780 Yes, you know, at that time when you were coming up, you were wanting to help out a lot of people.

00:42:30.440 So business-wise, you were coming up.

00:42:31.880 And then some advisors were saying, well, you know, you may want to say no, you know, to

00:42:36.120 what you're saying.

00:42:36.600 I'm just wondering.

00:42:37.360 I'm thinking, knowing the way you're wired, how would a Coach Ditka be with social media?

00:42:42.420 Would it be any different?

00:42:43.500 I guess we'll never know.

00:42:44.640 You know, I guess we'll never know.

00:42:45.700 No, I don't want to get involved.

00:42:47.220 I mean, I'm not criticizing the people with social media.

00:42:50.180 They want to do whatever they want to do.

00:42:52.480 But I mean, I thought there was a thing that, you know, your life was your own.

00:42:56.040 Why wouldn't you want to keep it private?

00:42:57.840 I mean, why does everybody have to know what you're...

00:43:00.100 And to me, that's about ego.

00:43:02.140 Do you want people to know, wow, I've done this and I...

00:43:04.580 Who the hell cares?

00:43:06.320 I don't.

00:43:07.240 Maybe they do, but I don't.

00:43:08.420 Today, today's a different time.

00:43:10.860 Today, everybody wants to know what you're thinking about.

00:43:14.420 So, 04, here's a question for you for 04.

00:43:16.720 I think 04, yeah, obviously the city loves you.

00:43:19.820 They've called you a lot of different names, but they loved you and they wanted you to run

00:43:23.860 for mayor one time and I think 04, there were some rumors about you running for Senate.

00:43:28.500 Did you like, did you ever have aspirations for...

00:43:30.900 No.

00:43:30.960 Oh, never.

00:43:31.520 So, you know, so this is what people said, but you never wanted to run at all.

00:43:34.220 No, no, they tried to, they brought it up, run for Senate against Barack Obama.

00:43:41.080 And I said, no, I have no desire to.

00:43:42.920 And I never really thought about it.

00:43:45.060 And I don't.

00:43:45.820 I mean, I'm not a politician.

00:43:47.180 I don't profess to be.

00:43:48.380 But I do profess to be a great American and I believe in this country.

00:43:52.800 Is it perfect?

00:43:53.620 Nope.

00:43:54.340 But I tell you what, it's a hell of a lot better than anything else I've seen.

00:43:57.940 I'm somebody that agrees with that side myself.

00:44:00.240 This is, we're here now from Iran and I'm a diehard fan of what this country offers and

00:44:05.120 I speak about it all the time.

00:44:06.260 But asking you, what do you think makes this country as special as it does?

00:44:10.660 Well, I think, first of all, opportunity.

00:44:12.360 I don't care who you are, where you come from, nationality, color, creed.

00:44:16.400 You have a chance to attain the highest office in the country.

00:44:20.440 You can grow to anything.

00:44:21.700 You can be anything you want to be.

00:44:23.400 You can, you look at the athletes coming in, the baseball players, the Hispanic baseball

00:44:28.420 players, the African-Americans, whites.

00:44:31.120 I mean, these kids, I don't think they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

00:44:36.840 I mean, they worked hard.

00:44:38.100 They were born in the ghettos of New York and Boston, Chicago, and they've risen up.

00:44:43.700 You know, I'm amazed.

00:44:45.340 I played a lot of baseball as a kid and growing up and thought I was a pretty good baseball

00:44:49.800 player at one time.

00:44:51.560 To watch these guys play that sport right now, wow.

00:44:56.160 Wow.

00:44:56.700 Are they good.

00:44:57.520 Are they good.

00:44:58.880 And I, you know, my all-time hero, Stan Musial, one of the greatest players that ever played

00:45:04.660 a game with the Cardinals.

00:45:05.840 It was my childhood hero.

00:45:07.220 So, and there's 200 Stan Musials now.

00:45:11.760 Honestly.

00:45:12.380 I mean, not as a person.

00:45:14.160 There'll never be a Stan Musial as a person.

00:45:16.280 But I mean, the way they hit and do things.

00:45:18.140 It's amazing to watch these guys.

00:45:20.100 And when the bat swings, I mean, it doesn't look like you're swinging hard.

00:45:24.400 That ball goes a heck of a long way.

00:45:26.880 So, I really enjoy watching baseball.

00:45:29.120 I'm going to go home and watch the Cubs, too.

00:45:30.720 You really enjoy watching baseball?

00:45:32.020 I do.

00:45:32.500 Okay.

00:45:32.700 But I watch all sports.

00:45:34.780 Got it.

00:45:35.020 I watch all sports.

00:45:35.880 I mean, if tennis was on, I watch that.

00:45:37.720 Ryder Cup, I love golf.

00:45:39.000 I love to watch that.

00:45:40.040 And you got countries, you know, Europe and the U.S.

00:45:42.620 I mean, it's a great competition.

00:45:44.700 But still, the thing is, it's an individual competition, but it's a team competition.

00:45:48.600 I kind of like that.

00:45:49.500 Jerry West says he has a hard time watching basketball.

00:45:52.680 Because Jerry West, you know, the logo of the NBA, he has a hard time watching basketball

00:45:55.380 because he sees it from the eyes of the game, like a perfect game.

00:45:58.660 Like, oh my gosh, you missed the screen.

00:46:00.020 You missed this.

00:46:00.420 Because when you watch football, are you super critical of seeing things that you would have

00:46:04.600 done differently?

00:46:05.520 No.

00:46:06.000 Or is it easy for you to watch it and enjoy the game?

00:46:08.060 I'm not critical.

00:46:08.920 I just don't like the behavior of some players who act like fools.

00:46:13.280 But other than that, nothing bothers me.

00:46:15.400 I mean, you call a play with the idea it's going to work.

00:46:17.820 Some of them don't work.

00:46:18.580 Some of them do work.

00:46:19.640 And you call it for a reason.

00:46:21.280 But I got to tell you one story now.

00:46:23.020 You didn't know this, and probably a lot of people don't.

00:46:25.620 But you should know this.

00:46:26.880 But when I was a sophomore at Pitt, I played baseball, football, and basketball.

00:46:33.840 And I played basketball for Pitt.

00:46:36.080 And we played at West Virginia my sophomore year.

00:46:39.380 And we had two kids on the team from Kentucky.

00:46:42.340 They were pretty good players, but they both fouled out.

00:46:44.780 So I went in late in the second quarter, and I had a guard, a guy named Jerry West.

00:46:49.780 Come on.

00:46:50.560 They asked him years later if he remembered it.

00:46:54.540 He said, yeah.

00:46:55.120 He said, I was afraid I wouldn't have a pro career one.

00:46:57.300 That guy went down.

00:46:59.980 He was so good, it was scary.

00:47:01.780 I mean, hey, I'm a football player.

00:47:03.560 I'm not a man.

00:47:04.160 Well, I would, you know.

00:47:05.560 But anyways, it was interesting.

00:47:08.440 That was my claim to fame.

00:47:10.240 I guarded Jerry West for two minutes, four fouls, and probably about ten points.

00:47:16.180 Wow.

00:47:16.640 He figured it out.

00:47:17.260 Wow.

00:47:18.000 Wow.

00:47:18.960 In your opinion, who's the greatest quarterback of all time?

00:47:21.460 There is no such thing.

00:47:22.900 Really?

00:47:23.400 Yeah.

00:47:23.780 So you don't even think, sit there and say greatest quarterback of all time?

00:47:26.800 What these guys are doing today is incredible.

00:47:29.580 But Johnny Knights was pretty good.

00:47:31.440 You cannot tell me there's a greatest quarterback of all time.

00:47:32.860 Dan Reno was pretty good.

00:47:34.260 Tom Brady's pretty good.

00:47:35.740 But who's the greatest?

00:47:36.460 A big difference.

00:47:37.040 I don't know.

00:47:37.780 There is no such thing.

00:47:38.660 Do you do anything with baseball on that, or not at all?

00:47:42.140 Right?

00:47:42.320 The best center fielder.

00:47:43.220 You're not going to say Willie Mays or Griffey?

00:47:45.140 I mean, you say best left fielder.

00:47:46.920 You're not going to say Bonds on the left field?

00:47:48.740 First baseman?

00:47:49.400 You're not going to pick a name for first base or pitcher?

00:47:52.080 Maybe Ryan or Randy or Clemens?

00:47:54.240 I'm probably not that good a baseball fan to be able to do that.

00:47:57.940 But I would say Willie Mays for sure.

00:48:01.380 Let me ask you in a different way.

00:48:02.320 You're putting a football team together.

00:48:03.820 I'm going to give you positions.

00:48:04.980 You pick the players.

00:48:05.960 It's not even the greatest.

00:48:07.260 Quarterback.

00:48:07.660 Who's your quarterback?

00:48:08.380 Pick your quarterback.

00:48:09.340 Well, I think that depends.

00:48:11.060 I mean, there's so many good ones out there.

00:48:12.620 Give me one.

00:48:13.140 You got it.

00:48:14.060 This is your draft pick.

00:48:15.400 Okay?

00:48:16.040 We're playing draft pick.

00:48:17.080 You have first pick.

00:48:18.160 Quarterback.

00:48:18.640 You need a quarterback.

00:48:19.400 Who are you taking?

00:48:20.260 Do they have to be playing right now?

00:48:21.800 No.

00:48:22.220 It can be in the past.

00:48:23.060 I'd take Peyton Manning.

00:48:25.040 Wow.

00:48:25.600 Okay.

00:48:26.600 Running back.

00:48:27.320 Who would you take?

00:48:28.080 Otto Peyton.

00:48:29.340 Hands down.

00:48:30.180 Without a question.

00:48:31.000 Without a question.

00:48:32.240 Tight end.

00:48:33.140 Well, there's a lot of them, but I'd probably take John Mackey.

00:48:35.980 Old school.

00:48:36.880 Yeah.

00:48:37.520 Unbelievable.

00:48:38.120 Receiver.

00:48:38.900 Well, I played with a guy, Johnny Morse, who caught 93 passes way back.

00:48:43.760 The one you did 70, right?

00:48:45.060 Yeah.

00:48:45.580 Yeah.

00:48:46.100 So, I mean, he was pretty good.

00:48:48.300 I mean, but, I mean, there's so many good receivers.

00:48:50.400 I mean, I had a kid.

00:48:52.420 I, you know, I had Willie Gall who had speed.

00:48:54.640 I had Dennis McKinnon who was just the toughest guy.

00:48:57.420 I would take Dennis McKinnon.

00:48:59.520 Because I know if I threw the ball in his area, he was going to make every effort to make that catch.

00:49:03.920 And if I said, you know what, you've got to block that safety or that linebacker, he'd go in and block him.

00:49:10.800 Now, receivers don't do that anymore.

00:49:12.820 Come on.

00:49:13.220 They don't do that.

00:49:13.800 That's so true because they're thinking about their money.

00:49:15.040 Yeah, but they've got a no contact contract.

00:49:16.740 That's right.

00:49:17.480 How about a linebacker?

00:49:18.380 Well, there's so many of them.

00:49:19.620 You know, I played with Butkus, and I don't know that anybody played the middle linebacker position much better.

00:49:25.360 But I played against Nitschke all those years.

00:49:28.340 He was fantastic.

00:49:30.020 I had Singletary.

00:49:31.160 He was kind of a cerebral combination of those guys.

00:49:37.660 I, you know, I don't know.

00:49:40.580 I mean, I named three of them there, but I'm forgetting people.

00:49:43.660 You know, I go back.

00:49:45.640 You know, I played against Chuck Bednarik.

00:49:47.060 Come on.

00:49:47.460 You know, that's how far back I go.

00:49:48.940 So there were a lot of them that could really play the game and play the position.

00:49:52.640 But, well, because Nitschke, because he killed me.

00:49:55.080 He beat me up.

00:49:55.700 But Singletary, because I think Singletary ranks with any of the all-time great football players.

00:50:04.820 He seemed like a leader.

00:50:05.760 He seemed like a guy.

00:50:06.480 He was a leader.

00:50:06.800 He was a captain leading with people and talking to them and calling them plays, calling the shots.

00:50:10.400 And he lived by example, too, not by words.

00:50:12.680 He seems like that guy.

00:50:13.960 He seems like that guy.

00:50:15.160 Coach.

00:50:15.920 If you had to pick one coach.

00:50:17.040 Obviously, you can't pick yourself.

00:50:18.520 So if you had to pick one coach.

00:50:19.520 Oh, I would never pick myself anyways.

00:50:21.560 I mean, I could, well, you know, it would be hard to pick because my whole career was centered around two men.

00:50:28.660 And I would pick those two men, Coach Alice and Coach Landry.

00:50:31.440 So you would stay there.

00:50:32.180 Period.

00:50:32.740 And, I mean, I had two opportunities in life were given me that it was up to me to make them work.

00:50:39.440 First of them was when he drafted me number one, was Coach Alice.

00:50:43.540 And I made that work.

00:50:45.640 And then I got traded away from the Bears because I became a pain in the butt.

00:50:51.720 And I went to Philadelphia for two years, which gave me a lot of humility.

00:50:55.960 And I actually retired from football.

00:50:58.020 I was done.

00:50:59.120 And I got a phone call from Tom Landry.

00:51:01.060 He said he just traded for me.

00:51:03.080 And it changed my life because I went down to Dallas and got in the best shape of my life.

00:51:07.520 And I became the best team football player I ever was in Dallas.

00:51:11.640 Wow.

00:51:12.040 For the team.

00:51:13.540 And I really enjoyed those years.

00:51:15.160 And then he hired me as an assistant coach.

00:51:17.860 So, you know, history's history.

00:51:19.840 I mean, he called me in the day.

00:51:22.360 He said, you know, how do you like this coaching?

00:51:26.480 I said, I like it.

00:51:27.700 I said, I've learned a lot from you and I like it.

00:51:29.780 He said, well, I just had a call from George Alice.

00:51:31.920 And I said, really?

00:51:33.100 He said, I think he wants to hire you to coach the Bears.

00:51:35.960 And I, you know, that was shocking because I never expected that.

00:51:39.840 And I looked at him and I said, do you think I'm ready?

00:51:47.220 And he said, you're ready.

00:51:48.260 Wow.

00:51:48.520 That was it.

00:51:49.020 That was all.

00:51:49.660 Wow.

00:51:50.240 That was simple.

00:51:50.880 So he...

00:51:51.460 He might have wanted to get rid of me.

00:51:52.680 I don't know.

00:51:53.120 So he gave you the blessing.

00:51:55.100 Yeah.

00:51:55.580 But he did.

00:51:56.780 And he's such a magnificent man, really.

00:52:00.760 And I had so many great years in Dallas because of him.

00:52:04.140 And it was very fun.

00:52:05.680 Yeah.

00:52:06.040 And so the press conference, I think it was January 20th, 1982, with you and Hallis.

00:52:11.260 It's a very, very special press conference when you watch it.

00:52:14.240 You can feel the emotions.

00:52:15.920 Like, first of all, your eyes in that press conference, it's fire.

00:52:19.500 You got so much fire behind those eyes.

00:52:22.300 Like, you want to prove a point.

00:52:23.880 This is my city.

00:52:25.180 I'm here.

00:52:25.740 I'm going to come through.

00:52:26.460 It was an opportunity.

00:52:27.000 Yeah.

00:52:27.200 You know, what do you do with the opportunities you have in life?

00:52:29.620 Sometimes we squander them.

00:52:30.700 Sometimes we take advantage of them.

00:52:32.720 But, you know, the things that had to be done, you know, the cover when I came here was not bare.

00:52:38.060 And I've told people, but what it required was putting some other people in the right places.

00:52:42.980 And we did that through the draft.

00:52:44.800 And one, whether people like it or not, was to get a quarterback.

00:52:47.980 And it was McMahon.

00:52:49.340 And a lot of people didn't like it.

00:52:50.880 I liked him.

00:52:51.680 You know why?

00:52:52.320 He was a gamer.

00:52:53.640 He would give you whatever he had.

00:52:55.300 He gave it to you.

00:52:56.420 You know, you may think he was nuts at times, which I did.

00:53:00.140 And he thought I was nuts, too.

00:53:01.400 But he gave you what he had.

00:53:03.700 And he was smart on the football field.

00:53:05.480 He was really a lot smarter than he acted or he let on to be.

00:53:09.800 And he was a leader.

00:53:10.960 And he wanted to win.

00:53:11.880 Like, you got that feeling.

00:53:13.080 He got a different style.

00:53:14.000 Our line loved him.

00:53:15.640 And they did everything they could to protect him.

00:53:17.460 Our line loved him.

00:53:18.480 Those guys loved him.

00:53:19.400 And that's the main thing.

00:53:20.940 If you're a quarterback, your line better love you.

00:53:22.900 Coach, final thoughts here.

00:53:24.360 You've had a lot of different experiences.

00:53:26.320 But you're a guy that's experienced mental toughness, emotional toughness, competitive edge.

00:53:30.120 What will be your final thoughts for somebody that wants to play at the highest level in their league?

00:53:34.580 Well, I would tell anybody, I don't care what you're doing.

00:53:37.900 You're coming out as a youngster and you have ambitions and dreams of being this or that.

00:53:43.460 Set your goals high.

00:53:45.180 But if you do that, be willing to work so hard to reach those goals.

00:53:50.600 It's not going to be easy.

00:53:52.320 You know, whatever your goal, somebody else is going to probably have the same goal.

00:53:56.740 You've got to work hard.

00:53:57.920 You've got to commit yourself to it.

00:53:59.200 And, you know, that means practice, doing the things, staying longer, doing the things that normally when the other guys are gone

00:54:06.820 or maybe they went out to get a beer, you're sticking around and doing it.

00:54:09.760 And that makes a difference.

00:54:11.740 It really does.

00:54:12.700 You know, you look at great baseball players.

00:54:14.640 You think they took the one batting practice?

00:54:16.960 I think they were in there slugging a lot more, you know.

00:54:19.660 And that's what I really believe.

00:54:21.620 And because if you're a good hitter, you like to hit.

00:54:24.180 So you like to be in that bad case.

00:54:26.160 But I just think that the commitment you make to the effort and the effort you put into it are going to be the defining factors of what you achieve.

00:54:36.460 I love that.

00:54:37.200 Well, first of all, I so much enjoyed the time with you.

00:54:40.540 You're kidding me.

00:54:41.040 No, I'm not, man.

00:54:42.040 I really enjoyed it.

00:54:42.800 I'm telling you right now, I enjoyed it.

00:54:43.880 I know your wife is sitting over there as well, watching the interview, making sure the conversations we're having.

00:54:50.040 I enjoyed my time with you.

00:54:51.660 What do you got there?

00:54:52.420 Look at them.

00:54:52.860 This is a Folex.

00:54:53.900 It's a Folex.

00:54:54.860 Some call it a Rolex.

00:54:56.240 But I enjoyed the time with you, really.

00:54:58.880 You know, as a fan, as a kid growing up, I'm telling you, I was a fan.

00:55:03.020 Let's all stay kids and never grow up and just keep enjoying it and look for the good things in life.

00:55:09.560 Too many times you're looking at the wrong things, boy, I'm telling you.

00:55:12.640 And I find myself doing that, too.

00:55:14.660 I find myself getting critical.

00:55:16.340 And what reason do I have to be critical of what anybody else does?

00:55:18.880 That's their prerogative.

00:55:20.280 And that allows you to enjoy life a little bit more.

00:55:22.240 Getting better at it.

00:55:23.640 That's not perfect, but I'm getting better.

00:55:25.640 Thanks, everybody, for listening.

00:55:26.900 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:55:31.640 Give us a five-star.

00:55:33.040 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:55:34.540 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:55:38.160 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:55:40.580 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid.

00:55:42.480 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:55:47.460 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:55:49.200 Take care, everybody.

00:55:49.900 Bye-bye.

00:55:50.160 Bye-bye.

00:55:50.420 Bye-bye.

00:55:51.000 Bye-bye.

00:55:51.260 Bye-bye.

00:55:51.360 Bye-bye.

00:55:56.400 Bye-bye.

00:55:56.580 Bye-bye.

00:55:57.180 Bye-bye.

00:55:57.660 Bye-bye.

00:55:57.900 Bye-bye.

00:55:59.100 Bye-bye.

00:55:59.380 Bye-bye.

00:55:59.480 Bye-bye.

00:56:00.060 Bye-bye.

00:56:00.420 Bye-bye.

00:56:00.960 Bye-bye.

00:56:01.380 Bye-bye.

00:56:03.400 Bye-bye.

00:56:05.040 Bye-bye.

00:56:14.940 Bye-bye.

00:56:15.800 Bye-bye.

00:56:16.340 Bye-bye.

00:56:17.960 Bye-bye.

00:56:18.320 Bye-bye.

00:56:18.480 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - December 14, 2018

Episode 231： Mike Ditka Opens Up

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