Mike Ditka
 

So I have a funny story about Mike Dikta. I was at a work conference in Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago and he was the keynote speaker at one of the events. His speech was centered on teamwork and leadership peppered with his playing and coaching career in the NFL. Anyway at the conclusion of the speech he was taking questions. For over twenty years I have wanted to personally ask him a question and I finally got my chance.

I was third in line (imagine that I was question 3!) and he had just finished praising Walter Payton as the greatest football player ever, which set up my question perfectly. I came to the mic and asked him this: “Hi Mike, my name is Mike Summo, I’m a Redskins fan from Long Island NY, but first and foremost I am a football fan and I have great respect for what Walter Payton accomplished in the game. For over twenty years I wanted to ask you directly what your mindset was when you decided to give the ball to Refrigerator Perry instead of Walter Payton in Super Bowl XX with your team leading the game by 30 points?”

A collective gasp came over the crowd with a lot of oohs and ahhs as Mike stood there with his head down shaking it side to side for what seemed like 5 minutes. He responded by saying that he hates that question and said that he tries to avoid it at all costs every time he gives one of these speeches and so far he has been pretty lucky to avoid it most of the time. He genuinely seemed annoyed by the question. He went on to say that if he had to do it all over again that he would have given the ball to Walter (who he found out years later was upset with him over the whole incident). He also added that he knew the Patriots were going to key on him the whole game so he decided to use him as a decoy and that Matt Suey had more rushing yards in the game then Walter. He said that he scored a Touchdown in the Super Bowl and it was no big deal and that he had put Perry in that situation all season and when he looked up at the scoreboard at the end of the game they won 46-10 and that was all that mattered to him. But he again said that if he had to do it all over he would have given the ball to Walter. He then said that he wasn’t going to say another word about that subject again and that was all the questions he would be taking.

re: Mike Ditka
 

lol classic

Payton is one of my all-time favs. I've always thought it was a dick move that he gave the fridge that goal line carry over Payton.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

That's awesome. I never understood why he did that either. I don't think he does either

Re: Mike Ditka
 

I bet he went back to his dressing room cursing your name. He must have been pretty upset by it to leave after only three questions.

Ballsy move Summo! Well done!

Re: Mike Ditka
 

i remember i was a lil kid so the fridge was a big deal. correct me if im wrong and summos post touches on this, but hadnt the fridge become their once a game goalline guy that season? i remember when he first sent the fridge in for the first time, the announcers were going nuts.

anyone remember the bud bowl where they brought the fridge out for a goalline rush? what was he, a 40 or something? lil 12 oz bottles were bouncing off him. that was great.

anyways, as a kid i was jumpin up and down excited. never crossed my mind that payton deserved the carry.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

yeah,that took big balls,props to you

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Some people say bad move on Ditka's part, who the heck cares. At the time I thought it was awsome, innovative, and creative thinking giving the ball to someone who no one would have expected to be out there on offense and expect to be carrying the ball. I can remember at the time the announcers thinking Fridge was going to be a decoy, but instead he got the ball and rumbled in.

Personally Payton scored many times throught out the season. Lineman never get to score and to me it was awsome seeing a player who hardly gets to score ...get to score. It doesn't trivialize Payton's work, it was his hard work that got them to the SB, and as Ditka said the other team kept stuffing Payton everytime he saw the ball.

It just goes to show Ditka would do anything to win the game instead of worrying about stats and feelings. Lets look at it another way.... Payton got a ring didn't he?

No one player is bigger or better then the team as a whole.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Summo;704738]So I have a funny story about Mike Dikta. I was at a work conference in Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago and he was the keynote speaker at one of the events. His speech was centered on teamwork and leadership peppered with his playing and coaching career in the NFL. Anyway at the conclusion of the speech he was taking questions. For over twenty years I have wanted to personally ask him a question and I finally got my chance.

I was third in line (imagine that I was question 3!) and he had just finished praising Walter Payton as the greatest football player ever, which set up my question perfectly. I came to the mic and asked him this: “Hi Mike, my name is Mike Summo, I’m a Redskins fan from Long Island NY, but first and foremost I am a football fan and I have great respect for what Walter Payton accomplished in the game. For over twenty years I wanted to ask you directly what your mindset was when you decided to give the ball to Refrigerator Perry instead of Walter Payton in Super Bowl XX with your team leading the game by 30 points?”

A collective gasp came over the crowd with a lot of oohs and ahhs as Mike stood there with his head down shaking it side to side for what seemed like 5 minutes. He responded by saying that he hates that question and said that he tries to avoid it at all costs every time he gives one of these speeches and so far he has been pretty lucky to avoid it most of the time. He genuinely seemed annoyed by the question. He went on to say that if he had to do it all over again that he would have given the ball to Walter (who he found out years later was upset with him over the whole incident). He also added that he knew the Patriots were going to key on him the whole game so he decided to use him as a decoy and that Matt Suey had more rushing yards in the game then Walter. He said that he scored a Touchdown in the Super Bowl and it was no big deal and that he had put Perry in that situation all season and when he looked up at the scoreboard at the end of the game they won 46-10 and that was all that mattered to him. But he again said that if he had to do it all over he would have given the ball to Walter. He then said that he wasn’t going to say another word about that subject again and that was all the questions he would be taking.[/quote]

Incredible experience and pretty brave of you. Ditka could still rip most men apart. :D


I bet the room hated you for killing the Q&A session though.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SBXVII;704756]

No one player is bigger or better then the team as a whole.[/quote]

Indeed, can you imagine the outrage if we gave it to Haynesworth for a play though?

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SBXVII;704756]Some people say bad move on Ditka's part, who the heck cares. At the time I thought it was awsome, innovative, and creative thinking giving the ball to someone who no one would have expected to be out there on offense and expect to be carrying the ball. I can remember at the time the announcers thinking Fridge was going to be a decoy, but instead he got the ball and rumbled in.

Personally Payton scored many times throught out the season. Lineman never get to score and to me it was awsome seeing a player who hardly gets to score ...get to score. It doesn't trivialize Payton's work, it was his hard work that got them to the SB, and as Ditka said the other team kept stuffing Payton everytime he saw the ball.

It just goes to show Ditka would do anything to win the game instead of worrying about stats and feelings. Lets look at it another way.... Payton got a ring didn't he?

No one player is bigger or better then the team as a whole.[/quote]

I couldn't disagree more.

Linemen never get to score? So that's why Perry should have gotten the ball at the goal line to run it in for a Super Bowl TD instead of arguably the best running back of all-time? That's like saying WRs never get to kick field goals so David Patten should have gotten the chance to kick the winning SB Field Goal instead of Adam Vinatieri.

Secondly, the Bears were up 37-3 in the 3rd quarter when Perry scored the TD so this wasn't some big strategic move on the part of Ditka.

I get the whole team is bigger than the player aspect but there's no reason for Payton, after everything he did for that franchise, not to get the ball in that situation. If anything, Ditka bought into the Fridge hype and by giving him the ball made him bigger than the team

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SmootSmack;704763]I couldn't disagree more.

Linemen never get to score? So that's why Perry should have gotten the ball at the goal line to run it in for a Super Bowl TD instead of arguably the best running back of all-time? That's like saying WRs never get to kick field goals so David Patten should have gotten the chance to kick the winning SB Field Goal instead of Adam Vinatieri.

Secondly, the Bears were up 37-3 in the 3rd quarter when Perry scored the TD so this wasn't some big strategic move on the part of Ditka.

I get the whole team is bigger than the player aspect but there's no reason for Payton, after everything he did for that franchise, not to get the ball in that situation. If anything, Ditka bought into the Fridge hype and by giving him the ball made him bigger than the team[/quote]


I think it was Payton's to have and it seemed like a marketing move to sell more Fridge GI Joe figures.

[IMG]http://beargoggleson.com/files/2009/08/fridge-side-by-side-300x270-copy.jpg[/IMG]

Re: Mike Ditka
 

I think Ditka got caught up in the Fridge hype.

Payton definitely should have gotten that carry when you consider what he meant to that franchise.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SBXVII;704756]Some people say bad move on Ditka's part, who the heck cares. At the time I thought it was awsome, innovative, and creative thinking giving the ball to someone who no one would have expected to be out there on offense and expect to be carrying the ball. I can remember at the time the announcers thinking Fridge was going to be a decoy, but instead he got the ball and rumbled in.

Personally Payton scored many times throught out the season. Lineman never get to score and to me it was awsome seeing a player who hardly gets to score ...get to score. It doesn't trivialize Payton's work, it was his hard work that got them to the SB, and as Ditka said the other team kept stuffing Payton everytime he saw the ball.

It just goes to show Ditka would do anything to win the game instead of worrying about stats and feelings. Lets look at it another way.... Payton got a ring didn't he?

No one player is bigger or better then the team as a whole.[/quote]

I would normally agree with that notion, but in that situation where you had Payton who carried that franchise for so long when they were at the bottom of the league, besides the fact that he was then considered the best player in the league and everyone knew he was nearing the end of it, you take that opportunity to pay him back for all he did and give him an opportunity to score and not some side show freak.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

I think in any given situation you want your RB taking the ball. I agree. Problem was the other team, the Pats, zeroed in on Payton all day and he was unable to run the ball. I think it was just Ditka being innovative. But I will say I can see where being up 37-3 or something like that would piss me off it I didn't get a chance to score.

All I'm saying is the game is over. Da Bears won. At the time I was happy. Who cares who carried the ball and how many times. They all got a ring didn't they? Thats the ultimate end to a season. Say thanks and walk away.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704768]I think Ditka got caught up in the Fridge hype.

Payton definitely should have gotten that carry when you consider what he meant to that franchise.[/quote]

I think Ditka got caught up in making sure he won the game.

Its impossible to coach when you have to worry about getting players stats. Ditka was focused on winning the game not making sure everyone (no matter how great) got a TD. I suspect WP would take the win without getting a TD instead of a loss and 3 TDs. Winning is all that mattered.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704834]I think Ditka got caught up in making sure he won the game.

Its impossible to coach when you have to worry about getting players stats. Ditka was focused on winning the game not making sure everyone (no matter how great) got a TD. I suspect WP would take the win without getting a TD instead of a loss and 3 TDs. Winning is all that mattered.[/quote]

37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game

Re: Mike Ditka
 

It was just so awesome every single time Fridge would go in for a TD....most of the time when he would line up, everybody would think he was a decoy, and then every single time he'd rumble right in...damn that guy was huge....

Payton deserved the carry in the SB though.....

Re: Mike Ditka
 

At that time, I thought they'd be going back to the SB many more times. I'm sure Dikta wasn't thinking that it would be the last time Payton would have the opportunity to score in the SB.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SmootSmack;704837]37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game[/quote]

The game was over from the start too. The Patriots got run over by that Bears D, just like everyone else did that year.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SmootSmack;704837]37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game[/quote]

Spoken like a true Monday morning QB. Unfortunately Ditka didnt have the luxury of knowing how the game would end. I'm sure he felt pretty good about winning the game but I am certain he didnt want to take any chances.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704859]Spoken like a true Monday morning QB. Unfortunately Ditka didnt have the luxury of knowing how the game would end. I'm sure he felt pretty good about winning the game but I am certain he didnt want to take any chances.[/quote]

Are you serious? Everybody knew that the Patriots weren't going to do anything in that game after the first half with their -19 total yards!

Re: Mike Ditka
 

It would have been nice for Payton to score , again , the game was almost over by halftime . Payton ending being one of my favorite players of all time . The first time I had seen him , we were playing them in Chicago ... I couldn't believe that we couldn't tackle that "little RB ".... awesome , tough football player , who would have made a great Redskin R.I.P. Sweetness .

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Summo;704863]Are you serious? Everybody knew that the Patriots weren't going to do anything in that game after the first half with their -19 total yards![/quote]

Like everyone else I didnt expect NE to win that game. I also didnt expect the Jets to beat the Colts, Oak to beat the Redskins, or the Giants to beat Buffalo but things happen and I dont blame Ditka for making sure he won the game.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704865]Like everyone else I didnt expect NE to win that game. I also didnt expect the Jets to beat the Colts, Oak to beat the Redskins, or the Giants to beat Buffalo but things happen and I dont blame Ditka for making sure he won the game.[/quote]

Perhaps you missed the point that it was late in the 3rd quarter and the score was 37-3 when the Fridge got that carry.

The game was over.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704866]Perhaps you missed the point that it was late in the 3rd quarter and the score was 37-3 when the Fridge got that carry.

The game was over.[/quote]

No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing but you assume Ditka knew the score or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Also lost in this was the fact McMahon had 2 goal line sneaks for scores.

Payton was a great short yardage back in his day, I understand using a guy as a decoy at times, but sometimes coaches outsmart themselves a bit and I think that's what happened with Ditka.

Needless to say of course all that matters is they won the game. Payton never made a big deal about it publicly and I'm sure in the grand scheme of his career it wasn't a huge thing to him. Just would have been nice to see him score instead of the circus sideshow that was the Fridge.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704870]Also lost in this was the fact McMahon had 2 goal line sneaks for scores.

Payton was a great short yardage back in his day, I understand using a guy as a decoy at times, but sometimes coaches outsmart themselves a bit and I think that's what happened with Ditka.

Needless to say of course all that matters is they won the game. Payton never made a big deal about it publicly and I'm sure in the grand scheme of his career it wasn't a huge thing to him. Just would have been nice to see him score instead of the circus sideshow that was the Fridge.[/quote]

Good point about McMahon, I remember thinking that he should have won the MVP for that game and not Dent, but in retrospect, we know the NFL wasn't going to give that to him with the way he defied Rozelle with the whole headband thing.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Courage Summo! Had the Q&A session been allowed to continue, I'm sure someone would have eventually asked him about his love for Ricky Williams.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704869]No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing but you assume Ditka knew the score or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.[/quote]

Now I remember why I don't usually respond to your posts. We get better responses from kidwell...and we had to ban him for having no point.

There's really no defending what Ditka did, even Ditka's said as much.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704869]No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing[B] but you assume Ditka knew the score[/B] or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.[/quote]
huh? i usually see your side, but your way off base with this

Re: Mike Ditka
 

You are right, [B]Walter Payton was the best RB (and possibly the best player) [/B]I've ever seen, bar none. The guy had class, was tough and the complete package. May he rest in peace.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704869]No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing but you assume Ditka knew the score or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.[/quote]Is your point that giving the ball to Payton on the 1 is a drop-off from giving it to the Fridge? I don't care if Ditka told NE he was giving the ball to Payton, and what hole he was hitting, they still wouldn't have stopped him. WP had a knack for getting in the End Zone. As the other guys have said, Ditka got caught up in the Fridge hype and made a call he would like to have back.

Here's another way to look at how bad Ditka's call in that situation was; Payton had a 2.24% fumble percentage per carry.....the Fridge 25% over his career. Up to that point Fridge hadn't fumbled, but giving the ball to a big, fat, DT has a much higher chance of a fumble occuring than a Pro bowl RB. Looking at it from that angle, the call couldn't have been worse. What if Fridge fumbles and NE recovers and scores, then sparks the unbelievable comeback? Let's say you give the ball to Payton, even if he doesn't get in, kick the FG and now it's 40-3. There is no way in hell NE was coming back from that (not that they had a snowball's chance anyway).

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Great post SS33.

If Ditka was so concerned about the game he would have given it to his best player, period.

This thread has turned retarded, can't believe we're even discusssing this.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704893]
This thread has turned retarded, can't believe we're even discusssing this.[/quote]

I feel like I should apologize :)

Re: Mike Ditka
 

i dont see why this is a big deal. then again, it was before my time. unless this was peyton's last season and he was on the verge of breaking some kind of record, I dont see a problem with Ditkas decision.