Mike Ditka’s family updates rumors of coach landing in hospice

Rumors swirled earlier this week that NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka had ended up in hospice care, but his family said that wasn’t the case for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys legends.

Speculation about Ditka’s health and his entry into hospice care reached such a fever pitch on Monday that Jarrett Payton, Walter Payton’s son, voiced the rumors on X, formerly Twitter.

“I have seen reports claiming that Mike Ditka has entered hospice care. I can confirm that these reports are not true,” Payton wrote Monday morning.

Hours after Payton’s social media post, the Chicago Sun-Times published an article with comments from Mike and his wife, Diana, confirming that he was back in the Windy City and not in hospice.

“I’m finally home! This city is my home. I love her,” Ditka told the Sun-Times. “I can’t express how happy I am to finally be home… to be back, even though it was very cold when we got off the private plane at Midway Airport a few nights ago,” Ditka explained. “It’s the people I miss… more than anything,” he continued.

Diana is quoted in the story as saying, “My husband is NOT in hospice,” but she explained that caregivers were present.

Mike Ditka, who coached the Chicago Bears from 1982 to 1992, is back in the Windy City. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

The 85-year-old has struggled with health problems for more than a decade, having suffered a mild stroke in 2012 and a heart attack in 2018 that landed him in a Florida hospital. Ditka has been living in the Sunshine State for the past few years, but is reportedly back living in the same Chicago apartment complex where he and his wife lived before moving south.

Ditka, originally from Pennsylvania, began his playing career with the Bears in 1961 and was with the franchise until 1967, when he landed with the Philadelphia Eagles. He ended his playing career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1972 before moving up to the Dallas coaching ranks the following year.

Ditka won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys as a player in 1972 and again as a member of the coaching staff in 1978. As head coach, he delivered a Super Bowl to Chicago in 1986 when the Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46-10 in New Orleans.