The day before Thanksgiving, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka was on the golf course in Florida when, like a blind-side hit from a linebacker, he began feeling weak.
Thanks to some quick thinking by his playing partners, he was taken to a hospital, where he remained for a week and a half.
His agent said Ditka, 79, "had a mild heart attack" and was "doing much better." But that wasn't the full story.
According to an interview with Ditka in The Athletic, his attack was, in a word, "massive."
He had four stents inserted to open his arteries and a pacemaker to control his heartbeat.
“I got my ass kicked pretty good there, but I’m feeling a lot better,” he told The Athletic. “Every day I get stronger. I’m not exerting myself. When I exert myself is when I can feel it. So things are good. If you had asked me two weeks ago, I couldn’t have said that.”
Rehab has been slow but steady. He's back hitting golf balls again. And he has treatment every day to regain his strength and mobility.
“I’m just going to take it easy,” he said. “I realize that I have been riding ‘em hard and putting up wet for a lot of years. Time to slow down. I’m not getting any younger."
While coaching the Bears, Ditka suffered a heart attack in 1988 — the same year he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player. But he famously returned to work just 11 days later. He also suffered a stroke in 2012.
Ditka still follows the Bears closely. And their performance this season, especially their 15-6 defeat of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night, has kept him upbeat during his recovery.
“The Bears are really playing great, and in so many areas,” he said. “I’m a Bears fan, always will be. It’s more than fun watching them right now, because they’re kicking ass, period.”
Follow Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner
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