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In 1961, Mike Ditka and Mike Pyle broke into the NFL as 22-year-old rookies. For the next six seasons, the two lined up on the Bears offensive line, a few players apart, and battled their opponents in the trenches.
As a center, Pyle had to stay put and protect his quarterback. As a tight end, Ditka had some blocking duties, but the athletic player was more valuable down the field where he could catch passes and run over smaller defenders.
In July, Pyle died at 76. A recent medical report shows the Yale graduate’s cause of death was chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease associated with several recent high-profile deaths of football players.
Ditka, 76, talked about his former teammate and friend.
“I was with Mike and saw him in the nursing home and the hospital before he passed,” Ditka said. “It’s a shame to see that happen. You wouldn’t believe that you can imagine that happening. You get to where you just don’t have a clue about anything. And, he didn’t.”
Does Ditka see CTE as a threat to the future of the game?
“The game is a good game,” Ditka said. “You have to understand there is always risk in everything you do. Injuries are a part of it. Unfortunately, when you have big, strong, fast guys hitting each other at a high rate of speed, something is going to give.
“The head thing with Mike—you know, most of the guys who played center in that era all ended up with CTE. So, I don’t know the answer. Maybe they cheated off on the center and hit him with a forearm. I don’t know what it was.”
Many say the soon-to-be-released movie “Concussion,” starring Will Smith, could endanger the popularity of the game.
Could we see a day without football?
“It’s a billion-dollar business,” Ditka said. “They’re just not going to do that. A lot of people have opportunities because of football—to make money—[who otherwise] wouldn’t have a lot of other opportunities. They do well, the owners do well, the league does well, so I think they just have to keep working on doing the right things, the right protocol and enforce the penalties on blows to the head. That’s one of the main things they have to do.”
