Mike Ditka's association with the city of Chicago will always be primarily focused on winning Super Bowl XX in 1986 as head coach of the Bears, but he had quite the impactful career as a player twenty years earlier.

Ditka was selected 5th overall in the 1961 NFL by the Chicago Bears, and ultimately won Rookie of the Year honors his first season. He spent a total of five years with Chicago, revolutionizing the tight end position by showing that TE's can be effective receivers and not just run blockers in the trenches. In each of his five seasons, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

The Chicago Bears have made one more announcement regarding Ditka-- they will retire his jersey later this year. Ditka joins a long list-- the longest list in the NFL actually-- of retired Chicago Bears players, and the team says he will be the last one they ever retire.