Mike Ditka's family gives update as hospice rumors swirl
Ditka played for the Bears from 1961-66 before coaching the team from 1982-92.
NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka has returned to Chicago and is not in hospice, he and his wife, Diana, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
A rumor had circulated stating the famous Bears coach had landed in hospice.
“But my husband is NOT in hospice,” Diana told the paper while noting that there are caretakers present.
Ditka, 85, has battled health issues over the last decade-plus, including a heart attack in 2018 that landed him in a hospital in Florida and a minor stroke in 2012.
The unfounded rumor that he had been entered into hospice apparently made its way around social media enough Monday that Jarrett Payton, son of the late Walter Payton, debunked it on X.
Later in the day, the Sun-Times posted its exclusive interview with Ditka. He told the publication he had arrived in Chicago a “few” days ago.
“I’m finally home! This city is my home. I love it,” Ditka said. “I was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Pittsburgh, but Chicago is my home … and it is my life. It’s the people I miss … miss more than anything.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally be home…to be back, although it was mighty cold when we got off the private plane at Midway airport a few nights ago.”