There is a way to honor a legend without measuring him against another one. Critics say ESPN’s Mike Greenberg missed it. In remembering Mike Ditka, he did more than praise the coach. He argued that Ditka’s pull on Chicago exceeded even Michael Jordan’s, and that Ditka was the city’s biggest star. Supporters saw a heartfelt tribute from someone who admired Ditka for decades, while detractors saw a hot take at the wrong moment.
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“The first assignment I ever had for which I got paid was to cover the Chicago Bears draft back in the days…We would sit in the media room and all of a sudden in-walked Mike Ditka in the sweater and the cigar,” Greenberg said on The Pat McAfee Show. “And when I tell you he was larger than life, I don’t even know how that’s an overused phrase. He literally embodied it.
“He was like something at the center. Everything just sort of orbited around him. And I’ve told people many times over the many years, because I worked and lived in Chicago for seven years after college in the local media. And people don’t necessarily understand or believe this. But the truth of the matter is Michael Jordan was a global icon and certainly beloved in Chicago. But Mike Ditka was the biggest star in Chicago sports. And that is, in my opinion, it was inarguable.”
Michael Jordan was an unmatched global phenomenon who dominated the world stage through his basketball career. He also represented the Chicago Bulls for 13 seasons.
Meanwhile, Mike Ditka embodied the working-class, blue-collar pulse of Chicago in a way that made him uniquely inseparable from the city’s identity. After all, he represented the Chicago Bears for 6 seasons as a player (1961–1966) and 11 seasons as their head coach (1982–1992), totaling 17 seasons with the franchise.
Hence, the discussion is somewhat debatable, which also prompted a reaction from the Dallas Cowboys legend Dez Bryant.
“RIP Ditka…but please stop,” Bryant wrote on X.
Dez Bryant indirectly questioned the timing of the comparison. Mike Ditka passed away on October 9, 2026, at the age of 86. While the family’s official public statement did not specify a medical cause, his longtime agent and business partner, Steve Mandell, confirmed to USA TODAY that Ditka died of natural causes.
However, critics like Dez Bryant also had their reasons to speak against Mike Greenberg’s statement.
While Ditka brought the city one highly celebrated Super Bowl as a coach, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA Championships across two separate three-peat dynasties.
On top of that, during the 1990s, Jordan wasn’t just a sports star – he was the most famous person on earth. The gravity of his fame completely transformed the cultural and economic landscape of Chicago.
The NBA icon was also honored when the Illinois General Assembly passed House Resolution 0491, officially declaring June 23, 2026, as “Michael Jordan Day” in the State of Illinois to honor his accolades representing the Bulls.
But the primary displeasure was with the way Greenberg drew a comparison between the two, while both increased the reputation of Chicago in their unique ways as sportsmen.