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.”
The Ditkas are reportedly living in the same apartment complex that they had before, although in a different unit this time.
They previously moved to Florida “not long after” his famous Chicago restaurant closed in 2020.
“Most of our furniture has yet to arrive, but we are just so happy to be home,” Donna told the outlet. “Thank goodness we have the TV and back in the warmth of a city we call home.”
Ditka played for the Bears from 1961-66 before coaching the team from 1982-92.
He led the Bears to their only Super Bowl triumph in 1986, a 46-10 demolition of the Patriots fueled by one of the NFL’s greatest defensive units.
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