Biography:
"Iron" Mike Ditka was born on October 18, 1939, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, while being raised in the once booming Western Pennsylvania steel town of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Mike and Charlotte Ditka: who had three children; Ashton, David, and Mary Ann. His father worked in the Jones and Laughlin Steel Mill, which at the time, was the biggest steel mill in the world, extending seven miles along the banks of the Ohio River spewing flames out of the Bessemer converters that numbered the steel mill by the hundreds. His father was hard on him, emphasizing doing the right thing and building character. He grew up in low income housing projects in Aliquippa, a hard-working, extremely ethnically segregated town of steel workers, then paid very well. After seeing how hard his father had worked in the mills, "Iron" Mike pursued sports as a way to get out of the town, and achieve his future career goals. At Aliquippa, he was a three sport athlete, participating in football, basketball, and baseball. Despite being relatively small as a kid and being told that he was too small and not fast enough to play football, "Iron" Mike ended up growing to 185 pounds as a junior in high school and succeeded at playing fullback and linebacker. He attributes most of his success to being constantly self-motivated and growing up in an area where high school football, still to this day, is taken with the utmost seriousness. After being recruited by Notre Dame, Penn State, and the University of Pittsburgh, he chose to play football at Pitt, where he eventually became an All-American Tight End as a senior in 1960.
https://youtu.be/74VPaai0Q3I
The best photo I have seen all year. He looks like "Iron Mike" in this photo.That face!
.
This post was edited on 4/14 10:03 PM by VJPITT
"Iron" Mike Ditka was born on October 18, 1939, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, while being raised in the once booming Western Pennsylvania steel town of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Mike and Charlotte Ditka: who had three children; Ashton, David, and Mary Ann. His father worked in the Jones and Laughlin Steel Mill, which at the time, was the biggest steel mill in the world, extending seven miles along the banks of the Ohio River spewing flames out of the Bessemer converters that numbered the steel mill by the hundreds. His father was hard on him, emphasizing doing the right thing and building character. He grew up in low income housing projects in Aliquippa, a hard-working, extremely ethnically segregated town of steel workers, then paid very well. After seeing how hard his father had worked in the mills, "Iron" Mike pursued sports as a way to get out of the town, and achieve his future career goals. At Aliquippa, he was a three sport athlete, participating in football, basketball, and baseball. Despite being relatively small as a kid and being told that he was too small and not fast enough to play football, "Iron" Mike ended up growing to 185 pounds as a junior in high school and succeeded at playing fullback and linebacker. He attributes most of his success to being constantly self-motivated and growing up in an area where high school football, still to this day, is taken with the utmost seriousness. After being recruited by Notre Dame, Penn State, and the University of Pittsburgh, he chose to play football at Pitt, where he eventually became an All-American Tight End as a senior in 1960.
https://youtu.be/74VPaai0Q3I
The best photo I have seen all year. He looks like "Iron Mike" in this photo.That face!
.
This post was edited on 4/14 10:03 PM by VJPITT
