First year Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman knew he had to do something to motivate his players heading into the 2013 season, and he chose to go old school.
Trestman invited former Bears head coach Mike Ditka to Chicago's practice Tuesday in hopes to inspire his players. The appearance by Ditka was believed to be his first appearance at a Chicago practice since 1992.
Ditka led the Bears to the franchise's only Super Bowl win in the 1985 season, and remains a hero in Chicago.
Ditka watched on from above the team's training facility as the Bears practiced and went through their daily drills and routines and then spoke to the team afterwards. According to ESPN, quarterback Jay Cutler said that Ditka mirrored the words that Trestman tells the team daily.
Cutler is looking to continue his momentum from last season where he went 255-for-434 for 3,033 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions and helped lead the team to a 10-6 record, though the team missed the playoffs finishing third in the NFC North
Under the guide of Trestman, Cutler will hope to lead the Bears to the team's first playoff appearance since 2010.
Ditka was fired from the Bears following a 5-11 finish to the 1992 season, and rumors circulated that after an 11-year career with the team, Ditka had soured on the Bears. The former coach insisted Tuesday that it couldn't be further from the truth.
"There was a perception for a long time -- it wasn't perpetrated by me -- that I was not a Bears fan," Ditka said, according to ESPN. "Nobody in the world has more of a right to be a Bears fan more than me, I don't care if I was fired or traded, I was drafted by Mr. [George] Halas, I played for him, the last two championships [the Bears] won [in 1963 before the AFL and NFL merger and 1985] I was a player and a coach on them. Is that the best thing in the world? No, but I'm just saying nobody has more of a right to be a fan than me."
Here is a video of Ditka's press conference after being fired as head coach in 1992 courtesy of YouTube.
Ditka's relationship with the Bears is anything but strained now, as his No. 89 will be retired prior to a "Monday Night Football" game that pits Chicago against the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 9 at Soldier Field.
Ditka, an NFL Hall of Famer, has a 129-95 record overall as a coach and a 106-62 record as a coach of the Bears. As a player, Ditka played tight end and was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl Champion while having 427 career receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns.
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