Ditka Fires Back At Urlacher, Who Fired Back At Sayers: Long Offseason In Chicago, Huh?

So here’s the backstory necessary to understanding why Mike Ditka is pissed off at Brian Urlacher today. More than two weeks ago, on May 4th, Gale Sayers was honest. That’s your backstory. At a speaking engagement, he was asked about the Bears in 2010. Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune, here’s what Sayers said:

“Urlacher, I don’t know how good he’s going to be coming back.” (Ed. note: Neither do we.)

“They need a couple wide receivers, a couple defensive backs.” (Ed. note: Completely true.)

“If Lovie doesn’t do it this year, I think he’s gone.” (Ed. note: Probably true.)

“Cutler hasn’t done the job.” (Ed. note: 1,000 times true.)

But Brian Urlacher didn’t like those comments. Nope. Not one bit:

“Does [Sayers] know how to win football games? Does he? No.”

A good rule of thumb: if you have to answer your own rhetorical question, Brian, it’s probably bulls—t. As the former All-Pro linebacker continued:

“How many championships did Gale Sayers win? How many playoff games did he win when he played? None. None. None. Does it bother me? There are enough people throwing daggers at us right now, why does one of our ex-players have to jump in? There are enough experts talking (crap) about us, so why does a Bear, an all-time great, have to jump in? I just don’t like that.”

...Did someone say an “All-time great Chicago Bear?”

DA COOOOOOOCH. Did you know Mike Ditka once considered running against Barack Obama for the U.S. Senate as a self-described, “ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative?” Well yesterday, he appeared on a Chicago radio station to talk about Brian Urlacher:

They asked [Sayers] about the state of the Chicago Bears. He answered very honestly what he thought about Cutler. He answered very honestly what he thought about the coach. Brian’s coming off an injury. Brian’s a great football player, he has to stay healthy, there’s no question about that. Nobody can play when they’re hurt.

It’s a real reach to say: ‘What did Gale do?’ Urlacher wasn’t even born yet, what does he know?

So... What happens next? Will Urlacher fire back a zinger at Ditka? Can someone find a way to include Chicago’s Ace and Gary—Jay Cutler and Jay Mariotti—into this controversy?

All sarcastic questions to consider dead seriously if you’re a Chicagoan having to endure all this.

But seriously: Gale Sayers was one of the best running backs to ever live. He shouldn’t have to answer to Brian Urlacher about anything. And Ditka? Well, he’s just a caricature of himself at this point, marketing himself as some hardass arbiter of gridiron judgment. He happens to be right about this one, but that doesn’t make his ongoing relevance any less annoying and ridiculous.

Because what does Mike Ditka know about winning these days? Did you see his Saints teams?

See? We could play this game all day long with some of Chicago’s overrated Bears icons—Butkus, Ditka, Urlacher, Refrigerator Perry, whoever. Let’s just hope Gale Sayers stays out of it, because nobody should be confused: That guy was the real deal.