PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Cam Heyward was barely 10-years-old when Mike Ditka coached his last game, but has a historian of the game with a father who also played at Pitt, he knew about the man as Ditka passed away on Friday.
“Coach Ditka, he was the epitome of a strong coach, holds his players accountable, but got them to the mountaintop,” Heyward said after Steelers practice. “You can look back and say hard coaching works, he’s the epitome of that.”
Heyward said you knew how popular he was just by the people who stopped by Ditka’s Restaurant in Robinson Township.
“You see his personality as a coach, as an entertainer when he’s acting and having fun there,” Heyward said.
Asked if he would have liked to have played for the often fiery, in-your-face coach?
“I would have jumped at the chance to play for a coach like that,” Heyward said. “He’s one of those guys in history that players respect. It’s a sad day for the NFL community that we don’t have that guy to continue to keep picking his brain.”
His father also a legendary Pitt player, Heyward understands what Ditka meant to Western Pennsylvania.
“He was Pittsburgh through and through and I think he wasn’t shy about sharing that side of him,” Heyward said. “I think Pittsburgh respected and always checked in on a guy like that because he represented them so well.”
Steelers veteran Cam Heyward would have loved to play for Ditka
Steelers veteran Cam Heyward would have loved to play for Ditka
