Full Text of HR0729 98th General Assembly
HR0729 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On December 9, 2013, the Chicago Bears football | 3 | | club retired jersey number "89" in honor of Mike Ditka, | 4 | | football player and coach; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, After being drafted as a first-round tight end by | 6 | | the Chicago Bears out of the University of Pittsburgh in 1961, | 7 | | Mike Ditka continued to play in the same position for George | 8 | | Halas' Bears through 1966; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, With the Chicago Bears, Mike Ditka was recognized | 10 | | as one of the great tight ends of all time, winning Rookie of | 11 | | the Year honors in 1961, being named to the Pro Bowl 5 times in | 12 | | a continuous streak from 1961 through 1965 (wearing the Bears' | 13 | | navy blue and orange in all 5 years), and compiling a record | 14 | | that would lead to his election to the Pro Football Hall of | 15 | | Fame in 1988, the first player so honored for his career as a | 16 | | tight end; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Mike Ditka's playing career included membership | 18 | | on the 1963 Chicago Bears squad that captured the National | 19 | | Football League championship; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Following their 1963 National Football League | 21 | | championship, the Chicago Bears compiled a 20-year record of |
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| 1 | | mixed outcomes, with many all-time great Bears players such as | 2 | | Dick Butkus, Walter Payton, and Gale Sayers caught in a | 3 | | continuous pattern of rebuilding; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, After the National Football League merged its | 5 | | championship game with the rival American Football League to | 6 | | create the Super Bowl, Mike Ditka continued his career with the | 7 | | Dallas Cowboys, scoring on a touchdown pass tossed by Roger | 8 | | Staubach in Super Bowl VI in January 1972; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Starting with the 1973 season, Mike Ditka | 10 | | transitioned to coaching; in 1982, in one of owner George | 11 | | Halas' final executive moves with the Chicago Bears | 12 | | organization, he hired his former player, Mike Ditka, to be the | 13 | | new head coach of the Chicago Bears; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, New coach Mike Ditka, aided by an aggressive | 15 | | coaching staff and front office, and with the support of owners | 16 | | Virginia Halas McCaskey and her husband Ed, was determined to | 17 | | change the pattern of ups and downs the Chicago Bears had been | 18 | | experiencing for the past 2 decades; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Building around running back Walter Payton, Mike | 20 | | Ditka's Chicago Bears returned to the playoffs in 1984; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In 1985, the 20th year of the National Football |
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| 1 | | League in the Super Bowl era, Mike Ditka's Chicago Bears, led | 2 | | by quarterback Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, and other players | 3 | | too numerous and immortal to list here, achieved a 15 and 1 | 4 | | record in the regular season; they marched through the playoffs | 5 | | with opposing teams failing to score a single point in either | 6 | | of the 2 games; the Bears qualified for the National Football | 7 | | Conference's slot in Super Bowl XX, played in what was then the | 8 | | Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on January 26, 1986; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Bears, led by "Da Coach" Mike Ditka, won Super | 10 | | Bowl XX by a score of 46-10, at that time the largest winning | 11 | | margin in Super Bowl history; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, After retiring as a football coach at the end of | 13 | | the 1999 season, Mike Ditka transitioned into broadcasting and | 14 | | a business career; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Bears retired Mike Ditka's number "89" | 16 | | on December 9, 2013 in the presence of his Chicago Bears and | 17 | | Dallas Cowboys; the Bears have announced it will be the final | 18 | | jersey number to be retired by the team; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 20 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 21 | | we congratulate Michael Keller "Mike" Ditka for his | 22 | | unforgettable service to the Chicago Bears, the City of |
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| 1 | | Chicago, and the State of Illinois as football player and | 2 | | coach; and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That we congratulate the Chicago Bears football | 4 | | organization for its decision to allocate its 14th and final | 5 | | jersey number retirement to Mike Ditka; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That we wish many future years of success, in and | 7 | | out of the football world, to Mike Ditka and his family; and be | 8 | | it further | 9 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to Mike Ditka and to the Chicago Bears football | 11 | | organization.
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