NFL icon and Bears legend Mike Ditka has a net worth of $7 million. Ditka’s career earnings could’ve been higher had he played in the current era, but he played in the 1960s, when the most someone could earn was $50,000 annually.
Ditka’s football journey began at Aliquippa High School, and later, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became a star tight end.
The Bears selected Ditka with the fifth overall pick in the 1961 NFL Draft. However, as this was a pre-NFL-AFL merger, the Houston Oilers selected Ditka with the eighth overall pick.
Ditka played for the Bears from 1961-1966, turning himself into one of the best players in the league.
He was traded to the Eagles in 1967 and played for the Eagles for two seasons before moving to Dallas to play for the Cowboys.
Ditka played for the Cowboys until 1972, after which he switched to a coaching role and became their assistant head coach and special teams coordinator.
In 1982, Ditka became the head coach of the Bears, with whom he won one Super Bowl title in a decade.
Dikta retired in 1992 but returned to the football field as the New Orleans Saints head coach in 1997, a stint that lasted for three seasons.
During the five-year break, he worked as a television analyst, a career he continued even in the 2020s.
Mike Ditka’s Net Worth Propelled By His Career Earnings As A Player And A Coach
Mike Ditka, in the 2020s, would have a much higher net worth than the actual Mike Ditka, who played in the 60s.
In an interview, Ditka revealed that as the fifth overall pick in the 1961 NFL draft, the tight end received a contract worth $12,000 with a $6,000 signing bonus.
In 2024, the fifth overall pick, Joe Alt, earned a four-year contract worth $33 million with the Chargers.
An article stated that football as a fruitful career only emerged in the late 1960s.
By 1969, the average salary for a ten-game season with three pre-season games and a month-long training camp was $25,000.
In 1964, four seasons after Ditka entered the league, the highest-earning player was Cleveland Browns Jim Brown, who commanded a salary of $50,000.
That money was huge for the time; it was 7.5 times the median family income.
1965 saw one of the biggest contracts in the league, with rookie Joe Namath signing a $427,000 four-year contract with the Jets.
A year before the NFL-AFL merger, notorious OJ Simpson arrived in the league and signed a rookie deal that made him the highest-earning player.
Before the merger, Ditka signed a $300,000 contract, including a bonus of $50,000 in 1967.
By the early 1970s, when Ditka retired as a player, the average annual salary in the league was reported to be $36k.
As a coach, his contract with the Cowboys as an assistant head coach was not disclosed.
While as Bears’ head coach, Ditka signed a three-year contract for $100,000, making him the lowest-paid coach in the NFL.
Before his three-year contract expired, Ditka extended his stay in Chicago. He signed a contract that paid him $250,000 as a base salary.
In 1997, when Ditka returned to a coaching role with the Saints, he signed a three-year contract worth $5.5-6 million. This was Ditka’s biggest contract in his footballing career as a player or a coach.
Mike Ditka’s Earning Away From The Football Field
During his four-year break between coaching the Bears and the Saints, Ditka accepted the broadcasting role with NBC.
In 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported that Ditka would earn a one-year $550,000 contract plus an option year.
After the Saints fired him, Ditka returned as an analyst in 2000 with CBS Sports.
Since then, Ditka has continued working as an analyst.
He worked with ESPN on Sunday NFL Countdown until 2016.
Ditka and ESPN signed a two-year extension allowing Ditka a remote-broadcasting analysis as he didn’t like the long distance from his home to the studio.
Alongside being a football icon and NFL analyst, Ditka is also a restaurateur.
In 1997, in Chicago, Ditka partnered with a steak house that named their restaurant Ditka’s.
The Ditka’s have expanded outside Chicago, with other branches in Illinois and Pennsylvania.
The NFL icon has also made a splash in the wine business. Ditka teamed up with Mendocino Wine Company in 2007, and they sold various wines across the country.
In 2018, Ditka partnered with Vienna Beef and launched Ditka sausages.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Mike Ditka recently listed his Florida home for $1.3 million as he has decided to return to Chicago.
- Ditka is currently married to Diana Ditka, and he has four kids from his previous wife, Marge Ditka.
