Isn’t it funny how we can vividly remember things from when we were younger, but we can barely remember things from yesterday?
Take this for example.
Back in 1997, the New Orleans Saints hired Mike Ditka as new head coach. Two years later, the team sold the farm in order to trade up and draft a star running back out of the University of Texas named Ricky Williams.
Around that time, Ditka did a series of commercials for Burger King for its lagniappe deal. The only problem was Ditka could not say “lagniappe.” It came out more like “lagnap.”
I was in Lafayette one day for a competition with either FBLA or Quiz Bowl, and we went eat at the Burger King on Jefferson Street. I walked up to the counter and said I wanted the “lagnap” deal.
Ditka’s time in New Orleans was short lived. Williams’ time was even shorter. But, the two helped build the foundation for success that came shortly after in 2000 when Az-Zahir Hakim of the Los Angeles Rams dropped the ball that allowed the Saints to win its first-ever playoff game.
Despite Ditka’s short time as head coach of the Saints, he remains a loveable figure across the National Football League, especially with his days as head coach of the Chicago Bears and as a fixture in pop culture.
After his days with the Saints, Ditka was an analyst for the pregame and postgame shows on FOX. He made cameo appearances on Saturday Night Live and other television appearances. He also delivered one of the most memorable renditions of the seventh inning stretch.
After Chicago Cubs’ announcer Harry Caray passed away in 1998, the team began getting celebrities and other public figures to lead “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch of every home game. Ditka got his chance in July 1998. I remember watching it live on WGN. It was the shortest and possibly worst rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” I think only Ozzy Osbourne did a worse job.
I say all of this because he passed away last Friday on October 9. He was a devout Catholic and once said, “I am so grateful for the Roman Catholic faith with which I was raised … my mother was a convert to Catholicism, and it’s beautiful what she gave me in the faith. I believe every bit that the church teaches. Confession matters. Communion matters.”
I think it’s safe to say that we can now call him St. Mike Ditka. Hopefully, though, now he’s resting and enjoying a “lagnap” deal in that big Burger King in the sky. I hope to get there one day and join in the in the seventh inning stretch with Ditka and Harry Carey. Oh what a time that would be!
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