In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections on the 1985 Bears and Wisdom from Da Coach by Mike Ditka (30-Jun-2005) Hardcover

The 1985 Chicago Bears set a standard for NFL success that has not been matched in the past quarter-century. Head coach Mike Ditka's team not only handed the New England Patriots an embarrassing 46-10 defeat in Super Bowl XX, they dominated the NFL that season. The Bears finished the regular season with a gleaming 15-1 record, perfect but for slip-up on December 2 in Miami. During a three-game span in November, Chicago defeated Detroit, Dallas and Atlanta by a combined score of 104-3. In Life, First You Kick Ass is Coach Ditka's memoir of a season Chicago will never forget. Da Coach takes fans along for the ride through never-taken-before-told stories. Whether it was Walter Payton phoning Ditka's office pretending to be a woman named Yolanda or Jim McMahon's regard for the healing power of acupuncture, rarely was there a dull moment in 1985. Ditka also turns serious, candidly addressing his DUI arrest and his strained relationship with defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan. Ditka describes how he turned a seldom-used rookie named William Perry into the phenomenon that became know as "The Refrigerator," and he remembers the team's other stars, including Mike Singletary, Willie Gault, Dan Hampton, Richard Dent, Wilbur Marshall, Dennis McKinnon, and Steve McMichael. As Da Coach looks back after 20 years, his reflections reveal a singular focus towards a common first things first.