Ditka Gives Halas Credit for His Success

CANTON, Ohio â€”  Mike Ditka remembered his late boss, George Halas, when the current Chicago Bears coach became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday.

“The Bears drafted me and told me I’d play tight end,� Ditka said. “I only caught 14 passes my senior year in college. They knew I could block, so we worked on catching the ball. My first game I didn’t catch a pass. But Mr. Halas devised a way of getting me open.

“All the credit (for revolutionizing the tight end position) goes to him.�

Ditka, Jack Ham, Fred Biletnikoff and Alan Page were inducted in a ceremony on the front steps of the Hall.

Ditka, with 427 receptions and 43 touchdowns in a 12-year career with the Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, was presented at the cermonies by former Bear teammate Ed O’Bradovich.

Ham said that had he not won the last scholarship available to Penn State after graduating from high school, he might not have developed into an All-Pro linebacker.

“So many things fell into place for me,� said Ham, who was presented by Penn State Coach Joe Paterno. “Football is a team game. It’s not like golf or tennis. I had great football players around me.�

Ham helpd the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s.

Biletnikoff got off to a slow start as a pro. He said he owed his induction to the faith that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis showed in him. Davis presented him at the ceremonies.

“At the beginning of my career, I had a difficult time making the step from college football to pro football,� Biletnikoff said. “Then I was injured my second year. I’d been there two years and hadn’t done anything. But (Davis) stuck with me.�

Asked how he became such a sure-handed receiver--589 catches and 76 touchdowns in 14 seasons--Biletnikoff said he did it the simplest way possible.

“I caught a lot of footballs,� he said. “All these gimmicks about strengthening your fingers and doing this and doing that, kids get led in the wrong direction. If you’re going to go out and squeeze putty with your hands 1,500 times, you’re better off catching 1,500 passes.�

Page starred as a fearsome 278-pound tackle for more than a decade with Minnesota Vikings’ “Purple People Eaters� defense.

Despite his success--in 1971 he was the first defensive player ever named the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player--he shed 60 pounds and lengthened his career.

“After the ’76 season, I decided that I wanted to try to do something to protect my health a little bit,� Page said. “We all feel at times as if we’re immortal. I picked up an activity I could do for the rest of my life, running. And the weight started falling off.�

Page, now an assistant state attorney general in Minnesota, is the first native of Canton in the Hall. He was presented by Minneapolis high school principal Willarene Beasley.