Mike Ditka could command a football sideline with a glare. Put him next to Will Ferrell on a youth soccer field, and that same intensity became comedy.
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Following Ditka's death at 86, announced by his family Oct. 9, his performance in the 2005 comedy Kicking & Screaming deserves a spot among the memories of his remarkable career.
Playing a fictionalized version of himself, Ditka joins Ferrell's character, Phil Weston, as an assistant coach for the struggling Tigers. Phil is trying to beat his overbearing father, played by Robert Duvall, whose rivalry with neighbor Ditka gives the former Bears coach another reason to get involved.
It was a substantial supporting role, with Ditka becoming central to the movie's increasingly ridiculous coaching partnership. His familiar scowl and blunt delivery fit beautifully alongside Ferrell's unraveling soccer dad.
The running jokes gave him plenty to work with: protecting his yard from unwanted leaves, trying to conceal his cigar smoking from his wife and getting dragged into the indignity of juice-box duty.
Watching a man associated with professional football's toughest personalities navigate those arguments was funny enough. Ditka made it better by treating the nonsense with the seriousness of a fourth-quarter coaching decision.
For younger viewers, the movie offered an introduction to someone their parents already knew from football. They could appreciate the performance without knowing his coaching record or having watched the 1985 Bears.
That was the appeal. Ditka brought the personality that made him famous and let the movie have fun with it.
He'll always be "Da Coach." For anyone who grew up watching the Tigers, he also belongs on a soccer sideline, cigar nearby, wondering how he got stuck dealing with this guy.
