Mike Ditka opens up on not giving Walter Payton a touchdown in the 1985 Super Bowl
It's been nearly 40 years, but former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka is still kicking himself for not giving the ball to Walter Payton in Super Bowl XX.
Indeed, Daniel Greenberg reported that the former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka told @dandakich that not giving Walter Payton the chance to score a touchdown in Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots is «the worst thing» he's ever done and the "biggest thing I regret in my life.»
Payton was by far the best player on the team and he was virtually unstoppable. In fact, that season alone, he ran for over 1500 yards.
However, Mike Ditka and the coaching staff like the idea of using William "Refrigerator" Perry in goal-line situations, handing him the ball at the 1 and letting him bulldoze his way into the end zone.
Well, Ditka chose that strategy in the Super Bowl, calling Perry's number on the goal line with a 37-3 lead. The big man would score, and Payton would ultimately never find the end zone.
It truly looked like it was something important for Walter. Indeed, Payton admitted after the game he wanted the ball, and said a few weeks later it was «a little hardening for me.»
