Mike Ditka Suffers Minor Stroke: NFL Hall of Famer Claims it's 'No Big Deal,' Won't Appear on ESPN this Weekend

ESPN NFL Senior Producer Seth Markman reports that former NFL Hall of Famer and coach and current ESPN sports analyst Mike Ditka suffered a minor stroke on Friday (Nov. 16). The former Chicago Bears coach and player insists that he is okay and that the stroke was really "no big deal,"  but he will continue to rest and recover and will not appear on the network's NFL shows this weekend.

Markman tweeted this message on Friday:

‏@tunasweasel: Coach Ditka is going to be fine. He did suffer a minor stroke tonight. Won't be on the shows this wknd. He wanted everyone to know he's ok."

And an update on Saturday:

‏@tunasweasel: "Coach Ditka update: Feeling even better this am. Humbled by overwhelming support. Hopes to be released from hospital Sunday to watch NFL."

Ditka, 73, suffered the minor stroke while playing cards at a suburban Chicago country club with pals on Friday. Ditka told Dan Pompei of the "Chicago Tribune" on Friday evening that "I feel good right now and it's not a big deal." He admitted to Pompei that while playing cards, he noticed his hands weren't working properly, and that he began having trouble speaking. He was promptly hospitalized and diagnosed with having experienced a stroke. Ditka once suffered a heart attack while coaching the Bears in the 1988 season, but has had no more apparent issues before the health scare on Friday.

Ditka is one of just two people in the NFL to win a Super Bowl ring as a player, assistant coach, and head coach (Tom Flores is the other). He is now an ESPN analyst, a restaurant owner, and an avid amateur golfer.

Following his 1988 heart attack, Ditka returned to work just eight days after, and returned to the turf just three days after that. He told Pompei at the time, "I don't know what I experienced. I think I almost experienced embarrassment. It kind of was embarrassing that it happened to me. I mean, how could this ever happen to me? That's the way I felt in the beginning, and then it didn't matter. I mean it was so bad at a certain point that I knew that we're just mortals. I mean, we're here for a while and then we're gone. It can happen to anybody at any time. It was a very humbling feeling after that, believe me."