Forrest Gregg and Mike Ditka Beef Explained

IN the 1980s, the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers had one of the greatest rivalries in the NFL.

Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg took center stage and now fans want to know what happened.

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Forrest Gregg and Mike Ditka Beef Explained

Before Ditka and Gregg became NFL coaches, they were standout Hall of Famers in the league.

Some might say their time in the field was when their beef began. However, the beef that everyone remembers dates back to 1986, when the “dirtiest hit in NFL history” happened.

At the time, the Packers were taking on the Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, and Green Bay defenseman Charles Martin bodyslammed Bears quarterback Jim McMahon two seconds after releasing a pass.

The game resulted in a serious right shoulder injury and was quickly dubbed one of the league’s dirtiest hits.

“It was at least 20 seconds after the interception,” Jerry Markbreit, a retired NFL official who edited the game, told the Chicago Tribune.

“I don’t think he was aware of the time or that the play was over. McMahon went to the touchline, relaxed, and he picked him up and smashed him to the ground.”

Martin was kicked out of the game, but Ditka never forgot the game.

Years later, in 2011, during an interview on ESPN Radio, he recalled the event and expressed his true feelings for Gregg.

“Unfortunately, that was the only bad time in the history of the rivalry, when it got ugly,” Ditka said via the National Football Post.

“And it was ugly. They can’t try to hurt people and they tried to hurt some of our guys. (Running Back) Matt Suhey is lucky he wasn’t seriously injured. And when McMahon was picked up by Charles Martin and thrown to the ground, he was lucky he wasn’t hurt very badly.

“Those things were after the game, in hindsight. So either you practice it or your players are stupid. I will say that.

“In that case, I believe they were coached. That’s why I never got along with Forrest Gregg. To this day, that’s why I don’t respect him.”

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Where are Forrest Gregg and Mike Ditka now?

After the 1986 hit and the Super Bowl win, Ditka continued to coach the Bears through 1992.

He then took a few years off before returning to the league to coach the New Orleans Saints from 1997-99.

After his run with the Saints ended, he retired from coaching and eventually stepped out of the spotlight, but has continued to play a major role in the sports world ever since.

In July 2020, he became the owner and chairman of X League Football, a “women’s tackle football league originally formed as the Lingerie Football League,” according to NBC Sports.

Gregg coached the Packers until 1987, then coached the Canadian Football League’s Shreveport Pirates from 1994–95.

He died on April 12, 2019 at the age of 85, leaving behind his wife Barbara and their two children.