Mike Ditka’s said President Obama may not have ascended to the presidency if the ex-Bears coach ran for Obama’s Illinois’ Senate seat in 2004. Ditka said it was the “biggest mistake” of his life.
“Not that I would have won, but I probably would have and he wouldn’t be in the White House,” Ditka said, according to The Dickinson Press.
The Atlantic Wire reported that at the time, Obama had a 7-point lead of Ditka in a SurveyUSA poll if Ditka were to run.
Ditka, who won a Super Bowl coaching the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears team, eventually pulled out of the race. He also won a Super Bowl as a player.
He has described himself as “ultra-ultra-ultra conservative” in the past.
Obama won after Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan left the race after a sex scandal erupted.
At the time, Obama said of Ditka: “He’s enormously popular. I think if he gets in, he immediately becomes a favorite,” reported ABC.
Ditka gave Obama a Chicago Bears jersey with the number 85 on the back, which read “Obama” on the back during a White House visit.