Former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka Says His ‘Biggest Mistake’ Involves Obama…

When Illinois state legislator Barack Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate, one of the names floated to run against him was Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. Ditka declined, and nine years later, he considers that to be the “biggest mistake” of his career.

In an interview last week with The Dickinson Press, Ditka opened up about his career, an invitation he received to attend the grand opening of an oil company in North Dakota, and his conservative politics, the latter of which led him to say this.

[Ditka] regrets not running against Barack Obama to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate.

“Biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” Ditka said. “Not that I would have won, but I probably would have and he wouldn’t be in the White House.”

Ditka had been approached by Illinois Republicans to get in the race a month after the chosen GOP candidate withdrew over a public scandal, but Ditka ultimately refused to get in the race. Obama’s eventual GOP challenger was Alan Keyes, and the results weren’t even close.

When Ditka and the 1985 Bears Super Bowl champions were at the White House in 2011, Obama joked he was glad Ditka didn’t end up running against him, “because I have to say I would have been terrible on ESPN.”

[h/t The Daily Caller]

[photo via U.S. Navy]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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