‘He’s the standard’: Mike Ditka’s legacy lives on in Aliquippa

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — Mike Ditka’s name is the first on the field house at Heinz Field in Aliquippa. It’s where the Aliquippa Quips play their home football games.

It’s a reminder to the players today of who came before them.

“His standard that he set 60 years ago is still here,” said Head Coach Mike Warfield. “He’s the standard.”

>>> PHOTOS: Mike Ditka through the years <<<

Inside the locker room of the field house, on the ceiling, is the old door Ditka used to take the field.

“I wanted to save it just to give a sense of pride of who walked through that door,” Warfield said.

Despite his passing Friday, Ditka’s legacy still lives in Aliquippa. Warfield said it’s a blessing.

“He’s done so much for us all. We don’t inherit much, but we have inherited Mike Ditka, and that’s a blessing,” Warfield said. “What he has done for the community, just the pride, the sense of toughness, the sense of keep fighting, the sense of it’s possible, has been a blessing for us all.”

Ditka won three Super Bowls in his career, one as a player with the Dallas Cowboys, one as the Cowboys’ assistant coach, and one as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.

He was also the first tight end enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I think Travis Kelce and all these tight ends today owe a gratitude to Mike Ditka because he actually changed the tight end position because of the time when he came up,” said Steve Higgins.

Higgins, the director of the Larry Bruno Foundation Museum in Beaver Falls, said Ditka will forever be someone Beaver County and Western Pennsylvania will be proud of.

“Mike was someone great that we were able to gravitate toward,” Higgins said.

Ditka died on Friday, his family announced. He was 86.

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