President Donald Trump was surprised on the South Lawn before heading to Syracuse on Friday.
Before making the trip north with Mike Tyson and New York Yankees president Randy Levine, the press group informed Trump that famed Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka had died.
The news sparked a backlash from the president.
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Mike Ditka participates in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Grand Parade in downtown Canton, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. (Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ( )
“Oh, he did it? He was a great guy. He was with me the whole time. He was tough,” Trump said. “Mike Ditka, it’s sad.”
“He was great. He was a big supporter of mine and he was a winner. He was a badass.”
Ditka supported Trump before the 2016 election.
Ditka coached the famous 1985 Bears who devastated the NFL with an 18-1 record, losing only to the Miami Dolphins and then winning a Super Bowl title.
The death of one of the NFL greats was announced Friday morning by his family in a press release.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, Mike Ditka,” the statement said. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family.
CHICAGO, IL – CIRCA 1980s: Head coach Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears on the field before an NFL football game in the mid-1980s at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Ditka was the Bears’ head coach from 1982 to 1992. (Photo by Sports Focus/Getty Images) ( )
LEGENDARY HEAD COACH MIKE DITKA DEAD AT 86
Ditka was a great tight end who won the Super Bowl with Dallas and was a Super Bowl-winning coach with the Chicago Bears. He also became an iconic figure as fans and celebrities copied his look and imitated his no-nonsense speech.
Drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1961, he became the first modern tight end and the first tight end selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Ditka won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1961 and made five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1961 to 1965 and earned five All-Pro selections.
He played for the Bears from 1961 to 1966, the Philadelphia Eagles from 1967 to 1968 and the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 to 1972, finishing with 427 receptions, 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Ditka played on teams that won the 1963 NFL championship with Chicago and Super Bowl VI with Dallas following the 1971 season.
He retired as a player after the 1972 season, entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
Head coach Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears watches from the sidelines as the Washington Redskins play during an NFL football game on November 26, 1989 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Ditka was the Bears’ head coach from 1982 to 1992. (Focus on sport/Getty Images)
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He became Chicago’s head coach in 1982 and was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1988, coached the Bears until 1992 and then managed the New Orleans Saints from 1997 to 1999.
OutKick’s Armando Salguero and Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
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