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Ditka was born Michael Dyczko, on October 18, 1939, in [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania]], near [[Pittsburgh]], the oldest child of Charlotte (Keller) and Mike Ditka Sr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19981115ditka9.asp|title=Obituary: Mike Ditka: Aliquippa resident, father of Saints coach|publisher=Old.post-gazette.com|access-date=January 16, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018013117/http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19981115ditka9.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> He grew up in nearby [[Aliquippa, Pennsylvania|Aliquippa]]{{r|price20110131}} with siblings Ashton, David, and Mary Ann. His father, a welder, was one of three brothers of a Polish<ref name=roots>{{cite web|url=http://abc7chicago.com/archive/9281089/ |title=Ditka putting name on Polish sausage |publisher=ABC 7 Chicago|access-date=October 9, 2013}}</ref> and [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/hof-ditka.asp |title=Mike Ditka page on |publisher=Chicagobears.com |access-date=September 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220123238/http://www.chicagobears.com/tradition/hof-ditka.asp |archive-date=December 20, 2007 |url-status=dead }} Quote from article: "Mike's childhood name was Mike Dyzcko. His father was one of three brothers of a Ukrainian family in the coal-mining and steel-manufacturing area in Western Pennsylvania"</ref> family in the coal-mining and steel-manufacturing area in [[Western Pennsylvania]]. His ancestry on his mother's side is Irish and German.<ref name="bookref1">{{cite book|last1=Othello Harris|first1=George Kirsch|last2=Claire Nolte|title=Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2000|location=Westport, Connecticut|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofet0000unse_u6f6/page/132 132]|isbn=0-313-29911-0|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofet0000unse_u6f6/page/132}}</ref> The Ukrainian surname "Dyczko" was difficult to pronounce in his hometown, so the family name was changed to "Ditka".<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Ditka attended St. Titus School.
Ditka attended [[Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School|Aliquippa High School]], where he was a three-sport star under head coach [[Press Maravich]]. While at Aliquippa High School, the team doctor, John L. Miller, took Mike and other players to [[Pitt Panthers football|Pitt football]] games and encouraged them to play for Pitt. Ditka is quoted as saying, "Doc Miller patched me up many times". Ditka hoped to escape his hometown's manufacturing jobs by attending college with a football scholarship. Initially planning to become a dentist,<ref name=price20110131>{{cite news|last=Price|first=S.L.|title=The Heart Of Football Beats In Aliquippa|url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Over+five+decades+of+economic+decline+and+racial+conflict%2C+-+01.31.11+-+SI+Vault&urlID=445388322&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1181210%2Findex.htm|access-date=February 6, 2011|newspaper=Sports Illustrated|date=January 31, 2011|archive-date=September 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927085619/http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Over+five+decades+of+economic+decline+and+racial+conflict%2C+-+01.31.11+-+SI+Vault&urlID=445388322&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1181210%2Findex.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> he was recruited by three [[NCAA Division I]] teams, [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]], [[Penn State Nittany Lions football|Penn State]], and Pitt.
==College career==
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