Iron Mike isn't all he's cracked up to be. So admits Mike Ditka, who was in Houston on Wednesday to announce the NFL Play of the Year presented by Levitra, the male impotency drug.

"That's all [baloney] anyway,'' Ditka said. "If I was Iron Mike, I wouldn't have four hip replacements, so I don't take myself too serious about any of that.''

But Ditka, perhaps Chicago's consummate pitch man, does take erectile dysfunction seriously, as well as the Tackling Men's Health program put together by the NFL and partners Bayer Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline. He laments the heart attack he overcame in 1988 and said it was preventable had he paid attention to some telltale warnings and seen a doctor.

"It's not about E.D. only,'' Ditka said. "It's about cardiovascular disease, prostate, diabetes. All of these things can bring on E.D. If you're on medicine for high blood pressure, it can bring on E.D. Men don't know this. Go see your doctor, he'll tell you.''

There you have it. One of sports' all-time macho figures has taken his pitch to "stay in the game'' into the postseason. Sunday's game will be the first Super Bowl to feature television advertisements for erectile-dysfunction drugs, with Levitra and Cialis, a new drug on the market, trying to score with the massive audience -- including a larger-than-normal female segment for a football game. GlaxoSmithKline claims there was a 40 percent increase in men seeing physicians about erectile dysfunction during the regular season, something they attribute to Da Coach.

Ditka, 64, said the company approached him about the commercial opportunity, and he said he has had erectile dysfunction since 1999. As far as being teased about his association with the drug, do you really think you can embarrass Iron Mike?

"Everybody standing here, when you experience [erectile dysfunction], you'll say, 'This guy was right!''' he said. "You don't think that's ever going to be a part of your life, and all of a sudden, you wake up one day, you wake up another, and 'something's going on here. Let's fix it up.'

"Maybe the first time I was asked about the problem, you're very suspect whether you want to [promote the drug]. Then you have to make up your mind whether you want to lead a normal life or you don't want to live a normal life. I chose to live a normal life. There are remedies and solutions for a lot of things that happen in life if you take the time to go to your doctor.''

Ditka also expounded on plenty of in-the-game topics after awarding New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister with a plaque to honor the Saints' miraculous, three-lateral touchdown on the final play of their game at Jacksonville.

*Ditka has spoken with new Bears coach Lovie Smith:

"I'm happy for him. It's the greatest opportunity in the world. It's the best job in America. I told him that, and he knows that. If you win in that city, it's the greatest city in the world. You write your own ticket.''

*Hall of Fame finalist Richard Dent deserves to have his ticket punched to Canton, Ohio:

"You talk about a guy who was instrumental, as well as Dan [Hampton] and Mike [Singletary] and some other guys on our defense, he was certainly instrumental on that Bears defense of the '80s.''

*On why he picked Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme to start two games with the Saints when he was their coach:

"I'd like to say I am clairvoyant, but I'm not. Jake has a great attitude. He wants to learn, he wants to play, he wants to get better. You don't see that in a lot of people, but that's the way he approaches it.''

*If winning Super Bowl XX was the highlight of his career, including his playing days:

"It's my No. 1 because it's the Super Bowl championship for the Bears. They haven't had one since. They didn't have one before, and I'm not going to finish that. You add to it.''

*His Super Bowl XXXVIII pick?

"The Patriots right now, they're on a roll. I love the matchup. I just can't go against New England.''

*Finally, in his younger, more virile days, did he ever consider a future as a spokesman for an erectile-dysfunction drug?

"Iron Mike? Come on. Cut it out.''

That's the Ditka we know.

Source : http://www.suntimes.com