Courtesy Crain's Chicago Business

(NOvember 4, 2010) Last week, I turned on the car radio and did my usual routine, pounding the buttons as if I was working a keyboard. When I landed on Howard Stern's show, I had to do a double-take.

While known for being outrageous, Mr. Stern also pulls in many A-list guests. As I tuned in, I thought I heard a familiar voice.

Could that be "Da Coach"? Really, Mike Ditka on Howard Stern?

I listened as Mr. Ditka artfully avoided Mr. Stern's questions about his personal life. As always, Mr. Ditka was funny and candid about things that mattered to him; he was promoting a motivational DVD. At the end of the interview, Mr. Stern spoke of his admiration for the coach.

As barometers go, Mr. Ditka appearance on Mr. Stern's show is another indication of how relevant he continues to be after all these years.

Mr. Ditka is 71 now, but you'd be a fool to get in his way. Twenty-five years after leading the Bears to their greatest glory, he remains a marketing dynamo. Indeed, no person associated with that team has cashed in more than him.

Companies still want him to pitch their products. Coors Light has an ad in which the guys dream about hanging with Mr. Ditka.

His website shows that his name is on almost anything and everything: restaurants, wines, cigars, vitamins, a resort in Florida. Almost enough stuff to open his own Ditka Wal-Mart.

When we taped him for our Business of Sports video interview at his restaurant in Oak Brook, Mr. Ditka had just finished laying his signature on a table stacked with bottles of his wine, footballs, jerseys and photos. It's a usual routine for him.

It helps that he still is very much in the public eye thanks to his work with ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" and his many other appearances on the network. However, none of the other panelists on the show has his marketing presence.

No, it goes beyond being on ESPN for Mr. Ditka.

During our interview, I asked Mr. Ditka if he was surprised he's still in such demand after all these years. He chewed on the thought for a second and then said:

"I'm not the most politically correct guy. I'm pretty straight with what I say. If you like me, you like me. If you don't like me, I don't lose a lot of sleep over it. I won't shove my views on anybody, and I don't want anybody to shove them on me."

There you have it: the essence of Ditka.

There's the edginess, unpredictability, candor, humor, unique philosophies and sayings and an in-your-face persona. Let's not forget his distinctive face, which embodies many qualities of a bear, and not the football variety.

Rick Telander, who co-wrote a book on the '85 Bears with Mr. Ditka, notes "he still has the same moustache, the same wedge of hair. That's important."

Veteran Chicago sportscaster Chet Coppock, who knows a thing or two about promotion and has worked several times with Mr. Ditka, said in his own unique way:

"Ditka's appeal to guys is too easy. He's Iron Mike. He's a raw slab of western Pennsylvania leather. His personality says tough, outrageous, two-fisted drinker and 'don't mess with me.' "

Steve Mandell, Mr. Ditka's agent, said the coach "intrigues people."

"It comes down to magnetism," Mr. Mandell said. "He captivates people. He doesn't hold back. People wish they could say the things he does. If he believes in something, he'll jump in three feet first. That's why people want to work with him."

Even though Mr. Ditka is in his 70s, Mr. Mandell says he has seen no sign of him slowing down. In fact, the coach even has a connection with the younger crowd thanks to appearing as himself in the Will Ferrell youth soccer movie "Kicking and Screaming."

"Kids come up to him all the time talking about the movie," Mr. Mandell said.

The older crowd, "baby boomers," as Mr. Coppock said, still have memories of him rolling over defenders as a Hall of Fame tight end for the Bears. For those a bit younger, Mr. Ditka always will be the face of Chicago's greatest team.

"Ditka gave us a replacement for the late Mayor Daley," Mr. Coppock said. "We're aging with him — quite gracefully. Chicago loves the fact that we own Ditka. The rest of the country can only envy us from afar."