Q+a [mike Ditka]

The 63-year-old Hall of Fame tight end, Super Bowl-winning Bears coach and restaurant owner is the national spokesperson for the NFL's new Tackling Men's Health campaign.

SI: Have you mellowed as you've gotten older?

Ditka: I think I'm pretty mellow. People have one image of me that's really not a true image. Yeah, I'm competitive and I get mad and I don't apologize for any of that. Things that aren't important to me, I don't get mad about, but football was my job and it was important to me.

SI: So, how competitive are you these days anyway?

Ditka: I'm competitive in anything I do. I want to win whether it's golf or cards or the restaurant business.

SI: If somebody offered you a coaching gig today, would you take it?

Ditka: I don't know. Nobody is offering me one.

SI: You've talked about having erectile dysfunction (ED), and you're the spokesman for the impotence drug Levitra. Could you have been as open about such things when you were a younger man?

Ditka: No. You have that macho image, and you don't want anybody to know [about your erectile difficulties]. As you get older you understand it's a part of life. It doesn't make you dead or inadequate. It's just a problem you have, and you correct it.

SI: What would have happened if a guy brought up ED when you were playing in the league?