Mike Ditka knocked back by Bears great Steve McMichael’s plight

McMichael, left, helping carry Ditka off the field after the Bears won Super Bowl XX in New Orleans.It takes a lot to knock Mike Ditka sideways, but he was reeling as he tried to process the news that Bears legend Steve McMichael had been diagnosed with ALS and is in severe decline.

Ditka coached McMichael from 1982 to ’92 — nearly his entire Bears career — and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I don’t want to say that you have favorites, but I would have to say that Steve McMichael was always one of my favorites,” Ditka told the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday. “There was no quit in the guy. He gave you what he had. Whether it was enough or not, it didn’t matter. You were going to get his best effort. And…