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Mike Ditka’s Lasting Influence on Ron Rivera

Rivera was a member of the 1985 ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ Bears, and he’s finally recaptured some of that old magic in Carolina

Christian Peterson/Getty Images :: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

The best team has a great sense of family.
The best family has a great culture.
Within that culture there is tremendous character.

— Ron Rivera’s mantra, repeated daily, to his team.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Blah blah blah character, blah blah sense of family and blah culture. Heard it before. All coaches at all levels in all sports say something like this every season, or maybe a few times per the season.