Flashback:

Ditka fined $20,000 for unsaintly gestures to fans

Tuesday, October 19, 1999

New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka was fined $20,000 by the club yesterday for the obscene gestures he directed toward heckling fans during and after Sunday's loss to Tennessee at the Louisiana Superdome.

As a group of fans screamed obscenities and derided Ditka, the coach flashed an obscene hand gesture while walking off the field at halftime. When the game ended with Tennessee winning 24-21, Ditka grabbed his crotch while he walked off the field...

Ditka, of course, was the longtime coach of the Chicago Bears before his stint with New Orleans, and now may become the GOP's candidate for Senate in Illinois -- even though

Ditka's wife has said she will divorce him if he throws his hat in the ring, and he is not apparently even registered to vote in this state.