Mike Ditka’s wife Diana Ditka had some very clear statements to make about Ray Rice’s wife last year in September. In regards to Janay Palmer blaming the media for ruining their lives, Diana Ditka’s official statement was: “I’ve never understood why men hit women. It’s tragic, but it happens. But Rice’s wife blaming the press Tuesday for ruining their lives by pursuing the story is wrong. What happened is her husband’s fault. She loves him. That’s her choice. But what happened in that elevator is not the fault of the press for pushing the story and moving it ahead.”
Diana was responding to Janay’s comments that came after the second video of her brutal beating came out. She basically put all her anger on the media for following the story and blamed them for ruining their lives. Naturally, Diana hits the nail on the head here by saying clearly that the media did nothing wrong. There’s a strong impulse towards denial coming from Janay Rice that she may not be able to face until later in her life, but the person who ruined their lives is Ray Rice. One of the most interesting things she said was “you’d think it was a country of people who never made a mistake.” It is true that people make mistakes, but most of the country watching the story clearly wanted a more punctuated end to the their relationship– not to see Janay stay with Ray. Janay said she would tell her daughter “this is not something you should tolerate” and then she said she would tell her “people make mistakes, and it’s how you learn from them.” They seem like polar opposite messages to me.
Anyway, let’s get back to Mike Ditka’s wife Diana Ditka. She went on to say that she believes money can be the root of all evil and that “it can empower you to believe you can get away with anything. But it’s not the NFL’s job to teach you how to be a husband…They are finally sending Rice a message by pulling the plug on the money.” Diana has a clear understanding of men in sports, as she should. Diana was married to Mike after he divorced his first wife, and she’s known for emphasizing that she’s not his second wife but his “last one.” They were married in 1976 and had been dating since 1971. She told the Chicago Reader that honesty is Mike’s strong point.
