(12-15) 16:52 PST (AP) --

Mike Ditka is getting back into football as an owner.

Ditka will become a minority owner of the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football
League, a league source told The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition
of not being identified. The Hall of Fame tight end and Chicago icon has no
plans of returning to coaching, however.

A news conference will be held at Ditka's Chicago restaurant on Thursday.

Since being fired as coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1999, Ditka has had
little direct involvement with football. He has done some commentary -- he
appears on the Chicago CBS affiliate Friday nights to preview Bears games,
and also on a Chicago sports talk show station -- and is the spokesman for
an NFL-sponsored program, Levitra's Tackling Men's Health.

In July, Ditka, a Republican, decided not to run for the Senate.

"There was a moment when I said, `God, I'd like to take this and run with
it,' and then I said, `You know, put your head on straight and think about
what you're getting into,' " Ditka said of becoming a politician.

The 65-year-old Ditka will bring a well-known face to the indoor league,
which also has such high-profile owners as John Elway in Denver and Jon Bon
Jovi in Philadelphia.

The Rush are owned by Alan Levin and Arthur Price, who originally had Walter
Payton as part of the ownership group. The team joined the AFL in 1999 and
began play in 2001.

The 2005 season opens on the weekend of Jan. 28-30, with the Rush playing at
Dallas.

One of the greatest players in Bears history, Ditka entered the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in 1988. He also coached the franchise to its only Super Bowl
championship after the 1985 season. He was 112-68 as Bears coach, but was
fired after the 1992 season.

In New Orleans, he was 15-33.