Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka has emerged as the favorite of many Illinois Republicans to run for the Senate, The Hill reports.
The newspaper that covers Congress said interviews with congressional and state GOP officials disclosed that many were eager to have the Hall of Fame tight end and Chicago icon as a Senate candidate.
GOP Senate nominee Jack Ryan dropped out of the race two weeks ago in a furor over the release of divorce papers in which his ex-wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, said he took her to sex clubs and tried to get her to engage in sex acts with him in front of others.
"If Ditka ran, Democrats would claim to vote for [Democratic Senate nominee Barack] Obama and then secretly vote for Ditka," Rep. Mark Kirk,R-Ill., told the Hill "It would immediately put Chicago in play."
The Hill also said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., wanted Ditka to run but would make no public statement on his behalf, according to a senior aide to Hastert.
Ditka himself seems ready to put on the political pads.
The former Bears coach told WGN-TV from his Chicago restaurant that a potential Senate run is very much on his mind.
"I'm getting excited about it and I'm just thinking about it," Ditka said.
Asked what he might bring to the job, Ditka said: "I'm not a genius, but I'm pretty common sense. I'm just a guy. We're all just guys. This guy running as the Democratic candidate, he's just a guy."
"All I'm saying is, hey, people gotta learn to work together," Ditka said. "There are solutions for everything. You can't be too extreme here and you can't be too extreme to the other side."
The Chicago Tribune reported that Ditka, 64, had contacted state Republican leader Judy Baar Topinka to say that he was interested in discussing a possible run.
But the newspaper also reported some Illinois Republicans privately view the Ditka boomlet as a sign of the party's desperation.
There are several obstacles to a Ditka candidacy. He would have to give up his job as an ESPN analyst and any lucrative TV commercial endorsements that might come his way.
And his membership in a men-only Illinois golf club would certainly emerge as a campaign issue.