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An angry Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka said Monday...

By RANDY MINKOFF, UPI Sports Writer

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- An angry Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka said Monday the club was in the market for a new kicker, indicating veteran Bob Parsons' days as the team's punter may be numbered.

Ditka's ire was raised after it was reported that Parsons, a 12-year veteran of the NFL, had contacted the USFL Chicago Blitz about serving as a special teams coach or as the club's punter.

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'I was pushed a little too far,' Ditka said. 'I just know that in life there is a right and wrong way to do things. There was a time and a place for things. It wasn't initiated by the team but by him.'

Parsons was among the lowest rated punters in the league this year and faced the possibility of being cut by Chicago after the regular season. Ditka indicated he would have stayed with Parsons for the rest of the year but said under the circumstances, the club would invite other punters into camp.

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The leading candidate to replace Parsons, a graduate of Penn State, is former Michigan State and Green Bay Packer punter Ray Stachowicz.

'We haven't been able to get hold of him yet,' Ditka said, 'but we're going to try and bring him in.'

Stachowicz punted two years for the Packers after being a third round draft choice in 1981. However, he was cut this year.

If Stachowicz is signed, Ditka would not hint whether Parsons would be immediately cut.

'It is a matter of loyalty. When things weren't going well with him earlier in the year, we stuck by him,' Ditka said.

The Bears have been especially hard hit by USFL defections. Quarterback Vince Evans signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Blitz earlier this season and several other draft choices have been signed or wooed by the Blitz.

Ditka said he doesn't begrudge the USFL for signing players, again emphasizing he only wants players suiting up each week who want to play for the Bears.

Specifically, Ditka said players who have given up on this season wouldn't be welcome for the final two games of this year or next year for the Bears.

'I want to have the guys who wantto play, anyone who lays down you want to find out now,' Ditka said. 'Isn't there a thing called pride?'

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Following Chicago's 31-28 loss at Green Bay Sunday, the Bears are 6-8 and need a complex, unlikely set of circumstances to make the playoffs. Ditka said he was disappointed about the team's latest defeat but said he planned to use regulars in the final two games against Minnesota and the Packers.

'You owe it to the players,' he said. 'We do want to take a look at certain people at certain positions.'

In a related item, Ditka said the Packers' ability to 'cave in' on the quarterback rush on Jim McMahon Sunday contributed to the club's offensive problems.

'The receivers were also open, the routes they ran were poor. Jim couldn't see them. They caved the pocket in right on top of him,' said Ditka. 'We let them penetrate. It got to be a little silly.'

Ditka defended McMahon, however, by saying it would be unfair to blame the quarterback for the situation.

'The receivers have to give him a better picture. On six or seven routes, it was hard to tell what they were running,' he said.

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