https://sports.yahoo.com/dick-butkus-one-of-the-greatest-linebackers-in-nfl-history-dies-at-80-223149911.html
NFL Network ranked the most feared tacklers in league history in 2009. No.
1 on the list was Dick Butkus. There could have been no other choice for
the top spot.
Butkus’ name has become synonymous with the violent side of football: fear and intimidation. Butkus was also synonymous with greatness at middle linebacker, and in many ways the NFL itself.
Butkus, the longtime Chicago Bears star, died at age 80. Butkus' death was confirmed in a statement from his family, via the Chicago Bears. TMZ
reported that paramedics responded to a medical emergency call at Butkus'
home in Malibu, California on Thursday afternoon and he was pronounced dead
at the scene.
Butkus was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. It was an
easy pick, because it’s hard to imagine writing the history of the game without Butkus.
Dick Butkus was a star at every level
Butkus started to become a household name at the University of Illinois. Playing center and linebacker, he led the Illini to a 17-7 win over
Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl. That is Illinois’ last Rose Bowl win. The Dick Butkus Award is now given to the top linebacker in college football
each year.
Butkus was a high draft pick of the AFL’s Denver Broncos (ninth overall)
and the NFL’s Chicago Bears (third overall), but the allure of playing for his hometown Bears was strong. He signed with the Bears, and was a star
from the start.
Butkus was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 1965, as was teammate Gale Sayers. Butkus and Sayers were the first rookie teammates in NFL history to both be named All-Pro, and that record wasn’t matched until 2018.
Butkus was the epitome of violence in football
Butkus was more than just a fierce hitter. He had five interceptions as a rookie and finished with 22 picks in his career. He was a fantastic
all-around player.
But everyone remembers him as a vicious tackler.
By the time Sports Illustrated put Butkus on the cover of the 1970 NFL
preview, and touted him as “The Most Feared Man In The Game,” his reputation was set. In a 1971 feature, Playboy described Butkus thusly: “To
a fan, the story on Butkus is very simple. He's the meanest, angriest, toughest, dirtiest son of a bitch in football. An animal, a savage, subhuman.”
“Dick was an animal,” Hall-of-Fame defensive end Deacon Jones said, according to NBC Sports Chicago. “I called him a maniac. A stone maniac. He was a well-conditioned animal, and every time he hit you, he tried to put
you in the cemetery, not the hospital.”
Butkus would play into that reputation at times. That Playboy story in 1971 said Butkus once told a television reporter, "I sometimes have a dream
where I hit a man so hard his head pops off and rolls downfield." And every football fan has seen the well-worn NFL Films clips of Butkus destroying running backs who crossed his path.
In NFL Network’s “A Football Life,” Butkus’ family laughed at the notion of
him being mean, saying they never saw that side of him. Butkus would show a softer side during his post-football acting career, even spending two
seasons on the sitcom “My Two Dads” in the late 1980s.
But the reputation of Butkus’ ferocity never died. And during his storied career, he earned it. He will always epitomize the physical nature of professional football.
Butkus’ legend grew over time
In each of Butkus’ first eight seasons, he was named to the Pro Bowl. He
was a five-time All-Pro. He was the greatest middle linebacker in the game despite knee injuries that plagued him for much of his career. Finally,
after the 1973 season, Butkus retired. Despite his individual greatness,
the Bears never made the playoffs during Butkus’ career.
Butkus had a long acting career after football, with 53 credits according
to IMDB. He became a popular pitchman for commercials, too.
Despite success off the field and the decades that passed after he played
for the Bears, Butkus’ football legend continued to grow. He was named to
the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 1960s and 1970s. Butkus was an obvious choice for the NFL’s 75th anniversary all-time team.
In 2001, Sports Illustrated’s Paul Zimmerman named Butkus the greatest
middle linebacker in NFL history. When NFL Network ranked the 100 greatest players ever in 2010, Butkus was No. 10. He and Jim Brown were the only
players in the top 20 who played fewer than 10 NFL seasons.
Decades after his retirement, Butkus was still remembered reverentially by
NFL fans. His legend will last forever.
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