1960s and 1970s Chicago Bears middle linebacker and NFL 100th anniversary all-time selection Dick Butkus passes away Thursday at his Malibu, California, home. Decade: 1980. The bears reported the death without a cause.
At 245 pounds and 6’3″, Butkus was an excellent size for his day as a rushing center. His agility allowed him to dive back and block passes. He made eight Pro Bowls and five first-team appearances. Entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979, his eligible year.
Sacks weren’t counted until 1982; therefore, Butkus’ QB suffocation is uncertain. He had 27 fumble recoveries and 22 pass interceptions for the Bears from 1965 to 1973.
Dick Butkus
The Hall of Fame quotes Butkus: “When I went out on the field to warm up, I would manufacture things to make me mad.” I pretended he was insulting the bears or me if he laughed. It always worked for me.
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Former Bears middle linebacker Bill George labeled Butkus a Hall of Fame contender. George told the Chicago Tribune, “I started packing my gear the first time I saw Butkus.” “His greatness was inevitable.”
Professional defenses used center guards until 1950. Stop playing, big gamers. George changed defenses and covered throws.
Cronkite played Giants player Sam Huff in “The Violent World of Sam Huff,” making middle linebacker more desirable in October 1960. Butkus played linebacker, fullback, punter, and place kicker for CVH.
Three seasons at Illinois as a linebacker or center earned him national All-American honors. In his junior year, he led the Illini to an 8-1-1 record and a stunning Rose Bowl triumph over Washington on New Year’s Day 1964.
Dan Jenkins claimed on a 1964 Sports Illustrated cover that “if every college football team had a linebacker like Dick Butkus of Illinois, all fullbacks would soon be three feet tall and sing soprano.”
Richard Marvin Butkus was born in Chicago to a large Lithuanian-American family on December 9, 1942. His wealthy parents were John and Emma Butkus. My father was a Pullman-Standard electrician.
The Bears drafted Butkus third overall in 1965, after Denver drafted him second. George Halas picked his hometown NFL team. He intercepted five passes and recovered seven fumbles as a rookie.
Despite suffering, Butkus led the bears. They missed the playoffs after winning 49, losing 74, and tying four. After surgery, Butkus played his final season with a badly injured right knee. After retiring in May 1974, he sued the Bears for $1.6 million for not providing him with the treatment and care he had agreed to for five years in July 1973. A settlement was reached outside of court.
Theater replaced football for Butkus. In Miller Lite athlete TV ads, he played a tennis player who challenged Bubba Smith over Miller Lite’s specialty. The series said, “Yum! Filling less!”
Butkus appears in “Necessary Roughness” (1991) and “Any Given Sunday” (1999). He appears on “My Two Dads” and “Hang Time.”
Butkus played himself in “Brian’s Song,” a 1971 documentary honoring his running back teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer the year before. According to ESPN’s “Bound for Glory,” he coached high school football for one season.
Matt, Nikki, and Richard Jr. were Butkus and Helen’s children and grandchildren. Details on his survivors were unknown.
Scrimmages pitted Butkus against 1960s Bears center Mike Pyle. Pyle noted in Richard Whittingham’s 1991 book “Bears in Their Own Words” that Dick was “just as intense in practice as he was in a game.”
Pyle recalled, “I would spend all this money buying him dinner and beer and stuff like that to keep him from taking it out on me during the scrimmages.” “He probably cut my career by two years in training camp.”
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