‘He was Chicago’s son’: Dick Butkus, the Hall of Fame Bears linebacker known for his toughness, dies at 80
He was not on the list.
Perhaps no player in the Chicago Bears’ 104-year history better epitomized the team’s tough and determined identity than Dick Butkus.
A product of Chicago’s working-class South Side and the University of Illinois, Butkus became a fierce Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker before embarking on a modest but enduring entertainment career in Hollywood.
“After football, it was difficult for me to find what I liked second-best,” Butkus once told the Tribune. “Football was always my first love. That certainly didn’t mean I couldn’t find something else. And the proof of the pudding is where I have ended up today.
“I guess I could have been one of those guys who didn’t prepare to quit. But things happened and through hard work I found out that, hey, there are other things besides football.”
Butkus, 80, died “peacefully in his sleep overnight” at his home in Malibu, California, the Butkus family said Thursday.
In 2019, the Tribune ranked Butkus No. 2 in a list of the 100 greatest Bears, behind Walter Payton.
“Dick was the ultimate Bear and one of the greatest players in NFL history. He was Chicago’s son,” Bears Chairman George McCaskey said in a statement. “He exuded what our great city is about and, not coincidently, what George Halas looked for in a player: toughness, smarts, instincts, passion and leadership. He refused to accept anything less than the best from himself or from his teammates. When we dedicated the George Halas statue at our team headquarters, we asked Dick to speak at the ceremony because we knew he spoke for Papa Bear.
“Dick had a gruff manner and maybe that kept some people from approaching him, but he actually had a soft touch. His legacy of philanthropy included a mission of ridding performance-enhancing drugs from sports and promoting heart health. His contributions to the game he loved will live forever and we are grateful he was able to be at our home opener this year to be celebrated one last time by his many fans.”
Dick Butkus is arguably one of the best linebackers ever to play, possessing strength, agility and quickness to cover running backs and tight ends on the same play. He played for the Bears from 1965 to 1973, making seven Pro Bowl teams, collecting 22 interceptions and recovering 27 fumbles. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, in a statement, said Butkus “embodied the strength and the tenacity of his hometown with every snap he played on the gridiron.”
“He was a true Monster of the Midway, but also an actor, a commentator and a statesman for all things representing our beloved blue and orange,” Johnson said. “He was a giant of a player, and a man, and we will always remember his giant love and dedication to the City of Chicago.”
Born Richard Marvin Butkus on Dec. 9, 1942, he was the youngest of nine children of Lithuanian immigrants. His father, Don, was an electrician. His mother, Emma, worked in a laundry. Butkus grew up in the Roseland neighborhood and played high school football for coach Bernie O’Brien at Chicago Vocational.
At Illinois, Butkus played center and linebacker from 1962-64 and was a unanimous All-American in 1963 and ‘64. In 1963 Butkus won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s most valuable player, and in 1964 he was named the American Football Coaches Association player of the year. Butkus finished sixth in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1963 and third in ‘64, and he finished his college career with 374 tackles.
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said in a statement that “the Greatest Living Illini has left us.”
“Dick Butkus was a giant in a land of giants,” Whitman said. “In a game built on toughness and tenacity, he stood alone. One of the most imposing figures to ever wear a helmet, away from the field, Dick was self-effacing, humble and generous. A cultural icon, Dick leaves a legacy on Americana that will never be forgotten.”
The Bears drafted Butkus in the first round of the 1965 draft with the No. 3 pick — one spot before they took another future Hall of Famer, running back Gale Sayers, making it one of the most productive drafts by one team in NFL history.
The Denver Broncos of the then-fledgling American Football League also drafted Butkus in the first round in 1965.
Butkus’ status as one of the greatest of all time is remarkable considering he never made the playoffs and enjoyed just two winning seasons in his nine-year career.
He was just that good — and ferocious.
Butkus’ highlight reels are shocking for their violence, tapping into a part of himself that even the most hardened football players find difficult to reach. He simply had no regard for his opponents.
Rams defensive end Deacon Jones, a Hall of Famer and one of the most feared defensive players ever, once said: “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.”
But Butkus was more than just a hard-hitting linebacker. He also was deftly skilled in pass coverage, racking up 22 interceptions.
Butkus started all 119 games he played. He was named first-team All-Pro five times and second-team once and was voted to the Pro Bowl after his first eight seasons. He’s the Bears’ all-time leader with 27 fumble recoveries.
“Near universally, Dick Butkus, a hometown hero in Chicago, was considered the person who defined the position of middle linebacker,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement. “He established a level of production and intensity few have matched. USA Today once called him the ‘gold standard by which other middle linebackers are measured.’”
Butkus was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1978. The NFL named him to its all-decade teams for both the 1960s and 1970s as well as its 75th and 100th anniversary all-time teams.
In 1994, the Bears retired the jersey numbers of Butkus (51) and Sayers (40) during a stormy halftime ceremony at Soldier Field.
Butkus, whose playing career was cut short because of multiple knee injuries, left the Bears with bitter feelings.
He filed a lawsuit in 1974, asserting that the Bears knowingly encouraged him to keep playing when he should have had surgery on his knees. The litigation caused friction between Butkus and Halas.
The parties eventually reached an out-of-court financial settlement, and the relationship between Butkus and the Bears improved over the years.
Trading on his tough-guy image, Butkus enjoyed a second career as a sports broadcaster, actor and sought-after pitchman for products ranging from antifreeze to beer. Whether the script called for comedy or drama, Butkus usually resorted to playing himself, often with his gruff exterior masking a softer side.
He appeared in “The Longest Yard” in 1974 and a dozen other feature films over the next 15 years, as well as the action series “Blue Thunder” and sitcoms “My Two Dads” and “Hang Time.” He returned to the Bears as a radio analyst in 1985 and joined CBS’ “The NFL Today” pregame show in 1988.
“Dick Butkus was a fierce and passionate competitor who helped define the linebacker position as one of the NFL’s all-time greats,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Dick’s intuition, toughness and athleticism made him the model linebacker whose name will forever be linked to the position and the Chicago Bears.
“We also remember Dick as a longtime advocate for former players and players at all levels of the game.”
The Butkus Foundation was formed to focus on his charitable endeavors. His most passionate initiative was the “I Play Clean” campaign, which concentrates on educating young athletes about the dangers of using steroids.
The Butkus Award was established in 1985 to recognize the top linebackers in high school, college and the NFL each year. The award also uses service to the community as part of its criteria.
Butkus is survived by his wife, Helen, and children Ricky, Matt and Nikki.
Butkus was born in Chicago, the youngest of eight children, but the first to be born in a hospital. He was a very large baby, weighing 13 pounds 6 ounces (6.1 kg) at birth. His father John, a Lithuanian immigrant to Ellis Island who spoke broken English, was an electrician and worked for the Pullman-Standard railroad car manufacturing company. His mother, Emma, worked 50 hours a week at a laundry. Butkus grew up in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He was a fan of the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) and attended their games at Comiskey Park. His older brother Ron played football for three colleges and tried out for the Cardinals before quitting due to a bad knee. For four years starting at age 15, Butkus worked with his four brothers as a mover.
Butkus played high school football as a fullback, linebacker, punter, and placekicker for coach Bernie O'Brien at Chicago Vocational High School. He averaged five yards per carry as a fullback, but preferred playing linebacker, where he made 70 percent of his team's tackles. In Butkus' first year on the varsity team, Chicago Vocational surrendered only 55 points in eight games. In 1959, he was the first junior to be honored by the Chicago Sun-Times as Chicago's high school player of the year. Injuries limited his play as a senior, but he was still heavily recruited by colleges to play football.
In the summer of 1960, Butkus was the starting catcher on a Chicago Park District baseball team known as the Sundodgers. An article in the Daily Calumet credits Butkus with driving in all of the Sundodgers' runs in a loss, hitting a home run to center field.
Succeeding hall of famer Bill George at middle linebacker, Butkus made an immediate impact as a rookie in 1965. He established himself as a ball hawk by intercepting five passes and recovering six opponents' fumbles, and he was also credited unofficially with having forced six fumbles. Against the New York Giants on November 28, he intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble, and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Week by the AP for the first of four times in his career.
Butkus scored the first points of his career in 1969, when he tackled Steelers' quarterback Dick Shiner in the end zone for a safety on November 9. He also recorded 25 tackles in the game, and for his efforts was recognized as the NFL Defensive Player of the Week by the AP.
He also scored a point; in the closing minutes of a game against the Washington Redskins on November 14, the score was tied at 15 and the Bears had lined up to kick an extra point. The snap went over the head of holder Bobby Douglass, who then raced back to retrieve the ball and looked to pass it. Butkus, who was playing as a blocking back, ran into the end zone and leapt to receive the pass for the winning score.
Butkus sparked controversy in 1972 with the release of Stop-Action, a memoir describing the final week of the 1971 season. The Bears had lost their final five games in 1971, and Butkus used the memoir as an outlet for his frustrations and grievances. In particular, he harshly criticized the Detroit Lions organization, saying, "I think they are a lot of jerks, from the owner, the general manager, the coach on down... If we were voting for a jerk team or organization they'd have my vote all the way." The Lions responded with a 38–24 win over the Bears in Week 3 of 1972. After the game Lions linebacker Mike Lucci, whom Butkus had labeled a "crybaby", denied that the book had any bearing on the game's outcome, but told reporters, "Butkus should just keep his mouth shut and play football." Butkus, who was notoriously surly with reporters, also denied any connection and accused the media of sensationalism.
Dick was an animal. 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.
— Deacon Jones, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end
Tackling wasn't good enough," recalled former Bears defensive end Ed O'Bradovich. "Just to hit people wasn't good enough. He loved to crush people.
He is also recognized for having set the benchmark for the success of Bears middle linebackers, which continued with Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher. Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell, known for his hard-hitting running style, cited Butkus as his hero growing up.
His No. 50 jersey is one of only two retired by the Illinois Fighting Illini football program, the other being the No. 77 of Red Grange.
In 2017, NFL senior analyst Gil Brandt ranked Butkus as the third greatest linebacker of all time, behind Derrick Thomas and Lawrence Taylor.
Butkus endorsed Prestone, a brand of antifreeze, in a commercial during Super Bowl IV in 1970, stating the tagline, "Because plugging holes is my business." The ad marked the first highly successful celebrity endorsement in Super Bowl advertising. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Butkus appeared alongside fellow former NFL star (and later Blue Thunder co-star) Bubba Smith in a series of ads for Miller Lite, which were released to high acclaim. In 1985, he was a pitchman for Echo Tools, a producer of outdoor power equipment. In the 1990s, Butkus promoted the "Qwik-Cook Grill", a grill utilizing newspaper as its main fuel.
Butkus returned to the Bears as a color analyst on radio broadcasts in 1985, teaming with first-year play-by-play man Wayne Larrivee and former St. Louis Cardinals quarterback Jim Hart. He was hired as the replacement for Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder on CBS's pregame show The NFL Today in 1988 serving as an analyst through 1989. He was named as head coach of the XFL's Chicago Enforcers franchise, but was replaced by coach Ron Meyer for the league's only season in 2001.
In 2005, as part of the ESPN reality series Bound for Glory, Butkus served as head football coach of Montour High School in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He coached the team to a 1–6 record before departing with two games remaining in the season, saying he had fulfilled his contract for the show.
After his retirement, Butkus moved to Florida, and later to Malibu, California. He was an avid fan and frequent media image for the Bears.
Butkus had three children: Ricky, Matt, and Nikki. Matt played college football for the USC Trojans as a defensive lineman, and joined his father in philanthropic activities. Butkus's nephew Luke Butkus has been an assistant coach in the NFL for the Bears, Seattle Seahawks, and Jacksonville Jaguars, he also coached for the University of Illinois, his alma mater, and as of 2023 is the offensive line coach for the Green Bay Packers. Butkus's grandson Ian Parish plays volleyball for the UCLA Bruins.
Career highlights and awards
2× NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1969, 1970)
5× First-team All-Pro (1965, 1968–1970, 1972)
3× Second-team All-Pro (1966, 1967, 1971)
8× Pro Bowl (1965–1972)
George Halas Award (1974)
NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
Chicago Bears No. 51 retired
100 greatest Bears of All-Time
UPI Lineman of the Year (1964)
Big Ten Most Valuable Player (1963)
Unanimous All-American (1963)
Consensus All-American (1964)
Illinois Fighting Illini No. 50 retired
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions: 22
Fumble recoveries: 27
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