he contacted someone in possession of the football, former Baltimore Colts general manager Ernie Accorsi said, “When he hit you, you stayed hit. He hit with violence. . . . There were more people in the training room after we played the Bears than any other opponent—everybody was bleeding, bruised, marked up. I remember looking at one of our assistant trainers and saying, ‘Was it that tough out there?’ And he looked at me and he said, ‘Butkus.’”
Former Cardinals and Packers running back MacArthur Lane described what it was like being tackled by Butkus, stating, “If I had a choice, I’d sooner go one on one with a grizzly bear. I pray that I can get up every time Butkus hits me.”
Paul Hornung noted, “Dick didn’t just tackle you. He made just textbook tackles, but he didn’t just tackle you. He engulfed you.”
Saints wide receiver Dan Abramowicz added, “Dick was not satisfied with just an ordinary tackle. He had to hit you, pick you up, drive you, and grind you into the ground.”
Yet, Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame head coach Bud Grant suggested that Butkus depended on more than just brute force to establish himself as the premier defender of his time, saying, “Even though he had an intimidating way about him, he also had a way of being in the right place at the right time. He was there many times before the blockers were ready and did a lot of what he did not only because of the physical attributes, but I think he had great instincts. He was one of the most instinctive football players I think I’ve seen on the other side.”
Although Butkus failed to gain All-Pro recognition for the first time in his career in 1967, he had another great year, recording 146 tackles (111 solo) and an unofficial total of 18 quarterback sacks. He followed that up by making First-Team All-Pro in each of the next two seasons, also earning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1969. Butkus continued to wreak havoc on opposing offenses in 1970, recording 132 solo tackles, 84 assists, and three interceptions, with his fabulous performance earning him NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight time. Meanwhile, a poll taken of NFL coaches that year identified Butkus as the player with whom they would most like to start if they were building a new team from scratch.
Nevertheless, Butkus’s aggressive style of play finally began to take its toll on him in 1970, with Detroit Lions tight end Charlie Sanders suggesting that the linebacker’s reputation led to his eventual downfall when he said, “It was known around the league that no one wanted to take on Dick directly, so there was a lot of chop-blocking and hits below the knees on him, which contributed to his demise.”
Butkus suffered his first serious knee injury during a 24–16 win over the Giants in the opening game of the 1970 regular season, with New York quarterback Fran Tarkenton marveling afterwards, “Butkus has the most concentration of any man in the game. He’s fantastic. After he was hurt, he dragged that leg around the whole field. He was better after the injury than before—better on that one damn leg than with two.”
After undergoing reconstructive surgery on his right knee during the subsequent offseason, Butkus played in pain in each of the next two seasons when the ligaments failed to heal properly. Still, he led the Bears in tackles both years, performing particularly well in 1971, when, in addition to making 117 stops and assisting on 68 others, he intercepted four passes and recovered three fumbles.
However, the pain became too severe for even Butkus to tolerate in 1973. After taking himself out of a game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5, Butkus limped off the field for the last time a few weeks later, failing to make an appearance in any of the Bears’ final five contests. Announcing his retirement following the conclusion of the campaign, Butkus finished with unofficial totals of 1,020 solo tackles and 489 assists, giving him more total stops (1,509) than anyone else in franchise history. He also recorded 22 interceptions, amassed 166 interception-return yards, scored one touchdown, and recovered 25 fumbles on defense.
Following his playing days, Butkus began a career in acting and broadcasting, appearing in several commercials, movies, and television shows, while also serving as a color analyst on Bears games from 1985 to 1987, before replacing Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder on CBS’s pregame show The NFL Today in 1988. He later retired to Malibu, California, where he remains an avid fan and frequent media image for the Bears.
Unfortunately, the injuries that Butkus sustained during his playing career have compounded with time, forcing him to undergo knee replacement surgery and an osteotomy that left him with one leg one-and-a-half inches shorter than the other, which has affected his hips, back, and neck. He has also lost much of the strength in his hands and undergone quintuple bypass surgery to remove blockages in his arteries. Still, Butkus maintains that football had a largely positive impact on his life, with longtime friend Ed O’Bradovich saying, “His whole damn life was football. Forget about it. It wasn’t driving a pretty car. It wasn’t going to the local bar and pounding your chest ‘I’m the greatest.’ It was the opposite.”
Butkus once drew the following words of praise from former Rams head coach Tommy Prothro: “He is a legendary football player. I never thought any player could play as well as writers write that he can, but Butkus comes as close as any I’ve ever seen.”
And, long after he retired from the game, Butkus continued to draw praise from those who saw him perform on the football field, with Ted Marchibroda, who spent 35 years coaching in the NFL, saying, “I think Dick, without question, in my mind, was probably the greatest linebacker that I ever saw.”
Gale Sayers perhaps put it best when he said, “There was no one better than Dick Butkus.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Best Season
Butkus performed brilliantly for the Bears as a rookie in 1965, leading the team in tackles, interceptions, and fumble recoveries, with his magnificent play helping them limit their opponents to 104 fewer points than they scored the previous season. Butkus also had a huge year in 1967, recording unofficial totals of 111 solo tackles, 35 assists, and 18 quarterback sacks, with Chicago statisticians later tabulating that he was involved in 867 of 880 defensive plays for the Bears. And, of course, Butkus earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in both 1969 and 1970, concluding the second of those campaigns with 132 solo tackles, 84 assists, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. But Butkus recorded 182 tackles and three interceptions in 1968, with football researcher John Turney of Pro Football Journal writing in 2016, “after talking to people who studied Butkus, they feel 1968 was his best season overall.” We will not dispute that opinion here.
Memorable Moments/Greatest Performances
Although the Bears lost to the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 52–24 in the opening game of the 1965 regular season, Butkus excelled in his pro debut, recording 11 solo stops.
Butkus once again starred in defeat two weeks later, making 27 unassisted tackles during a 23–14 loss to the eventual NFL champion Green Bay Packers on October 3, 1965.
Butkus recorded the first interception of his career during a 31–6 win over the Los Angeles Rams on October 10, 1965, subsequently returning the ball 11 yards.
Butkus earned NFL Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first of four times by intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble during a 35–14 win over the Giants on November 28, 1965.
Butkus anchored a Chicago defense that allowed just 42 yards rushing and 168 yards of total offense during a 14–3 win over the Detroit Lions on October 15, 1967.
Butkus helped lead the Bears to a 38–7 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 9, 1969, that represented their only win of the year by making 25 tackles and recording a safety when he sacked quarterback Dick Shiner in the end zone, with his brilliant play gaining him recognition as NFL Defensive Player of the Week.
Butkus had another big game against the Steelers in the 1971 regular-season opener, picking off two passes during a 17–15 Bears win.
Butkus gave the Bears a 16–15 victory over the Washington Redskins on November