Dick Butkus

Dick Butkus
Position (s): Linebacker	Jersey number (s): 51
born December 9, 1942 in Chicago , Illinois
Career information
Active : 1965 - 1973
NFL Draft : 1965 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
AFL Draft : 1965 / Round: 2 / Pick: 9 by the Denver Broncos
College : University of Illinois
Teams
Chicago Bears (1965–1973)
Career statistics
Games	119
Interceptions	22nd
Fumble conquered	27
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
8 × Pro Bowl election (1965–1972) 8 × All-Pro- Wahl (1965–1972), 1st and 2nd team 2 × NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1969, 1970) NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team NFL 1960s All-Decade Team NFL 1970s All-Decade Team Number 51 blocked by the Bears (1994) Blocked number 50 at college Pro Football Hall of Fame (1979) College Football Hall of Fame (1983) Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus (born December 9, 1942 in Chicago , Illinois ), nicknamed : "The Robot of Destruction", "The Maestro of Mayhem", "The Enforcer" or "The Animal" , is a former American American football player . He played as a linebacker in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears .

youth

Dick Butkus comes from a Lithuanian immigrant family and grew up in his native Chicago . He was the youngest of eight children in a working-class family. Already in his youth he decided to become a professional football player. In line with his career aspirations, he played football in high school , but also spent his holidays and free time improving his physical fitness. In the school team he was used both in the offense as a fullback and in the defense as a linebacker . In 1960 he was named to the Illinois state selection, the Associated Press selected him that year as Young Player of the Year in the United States.

Player career

College career

Richard Butkus studied from 1962 to 1964 at the University of Illinois , for whose football team he played as a center and as a linebacker. In 1963 he won the championship of the Big Ten Conference with the "Fighting Umgebung" . In the same year Butkus and his team moved into the Rose Bowl . The Fightinglassung won against the University of Washington 17-7. In 1963 and 1964, Butkus was voted All-American . 1963 was also the election of the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference. College football coaches and The Sporting News named him Player of the Year in 1964. For all three academic years, Butkus was recognized by his college for his athletic achievements.

Professional career

Butkus was drafted third in the first round in 1965 by the Chicago Bears trained by George Halas . In the same round, the Bears signed running back Gale Sayers . The Denver Broncos , who played in the American Football League (AFL) and drew him to ninth place in the AFL draft in the second round , were also interested in him . Butkus signed a professional contract with his hometown club. By the end of his career in 1973, Butkus was by far the best defender on his team. He scored the most tackles on his team, caused and captured the most fumbles, and caught the most interceptions . Despite Butkus' individual performances, his squad was one of the weakest teams in the NFL. Numerous top performers in the Bears, such as Doug Atkins or Joe Fortunato , had reached their peak of performance, ended their careers or changed clubs. Butkus should never move into the play-offs with the Bears .

In 1970 Butkus suffered a knee injury that he did not get properly treated and that did not prompt him to take any short break. In 1973 he injured his already weakened left knee again and had to end his career afterwards, although he had signed a contract with the Bears before the season with an annual income of 575,000 US dollars . To this day, Butkus is considered the best tackler in NFL history. His former teammate Sayers, who only had to face Butkus in training, described him in an interview in 2001 as the toughest opponent he has ever had.

Off the field

Butkus' retirement came as a surprise to the owner of the Bears, George Halas. Because of the injury, he would have been entitled to continued payment of his salary. However, Halas refused to continue paying his former player's income. Ultimately, the two men agreed to pay Butkus $ 600,000.

After the playing career

Dick Butkus became a successful television presenter and film actor after his playing career. In 1985 Butkus returned to the Chicago Bears and has been commenting on the team's games on the club's radio ever since. Butkus and Halas had met again in 1979 at a Butkus autograph session and Halas described him as the best football player he had ever met.

Butkus is now committed to the fight against steroid abuse in college football. Richard Butkus is also socially committed - he supports young athletes. The "Dick Butkus Foundation" has given the "Dick Butkus Award" to the best college football linebacker of the year every year since 1985 . Butkus has also set up a foundation to fight cardiovascular disease.

Filmography (selection)

• 1976: Onion Jack cleans up
• 1976: CRASH
• 1978: Superdome
• 1982: Death Killer - The Loud Death
• 1983. Always on the little ones (Smorgasbord)
• 1984: Johnny G. - Unwilling gangster (Johnny Dangerously)
• 1987: The Stepford Children
• 1991: Last Boy Scout - The goal is survival
• 1999: Every fucking Sunday

Honors

Dick Butkus played eight times in the Pro Bowl , the final game of the best players of the season. He was voted All-Pro eight times . In 1969 and 1970 each was voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year . Dick Butkus is a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team , the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team , the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame , and Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame . Both the Bears and the Fightinglassung have banned his number. The Sportings News magazine named Butkus fifth of the 100 best football players of all time in 1999.

Web links

• Short biography ( memento from January 25, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
• Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears
• Homepage of Dick Butkus
• Dick Butkus Foundation
• Dick Butkus in college
• Dick Butkus in the nndb (English)
• Dick Butkus in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dick M. Butkus ( Memento from September 6, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
2. ↑ Interview with Gale Sayers  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
3. Jump up ↑ Dick Butkus Anti-Steroid Abuse Campaign
4. ↑ Dick Butkus Center  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )

literature

• Dick Butkus, Pat Smith: Butkus. Flesh and Blood. Doubleday, New York NY 1997, ISBN 0-385-48648-0 .
• Paul J. Christopher, Alicia Marie Smith: Greatest Sports Heroes of All Times. North America Edition 50 Plus One. Encouragement Press, Chicago IL 2007, ISBN 978-1-933766-09-6 .