{"id":2057425,"date":"2023-10-05T22:51:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T02:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legendary-nfl-hall-of-famer-dead-at-80\/"},"modified":"2023-10-05T22:58:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T02:58:04","slug":"legendary-nfl-hall-of-famer-dead-at-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legendary-nfl-hall-of-famer-dead-at-80\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Hall-of-Fame Legend Dies at 80"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flegendary-nfl-hall-of-famer-dead-at-80%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2057425&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Most \u200cFeared Man in\u2064 the Game: Legendary NFL \u2064Hall-of-Famer Dick Butkus Dies \u200dat\u200b 80<\/h2>\n<p>A\u2062 photo of Dick Butkus sneering behind his facemask filled the cover of Sports Illustrated\u2019s 1970 NFL preview, topped by the headline, \u201cThe Most\u2064 Feared Man in the Game.\u201d \u200cOpponents\u2062 who wound up on the business end of his bone-rattling\u2064 hits could testify that wasn\u2019t an exaggeration.<\/p>\n<p>Butkus,\u2063 a middle \u200clinebacker\u200b for the Chicago Bears whose speed and\u2062 ferocity set the standards for the\u2062 position in\u200d the modern era, has died, the team\u200c announced Thursday. He\u200b was 80.<\/p>\n<p>According to a statement released\u200b by the team, Butkus\u2019 family confirmed that he died in\u200c his sleep overnight at his home in Malibu, California.<\/p>\n<p>Butkus \u2063was a first-team All-Pro five times and made the Pro Bowl in \u200deight of his\u2062 nine\u2062 seasons before a knee injury forced him to retire at \u206331. He was\u200d the quintessential Monster of the Midway and was\u2064 elected to the Pro Football Hall \u200bof Fame in 1979, his first year\u200d of eligibility.<\/p>\n<p>He\u200c is still considered one of the greatest defensive \u2062players \u2064in league history.<\/p>\n<p>Trading on\u2062 his \u2063image\u200c as\u200b the toughest guy\u200b in the room, Butkus enjoyed a long second career \u200cas a sports broadcaster, an actor \u2064in movies and TV series, and a sought-after\u200c pitchman for products ranging from \u2062antifreeze \u200cto beer. Whether the script called for comedy or drama, Butkus\u2062 usually resorted to playing himself, often with his gruff exterior masking\u2063 a softer \u200bside.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t\u200c ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately,\u201d Butkus\u2062 replied tongue-in-cheek when asked about \u200chis on-field\u2063 reputation. \u201cUnless it \u200bwas, you \u200cknow, important \u2026 like\u200c a league game or something.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Butkus was the rare pro athlete who played his entire career close to\u2064 home. He was a \u200bstar linebacker, fullback and kicker at Chicago \u200cVocational High\u200c who went\u200d on\u200d to play at the University \u2063of Illinois. \u200bBorn on Dec. 9,\u2063 1942 as the youngest of eight children, he \u200cgrew up on the city\u2019s South Side as a fan of the Chicago Cardinals, the\u2062 Bears\u2019 crosstown rivals.<\/p>\n<p>But after being drafted in the first round \u2062in 1965 by both the Bears and \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/former-denver-broncos-lineman-dies-going-cardiac-arrest-run\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Denver Broncos<\/a> \u200c(at the time, a \u2064member of\u200c the now-defunct American Football League), Butkus chose to remain in Chicago and play\u200d for \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nfl-quarterback-romans-116-moment-loss-buffalo-bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a> founder and\u2062 coach George Halas.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears also\u2062 added future Hall of Fame running back\u2064 Gayle Sayers to the\u2064 roster \u2064that\u2062 year with another \u200bfirst-round pick.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cHe was Chicago\u2019s son,\u201d Bears chairman George McCaskey, Halas\u2019 grandson, said in a statement. \u201cHe exuded what our great city is about and,\u200b not coincidentally, what George Halas looked for in a player: toughness, smarts, instincts, passion and leadership. \u2064He refused \u200dto accept anything less \u200cthan the best \u200cfrom \u200bhimself, or\u2063 from his \u200dteammates.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Butkus inherited the middle \u200clinebacker job from Bill George, a Hall of Famer credited with popularizing\u2063 the position in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nfl-drops-hammer-gambling-players-can-now-banished-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the NFL<\/a>. In 1954, George\u200c abandoned his three-point stance in the middle of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-nick-sabans-leaked-recruiting-call-goes-viral\/\" title=\"WATCH: Nick Saban\u2019s Leaked Recruiting Call Goes Viral\">defensive line<\/a> and started each play several paces removed, a vantage point that allowed him to watch plays \u200dunfold and\u200c then \u200brace to the ball.<\/p>\n<p>Butkus, however, brought speed, agility and a scorched-Earth attitude to the job \u2064that his\u200d predecessors only imagined. He intercepted\u200b five passes,\u200c recovered six fumbles\u2062 and was unofficially credited\u2064 with forcing six more in his rookie\u2063 year, \u2063topping \u200bit off with the first of eight straight Pro Bowl appearances.<\/p>\n<p>But his reputation as a disruptor extended well past \u2064the\u200c ability to\u200c take away the football.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Butkus would \u200bhit runners high, wrap them \u2064up\u2062 and drive them \u200cto \u200bthe \u2062ground\u2063 like a rag doll. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/coronavirus-silver-lining-playboy-magazines-print-edition-no\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Playboy magazine<\/a> \u200bonce described him as \u200d\u201cthe meanest, angriest, toughest,\u200c dirtiest\u201d player in the NFL and an \u201canimal, a \u200bsavage, subhuman.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Descriptions like that never sat well with Butkus. But they were also\u2062 hard \u2062to argue.<\/p>\n<p>Several opponents claimed Butkus\u200c poked \u200cthem in the \u2062face\u2064 or bit \u2064them \u200din pileups,\u2062 and he acknowledged that during warmups, \u201cI would manufacture things to make \u200cme \u2064mad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/detroit-lions-qb-jared-goff-praises-gutsy-play-helped-first-nfl-game-start-bang\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Detroit \u2062Lions<\/a> unveiled an I-formation against the Bears \u2062at old Tigers Stadium, Butkus knocked every member of the \u201cI\u201d \u2014 the center, quarterback,\u2064 fullback\u2063 and halfback\u2063 \u2014 out of the game.<\/p>\n<p>And \u200che didn\u2019t always stop \u2064there. Several times Butkus crashed into ball carriers \u200bwell past the sidelines. \u200dMore than once he pursued them \u200bonto running \u200dtracks surrounding the field and even into the stands.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cJust to hit people wasn\u2019t good enough,\u201d teammate Ed O\u2019Bradovich said. \u201cHe loved\u200d to crush people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite\u2062 those efforts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bears-ditching-lightfoots-crime-ridden-city-safer-suburb-dem-mayor-trying-2-2b-bribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Bears<\/a> lost \u200cplenty more games during his tenure \u2063than \u2063they won, going\u2064 48-74-4.\u2062 Dealing\u2062 with tendon \u200bproblems that \u200dbegan\u200d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-expected-to-follow-up-race-based-admissions-decision-with-new-case-on-huge-issue-at-high-schools\/\" title=\"SCOTUS to tackle major high school issue after race-based admissions ruling.\">high\u2064 school<\/a>, Butkus suffered a serious injury to\u200b his right\u200b knee\u200c during the 1970 \u200bseason and had preventive\u2063 surgery before the\u2062 next one.\u2063 He considered a second\u200d operation after being\u200b sidelined nine games into the 1973 season.<\/p>\n<p>When a surgeon\u2062 asked\u2064 him \u201chow a man \u200cin\u200d your \u200bshape can play football, or why you \u200bwould even want to,\u201d Butkus announced his retirement in May 1974.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, Butkus sued the Bears for $1.6 million, \u200ccontending he was provided\u200d inadequate medical care \u2063and\u2064 owed the\u2064 four years of salary remaining on his\u200b contract. The lawsuit was settled\u200c for \u2062$600,000, but Butkus and Halas didn\u2019t speak for five \u2064years.<\/p>\n<p>Butkus, like Sayers,\u2062 never \u200breached the \u2063postseason. The Bears won the 1963 championship and by the\u2062 time they \u200dmade the playoffs again in 1977, Butkus and Sayers were long gone.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears climbed back to the top in the 1985 season with their lone Super Bowl championship. But they\u2064 have been back \u200bto the title \u200bgame only one time since. Butkus couldn\u2019t understand\u200c why.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t\u200d be in the run\u200b all the time,\u201d he said at the Bears\u2019 100th anniversary celebration \u200cin June 2019. \u201cI know you\u2019ve got\u2062 those\u200b draft choices or whatever when you\u200c finish\u200d first all \u200cthe\u2064 time. How can you \u200cexplain New England being up there all these years. That\u2019s\u200d not\u200d right. The Bears should be the ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After leaving\u2062 football, Butkus became \u200dan \u200cinstant celebrity. He appeared in \u201cThe Longest Yard\u201d in 1974 and a dozen feature films \u200dover \u200bthe\u200c next 15 years, as \u200cwell\u200c as the sitcoms \u201cMy \u200bTwo Dads\u201d and\u2064 \u201cHang Time.\u201d He also \u200dreturned to the Bears as a radio analyst in 1985,\u2063 and replaced Jimmy\u2063 \u201cThe\u2063 Greek\u201d Snyder on \u2062CBS\u2019 \u201cThe\u200d NFL Today\u201d pregame show in 1988.<\/p>\n<p>Through the Butkus Foundation, he helped establish a program \u200dat a Southern California hospital to encourage early screenings to\u2062 detect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/deadliest-year-experts-say-deaths-heart-disease-diabetes-increased-2020-pandemic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">heart disease<\/a>. He promoted a campaign \u2063to\u2062 encourage high \u2062school \u2064athletes to \u200btrain and eat well and\u200b avoid \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dea-documents-baseball-superstar-ratted-stars-lied-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">performance-enhancing\u200d drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The foundation oversees the \u200bButkus Award, established in 1985 to\u2063 honor college football\u2019s best linebacker. It was expanded\u200b in 2008 to include pros and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/school-superintendent-said-thin-blue-line-flag-was-no-longer-allowed-on-sideline-high-school-football-players-displayed-it-anyway\/\" title=\"School Superintendent Said Thin Blue Line Flag Was No Longer Allowed On Sideline. High School Football Players Displayed It Anyway.\">high school players<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cDick\u200d had a gruff manner, and\u200d maybe that kept some people from approaching him, but he actually had a soft touch,\u201d McCaskey said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He is survived by his wife, Helen, \u2063and children Ricky, Matt and \u2064Nikki.<\/p>\n<p>Nephew Luke\u2064 Butkus has coached in college and the\u2063 NFL, including time with the\u2062 Bears.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic\">The \u2063Western Journal has reviewed this Associated\u200d Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/legendary-nfl-hall-famer-dead-80\/\">Legendary NFL Hall-of-Famer Dead at\u200b 80<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What\u200d made Dick Butkus such an intimidating\u200c presence on the field and one of the toughest players in \u200cNFL history?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Journal.com\/nfl-player-moves-across-country-support-married-minnesota-coach\/&#8221; target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; rel=&#8221;noopener&#8221;>the NFL<\/a> during his time with the\u200c Bears in the \u20631950s and 1960s. He made an immediate impact, earning\u2063 the NFL\u2019s Rookie of the Year \u200caward\u200b in \u200c1965 and establishing\u2062 himself \u200cas one of the league\u2019s most dominant players\u2063. <\/p>\n<p>Throughout\u2063 his career, Butkus was known for his\u2064 punishing hits\u200b and aggressive style of \u2063play.\u200c He \u2062had a knack for reading offenses and was always in the right place at the right time. His intimidating presence\u200b on the field struck fear\u2063 into\u2064 the hearts of his \u2063opponents and earned him a\u2062 reputation as one of the\u200c toughest players in NFL history.<\/p>\n<p>Off the field, \u200bButkus \u2062was\u2063 equally respected. He was known for his work ethic,\u200d his \u2063dedication to the game, \u2064and his leadership\u2063 skills. He was a team player and always put the success of the \u200dBears above his own\u2064 personal achievements. His teammates looked up to him and saw him as a role model.<\/p>\n<p>After retiring from football, Butkus found success in broadcasting and acting. His \u2064rugged\u200b looks and \u2062gritty persona made him \u200ca \u200bnatural fit\u2062 for the camera. He \u2064earned rave\u2064 reviews for his\u2063 work as a sports commentator and analyst and appeared in several movies \u200dand TV shows. But his true passion \u200bwas always football, and he remained involved in \u200cthe sport throughout his life.<\/p>\n<p>Butkus\u2019 impact on\u2062 the game of \u200cfootball extends beyond his playing career and his contributions to \u200cthe sport. He\u2064 was an ambassador for the game and a\u200d symbol\u200d of what \u200dit\u2064 means to be \u200ba\u2063 true competitor. \u2062He inspired generations of players with \u200dhis tenacity and dedication, and his legacy will continue to \u2064live\u200b on in the hearts\u200d and\u2062 minds of football fans everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Dick Butkus\u2019 death is \u200ca \u2063loss not only for the Bears and the NFL, but for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-sports-can-bring-us-together-so-get-the-politics-out\/\" title=\"WATCH: Sports Can Bring Us Together. So Get The Politics Out.\">entire sports world<\/a>. He was a larger-than-life\u2064 figure who left \u200dan indelible mark on the game \u2064of\u2064 football and will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play\u2064 the game. \u2063His toughness, skill,\u2063 and passion for \u2062the \u200csport will always be remembered and his impact will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dick Butkus, the Chicago Bears&#8217; middle linebacker, was featured on the 1970 NFL preview of Sports Illustrated. The cover displayed a photo of him sneering behind his facemask, earning him the title &#8220;The Most Feared Man in the Game.&#8221; His bone-rattling hits left opponents with no doubt about the accuracy of that statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2057426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2057425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2057425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2057426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2057425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2057425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2057425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}