RIP Dick Butkus
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FfldCntyFan
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I I think you can strike "one of the" from your statement (and I'm a lifelong Giants fan who thinks the world of Lawrence Taylor).
People who aren't close to my age wouldn't be able to understand but from the late 1960's until the blackout rule was modified, we could only see road games on TV (in the NY market, Giants and Jets) so there wasn't a lot of football to be seen. When the Giants were home, a late game would be broadcast (back then, usually involving Rams, Packers, Vikings or Cowboys) and they would show (very brief by today's standards) highlights from early games. Back then, Butkus was either the lead highlight or he was injured. His career ended in 1973 (the year the blackout was lifted) and as prior to that, in my lifetime, the Bears were even worse than the Giants and never televised here (we played them twice at home in those years) so I never had the chance see him (or Sayers) outside of highlights and replays).
No exaggeration, he was a figure of mythic proportions, primarily due to his good (and intimidating) he was, but aided by the fact that he wasn't televised close to as much as what someone of his talent should have been.
May he rest in peace
People who aren't close to my age wouldn't be able to understand but from the late 1960's until the blackout rule was modified, we could only see road games on TV (in the NY market, Giants and Jets) so there wasn't a lot of football to be seen. When the Giants were home, a late game would be broadcast (back then, usually involving Rams, Packers, Vikings or Cowboys) and they would show (very brief by today's standards) highlights from early games. Back then, Butkus was either the lead highlight or he was injured. His career ended in 1973 (the year the blackout was lifted) and as prior to that, in my lifetime, the Bears were even worse than the Giants and never televised here (we played them twice at home in those years) so I never had the chance see him (or Sayers) outside of highlights and replays).
No exaggeration, he was a figure of mythic proportions, primarily due to his good (and intimidating) he was, but aided by the fact that he wasn't televised close to as much as what someone of his talent should have been.
May he rest in peace
storrsroars
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I hadn't given Butkus a thought in years when last week, suddenly I heard him on sports radio pitching a web development company. My first thought was, "He's still alive?", immediately followed by, "Who in their right mind would hire Dick Butkus to sell web development?" But Butkus was talking about this company hosting his website and podcast, and I concluded that the old dude was keeping up with the times. And now time got him.
Like FfldCntyFan, I didn't get to see him play often. But he was legendary and basically considered the toughest SOB in the NFL for years.
Like FfldCntyFan, I didn't get to see him play often. But he was legendary and basically considered the toughest SOB in the NFL for years.
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I have never seen a player play as angry as Dick Butkus if that makes sense. Just an absolute terror. Going to watch some highlights on YouTube right now - the game lost a legend.
And what a first round for the Bears that year - Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.
And what a first round for the Bears that year - Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.
cohenzone
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Butkus was playing at Illinois when I was at UConn. I remember an interview he did for SI that was probably the most honest interview in the history of interviews. one question was something like “There are stories that you don’t go to class and just stay in your room watching cartoons all day”. To which he replied something like “ They have me here to play football. If they had me here to get grades I would go to class but they don’t so I stay in my room and watch cartoons.” He and Lawrence Taylor are easily at the top of the NFL linebacker list along with a few others.
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Great football player and also great in the Miller Lite commercials. Ray Neitzke was another very good linebacker during that time.
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Butkus and Buffone made a great pair.
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Went to summer school at st Joseph’s college in Rensselaer Indiana. The bears trained there during those years and arrived the last two weeks of summer school. Butkus was the life of the party. Comical approachable. In the college poo hall there were 4 tables. Butkus was there before dinner every day. Loud, boisterous. One laugh after another. Until it was his turn to shoot. Then the pool hall became a church. Not a sound. Later miller light did a commercial with that theme in th mid 70s. No acting there I saw it 8 years earlier In the summer of 67
Waquoit
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Writer George Plimpton made a documentary about being a QB for the Detroit Lions back when. He actually got into an exhibition game against the Bears. What I remember most is his fear that Butkis was going to kill him. They made a movie about it called Paper Lion with Alan Alda as Plimpton. I liked it as a kid because it was full of real players. Just Watch says it's unavailable. Anyway, my favorite Butkus commercial:
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Those Miller Lite commercials remind me of simpler times in Ft Lauderdale before it went more upscale. Crowds of college kids yelling "Less Filling", "Tastes Great" across the pools at Sumners and Candy Store in the 80s. Good times.
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FfldCntyFan
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There were some stray Butkus sound bites (the most famous being the Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte comment) from his playing days that were taken out of context and led people to believe he was borderline psychopathic.
The thing was (similar to message boards today) people did read the sarcasm in those comments and had no clue (until the commercials) that he had a tremendous sense of humor and had made those comments in jest.
The thing was (similar to message boards today) people did read the sarcasm in those comments and had no clue (until the commercials) that he had a tremendous sense of humor and had made those comments in jest.
storrsroars
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Butkus once gave an interview where he explained his playing style thusly: "I was a running back in high school. When I went to Illinois, they wanted me for defense. I remembered the tackles that hurt me most when I was running the ball. And I remembered the ones that didn't. I decided I was going to use the tackles that hurt."