Dick Butkus
Encyclopedia
Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is a former American football
player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears
. He became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1979. He played nine seasons in the NFL for the Chicago Bears.
Billed at 6 ft 3 in, 245 lbs., he was one of the most feared and intimidating linebackers of his time.
area of Chicago
's south side. He played high school football for coach Bernie O'Brien at Chicago Vocational High School.
Despite growing up in Chicago, Butkus was not a Bears fan, preferring to attend Chicago Cardinals
games at Comiskey Park
and watch Thanksgiving games
between the Detroit Lions
and Green Bay Packers
.
and linebacker from 1962 through 1964 at the University of Illinois. He was twice a unanimous All-America
n, in 1963 and 1964. He won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football
in 1963 as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player
, and was named the American Football Coaches Association
Player of the Year in 1964. Butkus finished sixth in Heisman Trophy
balloting in 1963 and third in 1964.
Butkus is a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C.
, which recognizes National Intercollegiate All-American football players.
After his university years, Butkus continued to receive recognition. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1983, and is one of only two players to have a uniform number (#50) retired by the University of Illinois football program (the other the #77 of Harold "Red" Grange
). Butkus was named to the Walter Camp
All-Century team in 1990, and was named the sixth-best ever college football player by College Football News
in 2000. In 2007, Butkus ranked #19 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.
In 1985, the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Florida
created an award in his name. The Dick Butkus Award
is given annually to the most outstanding linebacker at the high school, college, and professional levels as chosen by a nationwide panel of 51 coaches and sportswriters. In 2008, control of the award was relinquished to the Butkus Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois.
of the American Football League
and his hometown team, the Chicago Bears
of the NFL. He signed with the Bears and did not play professionally with any other team. Along with fellow Hall of Famer Gale Sayers
, Butkus was one of three first round picks for the Bears in 1965 NFL Draft
, having used the pick they acquired in a trade
with the Pittsburgh Steelers
on Butkus and their own pick on Sayers. The team also drafted defensive end Steve DeLong, however he chose to play for the AFL's San Diego Chargers
for the first seven years of his professional career.
He was selected to eight Pro Bowl
s and was all-league six times. In his rookie season, Butkus led the Bears in tackles, interceptions, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries, and regularly led the team in these categories throughout his career. Butkus recovered 27 fumbles in his career, a NFL
record at the time of his retirement. He was one of the most feared players of his era and even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated
in 1970 with the caption "The Most Feared Man in the Game." He had one of his most productive seasons in 1970 with 132 tackles, 84 assists, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. He was forced to retire after multiple knee injuries in 1973.
One of Butkus's greatest known strengths was the ability to rip out the ball from ball carrier's hands. Although back then the statistic was not kept, it has been noted that Butkus would certainly be one of the all-time leaders in the forced fumbles category.
At one point, Butkus gained a reputation as one of the meanest players on an otherwise bad Bears team in the late 1960's. During the 1969 season in which the Bears finished 1-13, the team played against the Pittsburgh Steelers
at Wrigley Field
in what would ultimately be the Bears's only win that season. During the game, an incident with the Steelers then-rookie "Mean Joe" Greene
led to Greene spitting into Butkus's face and challenging him to a fight after Butkus committed what Greene considered a dirty hit on a teammate of Greene's.
Butkus filed a lawsuit against the Bears in 1975, claiming the Bears knowingly kept him on the field when he should have had surgery on his knees. The Bears denied Butkus and their other players the right to seek second opinions
with doctors other than the Bears team doctor. The team would also distribute painkillers so that Butkus, a major gate attraction, would be active.
Because of the lawsuit, Butkus' relationship with owner George Halas
became icy. Butkus did return 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
.
Butkus was also selected the 70th Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN
, the ninth-best player in NFL history by The Sporting News
, and the fifth-best by the Associated Press
. The National Football League named him to their All-Time team in 2000. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1979. He was named as head coach of the XFL
's Chicago Enforcers
franchise but was replaced with coach Ron Meyer
for the league's only season in 2001.
, Necessary Roughness
, Any Given Sunday
, Hamburger... The Motion Picture
and Johnny Dangerously
, and as a regular character on TV shows such as Blue Thunder
, My Two Dads
, and Hang Time
. In the critically acclaimed TV movie Brian's Song
(1971), he portrayed himself. He made one television appearance on the first episode of the 1976 ABC
hit Rich Man, Poor Man
, where he played 'Al Fanducci', a World War II
army soldier who gets into a street brawl with 'Tom Jordache' (played by Nick Nolte
). He made two appearances each on the TV shows Coach
, Growing Pains
, and three on MacGyver
. In an oft-rerun episode of Murder, She Wrote
, Butkus appeared in a locker-room scene wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Butkus had a cameo appearance in the second season episode "The No-Cut Contract" of the television show The Rockford Files
. Butkus also appeared on an episode of Magnum, P.I.
as the coach of the fictional football team, the "New Jersey Blazers". On November 22, 2010, the 9th episode of Conan aired under the title, "A Prayer for Dick Butkus".
Butkus was hired as the replacement for Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder on CBS
' pregame show The NFL Today
in 1988, serving as an analyst through 1989. On August 17, 2007, Butkus attended and made the first broadcast at the first Barrow Whalers game in Barrow, Alaska
.
Butkus promoted the "Qwik-Cook Grill," a grill utilizing newspaper as its main fuel, on TV infomercials in the '90s. In 2006 Butkus promoted his own line of Butkus Boots. Butkus starred in a 2009 FedEx
commercial entitled "I'm Sorry Dick Butkus," developed by BBDO New York. In this commercial, Butkus is brought in to help a small business go global.
Butkus' son, Matthew, was part of University of Southern California's 1990 Rose Bowl
winning team as a defensive lineman, and joins his father in philanthropic activities such as the "I Play Clean" campaign. Butkus' nephew, Luke Butkus
, who played at Illinois, was hired on February 19, 2007, as the Bears' offensive line coach, and in 2010 joined the Seattle Seahawks staff in a similar position.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1979. He played nine seasons in the NFL for the Chicago Bears.
Billed at 6 ft 3 in, 245 lbs., he was one of the most feared and intimidating linebackers of his time.
Early life
The youngest of eight children, Lithuanian American Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus grew up in the RoselandRoseland, Chicago
Roseland, located on the far south side of the city, is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It includes the neighborhoods of Fernwood, Princeton Park, Lilydale, West Chesterfield, Rosemoor, Sheldon Heights and West Roseland...
area of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's south side. He played high school football for coach Bernie O'Brien at Chicago Vocational High School.
Despite growing up in Chicago, Butkus was not a Bears fan, preferring to attend Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
games at Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
and watch Thanksgiving games
Thanksgiving Classic
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006, three games are played every Thanksgiving...
between the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
and Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
.
College career
Butkus played centerCenter (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
and linebacker from 1962 through 1964 at the University of Illinois. He was twice a unanimous All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n, in 1963 and 1964. He won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
in 1963 as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
, and was named the American Football Coaches Association
American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association is an association of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of...
Player of the Year in 1964. Butkus finished sixth in Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
balloting in 1963 and third in 1964.
Butkus is a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C.
The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C.
The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C., Inc. was founded in 1938 with the goals of "improving relationship between persons interested in the game of football; that there may be given encouragement for good, clean sport; that there may be a more perfect understanding among such persons; and, that...
, which recognizes National Intercollegiate All-American football players.
After his university years, Butkus continued to receive recognition. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1983, and is one of only two players to have a uniform number (#50) retired by the University of Illinois football program (the other the #77 of Harold "Red" Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
). Butkus was named to the Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
All-Century team in 1990, and was named the sixth-best ever college football player by College Football News
College Football News
College Football News is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includes comparisons between teams, predictions of game outcomes and...
in 2000. In 2007, Butkus ranked #19 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.
In 1985, the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
created an award in his name. The Dick Butkus Award
Dick Butkus Award
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football...
is given annually to the most outstanding linebacker at the high school, college, and professional levels as chosen by a nationwide panel of 51 coaches and sportswriters. In 2008, control of the award was relinquished to the Butkus Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois.
NFL
Butkus was drafted in the first round by both the Denver BroncosDenver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
and his hometown team, the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL. He signed with the Bears and did not play professionally with any other team. Along with fellow Hall of Famer Gale Sayers
Gale Sayers
Gale Eugene Sayers also known as "The Kansas Comet", is a former professional football player in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bears....
, Butkus was one of three first round picks for the Bears in 1965 NFL Draft
1965 NFL Draft
The 1965 National Football League Draft took place on November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St...
, having used the pick they acquired in a trade
Trade (sports)
In professional sports, a trade is a sports league transaction involving an exchange of players' contracts or draft picks between teams. Cash is another commodity that may be packaged together with contracts or draft picks to complete a trade...
with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
on Butkus and their own pick on Sayers. The team also drafted defensive end Steve DeLong, however he chose to play for the AFL's San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
for the first seven years of his professional career.
He was selected to eight Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s and was all-league six times. In his rookie season, Butkus led the Bears in tackles, interceptions, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries, and regularly led the team in these categories throughout his career. Butkus recovered 27 fumbles in his career, a NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
record at the time of his retirement. He was one of the most feared players of his era and even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
in 1970 with the caption "The Most Feared Man in the Game." He had one of his most productive seasons in 1970 with 132 tackles, 84 assists, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. He was forced to retire after multiple knee injuries in 1973.
One of Butkus's greatest known strengths was the ability to rip out the ball from ball carrier's hands. Although back then the statistic was not kept, it has been noted that Butkus would certainly be one of the all-time leaders in the forced fumbles category.
At one point, Butkus gained a reputation as one of the meanest players on an otherwise bad Bears team in the late 1960's. During the 1969 season in which the Bears finished 1-13, the team played against the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
in what would ultimately be the Bears's only win that season. During the game, an incident with the Steelers then-rookie "Mean Joe" Greene
Joe Greene (American football)
Charles Edward Greene, known as “Mean Joe” Greene, is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Throughout the early 1970s he was the one of most dominant defensive players in the National Football League...
led to Greene spitting into Butkus's face and challenging him to a fight after Butkus committed what Greene considered a dirty hit on a teammate of Greene's.
Butkus filed a lawsuit against the Bears in 1975, claiming the Bears knowingly kept him on the field when he should have had surgery on his knees. The Bears denied Butkus and their other players the right to seek second opinions
Second opinion (medicine)
A second opinion is a visit to a physician other than the one a patient has previously been seeing in order to get a differing point-of-view. Second opinions may be sought by a patient under the following circumstances:*Physician recommends surgery....
with doctors other than the Bears team doctor. The team would also distribute painkillers so that Butkus, a major gate attraction, would be active.
Because of the lawsuit, Butkus' relationship with owner George Halas
George Halas
George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
became icy. Butkus did return to the Bears as a color analyst on radio broadcasts in 1985, teaming with first-year play-by-play man Wayne Larrivee
Wayne Larrivee
Wayne Larrivee is an American sportscaster, who is the radio play-by-play voice of the Green Bay Packers and football and basketball play-by-play voice for the Big Ten Network.-Early life and career:...
and former St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Jim Hart
Jim Hart (football player)
James Warren Hart is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1966 through 1983 and the Washington Redskins in 1984. From 1974-1976, he guided the Cardinals to three straight 10+ win seasons along with back to back division crowns in...
.
Butkus was also selected the 70th Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, the ninth-best player in NFL history by The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
, and the fifth-best by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. The National Football League named him to their All-Time team in 2000. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1979. He was named as head coach of the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
's Chicago Enforcers
Chicago Enforcers
The Chicago Enforcers were a short-lived American football team based in Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States...
franchise but was replaced with coach Ron Meyer
Ron Meyer
-References:...
for the league's only season in 2001.
After football
Since his career as a player, Butkus has become a well known celebrity endorser, broadcaster, and actor. He has appeared in films such as The Longest Yard (on the practice team), Gus, Cracking UpCracking Up (film)
Cracking Up is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. Originally titled Smorgasbord, it was filmed in June 1982 and only received limited distribution in the United States....
, Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness (film)
Necessary Roughness is a 1991 comedy film starring Scott Bakula and Sinbad. The film was directed by Stan Dragoti, who has also directed the movies Mr. Mom, She's Out of Control, and The Man With One Red Shoe. In addition to Bakula and Sinbad, Necessary Roughness has an additional cast of Héctor...
, Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
, Hamburger... The Motion Picture
Hamburger... The Motion Picture
Hamburger... The Motion Picture is a 1986 teen sex comedy film directed by Mike Marvin and starring Leigh McCloskey. In the film, main character Russell has been expelled from multiple schools because of his crude behavior. To be able to collect his trust fund, he needs to earn a college diploma...
and Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Dangerously is a 1984 comedy spoof of 1930s' crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling; its four screenwriters included Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris, both of whom previously created the hit TV series Diff'rent Strokes...
, and as a regular character on TV shows such as Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder (TV series)
Blue Thunder is a 1984 ABC TV series based on the movie of the same title featuring the Blue Thunder helicopter.The series used the converted Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter and large portions of stock footage from the 1983 film. A ground unit named "Rolling Thunder" backed up the helicopter in...
, My Two Dads
My Two Dads
My Two Dads is an American sitcom that starred Staci Keanan, Paul Reiser and Greg Evigan. It aired on NBC from 1987 to 1990 and was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions in association with TriStar Television and distributed by TeleVentures.-Show synopsis:The show begins when Marcy Bradford , the...
, and Hang Time
Hang Time (TV series)
Hang Time is an American teen sitcom that aired from 1995–2000. The teen-oriented program aired on Saturday mornings on NBC as part of the network's TNBC morning block. It was created by Troy Searer, Robert Tarlow, and Mark Fink. Producer Peter Engel took over Fink's duties at the start of Season 2...
. In the critically acclaimed TV movie Brian's Song
Brian's Song
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo , a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, told through his friendship with Chicago Bears running back teammate and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale...
(1971), he portrayed himself. He made one television appearance on the first episode of the 1976 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
hit Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries)
Rich Man, Poor Man was a 1976 American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 10:00pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve weeks, beginning February 1. It was produced by Universal Television and was the second time programming of this nature had been attempted. The first TV...
, where he played 'Al Fanducci', a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
army soldier who gets into a street brawl with 'Tom Jordache' (played by Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
). He made two appearances each on the TV shows Coach
Coach (TV series)
Coach is an American television sitcom that aired for nine seasons on ABC from 1989 to 1997. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Division I-A college football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles...
, Growing Pains
Growing Pains
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...
, and three on MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
. In an oft-rerun episode of Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Butkus appeared in a locker-room scene wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Butkus had a cameo appearance in the second season episode "The No-Cut Contract" of the television show The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
. Butkus also appeared on an episode of Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
as the coach of the fictional football team, the "New Jersey Blazers". On November 22, 2010, the 9th episode of Conan aired under the title, "A Prayer for Dick Butkus".
Butkus was hired as the replacement for Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder on CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
' pregame show The NFL Today
The NFL Today
The NFL Today is an American sports series that precedes the American football program The NFL on CBS on CBS Sports. The program usually airs at noon on Sundays of the National Football League regular season...
in 1988, serving as an analyst through 1989. On August 17, 2007, Butkus attended and made the first broadcast at the first Barrow Whalers game in Barrow, Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...
.
Butkus promoted the "Qwik-Cook Grill," a grill utilizing newspaper as its main fuel, on TV infomercials in the '90s. In 2006 Butkus promoted his own line of Butkus Boots. Butkus starred in a 2009 FedEx
FedEx
FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...
commercial entitled "I'm Sorry Dick Butkus," developed by BBDO New York. In this commercial, Butkus is brought in to help a small business go global.
Butkus' son, Matthew, was part of University of Southern California's 1990 Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
winning team as a defensive lineman, and joins his father in philanthropic activities such as the "I Play Clean" campaign. Butkus' nephew, Luke Butkus
Luke Butkus
Lucas J. Butkus is an American football coach and former center, currently serving as quality control/offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League.-Playing career:...
, who played at Illinois, was hired on February 19, 2007, as the Bears' offensive line coach, and in 2010 joined the Seattle Seahawks staff in a similar position.
Philanthropy
Through The Butkus Foundation, Butkus has supported many charitable causes following his NFL career. The Butkus Foundation, Inc. was formed to manage the receipt and disbursement of funds for his charitable causes. These causes include:- The I Play Clean Campaign addresses the issue of steroids among high school athletes. The campaign educates and encourages high school to train and eat well, without resorting to illegal steroids and performance enhancing products.
- The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, is one of the elite individual honors in college football. The Butkus Foundation takes stewardship of the award recognizing athletic achievement and service to the community while honoring the nation’s best high school, college, and professional linebackers. An independent Butkus Award Selection Committee, headed by Pro Football WeeklyPro Football WeeklyPro Football Weekly is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, that covers the National Football League...
’s Hub Arkush, is composed of 51 people, including professional, college, and high school scouts, and sports journalists. This committee conducts the selection process.
- The Dick Butkus Center for Cardiovascular Wellness is a nonprofit organization in Orange County, California with a cardiac screening program that uses specialized testing to help identify those at risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac deathSudden Cardiac DeathSudden cardiac death is natural death from cardiac causes, heralded by abrupt loss of consciousness within one hour of the onset of acute symptoms. Other forms of sudden death may be noncardiac in origin...
.
- The Legends 51 Cabernet Sauvignon Charity Wine benefits the Butkus Foundation through the sale of wine, and funds the "I Play Clean" program. The wine was released in November 2009.
- Charity Fight Night is an annual event begun in 2002. This celebrity boxing event features a reception followed by eight bouts, courtesy of Windy City Boxing. All proceeds support the Butkus Foundation. The event is hosted by Sparta Asset Management of Chicago. The annual event includes a live/silent auction featuring sports memorabilia and original sports artwork, along with performances by magicians. Past attendees include Butkus, Bears' greats Mike DitkaMike DitkaMichael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...
, Gale Sayers and Dan HamptonDan HamptonDaniel Oliver Hampton also known as "Danimal" is a retired Hall of Fame American football defensive tackle who played twelve seasons for the Chicago Bears from 1979 to 1990 in the National Football League. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002...
External links
- Dick Butkus Biography at www.bearshistory.com
- Official website of Dick Butkus – www.dickbutkus.com
- Dick Butkus Fights Steroids
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
- ESPN SportsCentury article on Butkus
- College Football Hall of Fame Bio
- College Football News Top 100 Players Bio
- Football cards of Dick Butkus
- http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dickbutkus164941.html