"His 9 year career stands apart, as the single most sustained work of devastation ever committed on a football field by anyone...anywhere...anytime, to talk about him is to drain the vocabulary of superlatives." Pure poetry NFL Films.
"Roses are red, Violets are blue. If you got any sense, you'll keep Butkus away from you." - Deacon Jones. Also referring to Butkus, "He wanted to put people in the cemetery, NOT the hospital.
That will NEVER happen again. I thought #10 was way off. I personally could see him in the TOP 5. But, you had to see him play to FULLY realize how much of an impact he had.
Bill George was a great Bears middle linebacker too before Butkus was drafted in 65. Bill George was the MLB on the 63 Bears NFL Championship team. What a great defense that was. I would've liked to see a game between the NFL Champion 63 Bears vs the AFL Champion 63 Chargers. I heard somewhere that the 63 Chargers challenged the 63 Bears to a game but the Bears declined. That wouldve been a great matchup but I really think the Chargers would've beat the Bears. If the Chargers were able to get a little bit of a lead then the Bears likely would've been unable to catch up because their offense was pretty anemic. The Bears D intercepted Giants QB Y.A. Tittle 5 times in the title game but could only manage 14 points
@@jeremythompson9122 - Incorrect. The Bears did not decline, NFL Commissioner, Pete Rozelle, stepped-in and forbid the game. And for the record, most of the experts said the Bears defense would have crushed the Chargers.
"He was an animal. And he was a well-conditioned animal - and every time he hit you he tried to put you in the cemetery - not the hospital." - Deacon Jones
They say he was so mean that Butkis would spit Flem on the football while the Center was waiting to snap to the quarterback. He would do it because the Center couldn't wipe the ball or his hands before the snap! That's Devious mean! 😆.
After watching this video and many others about Butkus....and other brutal defenders, I got one thing to say to Brady, Brees, Mahommes, and all other current QBs: You are soooooo Lucky to be living in this current era of the NFL- with all the special rules to protect you.
I THOUGHT THE OLD PLAYING WAYS WERE FAR TOO BRUTAL, MY OPINION, ONLY. HUMAN LIFE AND WELL BEING, GENERAL PLAYER HEALTH, IS FAR MORE IMPIORTANT THAN A BLOODY ROMAN CIRCUS-TYPE ATMOSPHERE, MY OPINION, ONLY. I WOULD NEVER SET FOOT ON THE ROMAN COLISEUM, UNRESTRAINED BARBORISM.
@@philmiller4961 why are you yelling? 🤣🤣🤣 Imagine what the leather heads went through.. 🤣🤣 these guys were FN tough.. who knows how many dropped dead with CRT back in the day.. that's just how it was.. look at cars from back then.. we've come a long way with seatbelts and airbags. You live and you learn . It is what it is..
@ 1:46 that hit he gave on the OL and then tackled the ball carrier. That to me is the epitome of best MLB in history. If you are man enough to take on an OL and knock him out and milliseconds later dish out a tackle on someone who is running full speed then you are the best
For this reason, I haven't voluntarily watched pro football in almost thirty years. Too soft and full of show-boats that wouldn't know what to do if the likes of Butkus or Campbell hit'em.
alexhorner daman bc that’s what football was made for😂people that would go out there n risk there body for the game for the money now it’s a whole bunch of sissy’s running around 👍my favorite player Ronnie Lott will tell you what football used to be about
@@sevenrats I bet if you ask all the hall of famers you mentioned they would say the same thing. Butkus was a bad man.!! Can't wait for this season either👍👍✌
Scariest man on the field and would be in any era... what a lot of "ringtalker" fans forget is the rule changes of the last 40 years of football protect players from savage monsters like this man... I imagine Favre's iron man streak would not be nearly as long if he had met Butkus on the field... that's coming from a Green Bay fan. This guy was a beast on the field, and out of all the linebackers in NFL History, I would have this man on my team in his prime.
I was a year behind Butkus at the U of I. I stayed in the dorm room he'd used before he moved to a fraternity. You could seen where he'd ripped the door off the hinges in a rage over something. He was already legendary. He wasn't a beast. He was a force of nature. I remember a quote of his that went something like, "If I was smart I'd be a doctor. But I'm not. So I'm a football player."
Butkus had great upper body strength along with 30 yard quickness. His hits...you heard them over the TV, you felt them in the stands. A tight end's jersey would ripple with the concussion. Butkus would hit a running back, he wouldn't fall forward for a two yard gain, Butkus would pick him up and drive him into the turf for a two yard loss. A lot of good running backs got up VERY slowly. Lewis comes close, but it was a different era. Apples and oranges. Butkus in his prime was truly awesome.
@@bigz5765 They also didn't have the medical knowledge to fix knees back when Butkus and Sayers played like they do now. You have to remember. Butkus only played 9 years. He retired with 3 years left on his contract after the 1973 season because of his injury.
Sludge. There was only 1 game that Jim Brown played against Butkus. I have seen it a couple of times but not in last 20yrs or so. Look it up on utube cant find it. Anyway. Brown is in I formation. Get a play to left between gaurd an tackle. He gets to hole butkus fills. You cant see the hit. You do see butkus has Brown off his feet as he drives him into the ground 2 yards in the backfield.
@@AHMAD-2324 Yeah but Butkus only had 2 winning seasons in his career. Never made the playoffs. I sincerely doubt Taylor or Lewis would have played with the same intensity as they did if they played on teams that lost more than they won. That is what separates Butkus from all the rest. 110% on Every snap of Every game of Every season, mostly in a losing effort.
Jim Brown #1,Dick Butkus #2 all time greatest players.Jim Brown said in his book "Out of Bounds"...."football is hitting,Butkus is the ultimate hitter".
Butkus was a real animal. He was so fun to watch. He would stop people dead in their tracks. He would intimidate other players, regardless of their size (even players on his team said they were scared of him). It doesn't seem you would want to be lined up against this guy. As he points out here, one of his secrets is that he always aimed for the guy with the ball. There have been few defensive players like him ever since.
Jim Cushman not true , there have been so much more backers to come into the leauge that are far better than this guy , the era he played in was slower and not as hard to play as it is now , if he played now offenses would eat him alive
I agree 100% If you were a middle linebacker back then, you fought and played hard like Butkus did it. Now those highlight reel hits would be automatic first downs.
Yeah he signed a Bears football. If you go to Vegas go to the venician hotel and they have a sports store called field of dreams they have legends go there all the time like Dick Butkus, Jerry Rice, Emmit smith and mike Tyson
I read a story once where the Baltimore Colts were traveling to Wrigley to play the Bears. Once in Chicago, someone ran into the back of their bus. They supposedly all looked at each other and said "Butkus".
Baltimore Colt season ticket holder here.....had the pleasure of watching DB play.......he played like every game was the Super bowl.....the best there ever was......
butkus' 27 fumble recoveries in just 9 years is still remarkable. the only defensive players that have more are linebackers ricky jackson (29 in 15 years) and cornelius bennett (27 in 14 years). defensive ends jim marshall (30 in 19 years) jason taylor (29 in 15 years) db's kermit alexander (28 in 11 years) and ron woodson (30 in 17 years)
2:21 is the most impressive body slam I have ever seen on a football field from one player on another. He picked up a O- Lineman by the neck and just body slammed him.
1:46...Butkus takes on the blocker from his knees, blows him up and STILL tackles the running back from his knees. The power; the momentum; the force he could generate in a small space was incredible! He is the most feared player in NFL history.
Coming from a Packers fan, Butkus is the best linebacker in NFL history. Video of him tackling should be required watching for every level of football competition as to how to run through your tackles and tackle properly.
I was lucky to watch all or most every game Butkus played in since I grew up in Illinois and they would have them on TV… he absolutely amazed me with his talent but more importantly his football mentality!!! I’ve have never seen a better Middle linebacker then Butkus!!!!!
Never mind the hitting, just a great athlete. At the time he was one of the bigger linebackers playing, but watch him hurdling blockers in space while roaming half the field. No letup. And what an incredible pair of hands! He could have been an all-pro tight end.
Sadly. many people only talk about how fierce a tackler Butkus was. However, he could play in any scheme and he excelled against the pass as well as he excelled against the run!
+Frank Cohen They were very different: LT was a rusher in a league where passing started to take shape in the NFL, where as Butkus played in an NFL rushers league in the 60's: both were incredible, but they weren't too similar. It would be like comparing Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson: a two-way-threat and a pure rusher.
LT was not just a rusher. He had 1000 tackles in his career was unstoppable against the run and was solid on pass defense. But I agree, Butkus is probably the greatest MLB ever and I have Lewis and Gradishar right behind him.
Different positions. LT was a OLB in a 3-4. Butkus was a MLB in a 4-3. It's apples and oranges. Both are top 10 all time players. We can and should enjoy both without tearing the other player down.
H LT was a one trick pony. The best there ever was as a pass rushing OLB? Probably. He was a one man wrecking crew behind the O line. I used to enjoy watching him wreak havoc, along with Harry Carson and the rest of the 80's Giants team. DB had more responsibilities, and was a one man wrecking crew all over the field. That's the difference. Two entirely different positions with two different responsibility sets.
Payton and Butkus are my all-time favorite Bears. I only saw 2 years of Butkus but the devastation this man caused is scary. Imagine if he would've played 4 or 5 more years.
Sensational player. I wonder if his game would translate today with the way hits are enforced. I think a truly great player like this would be able to be flexible enough to change the way he played and still remain one of the greatest.
My favorite Butkus quote was an answer to the question "How do you want people to remember you?" He replied, "You know that explosive sound your shoulder pads make when you make a perfect hit? It echos through the stadium, makes the crowd go silent and say oooh. If you are ever at a game and you hear that sound, remember me."
I was a linebacker in high school, my best position, and I looked up to Butkus so much. He played with hardcore passion and that’s how football should be. Total beast on the field! 🏈
RIP to one of the most influential NFL players and BEARS legend 🐻⬇
Rip 🙏
Let's win tonight 😭🤧
this guy would be arrested and hrown in prison for life if he played today 😂😂😂
Dude would be irrelevant in today's game- his style of play wouldn't align in this powder puff Era. Why I can't respect new generation of sports
RIP to a legend that all linebackers are measured by.
"His 9 year career stands apart, as the single most sustained work of devastation ever committed on a football field by anyone...anywhere...anytime, to talk about him is to drain the
vocabulary of superlatives." Pure poetry NFL Films.
"Tackling is his means of self-expression. Violence is his lifestyle."
And half of that career was with bum knees.
Ernie Accorsi once said of him "When he hit you, you stayed hit".
MORTENSEN - MY FAVORITE QUOTE ABOUT BUTKUS......LOVE IT !!! THKS
Genetic Freak 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
RIP Mr. Butkus. A Titan on the field and a Gentleman off. You will be missed. 😢
"Roses are red, Violets are blue. If you got any sense, you'll keep Butkus away from you." - Deacon Jones. Also referring to Butkus, "He wanted to put people in the cemetery, NOT the hospital.
"..he was an animal, and he was a well-conditioned animal..." Deacon Jones.
Bad Butkuss
And this is coming from Deacon “Head-Slap” Jones of all people
Paul Hornung on Butkus: He played like he hated you from your old neighborhood.
NFL Defensive MVP on a 1 win team? That says it all..
Joe Scopelite right
It most certainly does #51 for life
That will NEVER happen again. I thought #10 was way off. I personally could see him in the TOP 5. But, you had to see him play to FULLY realize how much of an impact he had.
@@havingfun1968 agreed, 10 is too low. He was the most dominant defensive player of his era.
@@havingfun1968 Top 2
Before Mack
Before Urlacher
Before Singletary
There was Butkus
Trent Brown is coming for Mack
Imagine having all 4 together in there prime Go Bears
And before Butkus there was Bill George, who was arguably the player who invented the position.
Bill George was a great Bears middle linebacker too before Butkus was drafted in 65. Bill George was the MLB on the 63 Bears NFL Championship team. What a great defense that was. I would've liked to see a game between the NFL Champion 63 Bears vs the AFL Champion 63 Chargers. I heard somewhere that the 63 Chargers challenged the 63 Bears to a game but the Bears declined. That wouldve been a great matchup but I really think the Chargers would've beat the Bears. If the Chargers were able to get a little bit of a lead then the Bears likely would've been unable to catch up because their offense was pretty anemic. The Bears D intercepted Giants QB Y.A. Tittle 5 times in the title game but could only manage 14 points
@@jeremythompson9122 - Incorrect. The Bears did not decline, NFL Commissioner, Pete Rozelle, stepped-in and forbid the game. And for the record, most of the experts said the Bears defense would have crushed the Chargers.
I love how Butkus epitomizes how grubby, mean, and hardcore old football used to be.
Wait till 20 below we we
.yous left ..
It was a golden age of the sport
He would sustain a career ending injury in the first play if he played in 2023.
@@CM-cw8feyou're an idiot
@@CM-cw8fewhy do you think that?
He died less than an hour ago, rest in peace you absolute legend 🙏🙏🙏
RIP Mr. Butkus. Countless kids were inspired to play this great game of football because of you. This one included.
Me too.
"He was an animal. And he was a well-conditioned animal - and every time he hit you he tried to put you in the cemetery - not the hospital." - Deacon Jones
AND this was a COMPLIMENT. COMING FROM THE GREAT DEACON JONES
They say he was so mean that Butkis would spit Flem on the football while the Center was waiting to snap to the quarterback. He would do it because the Center couldn't wipe the ball or his hands before the snap! That's Devious mean! 😆.
After watching this video and many others about Butkus....and other brutal defenders, I got one thing to say to Brady, Brees, Mahommes, and all other current QBs: You are soooooo Lucky to be living in this current era of the NFL- with all the special rules to protect you.
Amen and amen!!👍
They would be using canes to walk by the time they reach 50
Nothing but facts
I THOUGHT THE OLD PLAYING WAYS WERE FAR TOO BRUTAL, MY OPINION, ONLY. HUMAN LIFE AND WELL BEING, GENERAL PLAYER HEALTH, IS FAR MORE IMPIORTANT THAN A BLOODY ROMAN CIRCUS-TYPE ATMOSPHERE, MY OPINION, ONLY. I WOULD NEVER SET FOOT ON THE ROMAN COLISEUM, UNRESTRAINED BARBORISM.
@@philmiller4961 why are you yelling? 🤣🤣🤣 Imagine what the leather heads went through.. 🤣🤣 these guys were FN tough.. who knows how many dropped dead with CRT back in the day.. that's just how it was.. look at cars from back then.. we've come a long way with seatbelts and airbags. You live and you learn . It is what it is..
This guy is the reason I played linebacker in school. When my kid was little, he watched Butkus films with me. He plays linebacker now.
Butkis was so brutal that this league today wouldn't let him play
I always thought, what if Butkus and Lawrence Taylor played together, the other team's QB and RB would just not show up.
QBs, RBs, WRs, the O-line,.. . . .
Throw in Ronnie Lott at Safety, and I`m with you !
Also put Night Train Lane at corner.
Chris Paul LMAOOO
Chris Paul: Johnny Manziel. . .
@ 1:46 that hit he gave on the OL and then tackled the ball carrier. That to me is the epitome of best MLB in history. If you are man enough to take on an OL and knock him out and milliseconds later dish out a tackle on someone who is running full speed then you are the best
RIP Howard Mudd, he did such a great job tell this story and he was an amazing Offensive line coach. Prayers for his family.
RIP to an absolute legend.
Almost every hit or tackle Butkus made would be illegal today. I truly miss this kind of football. Vicious and tough.
mike de julia nonsense.
For this reason, I haven't voluntarily watched pro football in almost thirty years. Too soft and full of show-boats that wouldn't know what to do if the likes of Butkus or Campbell hit'em.
Why do u miss this
U make no sense
alexhorner daman bc that’s what football was made for😂people that would go out there n risk there body for the game for the money now it’s a whole bunch of sissy’s running around 👍my favorite player Ronnie Lott will tell you what football used to be about
RIP one of the greatest NFL Linebackers.
The greatest, fiercest, most intimidating defensive football player EVER.
Had to pay respects to one of the greatest linebackers the game has seen. Godspeed, Mr. Butkus.
He is my favorite player of all time.
The toughest man to ever put on a helmet.
That's a bold statement. What about Ditka!? Czonka?!! Ronnie Lott??!! Mean Joe??!!! There are so many! God I love football!
@@sevenrats
I bet if you ask all the hall of famers you mentioned they would say the same thing. Butkus was a bad man.!!
Can't wait for this season either👍👍✌
@@sevenrats
I'm a Colts fan now days. Still like the Bears but when the Colts came to Indy that was it. Who you rootin' for?
RIP to the legend...wish we had more like him! 10-5-2023
Rest in Peace, Oh King of Middle Linebackers!!!
I got to watch his last few years playing as a kid. He was my favorite player then and he still is now.
Scariest man on the field and would be in any era... what a lot of "ringtalker" fans forget is the rule changes of the last 40 years of football protect players from savage monsters like this man... I imagine Favre's iron man streak would not be nearly as long if he had met Butkus on the field... that's coming from a Green Bay fan. This guy was a beast on the field, and out of all the linebackers in NFL History, I would have this man on my team in his prime.
Totally agree
Dicks knees gave out after a while. Today’s modern arthroscopic procedures can keep guys on their game a lot longer.
@@rokyericksonroks The cut blocks that injured Butkus' knees are no longer legal.
RIP Legend I wish I was old enough to see him play
I was a year behind Butkus at the U of I. I stayed in the dorm room he'd used before he moved to a fraternity. You could seen where he'd ripped the door off the hinges in a rage over something. He was already legendary. He wasn't a beast. He was a force of nature. I remember a quote of his that went something like, "If I was smart I'd be a doctor. But I'm not. So I'm a football player."
Butkus had great upper body strength along with 30 yard quickness. His hits...you heard them over the TV, you felt them in the stands. A tight end's jersey would ripple with the concussion. Butkus would hit a running back, he wouldn't fall forward for a two yard gain, Butkus would pick him up and drive him into the turf for a two yard loss. A lot of good running backs got up VERY slowly. Lewis comes close, but it was a different era. Apples and oranges. Butkus in his prime was truly awesome.
lurking0death you gotta remember that butkus also didn't get to have most of the strength training ray had
@@bigz5765
They also didn't have the medical knowledge to fix knees back when Butkus and Sayers played like they do now. You have to remember. Butkus only played 9 years. He retired with 3 years left on his contract after the 1973 season because of his injury.
Really, lurkoff, mr. butkus would pick the runner up and drive him back for a loss???
Forward progress was a thing back then.
@@carlweaver3243 He also has been quoted that as he was slowing down in his play, he was constantly being cheap shotted.
Sludge. There was only 1 game that Jim Brown played against Butkus. I have seen it a couple of times but not in last 20yrs or so. Look it up on utube cant find it. Anyway. Brown is in I formation. Get a play to left between gaurd an tackle. He gets to hole butkus fills. You cant see the hit. You do see butkus has Brown off his feet as he drives him into the ground 2 yards in the backfield.
Damn, I think I got a concussion just from watching those ferocious tackles 🤕
Yea
100% effort every down
Buddah Regdogg *110
Just like Ray Lewis, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor etc...
Just like the players today..."HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
@@AHMAD-2324
Yeah but Butkus only had 2 winning seasons in his career. Never made the playoffs. I sincerely doubt Taylor or Lewis would have played with the same intensity as they did if they played on teams that lost more than they won. That is what separates Butkus from all the rest. 110% on Every snap of Every game of Every season, mostly in a losing effort.
Rest in peace #51. You are my all-time favorite and inspiration.
Damn what a legend and a Chicago legend RIP
1:04 look at his little legs kickin lmao
Our culture can sometimes approve a legitimate, psychopath.
sNNNNNable XD something similar happened Washington vs Eagles.
Hell of a name
Must’ve been tough in fifth grade
Jim Brown #1,Dick Butkus #2 all time greatest players.Jim Brown said in his book "Out of Bounds"...."football is hitting,Butkus is the ultimate hitter".
Ditto!
Lost both these legends within months of each other
Butkus was a real animal. He was so fun to watch. He would stop people dead in their tracks. He would intimidate other players, regardless of their size (even players on his team said they were scared of him). It doesn't seem you would want to be lined up against this guy. As he points out here, one of his secrets is that he always aimed for the guy with the ball. There have been few defensive players like him ever since.
Best and most punishing LB to EVER play the game!!! 1965-1973. He came to kick ass!!! Now the "players" skip and dance on the field!
He's number 2 behind LT
Jack Burrell Butkus is better than LT's pussy self.
Bloxy Productions Butkus is the best run stopper but I don't agree that he's better than LT
He was...and is...
Jim Cushman not true , there have been so much more backers to come into the leauge that are far better than this guy , the era he played in was slower and not as hard to play as it is now , if he played now offenses would eat him alive
RIP to the most feared tackler in NFL history. Butkus was truly a Monster of the Midway.
His love for the game and attitude was what made him great.
He was a monster. Different time and different game but that man was a monster.
this was a football player
Kiwanis Hinton really?
@@christianjimenez4133 correction: this was THE football player.
He is WAS the definition of football till the nfl became soft.
OH REALLY. I thought he was a mechanical engineer.
Isaac White nah a graphic designer
Rest in peace #51 you played the game it was always meant to be played
Butkus was my favorite player to watch on Sunday's in the late 60's. As a middle linebacker I wished, and tried to play, like him.
I agree 100% If you were a middle linebacker back then, you fought and played hard like Butkus did it. Now those highlight reel hits would be automatic first downs.
Just met this guy in Las Vegas very cool dude..
nice did you get an autograph?
Yeah he signed a Bears football. If you go to Vegas go to the venician hotel and they have a sports store called field of dreams they have legends go there all the time like Dick Butkus, Jerry Rice, Emmit smith and mike Tyson
+master345X that's awesome. put that thing in glass!
I am. He was a funny guy too!
Greatest ever you know your great when you win defensive player of the year with a 1-13 record
Hornung won the Heisman on a 2-8 team in 1956, so it can happen.
Baddest man to ever play the game.
This was the original beast mode!!!! Wow this guy was a weapon of mass destruction!!!
I'm too young to have seen him play. I only know him as a legend. RIP
RIP ...thanks to John Facenda and NFL Films for showing me who this man was...
The pure footballer. Relentless, fundamentally sound and indifferent to pain.
A monster of a man.
Butkus!
RIP man. Great player.
I read a story once where the Baltimore Colts were traveling to Wrigley to play the Bears. Once in Chicago, someone ran into the back of their bus. They supposedly all looked at each other and said "Butkus".
Wrigley? I think you mean Soldier's Field. Wrigley is the Cubs.
@@carlrosenzweig1867 Bears played at Wrigley Field until '71.
@@carlweaver3243 Thanks! Always nice to learn something. I had no idea.
Boy, these stories just keep getting “discovered” every day, 50 years later.
@@carlrosenzweig1867 They just barely fit the football field in Wrigley.
He's the best Middle Linebacker on the NFL History
No no... He's the best linebacker ever. Period.
Jackson Callahan Naw...
Hi Skrubz yes
@@dominiccart8967 LT is better, he's the reason the left tackle position is so highly paid, not to mention he won league MVP
Tropic Mix LT is a middle linebacker
RIP. One of the best to ever do it.
Greatest linebacker ever. Period.
RIP to the legend 🙏🏾
THE BEST !!! EVER PERIOD !!!
When the 69 Bears were 1-13 I became a lifelong Bears fan at 11 years old BECAUSE of Butkus. What a MONSTER that guy was!
IMO, he is #1. The greatest, most talented force to ever play football...At least on defense.
That’s a bold statement
@@carr8921 it’s a true statement
This statement is so false lol
That hit at 2:56 was so hard it just knocked me out
Baltimore Colt season ticket holder here.....had the pleasure of watching DB play.......he played like every game was the Super bowl.....the best there ever was......
Here to say Rip to one of the GOATs
Rest in Peace 🕊️
butkus' 27 fumble recoveries in just 9 years is still remarkable. the only defensive players that have more are linebackers ricky jackson (29 in 15 years) and cornelius bennett (27 in 14 years). defensive ends jim marshall (30 in 19 years) jason taylor (29 in 15 years) db's kermit alexander (28 in 11 years) and ron woodson (30 in 17 years)
Perfectly worded. If you're great in the 50's, The 60's, The 70's...........
RIP to the greatest
2:21 is the most impressive body slam I have ever seen on a football field from one player on another. He picked up a O- Lineman by the neck and just body slammed him.
It’s funny to watch the aftermath. The guy gets up like he’s going to tear into Butkus, then thinks twice about it.
RIP to a legend
1:46...Butkus takes on the blocker from his knees, blows him up and STILL tackles the running back from his knees. The power; the momentum; the force he could generate in a small space was incredible! He is the most feared player in NFL history.
RIP Legend. 10/5/23
RIP to the most menacing linebacker of all time
Best LB in NFL history..
Also never killed anyone
lol im dead
true but Lawrence Taylor puts up a good fight might be a tie
+cams dab
Lol Ray
+Dana Perez lawrence
+cams dab and Ray
Coming from a Packers fan, Butkus is the best linebacker in NFL history. Video of him tackling should be required watching for every level of football competition as to how to run through your tackles and tackle properly.
There is a reason the best linebacker award in every level of competition from high school up is named after him
BUTKUS = THE BEST. Period.
I was lucky to watch all or most every game Butkus played in since I grew up in Illinois and they would have them on TV… he absolutely amazed me with his talent but more importantly his football mentality!!! I’ve have never seen a better Middle linebacker then Butkus!!!!!
Never mind the hitting, just a great athlete. At the time he was one of the bigger linebackers playing, but watch him hurdling blockers in space while roaming half the field. No letup. And what an incredible pair of hands! He could have been an all-pro tight end.
Sadly. many people only talk about how fierce a tackler Butkus was. However, he could play in any scheme and he excelled against the pass as well as he excelled against the run!
Best linebacker of all time rest in peace
Rest in Peace to one of the greatest of all time.
RIP legend. You’ll never be forgotten.
The best ever linebacker to ever play the game
They named the trophy after him for a reason.
I'm a Bears fan who really thinks the sniping about LT v. DB ought to stop. Both were wonderful to watch.
+Frank Cohen They were very different: LT was a rusher in a league where passing started to take shape in the NFL, where as Butkus played in an NFL rushers league in the 60's: both were incredible, but they weren't too similar. It would be like comparing Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson: a two-way-threat and a pure rusher.
LT was not just a rusher. He had 1000 tackles in his career was unstoppable against the run and was solid on pass defense. But I agree, Butkus is probably the greatest MLB ever and I have Lewis and Gradishar right behind him.
Different positions. LT was a OLB in a 3-4. Butkus was a MLB in a 4-3. It's apples and oranges. Both are top 10 all time players. We can and should enjoy both without tearing the other player down.
H Much better coke sniffer is all.
H LT was a one trick pony. The best there ever was as a pass rushing OLB? Probably. He was a one man wrecking crew behind the O line. I used to enjoy watching him wreak havoc, along with Harry Carson and the rest of the 80's Giants team. DB had more responsibilities, and was a one man wrecking crew all over the field. That's the difference. Two entirely different positions with two different responsibility sets.
RIP to the inventor of the middle linebacker position! Greatest bear ever
RIP to one of the greatest players in the history of football
Dallas fan here but a hat tip and RIP to Mr. Butkus
One of the greatest linebackers in NFL history
THE
R.I.P.
Rip legend. The benchmark for intimidation rest easy I wish I was alive to watch you play
Payton and Butkus are my all-time favorite Bears. I only saw 2 years of Butkus but the devastation this man caused is scary. Imagine if he would've played 4 or 5 more years.
RIP 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
Sensational player. I wonder if his game would translate today with the way hits are enforced. I think a truly great player like this would be able to be flexible enough to change the way he played and still remain one of the greatest.
My favorite Butkus quote was an answer to the question "How do you want people to remember you?" He replied, "You know that explosive sound your shoulder pads make when you make a perfect hit? It echos through the stadium, makes the crowd go silent and say oooh. If you are ever at a game and you hear that sound, remember me."
Greatest linebacker to suit up in history.
The choice of music gives me chills every time I watch this video. Spine tingling stuff.
Rest In Peace Mr. Butkus from a Raider fan🙏🙏
Legends never die!!
RIP!❤
I was a linebacker in high school, my best position, and I looked up to Butkus so much. He played with hardcore passion and that’s how football should be. Total beast on the field! 🏈