The thing about Butkus that a lot of people don't know is that at the university of Illinois he played both ways, center on offense and middle linebacker on defense and was named to all-american teams at both positions. Amazing.
@@ldfreitas9437 A lot of teams have had big stars who had HOF careers and never won a championship. So what's your point? All I mentioned was what a great draft getting those two. Can you pick a team that drafted two future HOF players in the first round?
A true hit man...still remember watching him drag 2 Lineman past the line of scrimmage and he already had a bum knee....the ultimate intimidator and Monster of the Midway!
As a kid when Monday night football began on ABC, Dick Butkus was one of, but the biggest reason I began to understand and love pro football. In my book he's the greatest player of all time, if I could only pick one. Rest in Peace bro....always loved, admired and never forgotten.
Butkus was an absolute monster and a great player, but the greatest player of all time was Walter Payton. He was an RB, WR, Punt returner, and the "emergency" QB of the Bears. He also could kick field goals and punt. I live in Chicago and have had the great blessing of knowing Butkus personally. Have had many beers with the man. He told me himself, that Walter was the best football player ever.
Everybody has their opinion on who's the greatest football player for sure, but for me it was the guys that made me want to watch the game as a kid first understanding the game and then seeing a particular player or players that they loved watching....my first choice was Butkus and the next one would be Larry Csonka of the Miami Dolphins. I loved the way he would keep gaining yards carrying the ball with two and sometimes more than two guys trying to stop him...his legs never quit moving and he always made the defense work extra hard to bring him down. Monday Night football on ABC began when I was a kid in California around the L.A. area. Butkus and Csonka were the guys that made me want to have my homework done before the game started.even while there were other greats, for sure, but a kid will always love his first heroes, wherever they are.
@@kevinduffin2771 Yo Kevin....no player of any real caliber will ever tell you that they think of themselves as the greatest player...they do it with their deeds and their hearts, not with the spoken word. In other sports, there were those that said they were the greatest, but that was never any kind of ball game...Ali called himself the greatest, but NOBODY ever PLAYED BOXING....it's not a game. We all have our own ideas of our greatest, and so do our heroes.
He was my idol when I played HS football. Later in life, I met him at a meet & greet in Vegas. When I shook his hand, It was like shaking huge sausages!!
I was 6 years old when the 1963 season started so being a Chicagoan in Skokie I enjoyed the Bears. Butkus, Ditka and for me Gayle Sayres were great. But Butkus was a passionate maniac that you were glad was on your team.
I grew up in Skokie also, was 10 in 63 and loved watching Da Bears and especially Buttkick. He'd take a big chew of tobacco then spit on the ball while the opponents were in the huddle, their center didn't want to touch the ball with that huge lugie on it. LOL He was Da Best!
I remember one of Butkus' fellow defensive players' said , " Our job was to slow the runner down a little , hold him up for just a second , and then duck like hell ' cause Butkus was coming ! I went to high shool with Scott Studwell , he went to Illinois and broke Dicks' tackle record , was a linebacker for thge Vikings' , great guy .
Recently heard on NFL network a commentator describe Aaron Donald as the greatest defensive player in league history. That 'expert' must not have known about Dick Butkus.
I think that at least part of it was he was oversized for the position he played. Most middle linebackers were around 220 pounds at the time, more or less, but Butkus was around 250. And he'd just charge into a runner with everything he had and knock him down because he outweighed them by 30-40 pounds.
The best comment ever made about Butkus. Came from Steve Sabol.. him and his dad. Ran nfl films. And seen everthing. On ever player. For all those years. Over 60 yrs. And before. Steve. Die. He said. No one play harder or better than Dick Butkus and he seen them all. Period. !
I grew up in St. Louis, and never saw Butkus play, either in person or on TV. What I remember is after he retired he spent an appreciable time on TV, and he always seemed to be a soft-spoken, jovial man. Acted like he wouldn't hurt a flea. I guess he just had one personality for being out in public, and then a second personality for when he was playing football.
I started out small, and I'm still going slow on my channel. I've been watching these videos to help build my channel more and more! Keep up the great work and thanks for inspiring me!
@@MickyTubbs1985 WTF do you know about it? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING‼️🖕🏽 ☝🏽What’s significant about 1985❓ Is that the year you were born? So Tubby, your just a baby and your a flabby overweight big mouth as well? 🤣🤣🤣 🖕🏽again, now GTFOH‼️
@@rodbriggs8552 BULLSHIT.!!! In many Washington Redskins versus the N.Y. Giants rivalry match ups (Hogs vs. G-Men), Redskins Running Back John Riggins aka “The Diesel” run right through and out of Lawrence Taylor tackles.!!! NOBODY EVER ran out of a Dick Butkus tackle …THAT NEVER HAPPENED EVER‼️ There isn’t any Defensive Player, Linebacker or other Defensive position who compares to the abilities that Dick Butkus possessed! NONE, ZILCH, NATHA …END OF STORY & FULL STOP‼️👍🏽 R.I.P. Dick Butkus The Greatest Of All Time ….The GOAT‼️
I went to CVS and got there 2 years after he left. I also played football on the field at Fernwood Park where Butkus said he practiced at night. I never saw him there but friends said they did. Believe it or not, we didn't think at that time he would be a superstar. Remember, Butkus was a fullback at CVS and broke the rushing record at Illinois as a freshman. As an aside; cudos to the St. Rita football team after handing us our buts in the City Championship, our coach, Bernie O'Brien was hospitalized. The entire Rita team came up for a visit. Class.
Greatest LB ever by a country mile, hardest hitter too, and while skill sets and responsibilities vary on Def, it wouldn't be a stretch to say Dick was the greatest defensive player, period, ever - as Howie Long said after he died, "It was like he was immortal, too tough for death to dare to come for him!"
@@TAYLORFAN50 Lawrence Taylor isn't fit to get down on his hands and knees and lick a dog's ass in the street! He was an OUTSIDE LB in the '80's when most teams were playing a 3-4 defense, basically making him a DEFENSIVE END. Granted, this post is "hardest hitting," not best LB or even MIDDLE LB, which is what Butkus played in an earlier era and what he should be compared to. By his own admission, Taylor had no clue of what he should be doing on the field: Do I trail the tight end or pick up the running back on a screen pass? LT didn't know what to do, so he rushed the QB and managed to get there enough to be lauded with (false) praise. A guy that didn't know what to do shouldn't be praised for "reinventing" his position, which, quite honestly, wasn't anything that resembled linebacker. There were and are a lot of great LBs and hard hitters over the years. As a Packers fan, my favorite hard hitter is Ray Nitschke. But Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, Joe Schmidt, Sam Huff, Jack Lambert and others would each drag that freaking wimp Lawrence Taylor out to the parking lot and would have personally beat his ass!!!!
@@TAYLORFAN50 Many, Many Very Knowledgeable Folks will Say that Butkus is The Greatest Football Player of All-Times ... and I wouldn't argue with them ... nor Butkus ... personally I have Walter Payton as The Greatest of All Times ... Butkus #2 ... my Dream-D with LT on the outside & Butkus Strikin' the Heart of Terror of Everyone in the Middle ...
@@TAYLORFAN50 There are 11 players on each side, and no ONE defender dominated like Butkus. "18 Saks!" Even the great LT needed a great Defense with players like HOF Linebacker Harry Carson, Carl Banks, Jim Burt, Leonard Marshall, George Marin, and Gary Reasons to support him. 4 of them were Pro Bowlers lmao...
Second best middle linebacker in pro football. The best is the man who helped recruit him to his alma mater, U of Illinois. That man was Ray Nitschke, best LB ever!
It's not just the fans or people in the sports media calling him the hardest hitting and most feared, it was his peers, the players who he lined up opposite of, they are the ones who said that Butkus was relentless, he wanted to destroy you on every play, he had that intensity on every play of every game throughout his career.
The Bears held training camp at Taylor University in Indiana when DB first came in the league. My dad went to watch him at training camp one day and Dick didn't practice all day. My dad heard later that they held him out of practice because they didn't want him to injure his own teammates. Not sure if that was true but it does add to his legend.
His career spanned the years from when I was 4 until I was 13. I was a Cowboys fan, but NOBODY embodied toughness and intimidation like Butkus. He was mythical.
@@nflunveiled Absofuckenlutly It's a known fact that the best way to run against LT was to run right at him. No one ever ran at Butkus. All LT's tackles were made from behind pulling guys down. Watch the highlight reels of Butkus it's text book form tackling. Butkus had way more fumble recoveries and interceptions. If they kept tract of forced fumbles he would be in a league of his own. Lt did it on a super bowl team and Butkus was on the worst team in the league .🍻
@@nflunveiled MIDDLE LINEBACKER!!! Was that piece of idiotic dog crap, always out of position, Lawrence Taylor, a MIDDE LINEBACKER? Not even close! More of a defensive end and...clueless about being a linebacker! My grandmother was a better linebacker! So was Ray Nitschke! Best form tackler, interceptor, fumble recovery LB in the NFL! Ever!
In high school, all of his buddies would pile in one of those huge steel monsters of a car, and Butkus would push them around the neighborhood while they were partying.
I can't remember the play exactly, I was very young at the time. The bears were lined up for a field goal. It was the final play of the game. If the Bears don't get it they lose. The snap was botched and the holder scrambled looking to make a play. with defenders right on him he couldn't run. When he looked up there was Butkus open in the corner of the end zone. He passed to Butkus for the win. Butkus was always so aware on the field. He was in to block on the play, but knew someone had to get open for that pass.
Butkus _could_ have been the hardest hitter, but he wasn't fast enough. He was probably the most ferocious player, which is not exactly the same thing. Butkus ushered in the era of full-on "impact" hits and tackling as opposed to slower, wrestling-type tackles of yesteryear. If you want to be a stickler for accuracy, I think of Jack Tatum, Ronnie Lott and Mike Curtis as probably _hitting harder_ than Butkus.
When I was younger, I watched football. But, over the years, I learned about CTE. Haven't watched a game in more than 20 years. Never taught or encouraged my sons to play it.
And as far as Paul posting players in the modern error, lifting weights and hitting harder, just not remember the oldest rule the pork I have had three pit bulls and a Doberman and I love them all they all love the whole family. None of them were attacked dogs but the one thing you learn the litter, she pound American pitbull terrier with bloodlines to go back three generations, so is the point of the story is, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight the size of the heart
More of his greatness, he was on all those losing season teams and played like he was on a defending champions team his entire career! In my opinion the greatest defensive player EVER!
i remember a game that the Bears played the Denver Broncos. Butkus tackled Floyd little.. He added a little more to the tackle than was necessary. On the next play flags were thrown by every official. Denver was given a personal fowl penalty, but Butkus new he was a marked man!
My all time favorite sports figure. I loved Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and few others in different sports but no one rose to the level of Butkus in my eyes. When we played sandlot football and I was on defense, I WAS Dick Butkus.
@@nflunveiled There have been a lot of tough, heavy hitting players over the years. My favorite is Ray Nitschke, but I remember an NFL Films episode in the '70's, when it came on network TV and was free, and Jack Lambert, who for some reason was on the bench, saw a Cleveland Browns running back go out of bounds near where he was and he got up, lowered his shoulder, and took the guy out! No flag. Nothing. The back was out of bounds! These days there would be controversy, flags, an ejection and after-the-fact fines! In an era of "paint a dress" on the QB and idiotic rules which continue to dumb-down the league, there will never be players like Butkus, Nitschke, Lambert, Bednarik, etc. again!
During oj Simpson’s first season they played the bears in preseason, someone on the team told him if he sees number 51 coming at to get out of bounds, Simpson said on one play he was running down the sideline and he saw number 52 coming so he ran out of bounds, he said Butkus nailed him anyway
Catches the opposing quarterbacks pass in their endzone and offers it to the opposing receiver. 😂 That's got to be the funniest football clip I've ever seen! 😂😂😂
😂I still remember seeing Altie Taylor of Lions running down the sideline with Butkus bearing down on him. Altie ran off the field into the stands to avoid him. Butkus ran into the stands after him. This was at Briggs Stadium.
Butkus was a monster, no doubt. But in my humble opinion, the hardest hitter will always be Dick "Night-Train" Lane! Night-Train was a menace on the field. A destructive missile just waiting for pass catchers to get the ball so he could demolish them! The NFL had to change rules because of his hitting style. Abolishing the clothesline. Abolishing the forearm to the face. Abolishing the facemask tackle. All those rules were created because of Dick "Night-Train" Lane!
I read a piece long ago somewhere that in high school his coach didn’t let him scrimmage with his teammates because DB couldn’t take it down a notch (or likely three) to keep him from injuring his teammates. Funny story…..I was in a Berger King in Champaign-Urbana one time when Butkus and some friends came in late at night. Butkus stepped up to order and he ordered two Whoppers, two large fries and a large Coke. And I bet he was still hungry after those…….
Ever notice how Ditka and The Bear logo look alike. I miss 60's, 70's and 80's football. I don't follow it anymore. Don't need the social justice mob trying to "educate" me.
I remember a promo for Gillette or someone way back when, where a contest was to guess how many whiskers was in his moustache , he was going to shave it off .
I'm a "Packer Backer," in my mid-'50's age-wise, and my heavy hitter is Ray Nitschke. As young as I am, I never got to see Nitschke or Butkus play live or even on tv. Gary Fencik was a hard-hitting safety indeed, but the guy I saw play that was a heavy hitter for "da Bears" is Mike Singletary. One hell of a MLB! There's a reason he's a HOF'er.
when coaches talk "lunch pail", working class toughness - this is the guy they are thinking about. Bears like Butkus and Ditka didn't really know what finesse was. Even though finesse might have worked better once in a while to win a game, being "slobberknocked"was somehting that was more important that the opponent experience. They may of won the game, but they are going to go home licking wounds, and you better believe that. "It's not whether you win or loose, it's how you play the game".
A friend of mine was missing his front teeth and I asked him one day how he lost them. Playing Pop Warner football, Butkus was a mean bad ass even as a kid.
Defensive player of the year on a 1-13 team. Or, how about if when asked if he ever tried hurt another player and he said something to the effect of “not in preseason.”
Butkus is a legend. But even he admitted that he was only able to hit people so hard because big Jim Obradovich cleared out all those gaps to shoot from the d line.
Insane and ridiculous that the Bears got Butkus and Sayers in the draft, and put up a 1 - 13 record. Even if all the others were just average players, they should have done way better than that
Was Dick Butkus an inspiration for Bobby "The Waterboy" Boucher? Imagining reasons to be angry... Grunting and making weird noises on the field... Knocking out and intimidating ball carriers with ferocious hits...
Way before my time as a Bears fan, this dude really was a Bear.,,it’s a shame him and Gayle Sayers never won a Super Bowl…RIP Papa Bear but a contingency plan on offense should have been made after retirement cause now our franchise is in the hands of your spoiled grandkids who don’t know how to run a franchise but know how to use it to make money. Butkus and Sayers deserved better back in the day and the Bears deserve better now. 🤦🏾♂️🐻💯
I have nothing but admiration and respect for Butkus. I’m all of 5 11 and 165 and could only hope my scared little legs could have outrun him if I’d had the misfortune of meeting him on the gridiron. A favorite of mine and why I still like the Bears. But there’s no way he possibly hit harder than today’s players. They’re just bigger and so much faster. It’s physics. Lose the nostalgia bias.
Butkus was one of the greatest linebackers of all time, and his teammate, Gayle Sayers, was one of the greatest running backs of all time. Yet neither ever even appeared in a playoff game. Why? The Bears couldn't throw their way out of a wet paper bag.
Cam Chancellor was a ferocious hitter at strong safety and one of the best ever in the NFL. Ditto Steve Atwater of Denver, another great at strong safety.
Nothing infuriates me more than the stupid dancing and the freaking long hair hanging out the back of the helmet. Imagine what Butkus would do with that.
Being labeled or thought of as "the hardest hitter" did not make him "THE BEST" or even closest to THE BEST at his position. He didn't "tackle" nor called defenses as good as some other middle linebackers of his era. Yes, his ferocity can be considered "unmatched;" but it takes more than that to make one's team " defensively good."
The thing about Butkus that a lot of people don't know is that at the university of Illinois he played both ways, center on offense and middle linebacker on defense and was named to all-american teams at both positions. Amazing.
Thanks - I did not know it !!! GBjj
What a great first-round draft in 1965. The Bears had 2 picks in that round and drafted Butkus and Sayers, two future Hall of Famers.
absolutely, two of the greats!
And MY team, the NY Giants took Tucker fucking Fredrickson with the #1 overall.
Yet they could not win a championship with those two, unlike 1963 when they had a very veteran team who did win the NFL Championship.
@@ldfreitas9437 A lot of teams have had big stars who had HOF careers and never won a championship. So what's your point? All I mentioned was what a great draft getting those two. Can you pick a team that drafted two future HOF players in the first round?
Growing up in Chicago, Butkus and Sayres were the only two reasons to be a Bears fan.
A true hit man...still remember watching him drag 2 Lineman past the line of scrimmage and he already had a bum knee....the ultimate intimidator and Monster of the Midway!
As a kid when Monday night football began on ABC, Dick Butkus was one of, but the biggest reason I began to understand and love pro football. In my book he's the greatest player of all time, if I could only pick one. Rest in Peace bro....always loved, admired and never forgotten.
absolutely, a true legend 🙏
@@darrellr.bacon4677
All of the Butkus doubters on here need to “read your book”.!!! Great comment you posted here about the true GOAT Dick Butkus‼️👍🏽
Butkus was an absolute monster and a great player, but the greatest player of all time was Walter Payton. He was an RB, WR, Punt returner, and the "emergency" QB of the Bears. He also could kick field goals and punt. I live in Chicago and have had the great blessing of knowing Butkus personally. Have had many beers with the man. He told me himself, that Walter was the best football player ever.
Everybody has their opinion on who's the greatest football player for sure, but for me it was the guys that made me want to watch the game as a kid first understanding the game and then seeing a particular player or players that they loved watching....my first choice was Butkus and the next one would be Larry Csonka of the Miami Dolphins. I loved the way he would keep gaining yards carrying the ball with two and sometimes more than two guys trying to stop him...his legs never quit moving and he always made the defense work extra hard to bring him down. Monday Night football on ABC began when I was a kid in California around the L.A. area. Butkus and Csonka were the guys that made me want to have my homework done before the game started.even while there were other greats, for sure, but a kid will always love his first heroes, wherever they are.
@@kevinduffin2771 Yo Kevin....no player of any real caliber will ever tell you that they think of themselves as the greatest player...they do it with their deeds and their hearts, not with the spoken word. In other sports, there were those that said they were the greatest, but that was never any kind of ball game...Ali called himself the greatest, but NOBODY ever PLAYED BOXING....it's not a game. We all have our own ideas of our greatest, and so do our heroes.
If anyone deserved a Super Bowl ring, it was him.
agreed! He was relentless despite the team sucking for so long
Football is the ultimate team sport and players and coaches that have put all the pieces together deserve the ring.
@johncaron4888
They stunk
For sure .👍
He was my idol when I played HS football. Later in life, I met him at a meet & greet in Vegas. When I shook his hand, It was like shaking huge sausages!!
lol that's awesome
I was 6 years old when the 1963 season started so being a Chicagoan in Skokie I enjoyed the Bears. Butkus, Ditka and for me Gayle Sayres were great. But Butkus was a passionate maniac that you were glad was on your team.
passionate maniac is spot on lol
I grew up in Skokie also, was 10 in 63 and loved watching Da Bears and especially Buttkick. He'd take a big chew of tobacco then spit on the ball while the opponents were in the huddle, their center didn't want to touch the ball with that huge lugie on it. LOL He was Da Best!
REAL GLAD!!!!!
I remember one of Butkus' fellow defensive players' said , " Our job was to slow the runner down a little , hold him up for just a second , and then duck like hell ' cause Butkus was coming ! I went to high shool with Scott Studwell , he went to Illinois and broke Dicks' tackle record , was a linebacker for thge Vikings' , great guy .
Recently heard on NFL network a commentator describe Aaron Donald as the greatest defensive player in league history. That 'expert' must not have known about Dick Butkus.
haha definitely!
I think that at least part of it was he was oversized for the position he played. Most middle linebackers were around 220 pounds at the time, more or less, but Butkus was around 250. And he'd just charge into a runner with everything he had and knock him down because he outweighed them by 30-40 pounds.
Or Lawrence Taylor The GOAT
Butkus may have been the hardest hitter in his position, but I don't think he was the most feared or hardest hitter.
@@dojocho1894 dope fiends don't count.
The best comment ever made about Butkus. Came from Steve Sabol.. him and his dad. Ran nfl films. And seen everthing. On ever player. For all those years. Over 60 yrs. And before. Steve. Die. He said. No one play harder or better than Dick Butkus and he seen them all. Period. !
I might be going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing English wasn't your best subject in school.
@@RecklessG1You read my mind. I'd say something similar, but "no need"! You said it all.
I grew up in St. Louis, and never saw Butkus play, either in person or on TV. What I remember is after he retired he spent an appreciable time on TV, and he always seemed to be a soft-spoken, jovial man. Acted like he wouldn't hurt a flea. I guess he just had one personality for being out in public, and then a second personality for when he was playing football.
for sure - he turned into a different animal when he stepped on the field
I started out small, and I'm still going slow on my channel. I've been watching these videos to help build my channel more and more! Keep up the great work and thanks for inspiring me!
wow thank you. There are so many better channels than me lol, but that really means a lot!
They broke the mold ,when they made,DB piece out.
No doubt about it Dick Butkus, a Linebacker, is the best defensive player of all time! 😱👍🏽
NOT HARDLY.
@@MickyTubbs1985 WTF do you know about it? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING‼️🖕🏽
☝🏽What’s significant about 1985❓ Is that the year you were born? So Tubby, your just a baby and your a flabby overweight big mouth as well? 🤣🤣🤣
🖕🏽again, now GTFOH‼️
Um no. That honor goes to Lawrence Taylor.
I don't see much difference between the two both all world
@@rodbriggs8552
BULLSHIT.!!! In many Washington Redskins versus the N.Y. Giants rivalry match ups (Hogs vs. G-Men), Redskins Running Back John Riggins aka “The Diesel” run right through and out of Lawrence Taylor tackles.!!! NOBODY EVER ran out of a Dick Butkus tackle …THAT NEVER HAPPENED EVER‼️ There isn’t any Defensive Player, Linebacker or other Defensive position who compares to the abilities that Dick Butkus possessed! NONE, ZILCH, NATHA …END OF STORY & FULL STOP‼️👍🏽
R.I.P. Dick Butkus The Greatest Of All Time ….The GOAT‼️
I'm 57 & never had the chance to see him. My father and the older guys confirmed his greatness and ferociousness
I wasn't lucky enough to watch him either, but glad to know the tales are true!
I saw butiks play and Lawrence taylor both great but LT had superior skills and actually won games just by his plays.....
@@dojocho1894 Butkus wasn't on coke!!
I went to CVS and got there 2 years after he left. I also played football on the field at Fernwood Park where Butkus said he practiced at night. I never saw him there but friends said they did. Believe it or not, we didn't think at that time he would be a superstar. Remember, Butkus was a fullback at CVS and broke the rushing record at Illinois as a freshman. As an aside; cudos to the St. Rita football team after handing us our buts in the City Championship, our coach, Bernie O'Brien was hospitalized. The entire Rita team came up for a visit. Class.
Absolutely, guaranteed, without doubt, indubitably the hardest hitting.
💪
And How!
Night Train large wasn't a big guy or fast, have to wonder why he's considered one of the hardest hitters.
@@Archie-z8o You mean, Dick "Night-Train" Lane? He invented the clothes-line ... a lot of the rule-book comes from the Night-Train ...
@@Archie-z8o Butkus? Just watch his film ...
Butkus would have been great in any era
agreed
Absolutely - 1st stringers today would be backing Dick up if he was playing now!
for sure
Na, today it is Flag Football and the great Butkus would be outlawed.
Not wrong, he’s the average height for a linebacker in todays game and give him the equipment and trainer players have today he’d do well ngl
Greatest LB ever by a country mile, hardest hitter too, and while skill sets and responsibilities vary on Def, it wouldn't be a stretch to say Dick was the greatest defensive player, period, ever - as Howie Long said after he died, "It was like he was immortal, too tough for death to dare to come for him!"
great quote!
Greatest? Nope, Lawrence Taylor was the best bar none.
@@TAYLORFAN50 Lawrence Taylor isn't fit to get down on his hands and knees and lick a dog's ass in the street! He was an OUTSIDE LB in the '80's when most teams were playing a 3-4 defense, basically making him a DEFENSIVE END. Granted, this post is "hardest hitting," not best LB or even MIDDLE LB, which is what Butkus played in an earlier era and what he should be compared to. By his own admission, Taylor had no clue of what he should be doing on the field: Do I trail the tight end or pick up the running back on a screen pass? LT didn't know what to do, so he rushed the QB and managed to get there enough to be lauded with (false) praise. A guy that didn't know what to do shouldn't be praised for "reinventing" his position, which, quite honestly, wasn't anything that resembled linebacker. There were and are a lot of great LBs and hard hitters over the years. As a Packers fan, my favorite hard hitter is Ray Nitschke. But Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, Joe Schmidt, Sam Huff, Jack Lambert and others would each drag that freaking wimp Lawrence Taylor out to the parking lot and would have personally beat his ass!!!!
@@TAYLORFAN50 Many, Many Very Knowledgeable Folks will Say that Butkus is The Greatest Football Player of All-Times ... and I wouldn't argue with them ... nor Butkus ... personally I have Walter Payton as The Greatest of All Times ... Butkus #2 ... my Dream-D with LT on the outside & Butkus Strikin' the Heart of Terror of Everyone in the Middle ...
My greatest player of all time !! Bear fan forever!!
Butkus was ALWAY ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING PLAYERS TO SEE HIM PLAY! He would push 4 or 5 players out of his path to ATTACK THE MAN WITH THE BALL!
Nothing could stop Butkus!
Butkus ruled the field, hit like a freight train
Evidently not.. how many Superbowl rings did he produce? 😏
@@TAYLORFAN50 There are 11 players on each side, and no ONE defender dominated like Butkus. "18 Saks!" Even the great LT needed a great Defense with players like HOF Linebacker Harry Carson, Carl Banks, Jim Burt, Leonard Marshall, George Marin, and Gary Reasons to support him. 4 of them were Pro Bowlers lmao...
Best middle linebacker and best linebacker overall all time in the NFL, Dick Butkus.
Second best middle linebacker in pro football. The best is the man who helped recruit him to his alma mater, U of Illinois. That man was Ray Nitschke, best LB ever!
It's not just the fans or people in the sports media calling him the hardest hitting and most feared, it was his peers, the players who he lined up opposite of, they are the ones who said that Butkus was relentless, he wanted to destroy you on every play, he had that intensity on every play of every game throughout his career.
Great channel love your content and delivery.
means a lot seriously, thank you!
The Bears held training camp at Taylor University in Indiana when DB first came in the league. My dad went to watch him at training camp one day and Dick didn't practice all day. My dad heard later that they held him out of practice because they didn't want him to injure his own teammates. Not sure if that was true but it does add to his legend.
My all time favorite NFL player. The GOAT.
His career spanned the years from when I was 4 until I was 13. I was a Cowboys fan, but NOBODY embodied toughness and intimidation like Butkus. He was mythical.
Totally agree Mark
Saw him in 1965 at Yankee Stadium his rookie season the guy was awesome.
Not only the best MLB ever...actually he's the best Linebacker all time
better than Taylor you think?
@@nflunveiled yes. Eventhough different positions LT was OLB in 3-4 defense
@@nflunveiled Absofuckenlutly It's a known fact that the best way to run against LT was to run right at him. No one ever ran at Butkus. All LT's tackles were made from behind pulling guys down. Watch the highlight reels of Butkus it's text book form tackling. Butkus had way more fumble recoveries and interceptions. If they kept tract of forced fumbles he would be in a league of his own. Lt did it on a super bowl team and Butkus was on the worst team in the league .🍻
@@nflunveiledwithout a doubt
@@nflunveiled MIDDLE LINEBACKER!!! Was that piece of idiotic dog crap, always out of position, Lawrence Taylor, a MIDDE LINEBACKER? Not even close! More of a defensive end and...clueless about being a linebacker! My grandmother was a better linebacker! So was Ray Nitschke! Best form tackler, interceptor, fumble recovery LB in the NFL! Ever!
In high school, all of his buddies would pile in one of those huge steel monsters of a car, and Butkus would push them around the neighborhood while they were partying.
I can't remember the play exactly, I was very young at the time. The bears were lined up for a field goal. It was the final play of the game. If the Bears don't get it they lose. The snap was botched and the holder scrambled looking to make a play. with defenders right on him he couldn't run. When he looked up there was Butkus open in the corner of the end zone. He passed to Butkus for the win. Butkus was always so aware on the field. He was in to block on the play, but knew someone had to get open for that pass.
Bears 16 vs Redskins 15. The play was an extra point with a couple minutes left at Soldier Field if that’s what you’re thinking about, I believe 1971.
Good video. You narrate this well as you skillfully mix video with stats and quotations.
wow thank you, means a lot!
Butkus _could_ have been the hardest hitter, but he wasn't fast enough. He was probably the most ferocious player, which is not exactly the same thing. Butkus ushered in the era of full-on "impact" hits and tackling as opposed to slower, wrestling-type tackles of yesteryear. If you want to be a stickler for accuracy, I think of Jack Tatum, Ronnie Lott and Mike Curtis as probably _hitting harder_ than Butkus.
When I was younger, I watched football. But, over the years, I learned about CTE. Haven't watched a game in more than 20 years. Never taught or encouraged my sons to play it.
The helmets continue to improve, but it is veey sad so many players were brain injured.
This was when professional football was real.
THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am 61, I enjoyed this Mans ferocious play!
Top of the class in the balls that clank category
And as far as Paul posting players in the modern error, lifting weights and hitting harder, just not remember the oldest rule the pork I have had three pit bulls and a Doberman and I love them all they all love the whole family. None of them were attacked dogs but the one thing you learn the litter, she pound American pitbull terrier with bloodlines to go back three generations, so is the point of the story is, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight the size of the heart
yep well said!
To coin a phrase!!! That is priceless.
My favorite player of all time,a 1 man death machine.💥☠️
Excellent piece.
thank you Mark!
One of 2 Lithuanians in the NFL HOF - Butkus and Unitas. Talk about royalty . . . . . .
Imagine if the Bears had Dick Butkus and Doug Plank on defense with both in their prime.
More of his greatness, he was on all those losing season teams and played like he was on a defending champions team his entire career! In my opinion the greatest defensive player EVER!
right! Gave everything he had despite some awful versions of the team.
Dick Butkus was a BEAST!!!
i remember a game that the Bears played the Denver Broncos.
Butkus tackled Floyd little.. He added a little more to the tackle
than was necessary. On the next play flags were thrown by every official.
Denver was given a personal fowl penalty, but Butkus new he was a marked man!
My all time favorite sports figure. I loved Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and few others in different sports but no one rose to the level of Butkus in my eyes. When we played sandlot football and I was on defense, I WAS Dick Butkus.
with the way the game has changed, we'll never see a player like Butkus again!
@@nflunveiled Yeah, unfortunately.
@@nflunveiled There have been a lot of tough, heavy hitting players over the years. My favorite is Ray Nitschke, but I remember an NFL Films episode in the '70's, when it came on network TV and was free, and Jack Lambert, who for some reason was on the bench, saw a Cleveland Browns running back go out of bounds near where he was and he got up, lowered his shoulder, and took the guy out! No flag. Nothing. The back was out of bounds! These days there would be controversy, flags, an ejection and after-the-fact fines! In an era of "paint a dress" on the QB and idiotic rules which continue to dumb-down the league, there will never be players like Butkus, Nitschke, Lambert, Bednarik, etc. again!
During oj Simpson’s first season they played the bears in preseason, someone on the team told him if he sees number 51 coming at to get out of bounds, Simpson said on one play he was running down the sideline and he saw number 52 coming so he ran out of bounds, he said Butkus nailed him anyway
Butkus really hated when players ran out of bounds lol
Ray Nitzke, Chuck Bednarick
Growing up playing football in the park we were all Walter Payton when we ran the ball and Dick Butkus when on defense
Catches the opposing quarterbacks pass in their endzone and offers it to the opposing receiver. 😂 That's got to be the funniest football clip I've ever seen!
😂😂😂
pure gold haha
😂I still remember seeing Altie Taylor of Lions running down the sideline with Butkus bearing down on him. Altie ran off the field into the stands to avoid him. Butkus ran into the stands after him. This was at Briggs Stadium.
Butkus was a monster, no doubt. But in my humble opinion, the hardest hitter will always be Dick "Night-Train" Lane! Night-Train was a menace on the field. A destructive missile just waiting for pass catchers to get the ball so he could demolish them! The NFL had to change rules because of his hitting style. Abolishing the clothesline. Abolishing the forearm to the face. Abolishing the facemask tackle. All those rules were created because of Dick "Night-Train" Lane!
totally fair - when making this I did strongly consider Night Train for hardest hitter
I read a piece long ago somewhere that in high school his coach didn’t let him scrimmage with his teammates because DB couldn’t take it down a notch (or likely three) to keep him from injuring his teammates. Funny story…..I was in a Berger King in Champaign-Urbana one time when Butkus and some friends came in late at night. Butkus stepped up to order and he ordered two Whoppers, two large fries and a large Coke. And I bet he was still hungry after those…….
haha I'm sure he was 😂
He liked to inflict pain. Hey, it was his thing. Just his eyebrows and mustache were scary.
Ever notice how Ditka and The Bear logo look alike. I miss 60's, 70's and 80's football. I don't follow it anymore. Don't need the social justice mob trying to "educate" me.
I remember a promo for Gillette or someone way back when, where a contest was to guess how many whiskers was in his moustache , he was going to shave it off .
Im 71 and I never saw anyone hit people like Dick B. But Fencik and Plank hit hard to.
he was vicious!
I'm a "Packer Backer," in my mid-'50's age-wise, and my heavy hitter is Ray Nitschke. As young as I am, I never got to see Nitschke or Butkus play live or even on tv. Gary Fencik was a hard-hitting safety indeed, but the guy I saw play that was a heavy hitter for "da Bears" is Mike Singletary. One hell of a MLB! There's a reason he's a HOF'er.
THE BEST EVER. RIP
It's a shame the young fans don't realize players like Butkis and Lambert. Too focused on current players.
I agree James. These players are too good to forget!
Could he play now
Bukus was my hero playing HS football. I actually made a few "BUKUS" take downs. Unfortunately for me they weren't filmed.
I'm sure Mr Butkus would be proud!
He And My Father Went To Highschool Together (CVS) Chicago Vocational School 👊🏿.
awesome! Hope Butkus was a bit calmer off the field...
Would love to see him and LT together. They would share opponents body parts.
Oh man that would be insane...
An NFL version of a "Hanson brother".
Snapshot referenced 😂😂😂😂😂
If Butkus was the hardest hitter, Tommy Nobis was right behind him. Nobis could cover sideline to sideline on bad teams he played on.
Players on opposing teams that played with Dick Butkis said you could literally hear his feet hitting the ground as he was behind you!😊
dear lord 😂
when coaches talk "lunch pail", working class toughness - this is the guy they are thinking about. Bears like Butkus and Ditka didn't really know what finesse was. Even though finesse might have worked better once in a while to win a game, being "slobberknocked"was somehting that was more important that the opponent experience. They may of won the game, but they are going to go home licking wounds, and you better believe that. "It's not whether you win or loose, it's how you play the game".
A friend of mine was missing his front teeth and I asked him one day how he lost them. Playing Pop Warner football, Butkus was a mean bad ass even as a kid.
what a savage
Even if I was on his team- I still would've been scared of him...an absolute football animal!..
yes, I'd imagine he'd play hard even in practice!
Defensive player of the year on a 1-13 team. Or, how about if when asked if he ever tried hurt another player and he said something to the effect of “not in preseason.”
Still to this day I call Dick Butkus (great football name-Butkus 😎) the best MLB of my lifetime…
Butkus is a legend. But even he admitted that he was only able to hit people so hard because big Jim Obradovich cleared out all those gaps to shoot from the d line.
Back then, players thought about the next play.
Now. Players focus on their next dance move.
haha this is accurate
He would be flagged on every play now. NFL is nothing like it used to be.
today he'd get a lifetime ban
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST PLAYER THERE EVER WAS
0:45 now that is some funny shit.
gets me every time lol
Beast
The ORIGINAL MONSTER OF DA MIDWAY! RIP Big Guy
A Great player to have on YOUR TEAM ..... a damned nightmare if your offense was playing against HIM.
Agree 👍🐻
Insane and ridiculous that the Bears got Butkus and Sayers in the draft, and put up a 1 - 13 record. Even if all the others were just average players, they should have done way better than that
Was Dick Butkus an inspiration for Bobby "The Waterboy" Boucher? Imagining reasons to be angry... Grunting and making weird noises on the field... Knocking out and intimidating ball carriers with ferocious hits...
I remember watching Dick play, if you looked you could see the opposing team QB WITH FEAR IN HIS EYES.
can't blame them lol
Can you image if he went to the Jets in 1965…..Namath & Butkus on the same team…..more than one Super Bowl for certain
it's a real shame he got stuck with such awful Bears teams
Just a player who wanted to play his best. Every play. Violence was just part of wanting to be the best.
Ray Nitschke.
Ray Nitschke: Best middle linebacker ever!
@@youthiswastedontheyoung Yes.
Ray was the mvp in a championship game!
Butkus would be ejected in every game he played with today’s rules. It’s just how soft football has become now. He was an animal.
Way before my time as a Bears fan, this dude really was a Bear.,,it’s a shame him and Gayle Sayers never won a Super Bowl…RIP Papa Bear but a contingency plan on offense should have been made after retirement cause now our franchise is in the hands of your spoiled grandkids who don’t know how to run a franchise but know how to use it to make money. Butkus and Sayers deserved better back in the day and the Bears deserve better now. 🤦🏾♂️🐻💯
it’s such a shame Butkus and Sayers were trapped on miserable teams. And yep, it’s sucks how owners can ruin a franchise like they are now
I have nothing but admiration and respect for Butkus. I’m all of 5 11 and 165 and could only hope my scared little legs could have outrun him if I’d had the misfortune of meeting him on the gridiron. A favorite of mine and why I still like the Bears. But there’s no way he possibly hit harder than today’s players. They’re just bigger and so much faster. It’s physics. Lose the nostalgia bias.
nostalgia bias...lol. That's accurate to be fair 😂
I always heard it was Mike Kolen.
Butkus was one of the greatest linebackers of all time, and his teammate, Gayle Sayers, was one of the greatest running backs of all time. Yet neither ever even appeared in a playoff game. Why? The Bears couldn't throw their way out of a wet paper bag.
Dick Butkus one of the best, rough and tough and most likely the most feared middle linebacker ever.
Which comedian said Butkus was so tough he held up his sweat socks with thumb tacks ?
Kam Chancellor needs to also be added to that hardest hitter list!
bam bam Kam the man!
Cam Chancellor was a ferocious hitter at strong safety and one of the best ever in the NFL. Ditto Steve Atwater of Denver, another great at strong safety.
Not even close.
But he didn't have a signature dance when he made a play!
Nothing infuriates me more than the stupid dancing and the freaking long hair hanging out the back of the helmet. Imagine what Butkus would do with that.
@@1956fink Yeah, or Jack Lambert! They'd have some scalps hanging in their lockers!
Have a friend who swears he free based with him. Said he told people he was a firefighter.... don't know if it's true or not.
...and I'm STILL a Bears fan because Butkus Never Quit! Neither Will I...
DB was meaner than a 10 headed rattlesnake
@ 2:13 I believe the Lions player died on the field.
There should be an All Butkus Award for the best LB in the NFL every year.
This is when football was football. Now they probably would penalize him on every play. He was the epitome of football!
Being labeled or thought of as "the hardest hitter" did not make him "THE BEST" or even closest to THE BEST at his position. He didn't "tackle" nor called defenses as good as some other middle linebackers of his era. Yes, his ferocity can be considered "unmatched;" but it takes more than that to make one's team " defensively good."