He was my football hero as a youngster. I had a poster of him shattering St. Louis Cardinal's running back Willis Crenshaw's facemask with a forearm hanging on my bedroom wall next to Raquel Welch from "One Million Years, B.C." I wore his number my first two years of high school until it was no longer available at the Varsity level. I've admired a few athletes above all others but he was my hero. About 30 years ago I was at a Monday Night Football game at the Meadowlands with a buddy. We were making our way through the stadium towards our section through a hallway less traveled. Two big guys in matching yellow sport coats were walking toward us. As they got closer we recognized Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus in ABC jackets walking side by side, talking and laughing. LT paid us no mind but Butkus smiled and winked. I was speechless. They were being honored at halftime by the NFL. Right up to the end he was active on Twitter ( X ) and he actually responded to a statement I made on his feed once. Very humble. Butkus' highlight films, which are all over You Tube, are works of art. What a man..... RIP.
Remember watching on TV a game between the Lions and Bears at Wrigley Field. Before the game, Altie Taylor, a Lions RB, was quoted in the paper as describing Butkus as overrated. During the game, Taylor ran out of bounds to avoid a Butkus tackle. However, Butkus continued to chase after Taylor until Taylor ran past the players benches and lept over the short brick wall separating the spectator stands from the field to escape from Butkus. Most magnetic player I ever saw. When the Bears were on TV, you watched to see what kind of mayhem and carnage Butkus would inflict on the other team. A lot of people became hard core NFL fans watching his maniacal ferocity on Sundays.
I remember watching a lot of Bears games during the latter part of his career. It seemed like the Bears ALWAYS found a unique way to lose the game but the winning team left rather beaten up.