CHICAGO (AP) — A photograph of Dick Butkus sneering behind his facemask crammed the duvet of Sports activities Illustrated’s 1970 NFL preview, topped by the headline, “The Most Feared Man within the Sport.” Opponents who wound up on the enterprise finish of his bone-rattling hits may testify that wasn’t an exaggeration.

Butkus, a center linebacker for the Chicago Bears whose velocity and ferocity set the requirements for the place within the trendy period, has died, the crew introduced Thursday. He was 80.

In line with an announcement launched by the crew, Butkus’ household confirmed that he died in his sleep in a single day at his residence in Malibu, California.

Butkus was a first-team All-Professional 5 occasions and made the Professional Bowl in eight of his 9 seasons earlier than a knee harm pressured him to retire at 31. He was the quintessential Monster of the Halfway and was elected to the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame in 1979, his first yr of eligibility. He’s nonetheless thought of one of many biggest defensive gamers in league historical past.

“Dick Butkus was a fierce and passionate competitor who helped outline the linebacker place as one of many NFL’s all-time greats. Dick’s instinct, toughness and athleticism made him the mannequin linebacker whose title will perpetually be linked to the place and the Chicago Bears,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned in an announcement. “We additionally keep in mind Dick as a long-time advocate for former gamers, and gamers in any respect ranges of the sport.”

“I wouldn’t ever exit to harm anyone intentionally,” Butkus replied tongue-in-cheek when requested about his on-field popularity. “Except it was, you understand, essential … like a league recreation or one thing.”

Butkus was the uncommon professional athlete who performed his complete profession near residence. He was a star linebacker, fullback and kicker at Chicago Vocational Excessive who went on to play on the College of Illinois. Born on Dec. 9, 1942 because the youngest of eight kids, he grew up on the town’s South Aspect as a fan of the Chicago Cardinals, the Bears’ crosstown rivals.

However after being drafted within the first spherical in 1965 by each the Bears and Denver Broncos (on the time, a member of the now-defunct American Soccer League), Butkus selected to stay in Chicago and play for NFL founder and coach George Halas. The Bears additionally added future Corridor of Fame operating again Gayle Sayers to the roster that yr with one other first-round decide.

“He was Chicago’s son,” Bears chairman George McCaskey, Halas’ grandson, mentioned in an announcement. “He exuded what our nice metropolis is about and, not coincidentally, what George Halas seemed for in a participant: toughness, smarts, instincts, ardour and management. He refused to simply accept something lower than one of the best from himself, or from his teammates.”

Butkus inherited the center linebacker job from Invoice George, a Corridor of Famer credited with popularizing the place within the NFL. In 1954, George deserted his three-point stance in the course of the line of defense and began every play a number of paces eliminated, a vantage level that allowed him to look at performs unfold after which race to the ball.

Butkus, nevertheless, introduced velocity, agility and a scorched-Earth perspective to the job that his predecessors solely imagined. He intercepted 5 passes, recovered six fumbles and was unofficially credited with forcing six extra in his rookie yr, topping it off with the primary of eight straight Professional Bowl appearances. However his popularity as a disruptor prolonged properly previous the flexibility to remove the soccer.

Butkus would hit runners excessive, wrap them up and drive them to the bottom like a rag doll. Playboy journal as soon as described him as “the meanest, angriest, hardest, dirtiest” participant within the NFL and an “animal, a savage, subhuman.” Descriptions like that by no means sat properly with Butkus. However they have been additionally laborious to argue.

A number of opponents claimed Butkus poked them within the face or bit them in pileups, and he acknowledged that in warmups, “I might manufacture issues to make me mad.” When the Detroit Lions unveiled an I-formation in opposition to the Bears at outdated Tigers Stadium, Butkus knocked each member of the “I” — the middle, quarterback, fullback and halfback — out of the sport.

And he didn’t all the time cease there. A number of occasions Butkus crashed into ball carriers properly previous the sidelines. Greater than as soon as he pursued them onto operating tracks surrounding the sphere and even into the stands.

“Simply to hit individuals wasn’t ok,” teammate Ed O’Bradovich mentioned. “He beloved to crush individuals.”

Regardless of these efforts, the Bears misplaced loads extra video games throughout his tenure than they gained, going 48-74-4. Coping with tendon issues that started in highschool, Butkus suffered a critical harm to his proper knee in the course of the 1970 season and had preventive surgical procedure earlier than the subsequent one. He thought of a second operation after being sidelined 9 video games into the 1973 season.

When a surgeon requested him “how a person in your form can play soccer, or why you’ll even need to,” Butkus introduced his retirement in Might 1974.

Quickly after, Butkus sued the Bears for $1.6 million, contending he was offered insufficient medical care and owed the 4 years of wage remaining on his contract. The lawsuit was settled for $600,000, however Butkus and Halas didn’t communicate for 5 years.

Butkus, like Sayers, by no means reached the postseason. The Bears gained the 1963 championship and by the point they made the playoffs once more in 1977, Butkus and Sayers have been lengthy gone.

The Bears climbed again to the highest within the 1985 season with their lone Tremendous Bowl championship. However they’ve been again to the title recreation just one time since. Butkus couldn’t perceive why.

“There’s no purpose why we are able to’t or shouldn’t be within the run on a regular basis,” he mentioned on the Bears’ a centesimal anniversary celebration in June 2019. “I do know you’ve obtained these draft decisions or no matter while you end first on a regular basis. How are you going to clarify New England being up there all these years. That’s not proper. The Bears ought to be those.”

After leaving soccer, Butkus grew to become an prompt movie star. He appeared in “The Longest Yard” in 1974 and a dozen characteristic movies over the subsequent 15 years, in addition to the sitcoms “My Two Dads” and “Hold Time.” He additionally returned to the Bears as a radio analyst in 1985, and changed Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder on CBS’ “The NFL At present” pregame present in 1988.

By way of the Butkus Basis, he helped set up a program at a Southern California hospital to encourage early screenings to detect coronary heart illness. He promoted a marketing campaign to encourage highschool athletes to coach and eat properly and keep away from performance-enhancing medicine.

The inspiration oversees the Butkus Award, established in 1985 to honor school soccer’s greatest linebacker. It was expanded in 2008 to incorporate professionals and highschool gamers.

“Dick had a gruff method, and perhaps that stored some individuals from approaching him, however he really had a tender contact,” McCaskey mentioned.

He’s survived by his spouse, Helen, and kids Ricky, Matt and Nikki. Nephew Luke Butkus has coached in school and the NFL, together with time with the Bears.