Butkus, regarded by some as the greatest linebacker in NFL history, played for the Bears from 1965 to 1973.
Nobody hit like Dick Butkus. Nobody before, nobody since. Given the evolution of the game he symbolized, it is safe to say nobody ever will again. His intensity and desire were unmatched. It seemed as if he were bigger than everyone. Meaner and tougher, too. In a video for Films, John Facenda, in typically dramatic fashion, said Butkus played “with a religious fervor, with an unrelenting obsession not only to excel but to dominate and demoralize.
“I’m going to put my head in someone’s sternum, and it won’t be picture-perfect, but I’ll tell you what — they won’t come back,” he said. “I’ll put them on their backs and somewhere along the line, they’ll cough up the ball and that’s the whole thing. The idea of hitting somebody hard is not for your ego. It’s to make them forget about the ball.” He knocked them down, and he did not help them up. Butkus didn’t exchange hugs, jerseys or well-wishes with opponents after games.
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