Dick Butkus: The Man Behind College Football’s Dick Butkus Award

I’ve been doing a series of articles about the players that some of the major sports awards are named after. Many of these people, like Art Ross or Dave Rimington, are players that most people have never heard of. This next one is a little different though because you’ve probably at least heard the name Dick Butkus before. But let’s take a further look at the man behind the Duck Butkus Award.

Before Dick Butkus was a famous Chicago Bear he was playing somewhere else in Illinois, the University of Illinois. Dick Butkus was famous for being a great linebacker but in college he also played center. During his college career Dick Butkus was an All-American twice, a two time Big Ten MVP and was the Player of the Year in 1964. Butkus also finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting that season, a very high placing for a defensive player.

The Chicago Bears drafted Dick Butkus in the first round of the NFL Draft. Dick Butkus had an immediate impact. During his rookie season Dick led the Chicago Bears in tackles, interceptions, forced fumbles and recovered fumbles. Butkus was named to the NFL Pro Bowl eight times in nine seasons. Dick Butkus was one of the most feared linebackers to ever play and in 1970 had one of the best seasons ever when he recorded 132 tackles, 84 assists, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries.

Unfortunately, the ending to Dick Butkus’s career was not so great. Butkus retired early due to multiple knee injuries and then Dick filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Bears two years later. Dick Butkus claimed that the Chicago Bears knowingly played Dick Butkus when he was injured and that led to his kneed injuries.

After his football career was over Dick Butkus still worked plenty, both in football, like when he worked for the XFL, and also outside of football. Dick Butkus has even had many acting roles including the movies Necessary Roughness and Any Given Sunday and a Saturday Morning television show called Hang Time.

In 1999 ESPN named Dick Butkus the 70th greatest athlete of the 20th century. The Sporting News named Butkus the 9th best player in NFL history and the AP ranked him fifth best.

The Dick Butkus Award was created by the Downton Athletic Club of Orlando. The Dick Butkus Award is awarded annually to the best linebacker in the nation. In 1985 the inaugural winner of the Dick Butkus Award was Brian Bosworth, Bosworth would win again in 1986. Many great linebackers have won the Dick Butkus Award, including Derrick Thomas, Kevin Hardy, Lavar Arrington, Derrick Johnson, Paul Posluszny and James Laurinaitis.