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Dick Butkus, Hall of Fame linebacker and Bears legend, dies at age of 80



Dick Butkus, a Pro Football Hall of Famer widely regarded as one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history, has died at the age of 80, the Chicago Bears announced.

Butkus passed away "peacefully in his sleep overnight" in his Malibu, California, home, according to the team.

Butkus was born in Chicago and played his entire football career in the state of Illinois -- first as a star at Chicago Vocational High School, then as a two-time All-American at Illinois, and finally as an all-time Bears legend.

In his nine-year career with the Bears, Butkus was a five-time first-team All-Pro selection and an eight-time Pro Bowl honoree. He totaled 22 career interceptions and 27 fumble recoveries, one of which was run back for a touchdown. Butkus' 49 total career takeaways rank second in franchise history, and he even kicked extra points and ran back kickoffs occasionally.

Known as one of the fiercest tacklers in the NFL, Butkus epitomized football in his rugged era with relentless effort. He also was regarded as one of the most intimidating linebackers in professional football history and was considered rather massive for middle linebacker at the time at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds.

The Bears made Butkus the third overall choice in the 1965 NFL Draft, during which they also selected fellow Hall of Famer Gale Sayers with the fourth overall pick. Although the Denver Broncos also drafted him the same year in the AFL's draft, Butkus told reporters when he signed that he "always wanted to be a Bear," a franchise led at the time by legendary coach George Halas.

As a result, Butkus became one of the most beloved players in Bears history, carrying on the franchise's middle linebacker legacy established by Bill George and later maintained by Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher and others.

Butkus was an instant star, leading all rookies in interceptions (five). Despite his stellar start, Butkus was beat out for Rookie of the Year by Sayers (back when there was one award for offensive and defensive players).

Despite Butkus' greatness on the field, the Bears did not qualify for the playoffs once during his career, as Chicago struggled after Halas stopped coaching in 1967, failing to finish above .500 for the remainder of Butkus' playing days. Butkus' tenacious style also took a toll on his health. A right knee injury forced him to retire at the age of 31 following the 1973 season.

Butkus was named to Hall of Fame All-Decade Teams for the 1960s and 1970s, despite playing only 37 total games from 1971 to 1973. Only Singletary (10) and Walter Payton (nine) have more Pro Bowl appearances for the Bears franchise. Butkus also was a member of the NFL's 100 All-Time Team, and his jersey No. 51 was retired by the Bears.

Butkus was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. He was also named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

His legacy also carries on through the Butkus Award, which was founded in 1985. It is awarded every year to the best linebacker at the professional, college and high school levels.

Following his playing career, Butkus remained in the spotlight mostly as an actor and announcer. He appeared on TV shows such as "Hang Time," "MacGyver," "My Two Dads," "Half Nelson," "Blue Thunder" and more, and was the Bears' radio announcer for many years and a panelist on CBS' pregame show "The NFL Today."

In many ways, Butkus, whose nephew Luke is on the Packers coaching staff, remained the face of the Bears' old guard, frequently appearing at games and team-sponsored events. He also joined Twitter (now X) in recent years and never lost his hatred of his rivals -- or his sense of humor.

There likely will never be another linebacker in the game's history who impacted the game in quite the same way Butkus did.

NFL.com
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Saddened to hear this. What an awesome football player.

 

Butkus wouldn’t make any money in today’s NFL, it would all go to pay his fines.

 

Dick Butkus dead 80yrs old RIP

 

Dick Butkus and Jack Lambert with his teeth missing these guys were just nasty and mean

 

Finally, mercifully, and thankfully for the Second City's sons and daughters, the longest losing streak in the Chicago Bears' 104-season history concluded Thursday night.

Amid a season overflowing with strife on and off the field, the Bears finally found reason to celebrate -- thanks in large part to the right arm of Justin Fields and the gifted grasp of DJ Moore -- after besting the Washington Commanders, 40-20.

For Fields, phenomenal on the night to the tune of 282 passing yards and a quartet of touchdown tosses (three to Moore), it was an evening that ended with pride and relief.

"It felt good. It felt good," Fields told reporters after the win, the first for the Bears since Oct. 24, 2022 against the New England Patriots -- a span of nearly 350 days in between victories. "Just seeing all the hard work pay off, especially getting a dub after everything that's happened this year. Everything in the media. Everything on the outside. It just feels good when you can say that the hard work paid off, so again, I'm proud of everybody in the building. I love everybody on my team. Players, coaches, shoot, everybody upstairs. I might not even know them, but I love y'all. That feeling was, like I said before, a feeling that you never want it to end, and we just got to keep this momentum going and just get ready for Minnesota coming up next week."

In a season of struggle, Fields and the Bears were coming off a 31-28 defeat to the Denver Broncos in which they came closer to a triumph this season than any game prior, but likely left feeling more dejected than ever having squandered a 21-point third-quarter lead. Thus, when Chicago rolled to a 27-3 halftime advantage, but found itself clinging to a precarious 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter on Thursday night, nothing was guaranteed.

Not until Fields found Moore one final time for a 56-yard score. Insert Fields (and all of Chicago) relief here.

"Sigh of relief for sure," said Fields, who'd only been able to lead the Bears to a couple of field goal drives in the second half after scoring on each of the team's first-half marches. "I think we just had to reset. Of course, the drive where we had a false start, everybody was kind of jumping around a little bit, but I just went over to the guys and just said, 'Calm down, we're in great position. Defense going to go out there and do their thing.' And they did. Got a stop, and of course, when DJ made that catch-and-run, it was pretty much game over by then. Heck of a play. Great catch. Great protection up front and executed well."

Perhaps nobody associated with the Bears was feeling more relief when they walked into a winning locker room than head coach Matt Eberflus.

It's been a hellacious season for a 2023 version of bad news Bears that was seemingly poised to turn the franchise around following a 3-14 finish last year. Chicago traded away the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a draft picks haul and the aforementioned Moore. They also added some big-money free agents such as Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Yannick Ngakoue. But on the field, the Bears' defense (31st in points allowed entering Thursday) and offense (22nd in points scored entering Thursday) have struggled in unison.

Off the field, defensive coordinator Alan Williams stunningly stepped down after two weeks. Fields caused a stir with comments about being "robotic" perhaps because of his coaching, before walking it back. And wide receiver Chase Claypool has been inactive the last two weeks with his short and unfruitful time in Chi-Town all but over, it would seem.

On this Thursday night, though, Eberflus was reminded of why he got into this business in the first place.

"That's why you get into coaching," he said of walking into the locker room postgame. "I've been coaching 32 years, so when I started doing it, I was 22 and nine months. I was coaching the guys that I played with, so that was a little weird, but it's fun because you get to see the smiles and the joy for their hard work. All the staff members, the coaches. It's a lot of work that you put into this. We've gone through some adversity, but we learned lessons from that adversity. Those things harden you a little bit, so it's going to be fun going forward."

If there was any theme on this night from Eberflus, whose plane seat home will no doubt feel cooler, it was staying together, playing as a team. Through all tribulations, the arduous work finally paid off.

"Guys did a nice job of sticking together during our adversity and I told them that the reason we can do that is because of the relationships we've built in the building," Eberflus said. "The guys have always been tight. The guys have always been determined and super excited about that."

Prior to kickoff, news of the death of Dick Butkus, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Bears legend and Chicago sports icon, was announced. It added a somber note to the game, but just the same added more reason for celebration of a Bears triumph at night's end.

In the greatness that was Butkus' career, he never made the playoffs over nine autumns.

These Bears are unlikely to do that either. Since 1990, there have been 161 teams that have begun the season 1-4 and only 11 have made the playoffs, per NFL Research.

On Thursday, that didn't really matter, of course. If ever there was a team in need of a win it was this one.

In one 60-minute snapshot, the Bears showed their potential, had their highs and lows and finally, with Moore streaking into the end zone one final time, got that elusive first win of the season.

"It was just like we needed a win," Moore said. "Get the mojo going in our favor, and it's time to just carry that over into the weeks coming, so that's the best thing."

NFL.com

 

D.J. Moore starred, getting career highs with 230 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches. He scored touchdowns of 20, 11 and 56, with the last icing the game with 4:09 left.

Moore’s previous career high was 157 yards, which he had with the Panthers against Detroit in 2018.

Justin Fields completed 15 of 29 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Cole Kmet scored the team’s other touchdown on a 4-yard pass.

Khalil Herbert ran for 76 yards on 10 carries before injuring his right ankle.

The Bears had 451 yards to 388 for the Commanders. In what was a total team effort, Chicago had five sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.

Commanders quarterback Sam Howell completed 37 of 51 passes for 388 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Logan Thomas caught nine passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.

 

With both the ground game and the passing attack performing well, Chicago took a play out of the Eagles’ playbook and ran the infamous “Tush Push” or “Brotherly Shove” with Justin Fields in order to pick up a first down.

Al Michaels, who was in the booth alongside Kirk Herbstreit, wasn’t impressed, and expressed his opposition of the play birthed by Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia.

“There’s nothing you do can do,” said Herbstreit.

“Nothing. Except change the rule next year,” said Michaels.

The Bears used the oft successful quarterback sneak to pick up a first down on a third-and-one. Fields received a friendly shove from behind from his teammates in order to pick up the short yards and a new set of downs for Chicago.

Michaels described it as being “rugby” rather than football.

The play is likely to come up during the offseason’s owners meetings, at which point a rule could potentially be adopted in order to combat its usage. Clearly, Michaels would be on board with doing away with the “Tush Push” altogether, though it seems.

YAHOO
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I still dont understand what and why many are clamoring this play should be banned. Its designed to get very short yardage and the offenses that use it are within the rules. Defenses and their coordinators might wanna consider designing a counter to it. If one team can 'push' and move the line of scrimmage, along with the football, why cant a defense figure a way to push back and shove the line the other way? This play opens the door for the "play action push play fake"

 

Bears trade Chase Claypool to Dolphins

The highly disappointing Chase Claypool era in Chicago is over.

The Bears are trading Claypool to the Dolphins, according to multiple reports. The Dolphins are sending a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Bears, and the Bears are sending Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick back to Miami.

A wide receiver who showed promise early in his career with the Steelers, Claypool arrived in Chicago last year in a trade that saw the Steelers receive the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. That trade proved to be a steal for the Steelers and a disaster for the Bears.

Claypool is talented enough that he topped 800 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons with the Steelers. But he fell out of favor in Pittsburgh in his third season, and totaled just 18 catches for the Bears after they traded for him midway through the 2022 season. In Miami, he’ll add some depth to an already excellent group of offensive skill players, and perhaps be able to make some big plays again in a very different offense.

NBC

 

McDaniel called it an “exciting opportunity” to acquire a player who “wants to take things into his own hands” and that the Dolphins weren’t actively looking for help at wide receiver when the chance to acquire Claypool came up.

“You have to stay steadfast to the commitment of making your team as good as it could be,” McDaniel said. “Sometimes things come across your radar that you weren’t even looking for, but, when you assess it, if it falls under the category this has a chance to make us better then you jump on that.”

McDaniel was asked about chatter from Claypool’s previous stops that his work effort was lacking and he said he prefers to use his eyes rather than his ears when it comes to evaluating things like that on a player. He said that the team was “crystal clear” with Claypool about their expectations for him and added a part of his skill set that he believes will make him a good fit for the high-velocity Dolphins

“You guys want me to say it, don’t you? He’s fast,” McDaniel said.

 

The #32 pick in the draft for less than one year of Claypool, and getting nothing on-field out of it. The worst part is how unsurprising it is. This was never a good acquisition. Poles with a massive stain on his resume.

 

But, but, but Claypool is the self proclaimed best WR in football

 

Two NFC East kickers have outscored the New York Giants.

 

oof...

Probably don't need to post it, but it still bears repeating - The Giants should have slapped the transition tag on Daniel Jones and gave Barkley a contract from the beginning.

If anyone wanted to give the Giants two firsts for the chance to sign the kid, you simply take the picks and work towards getting Daboll his franchise passer while you rely on your running back and defense to keep some stability during the search.

Add another back in free agency, spell Saq more than you need to at times, and simply ride it out knowing you have the draft capital to go and get your guy.

If Jones would have signed the tag and played on it, cool. If not, fine.

But they put a weight on their head coach that may force them to fire him in the future.

Just really bad asset management...

 

I agree.

Its goes from bad to worse for Jones and the Giants also. Currently 3 offensive lineman are injured, guard Shane Lemieux (groin), rookie center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), and star left tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring). On top of that Barkley is still questionable with a high ankle sprain.

IF the Giants want to get out from the Jones contract, I found this tid-bit...

It's been thought since the New York Giants signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year contract in March reportedly worth up to $160M that the deal is essentially a two-year agreement with options.

NFL reporter Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post shared specifics about the contract on Wednesday.

"If the Giants wanted to move on from Jones before next season, the dead-cap charge would be $69.3M, compared to $47.1M to keep him around, according to Spotrac," Dunleavy noted. "...The window for a break-up is before the 2025 season, but it’s still not a clean split. Jones would count for $22.2M in dead money, but $19.4M would be saved."

Giants general manager Joe Schoen hoped Jones would take additional positive steps following the best season of his career while playing under head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka for a second consecutive campaign. That wasn't the case over the past month as the Giants fell to 1-3 heading into this Sunday's game at the 3-1 Miami Dolphins.

Per ESPN stats, Jones ended Week 4 with a league-worst six interceptions on the season (tied with Jimmy Garoppolo of the Las Vegas Raiders). The 26-year-old enters Week 5 ranked 27th in the NFL among qualified players with a 37.0 adjusted QBR and 33rd with a 69.7 passer rating, and he appeared downright overmatched while playing behind a terrible offensive line in Monday's 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

"A rookie quarterback contract in its second year is not going to count that much against the cap, so, in the end, the combined amount spent on a quarterback change in 2025 would be less than Jones' $41.6M cap charge," Dunleavy continued. "The Giants paid $23M to Eli Manning to be a backup (behind Jones) for 14 games in 2019."

The Giants obviously aren't giving up on Jones after 16 quarters of football that included New York featuring multiple terrible performances from his pass protection. If, however, he continues to struggle and lose through November, talk of the Giants possibly drafting Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans next spring will go from internet murmurs to legitimate chatter before Christmas.
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Even going back to last season, why the Giants even put that much stock in Jones had me scratching my head from the beginning and I cant help believe the win in Minnesota during the playoffs was for some reason why they thought he was going to improve... he didnt even have the greatest stats in 22 and they squeaked in to begin with. Barkley was the more proven player, not Jones.

I understand there is risk involved in assessing a player, but you'd think they would have gone by what have you done for me lately and it wasnt very much. 22 was Jones best season, but not warranting the deal doled out, IMO.

 

Broncos trading OLB Randy Gregory to 49ers

Randy Gregory's exit from Denver became imminent this week, but the storyline took a turn on Friday with a team stepping in to acquire his services.

The Denver Broncos are trading Gregory and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Friday, per a source.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the trade Friday afternoon, adding that Gregory passed his physical in San Francisco but won't be available to play until after Week 5.

Gregory's trade to San Francisco comes days after it was reported Denver was releasing the 30-year-old pass rusher, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Broncos ahead of the 2022 season. Gregory generated three sacks in 10 career games with the Broncos and saw his snaps greatly reduced the past two weeks, including his removal from the starting lineup in Denver's Week 4 win over Chicago.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton had told reporters Wednesday that the decision to part ways with Gregory was based on what was best for the team and that the veteran's release would be official within the next two days if a trade partner didn't emerge.

San Francisco was apparently on the phone after hearing opportunity's knock. In acquiring Gregory, the 49ers look to improve on a pass rush that has generated just nine sacks so far in 2023 (ranked 22nd in NFL). Improving those numbers would be a great boost for a defense that's allowed 284.3 yards per game (fifth in NFL) and 14.5 points per game (third). Added pressure elsewhere may also free up Nick Bosa, who has just one sack through four games.

Joining a top-five defense may also benefit Gregory as he looks to rejuvenate his career.

A second-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015, Gregory has had an up-and-down career with injuries and suspensions aiding his slow start in the NFL. The 15.5 sacks he netted along his final three seasons in Dallas helped Gregory emerge as one of the top free-agent pass rushers of the 2022 offseason, and that's what the Broncos were hoping to get two years ago.

Although he never lived up to the big-money expectations in Denver, Gregory's fresh start could be what the doctor ordered.

NFL.com

 

Cooper Kupp will make his season debut Sunday.

Kupp, who's been sidelined through the first four weeks due to a hamstring injury, returned to practice Wednesday and now is set to play against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles, coach Sean McVay told reporters Friday.

"Yeah," McVay said when asked if he expected Kupp to play. "Unless something different happens in the next 48 hours."

Kupp still has to be activated off injured reserve.

The return to action will snap a streak of 12 straight missed games for Kupp, the Super Bowl LVI Most Valuable Player.

"He's looked like Cooper, which is a good thing," McVay said Friday. "You can't ever really simulate the game in these practice settings ... but he's very comfortable, he's so conscientious, he looks like he's moving around well. I'm seeing good things between he and Matthew (Stafford) with a lot of their non-verbal communication. Just having his presence out there is a boost."

Kupp's return will come at home at SoFi Stadium, the same place where he and the Rams won the aforementioned Super Bowl. In between then and Sunday, it's been a tough road for Kupp.

He finished last season on injured reserve due to an ankle injury that forced him to miss the final eight games. He then began this season on IR due to a pesky hamstring that became a problem during training camp. All appeared well and good for Kupp not long after, but then he encountered a setback that led to his trip to IR.

The 30-year-old Kupp had a magical 2021 season, winning the receiving triple crown as he led the NFL with 145 receptions, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdown catches. In his abbreviated 2022, Kupp still led the Rams with 75 catches, 812 yards and six TDs.

Now, Kupp is set for a his season debut with the Rams (2-2) in a battle of the last two NFC champions when they face the Eagles (4-0). There will be anticipation regarding Kupp's comeback, but also that it will be the first time Stafford will be throwing to Kupp and rookie sensation Puka Nacua.

The Rams' receiving corps has gotten a lot healthier and more exciting.

NFL.com

 

The Dolphins and the 49ers are giving away low draft capital for acquiring players already contractually bound and receiving a later pick at the same time.

Even if Claypool and Gregory don't work out in their new colors, it's still a low risk/high reward gamble that smart managers recognizing their team's ability to mitigate risk are willing to take.