Dick Butkus was perhaps the most symbolic player in the history of the Chicago Bears

The Bears are considered the flagship franchise in the NFL. While they have won 9 championships in their history — but just 1 Super Bowl — they have often struggled to field winning teams. Despite that, they have had numerous legendary players, including Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Mike Ditka and Mike Singletary.

However, none of those players was more important that Dick Butkus. The Hall of Famer defined the modern middle linebacker position and he was one of the most intimidating players in the history of the league.

He died in his sleep at his home in Malibu, California at the age of 80.

Dick Butkus, the man

Butkus was a Chicago native and he had a love affair with football throughout his entire life. He was a dominant star at both the high school and college level.

During his college career at the University of Illinois, he developed a reputation as a wrecking crew of a tackler. There is an award that goes to the best linebacker in college football, and it is named after Butkus. That's because he was able to dominate with the power of his hits and his ability to destroy the will of his opponents.

That carried over to his career in the NFL. When he was drafted in 1965 — the Bears also drafted Hall of Fame  running back Gale Sayers in that same season — the team had an aging middle linebacker named Bill George. A Hall of Famer himself, many thought the ancient warrior would battle hard to hold off Butkus.

However, Butkus was too young, too strong, too fast and too smart, and he won the job with ease. Butkus would play a spectacular brand of football for the Bears and while his career came to an end after 9 years because of a devastating and painful leg injury, he was among the most dominant defensive players in NFL history.

Butkus played in 8 Pro Bowls and he was a first-team All-Pro 5 times. He took the ball away from opponents 47 times, and that included 22 interceptions. He was known for his monster hits, but he was able to dance with the ball when he would come up with the pick.

He played in an era without official defensive stats, but the Bears said he averaged 120 solo tackles and 58 assists during the first 8 years of his career. Unofficially, he had 18 sacks during the 1967 season.

Dick Butkus, The Myth

The Bears went 9-5 in Butkus's rookie season of 1965 and they went 7-6-1 two years later. They were the only winning seasons in the middle linebacker's career. He never came close to playing in an official playoff game.

However, when Butkus was on the field, his hitting force was legendary. The history of the NFL puts players like Lawrence Taylor, Deacon Jones, Ray Nitschke, Jack Lambert and Ray Lewis in the same class. They all intimidated their opponents with their power and ferocity. None of those players were scarier to play against than Butkus.

As mean as he could be on the field, he did not try to maim his opponents. I spoke to the legendary linebacker when I was writing Who's Better, Who's Best in Football. He explained how he approached the game.

“That's not the way I was going to play,” Butkus said. “If you were scared that I was going to hurt you, that's one thing. But I was not going to try to do something to a player that went outside the rules.”

But he  had a mean streak, and he made no attempt to hide it. “I would always find something on game day to get mad at,” Butkus said. “I would look at the other side and I despised them. I would see players laughing and joking and I would think they were laughing at the Bears. That made me angry.”

Dick Butkus, The Legend

The game of professional football is about asserting a team's will against an opponent. The game is filled with tough men who leave every bit of their talent on the field every week.

Those players are not usually scared of their opponents. However, when today's players face Aaron Donald or Micah Parsons, opponents take notice.

In the past, names like Mean Joe Greene, Bob Lilly, Lawrence Taylor, Ray Lewis, Reggie White, Ray Nitschke and Jack Lambert were the ones that invoked fear in their opponents.

However, none of those players inspired more fear than Butkus. He was tougher, meaner and better than those on the other side of the line of scrimmage, and he lived to prove it every game he ever stepped on the field.