Legend Status

We all wish we were legends in one fashion or another.  Like me.  I wish I was a legendary Blog writer, writing fantastic entries on football (or fashion, depending on which blog I'm writing on).  I wish my blog would be read by NFL players and become quite controversial (Please, let me dream!)

But, mention the word "LEGEND" in Chicago and three names come to the front of the Bears' fans minds: Walter Payton, Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus.

Dick Butkus.  The name alone drives a stake of fear into people's hearts today.  Here was a guy who had Fried QuarterBack with a side of Mashed Running Back for lunch, followed by Flambayed (I know the spelling is possibly wrong here!) Wide Receiver for desert.

He is quite possibly Chicago's most revered player.  He is also quite possibly football's most feared Middle Linebacker to this day.  Most try to emulate him, but all fail.

Let's talk about Butkus for a moment.  The man.  The myth.  The Legend.  He was all three, wrapped into one package.

Off the field, fans knew Dick Butkus was a teddy bear.  No pun intended.  He may not have had the soft sweet personality of Gayle Sayers, but he was a rather charming and decent human.  Put on the Bears Blue and Orange and Dick Butkus, Offense Nightmare, came out.

Butkus was quoted as saying that he loved the movie "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and there is a scene in the movie where a head comes rolling down the stairs.  That's how he played the game.  Of course, it never happened to him or his teammates; just to the other guy.  He often said that when he hit a player, he wanted that guy to know who hit him and not ask who it was.

Here is a video of some of Butkus' highlights.  It's an NFL Films production and, as he had for many years, John Facenda is narrating.  It's rather quite fitting.

There is a great comment that someone left that states, quite simply, "i love how this guy gets so many haters almost 40 years after he stopped playing......that is TRUE LEGEND STATUS"  That is absolutely true.  How many players today will have that type of legend, 40 years after they retire?  Not many, that's for sure.

But, Dick Butkus?  The most revered MLB in Chicago.  Ever.  Always.  Even those born well after he retired and never got to witness the man playing, wear the number 51 in honor of him and speak of him as the legend he is.  They love and revere him.

I've a feeling that, the day Butkus dies, it will become a city holiday in Chicago, so that everyone can mourn.  Let's just hope that day is a long way away.

But, let us mourn that football no longer allows players like Butkus to play like this.  While I am all for player safety, I can not help but miss this time of football life.  The picture of him with taped knuckles and the blood and dirt on them is one of the most iconic pictures of him, but sadly, I can not locate it on google or bing.

But, this picture (below) is more well known by the players who faced him.  If only we can get Brian Urlacher (who is a mini Dick Butkus, so to speak) to make the growling noises that Butkus did.  Maybe our team could learn to once again intimidate other teams before stepping out on the field. (I'll write another blog entry on that in letter form, I think, later.)



The man.  The myth.  The legend.  The one and only Dick Butkus.