Dick Butkus, probably the most celebrated linebackers in NFL historical past who performed eight seasons for the Chicago Bears earlier than turning to a profession as an actor and sports activities commentator, died Thursday in Malibu. He was 80 years previous.
Butkus’ loss of life was confirmed by the Chicago Tribune.
A Chicago native, Butkus was drafted by his hometown group in 1965 after a breakthrough school soccer profession that noticed him lead the University of Illinois to a Rose Bowl victory in 1963. During his time with the Bears, Butkus twice gained defensive participant of the yr, appeared in eight Pro Bowls and was named to first-team All-Pro 5 instances. A towering 245 lb. linebacker, Butkus was a formidable defensive presence on the sphere. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979, together with his No. 51 jersey retired by the Bears shortly after.
“He was like Moby Dick in a goldfish bowl,” NFL Films’ Steve Sabol informed the Los Angeles Times in 1986.
After retiring from skilled soccer resulting from accidents, Butkus took his appreciable movie star into present enterprise, making visitor appearances on reveals like “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The Rockford Files,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Fantasy Island” and “Taxi.” In 1984, he was a major forged member on the ABC cop drama “Blue Thunder,” a TV spinoff from the 1983 helicopter motion movie of the identical title starring Roy Scheider. The program was canceled after airing 11 episodes.
Butkus was additionally glad to poke enjoyable at his persona with cameos as himself in comedic movies like “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” and “The Last Boy Scout” and sitcoms like “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Coach.”
In 1985, Butkus rejoined the Bears group on the radio broadcast group. He moved to “The NFL Today” in 1988 for pregame protection. Later in his profession, Butkus caught with Chicago soccer however jumped to the minor league XFL to function its director of competitors.
Born Dec. 9, 1942 and the youngest of eight kids, Butkus was raised in Chicago and took to soccer in highschool. There he met his spouse, Helen Essenberg, whom he married in 1963 whereas attending the University of Illinois. He was courted by each the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos forward of the 1965 NFL Draft, finally electing to stay to his house city.
Butkus is survived by his spouse, Helen, and their three kids, Ricky, Matt and Nicki.
