My strongest remembrance of Butkus was when he came up with the idea of making a kicker a football player. The Packers signed one of the first soccer kickers in the game, Chester Marcol. He went on to change the face of football with long field goals and deep kickoffs. In those days the Bears & Packers were mortal enemies. Marcol altered the balance of power. When he kicked off the Bears were often squeezed inside their own 20 on the return. Butkus decided they should go after the kicker. When the Packers ran forward to cover the kick, one of the Bears went after Marcol. When Marcol realized what they were doing he took off running away from his pursuer. If the play lasted a bit, fans were treated to a show of what looked like a strange game of tag.
The Pack got their revenge by going after Butkus’ knees instead of executing traditional blocks. Other teams followed and in a few years Butkus’ career was over. Not only couldn’t he play football but when I met him in Vegas he could barely walk normally. Operations helped but he paid a high price for his career.
I believe he was unequalled as a power in the middle. He was only moderately mobile, so I wouldn’t say he was the greatest ILB I ever saw. Teams avoided his area of the field. Second level blocks of Butkus consistently failed. He could also collapse a pocket when he came up the middle. If you were lucky enough to see Swann play for the Cards, Butkus had that kind of dominance: a beast among men. He changed the nature of the game just like Marcol.
It was a different game then; no camaraderie, more viciousness. Some players seemed larger than life. Butkus was one.
chicago.suntimes.com
