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Dick Butkus

Dick ButkusAKA Richard Marvin Butkus

Born: 9-Dec-1942
Birthplace: Chicago, IL

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Football

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Middle linebacker, Chicago Bears

Dick Butkus says he knew in fifth grade he would be a professional football player. Butkus was a fierce tackler who took great pride and pleasure in inflicting pain upon his opponents. Now, decades after his last game, he's still remembered as "the Maestro of Mayhem", one of the greatest linebackers ever to play. Butkus began racking up awards in high school, as Associated Press's Prep Player of the Year. At the University of Illinois he was named to the All-American team twice, and with the National Football League's Chicago Bears he played in eight straight Pro Bowls. He's in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Since 1985, the Dick Butkus Award has honored the best college linebacker each year.

After his playing days ended Butkus turned into an actor, appearing in Mother, Jugs, & Speed and supporting roles in three TV series, Blue Thunder, Half Nelson, and My Two Dads.

He was briefly named head coach of the Chicago Enforcers in the XFL, a new league, in 2000. The announcement sold a lot of tickets in Chicago, Butkus's home town, but he never actually coached a game, instead accepting a "promotion" as the team's "Director of Football Competition". The XFL folded after one season.

Father: John Butkus
Mother: Emma Goodoff
Wife: Helen Essenhart (m. 1963, two sons, one daughter)
Son: Richard Butkus, Jr.
Daughter: Nicole Butkus ("Nikki")
Son: Matthew

    High School: Vocational High School, Chicago, IL
    University: BS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1965)

    Endorsement of FedEx 2009
    Endorsement of Miller Brewing Company
    Pro Football Hall of Fame 1979
    College Football Hall of Fame 1983
    Knee Replacement Nov-1997
    People with Funny Names
    Lithuanian Ancestry

    SPORTS FRANCHISE HISTORY
    Chicago Bears LB (1965-73)

    TELEVISION
    Blue Thunder Richard Butowski (1984)
    My Two Dads Ed Klawicki (1987-89)
    Hang Time Coach Mike Katowinski (1998-2000)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Teddy Bears' Picnic (29-Mar-2002) · Himself
    Any Given Sunday (16-Dec-1999)
    The Last Boy Scout (13-Dec-1991) · Himself
    Necessary Roughness (27-Sep-1991) · Convict Football Player
    Gremlins 2: The New Batch (15-Jun-1990) · Himself
    Spontaneous Combustion (23-Feb-1990)
    Hamburger... The Movie (01-May-1986)
    Johnny Dangerously (21-Dec-1984) · Arthur
    Cracking Up (1983)
    Deadly Games (1982)
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (31-Oct-1980) · Brom Bones
    Superdome (9-Jan-1978)
    Gus (7-Jul-1976)
    Mother, Jugs & Speed (26-May-1976)

Author of books:
Stop Action (1972, memoir)


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