Mucky already mentioned it in the chat.

It's a sad day. Another one of the legends of my youth passed away.
Dick Butkus, one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history, dies at 80 


This is great.




I made this comment elsewhere.
Not a Bears fan but I was a Butkus fan. He, Nitschke and Mongo, I mean Alex Karras were the type of players that made me fall in love with the NFL along with the Purple People Eaters and The Rams Fearsome Foursome. I was sad when I learned the price the players paid when I watched the movie, Concussion.

A bit of local folk lore. Dick was scheduled to speak to our local hs football team. He was running late. (It took longer to get to the boonies than he expected. It was before I-88.) Dick was about 15 miles/minutes away when he pulled into a small tavern on the side of the highway. He told the owner he was in a hurry and what was there to eat. The owner didn't serve food. All he had was the bowl of popcorn on the bar. It was a pretty good sized bowl. Butkus picked it up and put it to his mouth. Gulp, gulp, gulp and it was gone. He grabbed a 6 pack from the cooler. As he tossed the owner a $20 he said, "There. That ought to do it." He was out the door. Less than 5 minutes.

---

When you hear Butkus, you think Football. There isn't a bigger compliment in the world in my opinion.

To have your name synonymous with a sport, within moments of uttering it. You have impacted the game.

As wpr notes, they were the players that helped shape my passion for this sport. Gritty, tough as nails players.

---