"To play this game -- and I've always said this -- you have to have a Neanderthal gene. Butkus had two," says former Chicago Bears teammate Doug Buffone on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series.

The former NFL linebacker spent his entire career with his hometown Bears Charna Flam is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023. Her work has previously appeared on ...

ChicagoBears.com documents the organization's tribute to Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus during the team's Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Hall of Fame linebacker Dick ...

It is possible that Dick Butkus was the meanest, nastiest, fiercest linebacker to ever put on a helmet. More than a quarter of a century after his retirement, there remains the Butkus image: the ...