A Big Ten legend has died at the age of 80 years old. Dick Butkus died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Malibu, California.
Butkus is one of the all-time collegiate and professional football players in the game’s long and storied history. The Chicago native played at the University of Illinois from 1962-1964 before moving on to his hometown Bears from 1965 till his retirement from football in 1973.
While at Illinois, Butkus played center and linebacker. In 1963, he was the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player and a unanimous All-American. 1964 he was a consensus All-American and finished third for the Heisman Trophy.
The College Football Hall of Famer would finish his career with 374 tackles. He would be drafted in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears and the second round of the American Football League draft by the Denver Broncos.
Butkus would sign for his hometown Bears and would make his mark as one of the all-time great professional football players. The 2x NFL Defensive Player of the Year would be selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
The nation’s top collegiate linebacker is given the Butkus Award annually. Butkus was inducted into Illinois’ Athletics Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2017 and, in 2019, received a statue outside Illinois’ Football Performance Center.
Dick Butkus was 80 years old. A photo gallery of Dick Butkus’ life can be found below.