Bears Legend Dick Butkus Discusses Gale Sayers, Roquan Smith, More in B/R AMA

Dick Butkus is an NFL legend. 

The NFL Hall of Famer was an eight-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro selection in his nine-year career with the Chicago Bears, going down as one of the most fearsome linebackers in the history of the league. 

Butkus joined B/R for an AMA that touched on everything from his new Twitter account and Super Bowl prediction to what it was like playing against Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers in practice. 

@TheChillnChicago Where did you perfect your amazing Twitter skills? Were you a trash talker on the field or has social media awoken that? 

My son was telling me about all that stuff. I’ll be hip and be on Twitter—it's kinda fun. It keeps me involved and keeps me wanting to be around to interject stuff. Trash talking is like an incentive to make sure you play well. I always wanted to be the last guy to say something.

@Sudspeddler What was it like practicing against Gale Sayers on the other side? 

I think he made me a better linebacker. Training camp would be six weeks and we'd be scrimmaging all week long. It got me to where I'd learned how to take an angle on a guy like him. He was deceptively fast and could change directions while stopping on a dime. By practicing against him so much, it helped me with my angle of pursuit on ball carriers. He was valuable to my success. I didn’t come across too many guys better than him, that’s for damn sure.

@Henafred What was your favorite team to play against and why?

Each one had a different reason. The Packers were good at that time when I was coming up so that was always a game to look forward to—I wanted to take it personally. Detroit was another story because some players made some silly and stupid comments so I always had that in the back of my mind. If there was nothing there, I would make something up about a team and that would always get me going.

@Not_MasonRudolph Proudest moment of your career? 

I think the extra point that I caught against Washington. It was a bad pass and Bobby Douglas threw a pass to me for the score. Earlier that game, I got kicked in the eye and it swelled up like a boxer. So I only had one eye and when the ball came I jumped up and was fortunate enough to come down with it. 

@JackHauber Did being a feared player mean something to you or did that just come with your play style and you didn’t think much of it?  

That’s just the way I wanted to play. If it was so different, than that's even better. I was a running back/fullback in high school and I didn't like getting hit high or bear hugged. So I remembered that and that's why I always liked to tackle high. I studied during the week and learned the tendencies to be prepared to fly around during the games—didn't have to think.

@Johnm22 Which modern player is most like you? 

I think Roquan Smith is getting there. He's very determined and he's got the desire.

@WhatsUpItsNick How do you feel about the potential of the current Bears defense with guys like Khalil Mack and Roquan Smith now getting paired with a defensive HC? 

Matt [Eberflus] is not gonna be working with an empty cabinet, he's got some players he can use on defense. He may have different ideas on how to get even more out of these players. Just like Buddy Ryan did with the 46 defense. They molded that defense to the guys they had and were unbelievable. So hopefully he’ll have some ideas to improve these guys even more.

@Just_in_Time Super Bowl pick??

Aaron Donald's name keeps coming up and I just think he and the Rams are gonna win it. I'm just gonna ride this wave and say the Bengals gotta be ready for Donald—he's my pick for Super Bowl MVP.

So I see you're working with the alumni association on the 'Huddle Up: Let's Talk Obesity' campaign. Can you tell us about the importance of educating people on that topic whether it's youngins or retired athletes and any advice you may have? I know you partook in the wellness challenge. What was that experience like for you and has it changed your perspective on things more? 

The NFL Alumni came up with the obesity program because 40 to 70 percent of ex-NFL players are obese. Obesity leads to heart disease, diabetes, and a number of other problems. We did this challenge with 30 plus players and lost an average of 30 pounds. I lost 47 pounds. It's more than just will power—it's genetics, heredity. It goes deeper than that, there's emotional factors. Now we're going to start a maintenance program because one out of 10 after they reach their desired weight they're back to up to it a year later.

I did an ECT scan of my heart as a favor. I did this scan, it took five minutes and two days later I was under the knife going through a five-way bypass. I had no symptoms. Since then we've given thousands of scans. We do scans for the military, for firemen, for policemen. And once a year I have all the alumni in Southern California take the scan. When people were smoking a lot, heart problems were up there. Now the numbers are skyrocketing through the roof because of obesity. So now we gotta stop this. I think it's pretty selfish when you're not making an effort to stay healthy to be there for your kids or your wife. I did it, it was selfishly to see if it would improve my neuropathy. That was my motivation and I just generally feel much better. I told them I would gladly front this because I know the problems with heart disease.