Chicago Sports Memories: Dick Butkus

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Friday, August 27, 2021

Bears First-Round Draft Picks

The first two players selected in the 1965 NFL draft, running backs Tucker Frederickson (New York Giants) and Ken Willard (San Francisco 49ers) ended up being good but not great. The next two picks belonged to the Bears, who selected two of the greatest players of all time--Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.
From 1975 (Walter Payton) through 1990 (Mark Carrier), every player selected by the Bears in the first round of the NFL draft became a productive player, and most became stars. For the past 30 years, it has been a lot more bad than good. Brian Urlacher is the only certified all-timer in the group, at least so far, while Tommie Harris and Kyle Long were stars that shone briefly.

The Bears' selection of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick in 2017 will go down in history, and not in a good way. As every Bears fan knows all too well, general manager Ryan Pace traded up to get Trubisky while the great Patrick Mahomes was still available. Of course, the Bears also traded up this year to acquire Justin Fields--and let's hope that is where the comparison ends.

JUSTIN FIELDS

Below is the complete list of Bears first-round draft choices. The player's overall draft position is in parentheses, and an asterisk indicates a Hall of Famer.

1936 - Joe Stydahar, tackle, West Virginia (6)*
1937 - Les McDonald, end, Nebraska (8)
1938 - Joe Gray, back, Oregon State (10)
1939 - Sid Luckman, quarterback, Columbia (2)*
1939 - Bill Osmanski, fullback, Holy Cross (6)

1940 - Bulldog Turner, center, Hardin-Simmons (7)*
1941 - Tom Harmon, halfback, Michigan (1)
1941 - Norm Standlee, fullback, Stanford (3)
1941 - Don Scott, back, Ohio State (9)
1942 - Frankie Albert, quarterback, Stanford (10)
1943 - Bob Steuber, halfback, DePauw (9)
1944 - Ray Evans, tailback, Kansas (9)
1945 - Don Lund, back, Michigan (7)
1946 - Johnny Lujack, quarterback, Notre Dame (4)
1947 - Bob Fenimore, halfback, Oklahoma State (1)
1947 - Don Kindt, defensive back, Wisconsin (11)
1948 - Bobby Layne, quarterback, Texas (3)*
1948 - Max Bumgardner, defensive end, Texas (10)
1949 - Dick Harris, center, Texas (11)

1950 - Chuck Hunsinger, halfback, Florida (3)
1950 - Fred Morrison, fullback, Ohio State (10)
1951 - Bob Williams, quarterback, Notre Dame (2)
1951 - Gene Schroeder, end, Virginia (12)
1952 - Jim Dooley, back, Miami - Florida (8)
1953 - Billy Anderson, defensive back, Compton - Calif. (6)
1954 - Stan Wallace, defensive back, Illinois (6)
1955 - Ron Drzewiecki, halfback, Marquette (11)
1956 - Tex Schriewer, end, Texas (10)
1957 - Earl Leggett, defensive tackle, LSU (13)
1958 - Chuck Howley, linebacker, West Virginia (7)
1959 - Don Clark, back, Ohio State (7)

1960 - Roger Davis, guard, Syracuse (7)
1961 - Mike Ditka, tight end, Pittsburgh (5)*
1962 - Ronnie Bull, running back, Baylor (7)
1963 - Dave Behrman, center, Michigan State (11)
1964 - Dick Evey, defensive tackle, Tennessee (14)
1965 - Dick Butkus, linebacker, Illinois (3)*
1965 - Gale Sayers, running back, Kansas (4)*
1965 - Steve DeLong, defensive end, Tennessee (6)
1966 - George Rice, defensive tackle, LSU (12)
1967 - Loyd Phillips, defensive end, Arkansas (10)
1968 - Mike Hull, running back, USC (16)
1969 - Rufus Mayes, tackle, Ohio State (14)

1970 - none
1971 - Joe Moore, running back, Missouri (11)
1972 - Lionel Antoine, tackle, Southern Illinois (3)
1972 - Craig Clemons, defensive back, Iowa (12)
1973 - Wally Chambers, defensive tackle, Eastern Kentucky (8)
1974 - Waymond Bryant, linebacker, Tennessee State (4)
1974 - Dave Gallagher, defensive end, Michigan (8)
1975 - Walter Payton, running back, Jackson State (4)*
1976 - Dennis Lick, tackle, Wisconsin (8)
1977 - Ted Albrecht, tackle, California (16)
1978 - none
1979 - Dan Hampton, defensive end, Arkansas (4)*
1979 - Al Harris, defensive end, Arizona State (8)

1980 - Otis Wilson, linebacker, Louisville (19)
1981 - Keith Van Horne, tackle, USC (11)
1982 - Jim McMahon, quarterback, Brigham Young (5)
1983 - Jimbo Covert, tackle, Pittsburgh (6)*
1983 - Willie Gault, wide receiver, Tennessee (18)
1984 - Wilber Marshall, linebacker, Florida (11)
1985 - William Perry, defensive tackle, Clemson (22)
1986 - Neal Anderson, running back, Florida (27)
1987 - Jim Harbaugh, quarterback, Michigan (26)
1988 - Brad Muster, fullback, Stanford (23)
1988 - Wendell Davis, wide receiver, LSU (27)
1989 - Donnell Woolford, defensive back, Clemson (11)
1989 - Trace Armstrong, defensive end, Florida (12)

1990 - Mark Carrier, defensive back, USC (6)
1991 - Stan Thomas, tackle, Texas (22)
1992 - Alonzo Spellman, defensive end, Ohio State (22)
1993 - Curtis Conway, wide receiver, USC (7)
1994 - John Thierry, defensive end, Alcorn State (11)
1995 - Rashaan Salaam, running back, Colorado (21)
1996 - Walt Harris, defensive back, Mississippi State (13)
1997 - none
1998 - Curtis Enis, running back, Penn State (5)
1999 - Cade McNown, quarterback, UCLA (12)

2000 - Brian Urlacher, linebacker, New Mexico (9)*
2001 - David Terrell, wide receiver, Michigan (8)
2002 - Marc Colombo, tackle, Boston College (29)
2003 - Michael Haynes, defensive end, Penn State (14)
2003 - Rex Grossman, quarterback, Florida (22)
2004 - Tommie Harris, defensive tackle, Oklahoma (14)
2005 - Cedric Benson, running back, Texas (4)

2006 - none

2007 - Greg Olsen, tight end, Miami - Florida (31)
2008 - Chris Williams, tackle, Vanderbilt (14)
2009 - none

2010 - none

2011 - Gabe Carimi, tackle, Wisconsin (29)

2012 - Shea McClellin, defensive end, Boise State (19)

2013 - Kyle Long, tackle, Oregon (20)

2014 - Kyle Fuller, cornerback, Virginia Tech (14)

2015 - Kevin White, wide receiver, West Virginia (7)

2016 - Leonard Floyd, linebacker, Georgia (9)

2017 - Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, North Carolina (2)

2018 - Roquan Smith, linebacker, Georgia (8)

2019 - none

2020 - none

2021 - Justin Fields, quarterback, Ohio State (11)

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Worth a Thousand Words: Bronko Nagurski and Beattie Feathers

Bronko Nagurski was born in the picturesquely named town of Rainy River, Ontario, and grew up in International Falls, Minnesota. From the time he was very young, he was regarded as a sort of real-life Paul Bunyan.

Clarence “Doc” Spears, his coach at the University of Minnesota, had a colorful account of how he recruited Nagurski. “I saw this young kid pushing a plow,” Spears said. “There was no horse or anything else, just this kid pushing a plow. I asked directions of him, and he picked up the plow and pointed with it. I decided then and there he should go to Minnesota.”

Bronko went on to perform spectacularly at Minnesota, and he joined the Bears in 1930. He weighed about 235 pounds at a time when very few players exceeded 210. A fullback on offense and a tackle and linebacker on defense, Nagurski was the heart and soul of the Bears’ powerhouse teams of the thirties, and he later came out of retirement to lead the Bears to the NFL championship in 1943.

BRONKO NAGURSKI and BEATTIE FEATHERS

In 1934, running behind his lead blocker Nagurski, rookie halfback Beattie Feathers became the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Feathers averaged an unbelievable 8.4 yards per carry (Nagurski himself registered an impressive 4.8) as the Bears went 13-0 for the regular season before the New York Giants denied them a third straight world championship in the title game.

Nagurski was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. His plaque calls him “a bulldozing runner on offense and a bone-crushing linebacker on defense.”

Has there ever been a more intimidating, bad-ass Bear than Nagurski? It’s hard to say, because very few people who saw him play are still around to tell about it--and because Dick Butkus also played for the Bears. At the very least, Nagurski certainly fits right in with the likes of Butkus, Doug Atkins, Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Olin Kreutz, Khalil Mack, Steve McMichael, Ed O’Bradovich, Doug Plank, Brian Urlacher, and anyone else who comes to mind.

A quote from Green Bay Packers fullback and linebacker Clarke Hinkle, whose career overlapped almost exactly with Nagurski’s, will shed some light on how Bronko was viewed by his contemporaries. “Nagurski was probably the greatest player I ever went up against,” said Hinkle, himself a Hall of Famer. “I thought to myself, ‘You either better start moving and go after him or just get the hell out of the way, because otherwise you are going to get killed.’”

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Bears First-Round Draft Picks

From 1975 (Walter Payton) through 1990 (Mark Carrier), every player selected by the Bears in the first round of the NFL draft became a productive player, and most became stars. For the past 30 years, it has been a lot more bad than good. Brian Urlacher is the only certified all-timer in the group, at least so far, while Tommie Harris and Kyle Long were stars that shone briefly. Rex Grossman was neither quite as good as his admirers wished him to be nor quite as bad as his detractors believed him to be.

Kyle Fuller and Roquan Smith are key players on the Bears' defense at present, while quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has recently been relieved of his starting role and seems to be at a career crossroads. His selection with the second overall pick in 2017 is likely to go down in history, and not in a good way.

MITCHELL TRUBISKY

Below is the complete list of Bears first-round draft choices. The player's overall draft position is in parentheses, and an asterisk indicates a Hall of Famer.

2006 - none
2007 - Greg Olsen, tight end, Miami - Florida (31)
2008 - Chris Williams, tackle, Vanderbilt (14)
2009 - none
2010 - none

2011 - Gabe Carimi, tackle, Wisconsin (29)

2012 - Shea McClellin, defensive end, Boise State (19)

2013 - Kyle Long, tackle, Oregon (20)

2014 - Kyle Fuller, cornerback, Virginia Tech (14)

2015 - Kevin White, wide receiver, West Virginia (7)

2016 - Leonard Floyd, linebacker, Georgia (9)

2017 - Mitchell Trubisky, quarterback, North Carolina (2)

2018 - Roquan Smith, linebacker, Georgia (8)

2019 - none

2020 - none

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Friday, September 25, 2020

Worth a Thousand Words: A Trio of Immortals, 1965

It has often been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. We're going to try to prove that from time to time by presenting an indelible image and not beating it to death with too much verbiage.

The photograph below shows Bears head coach George Halas with his two prize rookies, running back Gale Sayers and linebacker Dick Butkus, in 1965. (Has any team in the history of professional sports ever had two more impactful rookies in the same year? Discuss amongst yourselves.)

There are Hall of Famers--and then there are the true immortals, for whom the term "Hall of Famer" doesn't quite go far enough. The three men in the photo belong in the latter category.

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Gale Sayers, 1943 - 2020

Gale Sayers, who passed away today, is one of the few Chicago athletes of our time who can be called a legend without any exaggeration. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite playing only 68 games in the NFL (at age 34, he was the youngest man ever inducted). He was a first-team All-Pro five times. He was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary team at both running back and kick returner (he was the only player honored at two positions). He is linked in our collective memory to linebacker Dick Butkus (another legend), with whom he joined the Bears in 1965, and with running back Brian Piccolo, with whom he was best friends until the latter's untimely demise. After his playing days, he found success in a variety of fields.

On the football field, Sayers's greatest performance was his phenomenal six-touchdown game at Wrigley Field in 1965. We remember that game below.

GALE SAYERS

A steady rain turned Wrigley Field into a virtual swamp for the Bears-49ers game of December 12, 1965. Like all of his fellow players, the Bears’ sensational rookie Gale Sayers was concerned about the conditions. “It was a rainy, muddy day and I actually didn’t like playing in that kind of weather,” he recalled. “So many things can happen; you can slip, pull a muscle, tear a hamstring.”

It wouldn’t have been surprising if the sloppy footing had neutralized Sayers more than anyone else, for speed and agility were his chief weapons. But Sayers ran wild. First he caught a screen pass from Rudy Bukich, and romped 80 yards for a touchdown. Then he ran 21 yards from scrimmage for a second touchdown. He scored again on a seven-yard run from scrimmage.

Next, Sayers took a handoff and zigged and zagged his way 50 yards for yet another touchdown. It appeared that he alone was playing on a dry field, while 21 other men slipped and slid around him.

His fifth touchdown came on a straightforward plunge from one yard out.

Sayers saved his most spectacular play of the day for last. Fielding a San Francisco punt at his own 15-yard line, he made a dazzling move against the grain, leaving his would-be tacklers stupefied. He went 85 yards to the end zone, and was all by himself after passing the midfield stripe.

With this sixth touchdown, Sayers equaled the single-game record. It was his 21st of the season, also a record at the time. He might have scored once more, but he slipped (finally) making one of his patented cuts on a punt return—after he’d already gone 32 yards. “The way things were going,” Sayers recalled years later, “I probably could have scored eight touchdowns that day. But back then no one cared about records. I didn’t even know I’d tied the six-touchdown record until after the ballgame.”

The final score was 61-20. The man known as the Kansas Comet amassed 336 total yards for the day—with 113 yards on nine rushes (an average of 12.5 per carry!), 134 yards on punt returns, and 89 yards on two pass receptions. “I never saw such a thing in my life!” said Bears coach George Halas. It was fitting that the greatest single-game performance by a rookie in NFL history had come from the man who was in the midst of the greatest rookie season in NFL history.

San Francisco defensive back George Donnelly offered an apt description of Sayers’s elusiveness in the open field: “He looks no different than any other runner when he’s coming at you, but when he gets there he’s gone.”

For the Bears, just two years removed from their most recent championship, the future looked bright with Sayers and another rookie, middle linebacker Dick Butkus, destined to rank among the greatest players of all time. Regrettably, knee injuries drove both players into premature retirement, and a succession of losing seasons followed. It would be 10 years before the Bears found a player of similar stature, Walter Payton, and 10 more before they again wore the crown.

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Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.