If he had a choice, MacArthur Lane once said that he’d pick a grizzly bear for a one-on-one rather than Dick Butkus. Rightfully so. Getting hit by the Chicago linebacker was no better than a nightmare. If anything, hoping to get back up was the only thing on Lane’s mind, and so many others’ upon facing him. Because while the rest utilized warm-ups to prepare physically, Butkus would warm up to be mad. 

“It always worked for me,” he would admit. That mindset, through his nine-season career, landed the linebacker as No. 2 on the Chicago Bears’ best 100 players of all time in 2019. But Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman believe the fierceness was limited only to Butkus’ linebacker duties– he would be no match when it came to the passing coverage. Without batting an eye, Edelman, an efficient WR himself, said “no,” when Gronk asked him if Butkus would have been able to cover him. 

“I was watching him cover guys back in those days. They didn’t really have the athleticism,” Gronkowski added on Dudes on Dudes. “He could have kind of pulled you [if Butkus had got his hands on Edelman]. He would have only had to tackle you in order to cover you. But we would have smoked him back in the day.” 

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Technically speaking, as a linebacker, the passing game wasn’t in Butkus’ job description. He wasn’t one to stay close to receivers or drop into the coverage. Tackling from sideline to sideline and chasing runners down the field was more his thing. 

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In an ESPN classic reported by Larry Schwartz back in the day, he recalled an image: Butkus wrapping up a running back and viciously slamming him to the ground. That was Butkus, and that was a result of being told to be fierce growing up. But to Edelman’s merit, he wasn’t a receiver to be covered easily. 

His route running and excellent footwork made him Tom Brady’s weapon for years. When the Steelers did try to find an answer by placing linebackers on him, he had managed 34 receptions on 48 targets for 341 yards across six regular-season games against the team. 

So maybe Butkus would have been no match as far as preventing catches through the air was concerned. Give him running backs and one would return feeling ‘liquified’. That’s where both Gronkowski and Edelman admit defeat. 

Gronk admits Dick Butkus’ running game was no place to be

The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder wasn’t just a run-stuffer who hit hard and played mean. He was a complete linebacker, five times a first-team All-Pro, eight times a Pro Bowler, with 22 interceptions. And while retiring after the 1973 season, he had an NFL record 25 fumble recoveries. 

“I wouldn’t say we would smoke him in the run game. I think he would run right through us,” Gronk added while Edelman agreed. 

He was, by most accounts, the most intimidating linebacker ever to wear shoulder pads. There’s a reason why the best linebackers have been honored with the Butkus Award in high schools, colleges, and on professional levels. 

The Chicago legend’s college coach once shared: “[Butkus] had not practiced with our team at all. … Dick took two steps to his right, stopped, turned, ran stride for stride with the end crossing, and intercepted the pass.” Most linebackers had that ability to read the opposition’s minds. Others had an unworldly physical edge. Butkus had both.