CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NFL's attempts to make its game safer draw praise from the families of former players, but many former players themselves don't like such changes.
Add Bears Hall of Famer Dick Butkus to that group. Butkus, at a fundraising luncheon for The Charlotte Touchdown Club on Friday, half-jokingly said he didn't have enough time to describe all his issues with today's game.
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Among his thoughts, Butkus, who played from 1965-73, said he could have doubled his career length had he played under today's rules.
"I'd probably have an extra 10 years," he told Sporting News with a laugh. "I played on all the kicking teams. Now you can't have two double sessions in a row at training camp. You talk about 'Going to the office,' and it seems like that's what they're doing. I liked the game back when we were playing."
A 6-3, Chicago-born boy drafted by the Bears out of the University of Illinois, Butkus always exuded the tough-guy mantra that was indicative of the old-school Monsters of the Midway. Even at 72, Butkus does not evade any topic, similar to how he didn't evade contact on the field.
Dick Butkus at Wrigley Field in Chicago (Getty Images)
When asked about making the game safer, he said players know the risks of playing football as a career. Butkus said he fights aches and pains in every area of his body except his head, but football has been good to him.
"You learn after Pop Warner and high school that (football) is a dangerous game," Butkus said. "It's a dangerous profession, and you have to roll with it. If you love it that much, then it's no problem. Making it safe is fine if it doesn't degrade the game a lot, and I think that's what's happened."
The Bears legend said the NFL is too fast for players to notice when they're doing something unsafe, such as leading tackles with their helmets. He also said the increasing number of rules on tackling — many of which are subjective — make it harder for the defense to play the game.
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Butkus pointed out how the league, even 50 years ago, was always trying to help offenses score more points.
"Every year when I was playing, (the NFL) was always, 'OK, how are we gonna f— the defense?'" the six time All-Pro said. "We need points, people want to see points. So every year it was always something (changing) to now, where offensive linemen can hold you if they do it right. It's tough."
Beyond rule changes, Butkus has a problem with today's antics — even from Butkus Award-winning linebackers, whom he follows just like the Bears each week.
"I don't want to sound like an old fart, back in our day or whatever, but there's some just things I don't understand that turns me off," he said. "The expression of exuberance after they make a tackle when they're losing 20 to nothin', doing cartwheels, then they blow their knee out. I mean, I thought it was a team game back then."
Butkus makes a good point. Just imagine his reaction when Lamarr Houston tore his ACL while celebrating a sack during a Bears blowout loss last season.
As Bob Dylan sang during Butkus' time as a senior at U of I, the times, they are a-changin'.