The Bears’ Hall of Fame middle linebacker talks about league patriarch George Halas and the ever-changing National Football League.
Q. Did Sunday’s game between the Bears and the Lions conjure up any memories of when you played against Detroit?
A I always had a strong desire to play well against the Lions. Early in my career, when I snapped for the punts, I was working on my snaps during pregame warmups. [George] Halas walked by me and said: “Hey, did you hear what Flanagan said about you?” Ed Flanagan was Detroit’s center. I said: “No, what did he say?” Halas just walked away. He just wanted to start a rivalry. He had a way to pull your chain.
Q. How has the NFL changed most since you were a player?
A They keep talking about all the innovations, but it still comes down to the players having the desire to put out on the field. It seems that as the years go by, you kind of question that. It’s a team game, and the way people carry on and make it an individual sport . . . it’s beyond me why they want to bring attention to themselves. But everybody does it, so it’s not that different anymore. In our era, if any kind of individual celebrations were done, our guys certainly would have taken care of that.
Q. You had some well-documented disputes with Halas over contract issues and injury settlements. Have your feelings mellowed?
A I was just thinking about how it was when we had to negotiate with him. He would say, “I don’t know what you think, but everybody comes here to watch Gale [Sayers] play, not you.” Then I talked to Gale later, and Halas had said to him: “They’re not coming to see you, they’re coming to see Butkus.” [Halas] did everything himself, and it wasn’t like he came in with all this extra money from some other business or whatever. He was like the Rooneys and the Maras and owners like that–flying by the seat of their pants. It’s just a different game now.”
Q. I believe you once said Halas threw nickels around like manhole covers. How difficult was he when negotiating a contract?
A Everybody would talk about how cheap he was, but later on you would find out about all the people he would really help. He never let it be known. He was great for the game, great for the league. Having been from Chicago myself (Chicago Vocational High School) and playing for the founder of football, it was neat. He was a straight-up guy. That’s the way I was brought up, and we hit it off great.
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