For every offensive player facing the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1973, it was the sight and sounds of the grunting, growling, snarling menace at middle linebacker, Dick Butkus, the focus this week in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Gold Jacket Spotlight.
Opening an NFL Films production themed for Halloween and titled “The Monster of the Midway,” Steve Sabol and Harry Kalas play the roles of two hunters looking for shelter. They take refuge in an abandoned house on a hill and immediately come across a skeleton.
“This guy looks like he spent an afternoon playing against Dick Butkus,” Kalas says. “Dick Butkus was the most frightening linebacker to ever play pro football.”
They shudder as a spirit form of Dick glides overhead and through the room.
