SAD NEWS; Bears has finally announce departure of three players….

The Chicago Bears announced on Thursday that Dick Butkus, possibly the most fearsome Monster of the Midway, has passed away at the age of 80.

Butkus’ nine-year career, which began in 1965, saw him become a Bears legend and a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. Before the ball was even snapped, some players were already on the defensive end of the middle linebacker’s savage tackles.

Butkus’ family announced in a statement made public by the Bears that he “died peacefully in his sleep overnight” at his Malibu, California, home.

George McCaskey, the team chairman, released a statement saying, “Dick was the ultimate Bear, and one of the greatest players in NFL history.” “His father was Chicago. He embodied the values of our wonderful city and, interestingly, the qualities that George Halas seeks.

Butkus recorded 1,020 tackles and 22 interceptions during his career’s conclusion. In addition to winning the George Halas Award in 1974 and being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 during his first year of eligibility, he was named to the first team All-Pro five times.

In addition, he is a member of the league’s 75th and 100th anniversary all-time teams and was selected to the NFL’s all-decade teams in the 1960s and 1970s.

Butkus played football in Illinois his whole career. The youngest of eight children, he was born on December 9, 1942, and raised on the South Side of the city, supporting the Chicago Cardinals, the Bears’ crosstown rivals. He was named high school player of the year while playing football at Chicago Vocational High School.

When questioned about his reputation on the field, Butkus once quipively said, “I wouldn’t go out to hurt anybody deliberately.” “Unless it was, you know, important… like a league game or something.”

Butkus never made it to the playoffs and only played for two successful Bears teams. He entered the game right before George Halas’s final season, 1963, and narrowly missed the championship. The Bears finished 3-11 during his last season.

Butkus sued the Bears for $1.6 million after he resigned, claiming he was not given proper medical care and that he should be paid for the final four years of his contract. Despite the $600,000 settlement, Butkus and Halas remained silent for five years.

But that rift closed, and he turned into a devoted public.