Bears Legend Butkus Says Nephew Coaches ‘Expansion’ Packers

Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus delivered a verbal smackdown to his nephew, Green Bay Packers offensive line coach Luke Butkus.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Jan 31, 2022 7:59 PM EST
Original:
Jan 31, 2022

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Dick Butkus leveled plenty of Green Bay Packers during his days with the Chicago Bears.

On Monday night, the 79-year-old laid out one of the Packers’ coaches.

His nephew.

Luke Butkus, the Packers’ assistant offensive line coach the past three seasons, has been promoted to offensive line coach to fill the shoes of new offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich.

Dick Butkus, a Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker who dominated from 1965 through 1973, delivered a humorous Twitter shoutout to his nephew for “moving up with an expansion team.”

Luke Butkus was Illinois’ starting center from 1999 through 2001, earning third-team All-American honors as a senior. He has worked for the Chicago Bears (2007-09), Seattle Seahawks (2010-11) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-15). Mixed in with those NFL jobs, he coached the offensive line at Illinois in 2012 and 2016 through 2018 before joining the Packers as Stenavich’s assistant in 2019.

“He was excited for me,” Luke Butkus said in 2019. “He was excited for the opportunity that I have to be a part of this, being back in the NFL. I think that’s first and foremost. When it comes to that, we make sure we take care of our family. It will be interesting when we play in Chicago and how that will be, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get here. It’s just an exciting time.”

The third overall pick of the 1965 draft, Dick Butkus succeeded Green Bay’s Ray Nitschke as the game’s dominant linebacker. He intercepted 22 passes during his nine seasons.

“We played the Packers 18 times and [they] won 14,” Butkus told Milwaukee’s Fox 6 in 2016. “What was great, we weren’t that good of a team always, but it was great playing the Packers because in the ‘60s they were the team.”

Packers coach Vince Lombardi wasn’t immediately impressed by Butkus, as related by Paul Hornung to The Buffalo News in 1992.

When Butkus was a rookie, Lombardi gave the team a very unflattering scouting report on the Chicago linebacker, predicting his linemen would have an easy time with this bumpkin.

"Look at Butkus," Lombardi said. "He's fat, out of shape, weighs about 260. His shirttail's out; he's sloppy. He stands 5 1/2 yards deep as a middle linebacker."

Well, Hornung said, "Butkus made 32 unassisted tackles, he caused three fumbles. We were lucky to win by about four points."

Later, Lombardi admitted, "Maybe he is something special."

Green Bay Packers’ 2022 Opponents

Here is a look at next season’s opponents. The dates and times for the games will be announced in the spring; the 2021 schedule was announced on May 12. Teams with an asterisk qualified for the playoffs.