One of the 'scariest' players in NFL history who 'snarled like a dog' had a very different career after retirement

With a habit of snarling to intimidate opponents and a reputation as a punishingly tough tackler, Dick Butkus is remembered as one of the scariest players in NFL history.

The 6ft 3ins linebacker player for the Chicago Bears his entire career. He entered the NFL in 1963 as the third overall pick in that year's draft.

And he repaid the Bears' evident faith in his abilities and investment with such a high pick by becoming one of the greatest defensive players in the game's history.

Butkus was a two-time Defensive Player of the year, an eight-time Pro Bowler, was voted First Team All-Pro five times and was named on the All-Pro Second Team a further three times.

NFL legend Dick Butkus (left) in Disney's "I Didn't Do It" (Getty)

He made the NFL All Decade teams for both the 1960s and the 1970s – the only linebacker ever to earn such a distinction – and after he retired in 1973 his number 51 jersey was retired by the Bears. He was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

And as successful as Butkus was on the gridiron, he enjoyed an equally fruitful career in movies after he hung up his cleats.

The Chicago icons impressive list of film appearances includes The Longest Yard, Superdome, Cracking Up, Hamburger: The Motion Picture and Any Given Sunday.

And his television credits include roles in Blue Thunder, My Two Dads, MacGyver, and Hang Time, plus guest appearances in Murder, She Rote and Matlock.

Butkus was also an NFL commentator and analyst in the mid- to late 1980s and, in 2001, he served as the head coach of the XFL's Chicago Enforcers during the Vince McMahon-created league's only season.

Bukus died in 2023 at the age of 80, but his legacy lives on in the form of the Butkus Award, which each year recognises the best linebacker in high school, college and professional football.