Best trade in Bears history: Acquiring Dick Butkus
Dick Butkus may have spent his entire nine-year career on the Chicago Bears but truth be told, he shouldn’t have been in the Windy City to begin with.
The Bears landed the third overall selection in the 1965 draft when they gave up several picks in the 1964 draft. Moving up hasn’t always been kind to the Bears, case in point would be their most recent disaster involving now former quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. With that said, things worked out perfectly fine this time around.
Butkus delivered as soon as he got on the field. He played and started in all 14 games his rookie season and recorded five sacks. For much of his career, Butkus was as consistent as they come. He was consistently in the lineup and always made his presence known. Butkus may have wrapped up his career relatively early due to a lingering knee issue, but his place in both Bears and Football history was already solidified.
Eight times Butkus was selected as a Pro Bowler, he was a five team First-Team All-Pro and on four occasions, he led the entire league in forced fumbles.
Unsurprisingly, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979. Unfortunately for the Bears, they haven’t had much luck in terms of trades but fans can still reminisce about the Butkus trade, although it feels like it happened centuries ago.