I got to meet somebody famous in Las Vegas again! Last time I was within inches of shaking hands with John Waite but it fell through, a story for another day.
Dick Butkus was an extra special encounter because the NFL legend is connected to my family in two ways. When I say connected, I am going with the Kevin Bacon definition of “connected.”
Firstly, a quick clarification for the non-football readers. Dick Butkus was a linebacker with the Chicago Bears in the Seventies. After the NFL, he did make guest appearances in various TV shows and films but he didn’t star in Webster, that was Alex Karras. People do get them confused much like Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton.
Back to the degrees’ matters.
Dick is an Illinois alumnus, same as my brother Brian. I don’t know if Brian is much of a Bears fan. After he graduated, I think he became a sports agnostic.
The other “degree” is more personal and involves my father. Years ago I remember him telling somebody about a missed opportunity to attend Illinois in the Sixties; he went to the lesser known Western Illinois. Since Dad’s first post-college career was being a high school teacher (Math and PE) and coach, I always knew he was a pretty good athlete…his frequent yelling at games reaffirmed this. (Trust me, being a mediocre (at best) player son of a former “star” takes its toll, I’ve been over it for years though.) So he was casually talking, saying Illinois offered him a four-year football scholarship due to his prowess as a guard (one of the dudes to the left or right of the center). Then Dad suffered a horrible knee injury and Illinois withdrew shortly after receiving the news. I couldn’t believe how cavalier he sounded, especially when he said all he missed out on was playing with Dick Butkus during the guy’s senior year!
I did bring this up with Dick. He was genuinely interested, asked where did your dad go to high school? I said (guessed) Ottawa, IL. He nodded politely which was cool. I didn’t expect him to know or really care yet it’s wise to have something intelligent or interesting to discuss. Either way, I was thrilled to meet him. Oh, we discussed the upcoming Bears v. Packers game that evening. I told him I got action from Mirage with the Packers favored by 4.5 (I didn’t want to say who I was betting on). He replied, really, last I heard it was five. With how poorly the Bears’ defense played in the 23-10 result, maybe Dick should’ve suited up to help.