Urlacher isn't in the same league as Butkus. Butkus is one of the best five defensive players in the history of the game. dan is ridiculous.

Even though I agree with Dan’s premise on Urlacher being the better player, he stated yesterday that one of the main reasons for this opinion is Butka never won anything during his time as a Bear.

However, Urlacher never won a Super Bowl, and Dan has stated frequently on the show that titles are the only thing that matter. By that definition, wouldn’t the two players have had the exact same amount of success?

We measure success by banners and parades in this town. Big boy football, not wine & cheese football.

Urlacher isn't in the same league as Butkus. Butkus is one of the best five defensive players in the history of the game. dan is ridiculous.

I don't think Butkus is one of the five best linebackers in the history of the game.

Id like to see Ray Lewis play a Soda Jerk on My Two Dads as well as Butka.

But can someone explain to me what exactly Butkus could do on a football field that Urlacher could not?

Now, I'm sure the offensive lineman weren't as good when Butkus was playing either.

I can only go on videos, but Butkus seemed better at delivering big hits and breaking through the line.

The one flaw in Urlacher's game has always been he needed game changing defensive lineman to meet his potential. Some of his "bad" seasons were because of changes up front. I believe the first example of this was after they lost Ted Washington.

Now, I'm sure the offensive lineman weren't as good when Butkus was playing either.

Yeah those are good points.

I just think that people seem to go to one of two areas in this discussion.

Urlacher was a freak athletically and Butkus(and players of his era) couldn't hang with him.

or

Butkus was an all time great and Urlacher couldn't hang with him.

I think both are equally wrong. I think the separation between them is extremely small.

I wouldn't say Urlacher "couldn't hang" with Butkus. Urlacher was a great player, but Butkus is at the very top level. I'd put Ray Lewis right there. They're both better than Urlacher. That isn't really a knock on Urlacher. There are only a handful of guys who had the kind of impact on the game that guys like Butkus, Lewis, Lawrence Taylor did.

Roberto Clemente was a great player but he shouldn't be compared to Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle. Doug Wilson and Chris Pronger were great players but they shouldn't be compared to Bobby Orr. Butkus is Willie Mays or Bobby Orr.

Doug WIlson shouldn't even be compared to Chris Pronger.

Right there is a small difference. Also, I don't really buy into the freak athlete thing for any comparison like this. Back in those days the guys had to play and had jobs in the off season as well as less nutritional knowledge etc. If you don't think that if Butkus went to college in the 90's and played in the 2000's that he would look like Urlacher or Lewis you are sorely mistaken.