Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
pittmike wrote:
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.
Also, obviously the game has become much more centered on passing. This has caused offensive linemen to become bigger and stronger, but also slower. It has also allowed a place in the game for big fat interior linemen on defense, guys like Ted Washington and Keith Traylor who are there to push the pocket back against the big, fat offenive linemen. And shitty quarterbacks like Jim Miller put up more numbers than some Hall of Famers from past eras. Guys like Newton, Wilson, and RGIII might possibly cause the defensive linemen to become smaller and more athletic.
Butkus was a freakish guy in his time. He was as big, strong, and fast as anyone playing today. Let's not go all the way back to him anyway. Look at guys like Jay Hilgenberg and Jimbo Covert. They're pitifully undersized for today's game. But is anyone really going to say they weren't great? If they couldn't play today it isn't because today's replacements are "better", but rather because the game is played differently and different skills and attributes are valued.
The "chicken or egg" aspect in the evolution of the game is speed. Offensive inemen are bigger but they aren't necessarily slower, they are definitely quicker than they used to be. They have to be to deal with the concept of the speed rusher. Urlacher's career first flourished when he had Washington & Traylor up front to keep people off of him. Later is was Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson, who were smaller but much quicker.
The one thing that always impresses me athleticly is watching someone perform the spectacular live. Not watching a specific event but watching them perform such repetitively. The first time I saw Urlacher in Platteville, the first thing that was amazing was his speed. Over the course of several practices during drills he stood out. The same was the case in watching Devin Hester make his first cut. More recently it has been watching Brandon Marshall get separation from a defensive back.
Urlacher was a great athlete who became a great player. The only thing missing from being the complete MLB was that he wasn't a hitter. Ray Lewis was a hitter. Dick Butkus was probably the greatest. That is what separates him from everyone else, and specifically Urlacher. While I don't believe Butkus, even with today's modern training and nutritirion, would have been able to neturalize a (in his prime) Michael Vick, I do believe that he would have been able to play the Cover-2 and he would have been a monster on the blitz.
When it comes to unbelievable speed I give it to Urlacher but Butkus was very fast, when it comes to the physical aspect of a physical game it is no comparison. Butkus.
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