Given to the best linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football
Country
United States
Presented by
Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando (1985–2007) Butkus Foundation (2008–present)
History
First award
1985
Most recent
College: Payton Wilson
Pro: Roquan Smith
High School: Sammy Brown
Website
http://www.thebutkusaward.com/
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports a number of health and wellness activities including the "I Play Clean" anti-steroid program. The award was first established by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, which relinquished control of the award in 2008 following a lawsuit by Butkus.[1]
Traditionally, the award was given only to the top collegiate linebacker. The Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to include high school and professional winners[2] as part of a makeover by the Butkus family to help end anabolic steroid abuse among young athletes. Three players have won both the high school and collegiate Butkus Awards: Notre Dame linebackers Manti Te'o (2008, 2012) and Jaylon Smith (2012, 2015) and also Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean (2018, 2021). Four players have won both the collegiate and professional Butkus Awards: San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis (2006, 2009), Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller (2010, 2012), Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017), and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith (2017, 2022, 2023)
^Schmadtke, Alan (April 29, 2008). "Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando relinquishes rights to the Dick Butkus Award". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^Archer, Todd (January 9, 2009). "Dallas Cowboys' Ware wins Butkus Award". Dallasnews.com: the Dallas Morning News website. Belo Corporation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation...
Conference. Butkus was named college football's Lineman of the Year in 1964. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Butkus was selected...
played college football at NC State, winning the Chuck Bednarik Award and ButkusAward in 2023. Wilson was selected by the Steelers in the third round...
football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation...
six years. He won the college ButkusAward in 2006 while at Ole Miss and in 2009, he won the professional ButkusAward while with the 49ers. He was inducted...
League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, winning the 2021 ButkusAward before being selected by the Eagles in the third round of the 2022 NFL...
he played from 2013 to 2016. In his final season there he was awarded the ButkusAward, which is given to the nation's best linebacker. He was then drafted...
Clemson in 2019 rather than enter the 2019 NFL draft. Simmons received the ButkusAward as the nation's best linebacker for his performance that year. After...
college football for the UCLA Bruins. As a senior in 2014, he won the ButkusAward as the nation's top collegiate linebacker. Kendricks was selected by...
played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, winning the Dick ButkusAward and Jack Lambert Trophy as a senior. Alberts was inducted to the College...
second team All American. Ulofoshio was also named a semi-finalist of the ButkusAward. Ulofoshio was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round with...
football, he won the ButkusAward as a senior, given to the best high school linebacker in the country, and was named the Mr. Football award winner for the...
League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick ButkusAward winner during his college football career at the Oklahoma, he also achieved...
interior lineman on either side of the ball has ever won the award. Legendary linebacker Dick Butkus placed sixth in 1963 and third in 1964 and could qualify...
at Texas A&M, where he earned consensus All-American honors and the ButkusAward. He was selected by the Denver Broncos second overall in the 2011 NFL...
USA Today High School Defensive Player of the Year and won the Dick ButkusAward. A five star recruit, he committed to University of Oregon to play college...
football at Georgia. Smith became the first Georgia Bulldog to win the ButkusAward. Smith was introduced to organized football at the age of six. In the...
after leading the team with 150 tackles. He was a finalist for the ButkusAward and the Nagurski Trophy as a junior, and was rewarded with a second-team...
played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won the ButkusAward, and was selected fourth overall by Kansas City in the 1989 NFL draft...
during his college career, including the Chuck Bednarik Award, Dick ButkusAward, and Lambert Award in 1999. He was an All-Big Ten selection, a first-team...
record held by Tim McGarigle. On December 4, Dick Butkus personally presented the 2011 ButkusAward to Kuechly at the Boston College team banquet a week...
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic...
loss and a sack. Queen entered his junior year on the watchlist for the ButkusAward. Queen finished the regular season with 69 tackles (eight for a loss)...
also won both the ButkusAward (best college linebacker) and Lombardi Award. He was the first player to win the Butkus and Lombardi Awards in the same season...
named to ButkusAward watch list". KTSM 9 News. August 11, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024. "UTEP LB Tyrice Knight Named to Bednarik Award Watch List"...
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