CHAMPAIGN — The inaugural member of the brand-new Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame said his selection was a matter of circumstance rather than merit.
"Maybe they just went in alphabetical order, I don't know," Dick Butkus said Friday ahead of the Illini hosting Nebraska at Memorial Stadium.
Anyone who knows anything about football and sports knows that Butkus being tapped as the first into the new hall had nothing to do with the ABCs. The 74-year-old was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 after a storied career with his hometown Chicago Bears, and he's considered by many to be the greatest linebacker to ever play the game.